just turned eighteen - Evaluation Task 2 - How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Madison

Cady Heron from 'Mean Girls' was the main inspiration for Madison because in the film, her character becomes popular and mean but then realizes that her peers don't like her anymore because of her new personality. Sharpay Evans and Regina George were also inspirations for the character because they are rich, popular, mean and spoilt, and it is stereotypical to have this type of character in a teen angst film.

Jennifer

The main inspiration for Jennifer was Gabriella Montez from 'High School Musical' because she is friendly and nerdy and it's stereotypical for this type of character to be in a teen angst film because the audience can relate to them. We also used Cady from 'Mean Girls' as an inspiration for this character because we liked how she was smart and not caring what people think about her and, because Madison is like Cady when she becomes mean and popular, it makes Jennifer and Madison's characters very different. our film is unstereotypical because in 'High School Musical' the popular girl hates the nerdy girl but in our film they're best friends.


Ethan

Ethan is inspired by the typical 'jock' guy in a teen angst film - Troy Bolton from 'High School Musical' is an example of one of these characters because all he cares about is basketball and he is super sporty and popular. Our film is unstereotypical because normally the girl is trying to get the guy's attention but in our film the guy is trying to get her attention - this can be compared to Sharpay and Troy, where he knows that she likes him but doesn't like her back.

Social Groups 
 

These mid shots of two best friends together puts attention on them because they are in the centre of the frame and the main character has brighter clothes to draw more attention to them. In 'Clueless' the two friends are the popular girls, whereas in our film the friends come from different social groups and the difference in Jennifer and Madison's clothes emphasise this.

just turned eighteen - Evaluation Task 1 - In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? (i.e. of film openings)

1. Camerawork and editing - The over-the-shoulder shot we used makes her action clear and puts emphasis on the letter to show it's part of the main plot. This sort of shot was used on the 'Burn book' in 'Mean Girls' to show its importance to the plot and to draw the audience's attention to it.

2. How characters are introduced - The black and white used makes the main character stand out and is a contrast to the colourful film. The title is in green so it stands out and the handwriting font used with the voice-over makes the opening sequence seem like a diary entry - as seen in 'Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging' and 'Mean Girls', diaries are a typically associated with girls. The name is in all capital letters so that it contrasts with the title having no capital letters. The shot shows shows Jennifer texting, which is typical of a teenage film; this emphasises that she's waiting for Madison but Madison is shown that she isn't on her phone so Jennifer could be bored.

3. Costumes and props - We used typical costumes and props that the audience would expect from a teen film - such as casual clothing, mobile phones and school bags - because they make the film more realistic and relatable. Madison and Jennifer have contrasting styles - preppy and nerdy - to show the contrast between their character's personalities.

4. Genre and how the opening suggests it - The long shot of the outside of a school shows the audience that the genre will be a teenage film because I found in my research that most teen angst films are set in a school. Having the two girls walking together shows their friendship - which was used in 'Mean Girls' to emphasise the main character joining a new group of friends.

5. Title font and style - The handwriting font for actual names makes them stand out in contrast to the generic san-serif font used for the role titles. We used the two fonts because they fit in with the genre but highlighted the importance of the roles. Because we had actors who were also producers and directors, we had to make their name distinctly different to avoid confusion.

6. Setting/location - The lockers are typical of an American high school and we put this shot by the lockers to emphasise that we are using American stereotypes - as seen in 'Easy A' and 'Clueless'. The establishing shot of the school in frame 4 also tells the audience that the film will be set in a school in England.

7. Special effects - The transition used here separates the character/setting introduction from the actual plot. It also draws the audience's attention as there are no other transitions like this one used in the film.

8. Story and how the opening sets it up - I think that this frame is what conveys the story of teen angst the most as it shows an important convention being relationships of which in this scene there are two. The first relationship is between the characters Madison and Jennifer because of their friendship which is carried by Madison waiting for Jennifer instead of carrying on walking to class. The second relationship is between Madison and Ethan, while it is not considered a "mutual" one, it is because of Ethan's interest in her that they have a connection; romance is a typical convention of teen angst and is used as a major part of the plot in 'Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging' and 'Clueless'. Jennifer is only just in the frame to show that she isn't as important as the romance plot between Madison and Ethan.

9. The title of the film - The title is on its own screen for emphasis and is pink - which connotes girlishness and love. The font used looks like handwriting and includes no capital letters so that it stands out from other films in the genre, such as 'Clueless' and 'Easy A'. The water drops could be interpreted as tears and this foreshadows what may happen later in the film or they could be seen as ink, which fits in with the theme of our film being like a diary. The purple fade around the edges gives the screen a softer feel and puts emphasis on the center.

just turned eighteen - Shot List

[fades from black]
00.03 - Mise-én-POWER production company logo

[fade to black]
[fade from black to shot of Madison]
[first song starts playing]
00.05 - Madison (Taylor-Eve) closing car door 
TITLE: Taylor-Eve as 
[fades]

00.08 - Madison walking along pathway
[fades]

00.10 - Clearer shot of Madison walking
TITLE: Madison Young
[cuts]

00.15 - Jennifer (Victoria) in leisure center
FREEZEFRAME AND TITLE: Victoria as
Madison walks in
[fades]

00.21 - Madison and Jennifer talking
TITLE: Jennifer Hill
[cuts]

00.26 - Madison putting money in vending machine
[cuts]

00.31 - Jennifer retrieving item and giving it to Madison
[cuts]

00.36 - [establishing shot and pan] Madison and Jennifer walking to sixth form
TITLES: Edited by Taylor Grimes [fades] Music by Victoria Keighley [fades] Produced by Taylor-Eve Osbourne [fades]
[cuts]

00.49 - Madison and Jennifer opening sixth form door and walking in
TITLE: Directed by Ian Greene
[cuts]

00.57 - Madison and Jennifer walking past the camera on either side
TITLE: A Mise-én-POWER Production
[cuts]

01.00 - Ethan (Taylor) and a friend talking
FREEZEFRAME AND TITLE: Taylor Grimes as
Madison and Jennifer walking past
[cuts]

 01.06 - Madison and Jennifer walking into girl's toilets
[cuts]

01.13 - Madison sorting out her hair
[cuts]

01.16 - [Jennifer's point of view] Madison asks Jennifer "Do I look alright?"
[fade to black]
[fade from black]

01.18 - TITLE: just turned eighteen
[first song ends]
["box" transition]
[second song starts]

01.21 - Madison and Jennifer leaving toilets
[cuts]

 01.27 - Madison and Jennifer walk to lockers
[blur transition]

01.34 - Madison leaning against lockers, Ethan walks past
[cuts]

01.40 - Madison and Jennifer walk into classroom, teacher shouts "You're late, again!"
[cuts]

01.46 - Madison and Jennifer sit down
[cuts]

01.51 - Ethan passes folded note to Madison
[cuts]

01.52 - Madison opens note and rips it up
[lens flare fade to black]

02.01 - [END]

just turned eighteen - Final

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6mXgZ5BbPM

just turned eighteen - Planning - Film Title

The title straightaway tells the viewer that the main character has 'just turned eighteen' and it also establishes how old the rest of the characters are. The title is all in lowercase writing to connote that it has been handwritten and not as serious - which makes it stand out from other film titles. The technique of no capital letters being used in the title was featured in the 'Twilight' saga and I think that it was very effective for getting the attention of the teenage target audience.

We initially had the title in a white, handwritten font on a black background. The writing shook to add emphasis to the title, although we realised shortly after that it made the film look like a horror movie and it didn't look right for the genre.

We decided to change this to a more appealing title, our first attempt was a dark wooden background with ornate flower-like symbols and the title in a lighter wood texture, as if they were etched into a table which we felt added the connotation of the rebellious nature of our main character Madison. We abandoned this one because the wooden background was a bit "twitchy".

The title screen was then changed to a pink and purple background because they are stereotypically girly colours and this fits the genre better. We kept the font style and colour though because we liked the way it looked and how it made the lack of capital letters look better.

just turned eighteen - Draft Opening

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kCWOhV22SI&feature=youtu.be

Feedback

We were criticised for using a few too many scenes involving walking in and out of doors so we had to get rid of a scene where Taylor-Eve and Viki were walking to their class; this scene was also removed for the fact that Taylor and Viki looked at the camera for a split second and the tracking shot was shakey due to the camera being handheld.

During editing we realised that our film had gone over the two minute limit that our teacher had given us. We decided that the following clips were not as important as the rest and cut them out:

• Bullying Scene with Ian
• Taylor-Eve winking at the camera after "borrowing" money from Viki.

just turned eighteen - Planning - Character Pictures

Madison Young - Taylor-Eve Osbourne

Madison is one of the popular teenagers at the school, mainly due to the fact that she has rich parents that will buy her branded clothes and allow her to keep up with the latest trends. She is spoilt and, because she can boss her parents around, she thinks that she can be bossy to her friends too. She cares a lot about her appearance - as shown by her wearing a lot of make up and expensive clothes - and wants to be the m ost fashionable person in the school. Her best friend is Jennifer because they've known each other since primary school and her less expensive and fashionable clothes make Madison look better. She knows that Ethan fancies her but she doesn't like him and keeps trying to hint at him that he isn't her type.

Jennifer Hill - Victoria Keighley

Jennifer is very friendly and she is Madison's best friend because she doesn't mind how bossy she is. Although Madison may sometimes use her to get free food, Jennifer has grown used to it and it has become normal for the two of them. Jennifer is a typical nerd who is a fan of superheroes and astronomy, but breaks the stereotype by being best friend with the most popular girl at school. She doesn't care for trends and instead wears clothes that express what she loves and doesn't bother with doing her make up.

Ethan Wells - Taylor Grimes

Ethan is the most popular guy at the school and has many friends - mainly due to him being on many of the sports teams. He likes his style to be very trendy and has an image to maintain, otherwise his equally popular friends might not think he's cool. He wants to take Madison to the prom but isn't very experienced at asking people out and thinks that a note saying "You're fit." is an acceptable way to tell her.

just turned eighteen - Planning - Storyboards

Storyboards

These are the storyboards that we used as reference while filming our film opening. We tried to keep our footage as similar to this as possible but some shots had to be changed due to how we could film and we added in more scenes where we felt it would make our film better. Having a storyboard was very helpful because it gave us a structure for our film and ensured that we had a wide range of shots included.

just turned eighteen - Planning - Music/Sound

We are going to use happy up-beat music with a voice over of the main character to set a school themed atmosphere over the top of the title sequence, this will then in twine with the voice of her talking about her life and introducing some of the characters. The song we are going to use is: Adam Michaels – Love song in my mind (instrumental). When we studied the 'Juno' title sequence, I found out that everybody thought the background music went on for too long and was really annoying so I asked people in our class for their opinion on the music and they all said that they liked it.

Other songs we thought of using felt like teen angst but they didn't fit the theme of happy and upbeat. We had also thought of fading the theme song to different ones for the freeze-frames of the other two character.

just turned eighteen - Planning - Settings

These are some of stereotypical locations we used in our film, the blue lockers connote a school setting. We took the idea of using a school from 'Mean Girls' because it is a typical place to find teenagers and it is a relatable place that the audience will recognise.

just turned eighteen - Planning - Narrative

Madison Young is a bossy rich teen from an upper class family and is a stereotypical daddy’s girl, she is a high school student in her senior year and she decided that she no longer cares about anything anymore. Her best friend Jennifer Hill, who blindly does what Madison says without looking the other way, is trying her hardest to change her new view of life, after being best friends for the past 8 years their friendship has never been stronger. Ethan Wells is the typical socialite Jock who is the number 10 striker on the school football team, he's had his eye on Madison for a few months and this year he vows to woo her before senior prom commences, but she on the other hand is constantly trying to push him away.

Throughout her last year the pressure of being popular is gradually kicking in, with not only Ethan interested in her, but most of the other sport fanatics too. The evil queens of the popular side of the school share an interest in her, but not in a good way, they seem to think that Madison's fast growing popularity is threatening theirs so they have a desire to humiliate Madison at the prom.

We took the idea of the romance from 'Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging' as it is a major part of the plot in that film and makes the audience wwant to keep watching so they can see what happens to the relationship. Having popular 'queen bee' characters comes from 'Mean Girls' because the target audience should be able to relate to having popular girls in their school and this will result in them relating to Madison more. Jennifer being a 'nerd' who is friends with a 'popular' peson is taken from 'Clueless' because it isn't what the audience would expect from a typical teen angst film - as the two characters are from different cliques - and it keeps them interested and makes the film different from the others in the genre.

just turned eighteen - Planning - Risk Assessment

These are some of the risks that can happen when out filming and some of the preventions we can do to stop some of these from happening.
Risks:

•  Trip hazards/slip hazards (wires, bags, slippery floor, etc.)
•  Damaging equipment (camera/tripod/recorder)
•  Cast and crew not turning up
•  Filming in dangerous locations (car park)
•  Injury to cast and crew

Prevention:

•  Walk carefully and watch where you're walking
•  Carry equipment responsibly and only use when needed
•  Plan times and dates the week before so no clashes will pop up
•  Make sure we are aware of our surroundings
•  Make sure that everyone is wearing suitable clothing

just turned eighteen - Planning - Production Company Logo

This is our film company logo, we choose the name Mise-en-power because of the important media term mise-en-scene and we the changed the word 'scene' to 'power'. This connotes that our company makes good quality films and the stars also connote this along with we are a big company. We decided to have one big star with little stars under the main writing to show that we can compete with other big film production companies and to suggest we create energetic films. The black writing is distinctive against the yellow of the stars in which promotes celebrity/stardom. 

Our tagline, "Giving energy to film" connotes that we are involved within the industry and that we think highly of the business. It also shows that we are always looking to improve and thrive to create fresh, new ideas within film. In addition, energy links in with the word power which is within our main company name.

just turned eighteen - Planning - Cast & Roles

Cast:

Taylor-Eve - Madsion Young

Taylor Grimes - Ethan Wells

Victoria Keighley - Jennifer Hill

Ian Greene - Bullied nerd

Tom Bennett - Ethan's friend

Tom Hart - Ethan's friend 

Roles:

Ian Greene - Director

Taylor Grimes - Editor

Victoria Keighley - Music

Taylor-Eve - Producer

just turned eighteen - Planning - Props

Madison has a handbag that is large and green which connotes that she is typically girly and likes people noticing her. Jennifer's school bag is a contrast as it is a backpack with badges over it, which connotes that she is nerdy and cares more for practicality rather than style. This idea was inspired by 'Mean Girls' because the main girls use handbags at school while the less popular girls are shown with backpacks.

Jennifer is seen with a phone while she is waiting for Madison, which is what the audience would typically expect from a teenager as they are always shown in the media as constantly on their phones. This was inspired by a scene in 'Clueless' where the main characters meet while talking to eachother on their phones - as this is a more modern film, we changed the talking on phones to texting each other.

Jennifer has money ready for Madison when she announces that she "has none", which shows that she is used to what Madison is like and will meet her demands so that she is happy. This could connote that she is rich enough to be able to give away money without caring about it or that she is unable to say "no" to Madison no matter what. The idea of rich teenagers comes from 'Mean Girls' and 'Clueless' where the teenagers get all of their money from their rich parents.

While Jennifer doesn't wear make up, Madison wears a lot and applies more when she's looking in the toilet mirrors. This shows the audience that she cares a lot about how she looks and that her appearence is very important to her. This was taken from 'Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging' where the teenage girls are seen applying their make up because they want to look good for boys and their friends, which is a stereotype of teenagers.

Madison arrives at school in a car, which enforces that she is rich because not many teenagers can afford a car when they have 'just turned eighteen'. We decided to use this because the 'plastics' in 'Mean Girls' are seen going to the mall in a car and it makes them look cooler to the younger girls watching.