Question 1: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

The opening sequence of "New Guy" both develops and challenges the forms and conventions of teen comedy films. Although most of our opening sequence adheres to the conventions of the genre, we aimed to challenge some character representations and stereotypes. This allows our film to be more unusual and original, fitting it into the indie sub-genre. However, we had to consider our intentions of including enough of the typical conventions to attract our target audience. Also, we wanted our characters to be realistic and relatable for our targeted audience members. Our plot consisting of a new boy joining a high school in London is a typical narrative that would be in a 'coming of age' film.

FORMS AND CONVENTIONS OF TEEN COMEDIES

1. SOCIAL LIFE/SOCIAL CLIQUES

Most teen comedies incorporate social events (such as parties) and create humour for the audience as the focus of the main character usually revolves around their social status or popularity. These social gatherings are intended to show the different friendship groups within a school or university. The mise-en-scene of these settings usually involves dark lighting and loud music, and includes themes such as socialising and drinking.

Using this website I created a photo montage to show examples of films which include the concepts of social lives and friendship groups. (Left to right: Project X, Superbad, Project X, Pineapple Express, 21 Jump Street, John Tucker Must Die, Easy A, The Inbetweeners, Superbad)

How our sequence conforms to this convention: Our opening includes Arthur walking through the corridor amongst segregated social cliques. The other characters are either conversing, listening to music or playing sports with each other which signify the different friendship groups and social lives in the school. 

How our sequence challenges this convention: Our opening sequence does not include a party or social gathering outside the school. The entire opening takes place during the daytime and the idea of social separations is only shown in the school corridor. 

2. AN OUTSIDER/EXCLUDED CHARACTER

The main character is generally portrayed as different from the others, and ends up alone or excluded. Their characteristics or behaviour could include being socially awkward or having difficulty making friends in a new environment. (for example, Cady in "Mean Girls" joining a new school after having been home-educated). This creates humour for viewers between age 15-24, particularly in "Superbad" as the Seth and Evan's lack of social skills cause them to embarrass themselves. The function of our opening sequence is present the life of an isolated teenager, as in "John Tucker Must Die".

(Left to right: Juno, Desperate Housewives, Superbad, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Mean Girls, John Tucker Must Die, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Jeune et Jolie, Easy A)

How our sequence conforms to this convention: Arthur enters the school appearing confident and easy-going but soon comes to realise that he is disregarded by other students that make rude comments and push past him. He has to find the headteacher's room alone amongst the chaos of the hallway. (Cady in "Mean Girls" also finds herself overwhelmed by groups of students in the corridors).

This still from our opening shows how Arthur feels excluded and alone:

3. CASUAL/INFORMAL COSTUME AND PROPS

Usually, costume and props play an important role in distinguishing between different social groups in a film. For example, a typically "nerdy" character is dressed unfashionably or in smart clothes whereas the more popular characters would be perceived as conventionally attractive and wearing casual clothes.

 

The target audience would find Fogel's costume ("Superbad") humorous as he attempts to be fashionable but ends up conforming to the stereotypes of his character.

This scene from "21 Jump Street" reinforces the idea that costume and props depict the status of a teenage character (particularly in a school environment). The target audience would recognise this reference to teenagers being overly-concerned with appearance and infer the status of these characters based on their costume. 

 

Mike in "17 Again" defies the conventions of a teenage boy

The characteristics of the family in "Little Miss Sunshine" are demonstrated by their costumes (for example, Dwayne is portrayed as an anti-social teenager through his dark hair and casual clothes)

How our sequence conforms to this convention: Arthur is dressed relatively casually to connote his confidence, the audience will expect him to be popular at school. The intention of our group was to initially show characters that are overly-concerned with their appearance, and then realise the unimportance of it by the end of the film. "21 Jump Street" also fits this narrative format. 

How our sequence challenges this convention: Ironically, the more unusually-dressed characters seem to have more friends and look down on Arthur, (the group of goths push past him, other characters make spiteful comments in the background). This inversion of stereotypes is similarly demonstrated in "21 Jump Street" in which Greg finds himself a social outcast despite being good-looking and well-dressed.

4. STYLE - HIGH-KEY LIGHTING AND SATURATED IMAGES

Generally, openings of the teen comedy genre are heavily graded and saturated to convey a busy or exciting environment. Teen comedies often include light-hearted humour and make the gritty themes associated with 'coming of age' films seem less serious. This allows the film to include darker themes without losing the comedy element to them. The camera also tends to have a deep focus (wide depth of field) to further portray a busy and overcrowded setting. 

Brightly coloured clothing and props connote youth in "21 Jump Street"

How our sequence conforms to this convention: Actors in the corridor scene wear brightly coloured clothes, these images have been graded to add more saturation to them. This makes our sequence more lively and engaging to the audience. Our film is slightly less saturated than the images in "21 Jump Street" as we have included darker themes (such as exclusion of certain characters, loneliness).

A still from our sequence after grading

FORMS AND CONVENTIONS OF FILM OPENINGS

1. MORNING ROUTINE 

Many comedy openings consist of a morning routine with an upbeat soundtrack to introduce the main character. The "Legally Blonde" opening establishes Elle's character by focusing the camera on her movements so that the entire narrative revolves around her life. Comedies and dramas are conventionally structured to present the main character at the beginning and allow their life to unfold later on, (as in TV series "Ugly Betty").

How our sequence conforms to this convention: Our sequence similarly draws attention to Arthur's movements (through the split screen) and includes key iconography in the room such as clothes and a basketball. Arthur is also the only character being presented which puts emphasis on his importance in the film. Our opening also has a fast pace and rhythm to connote the busy life of a teenager. The brief shots and fast camera movement give the effect of an overcrowded school and further exhibit Arthur's overwhelmed feelings.

2. CLASSIC NARRATIVE PATTERN AND NARRATIVE THEORIES

This Prezi briefly summarises the narrative theories incorporated in our sequence and other media products of a similar genre:

Generally our sequence develops these narrative patterns, as Arthur's role is to move the plot along by being the main focus of the first scenes. Another film which directs the audience to one particular character (Aaron) is "127 Hours" in which there are no other actors present in the opening. In many indie films, the main character is perceived as a 'victim' and the audience feels empathetic towards them, (for example, "Precious" or Isabelle in "Jeune et Jolie"). There is usually a 'bad' or 'villainous' character also, as we have presented Arthur's problems as a result of certain teenagers at school.

CONVENTIONS OF TITLES

Titles of indie or teen films tend to be simplistic, messy or hand-written. For example, the opening for "Juno" incorporates drawings of the setting so that the titles blend in well with the background.

How our sequence conforms to this convention: The 'brain flower' font used for our titles is similar to fonts used in typical 'coming of age' films, but a more simplistic version. Our titles are effective in connoting the indie sub-genre also. They are subtle in our sequence so that the audience's attention is focused on the action of the sequence.

How our sequence challenges this convention: Our titles are not as distinct or noticeable as in "Juno", as they would take the viewer's attention away from the narrative of the opening. Having the titles appear more subtly is effective for our project as there is a lot happening in the sequence.

Examples of titles in our opening:

Titles in the split-screen were particularly effective as they did not detract attention from the main action:

Conclusion - Overall, we conformed to and challenged certain conventions of the teen comedy genre. This allowed our audience to relate to characters as well as reconsider their preconceived ideas about high school.

Question 2: How does your media product represent particular social groups?

We aimed to represent social groups within a British school by including stereotypes such as nerds, sports players, goths and hipsters.

POSITIVE REPRESENTATIONS OF TEENAGERS IN FILM/TV

The film "Little Miss Sunshine" effectively represents teenagers (in relation to their family). Dwayne is first presented as a moody teenager as he refuses to speak, ignores and disregards his family members. However, towards the end of the film he defies these conventions of anti-social teenagers by talking to his uncle and participating in his sister's beauty pageant.

 

Arthur is initially presented as arrogant, but the audience soon realises that he is insecure and not as confident as he appears. We aimed to positively represent certain characters in the school later on in our film despite them being hostile to Arthur in the beginning.

Arthur is shown as meek and nervous as the camera shoots him from a high angle:

NEGATIVE REPRESENTATIONS OF TEENAGERS IN FILMS/TV 

The British TV series "Misfits" portrays teenagers as delinquents and irresponsible. Initially, they refuse to accept the consequences of their crimes and mock the probation workers. Our film similarly shows the indifferent attitude of young people and their ability to judge and disdain the new student. For example, the characters in the background make comments about him, "who even are you" "what is he doing here". The high school setting also gives a negative representation of teenagers in our sequence as they dominate the corridor space and are intolerant of the new student. 

"Misfits" also broaches gritty themes such as conflict with parents, drugs and youth homelessness with elements of comedy included.

A gif from our test shoot showing negative representations of teenagers: (made using Img Flip)

Young people are similarly portrayed as aggressive/violent in "Misfits":

REPRESENTATION OF MALE CHARACTERS IN FILMS AND OUR SEQUENCE

In our film initially, Arthur fits the stereotypical template of a teenage boy by appearing optimistic and self-assured before arriving at school. However, his genuine lack of self-confidence and anxiety is revealed upon his arrival in the school (he glances at other students making offensive comments, and looks nervous when being pushed around by other students). This representation of a boy challenges the egotiscal male stereotype. 

"Forrest Gump" also addresses the concept of  a socially awkward, outcast male character. This is demonstrated particularly in his response to being bullied by other teenagers. Through framing and camera techniques we constructed the representation of Arthur as small and insignificant (below).

Conclusion - We chose to represent a teenage boy as they are often stereotyped as arrogant, violent or badly behaved. This is relatable for our target audience as the unrealistic stereotypes of boys are usually presented in films (such as John in "John Tucker Must Die").

Question 3: What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

Universal Pictures UK is a subsidiary company creates and distributes theatrical material, particularly British productions. Although most of the films distributed by this company are successful feature films, our production fits the genre that would appeal to Universal Pictures UK.

According to this website, the highest grossing genre at UK cinemas is comedy, which would encourage companies such as Universal to distribute our film. However, they also distribute a wide range of films of different genres (some of them internationally distributed or co-productions). The UK-based provider of films, LoveFilm, streams several Universal Pictures films on its website and may buy the rights to comedies as they are particularly popular in the UK market at the moment.

Examples of Universal Pictures releases:

Another distributor could be Working Title Films which usually attracts more British independent films. Some examples of films distributed by this company include "Johnny English", "Shaun of the Dead" and "Hot Fuzz".

Our Production company, EGA Productions specialises in comedy films (mostly independently-produced or co-productions).

Our release plan:

Examples of media companies that may stream our film:

In terms of marketing, our film would rely on online advertising (for example, BBC iPlayer or Channel 4OD adverts) and social networking as this would be cheaper than traditional advertising platforms such as billboards or posters. Due to its gritty themes and 15 Certification, the film would not appeal to enough consumers to be advertised on buses, trains, or busy public places. 

Our inspiration for a marketing strategy would be "21 Jump Street" and "22 Jump Street" which have Twitter, Facebook and Instagram pages to reach younger audiences that would use social networking. We would use Facebook in particular to market the film as it is easily accessible to both our target audience and our secondary tertiary audiences (aged 25+).

"21 Jump Street" (and its sequel) have been marketed on Twitter to more than 60,000 followers, raising awareness of the films, including photographs, information on award nominations, and the hashtags #21JumpStreet and #22JumpStreet.

Marketing budget - A similar film in terms of production and distribution costs would be "Superbad" which costed $20 million (which had a relatively small budget considering it was the highest grossing high school comedy at the time of its release).

Conclusion on methods of distribution/exhibition -

We would expect our film to be streamed primarily in independent cinemas or national chains (such as Cineworld), and eventually on TV channels (such as Channel 4, Film4). Our target audience would be proficient in using online technology to access the film, therefore it may be streamed online as well. However, depending on its success at the box office, "New Guy" may be pirated online (on sites such as Putlocker). As our film's sub-genre is indie, it is possible that there will be a DVD release as this tends to be popular amongst the older audience (aged 30+). For our film to be exhibited on such a wide range of platforms, it would be necessary for Universal Pictures UK to distribute it. 

Question 4: Who would be the audience for your media product?

TARGET AUDIENCE (PRIMARY) -
Our primary target audience would be fans of 'teen comedy' or 'coming of age' films such as "Superbad" or "Juno". When producing our film, we intended for it to appeal to young people between the ages of 15 to 24, but not to direct it towards a specific gender or ethnicity. However, the iconography, setting and accents were skewed to a British audience as our film aims to represent a school in London. Elements of the film are skewed to boys (main character represents the typical 16-year old boy) and to girls (conflict between friends and struggling to fit in at a new school).

I created this Prezi to show examples of ideal audience members that our film will be aimed towards:

TARGET AUDIENCE (SECONDARY) -
We researched that fans of this genre are generally between the 15-24 age range, but our film may also attract an older audience (25+), families, or fans of British indie films. (For example, "Little Miss Sunshine" is appealing and relatable for a wider age range as it represents children, teenagers, parents and grandparents).

NICHE AUDIENCE -
Our film may have international appeal to fans of British films or comedies. The global market for the film would be limited as it is skewed towards people living local to London or aware of cultural representations of London.

This correspondance analysis released by the BFI shows genre preferences for UK films according to age and gender:

Although comedies are most popular amongst males aged 55+ and dramas most popular with females aged 55+, our film is targeted at a younger audience due to the high school setting and social references that an older audience member would not necessarily relate to. 

Our film specifically does not target those under 15 (due to certification and themes), so our marketing  strategy has only been designed to reach our primary/secondary/niche audiences.

Similarities to films of the same genre - scene from "Superbad" takes place in the school corridor:

Conclusion - We decided that our film would be equally skewed to both males and females as this widens the target audience. For instance, the concept of 'high school drama' may appeal predominantly to girls, whereas the male protagonist may appeal more to boys. We had already considered our target audience of teen comedy fans between the ages of 15 and 24 before filming, as we could take this into account when choosing costume and props. Our final outcome attracts a range of audiences within the UK. 

Question 5: How did you attract/address your audience?

The uses and gratifications theory helped us to attract and address our target audiences. We considered why and how consumers would seek out specific media.

We incorporated these themes as they are most likely to attract our audience aged between 15-24:
1. SOCIAL LIFE IN HIGH SCHOOL (other students gossiping in the background, socializing)
2. EXCLUSION (Arthur looked down upon, ignored and pushed around by others)
3. FITTING IN AT A NEW SCHOOL (Arthur finding his way to room 3 from the map)
4. REAL/FAKE FRIENDSHIPS (betraying friends to improve his social status)
5. STATUS SEEKING (Arthur attempts to conform to social norms)


The high school setting connotes the 'teen comedy' or 'coming of age' genre that would appeal to our audience:

The gratifications offered include:

The soundtrack for the morning routine depicts Arthur as popular and confident, but the narrative switches when he enters the school and is disrespected by other students:

AUDIENCE FEEDBACK -

Our feedback after the production process:

Our feedback of the final outcome:

We conducted a survey after people had watched the final outcome to give us insight on the narrative, audience opinions and effectiveness of our film as a whole. The people surveyed were mainly from our target audience of teen comedy fans or young people aged between 15 and 24.
We predicted that the audience would have trouble understanding the narrative - that it was Arthur's first day of school and he was trying to find the headmistress' office.

Surprisingly, the film appealed most to the female audience (particularly due to high school themes) as 76.47% of those who completed the survey were female:

We were successful in targeting the age 12-24 audience as the majority of the audience were around this age. As expected, we noticed a substantial amount of audience members were over 30 years old as indie films tend to appeal to an older audience:

We asked people for more detailed feedback, such as whether they would continue watching the film or not (to which 94.74% responded 'yes'):

And others gave their responses to the narrative, so we would see whether or not the audience were able to predict what was happening from the opening sequence:

From this survey, we identified changes we could have made to improve our opening sequence, such as making sure that the alarm clock showed the correct time in the morning (as the film was intended to be set at 7am). We also could have re-shot our voice-overs as it was unclear that Arthur's mother was shouting from downstairs. However, I was pleased that most of the audience members grasped the main storyline of the film.

Most of the target audience stated that they would continue to watch the film, although those that answered 'no' informed us of their reasons. Some of these responses were expected as the cliffhanger of our sequence was not effective or engaging enough.

Other than this, our film was fairly successful according to our target audience.

Conclusion - I am fairly pleased with our survey responses as they indicate that we have targeted our intended audiences well. However if we were to shoot again, we would have altered the final scene to create a cliffhanger, encouraging the viewers to continue watching to find out what happens to Arthur. 

Question 6: What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Although I had used the equipment and technologies before, I had limited experience in editing on Adobe Premiere Pro. I learnt how to use the technology in more complicated ways, for example, producing the split screen and adding transition effects to make the sequence flow more and appear more professional. Our production had to be of a much higher standard than the preliminary task.


HARDWARE -

1. Camera Legria HFD30 (microphone attached) and Tripod

Two examples of how the auto-focus did not work as the camera had to adjust to fast movement in the corridor:

2. GoPro Camera

We also used a GoPro camera for the fridge shot, and we tested to see if it was effective or not during the test shoot. It was the first time we had used this piece of equipment but the camera was relatively easy to use, compact, and portable. It allowed us to produce shots in water and inside the fridge, giving an effect similar to that in "127 Hours".

Fish-eye effect used in "127 Hours:

3. Dolly

The effect of the dolly on camera movement to give the effect of tracking Arthur's movements:

This was effective as it showed Arthur's perspective, making him appear isolated, and the corridor appear busier and more confined.

SOFTWARE - 

1. Adobe Premiere Pro SC5 and Adobe Audition

We had used this software for our animatic, so we had already learnt how to cut shots to the appropriate length and add soundtrack, however, we had to figure out how to grade and add transitions. This digital technology was fairly easy to use and made our project more creative.

Colour corrector:

Timeline and effects folders:

I learnt how to edit sound and voiceovers using Adobe Audition, which I had not used before:

2. Communication (during the production and pre-production processes)

In order to communicate for the shoots and edit schedules, we used Facebook, Whatsapp and text messaging. It was useful as we could easily contact each other if there was a problem and update each other on the progress of the project. We also posted our survey on the Facebook page so that other students in the school could give their opinions or suggest improvements.

Our music and sound effects were downloaded from freeplaymusic.com, which provided uncopyrighted music of different genres. It was difficult to chose our soundtracks as there were several possibilities but we eventually narrowed it down to "Twisted" and "Muscle Men".

Our posts were created and edited on Blogger which has a simple format. I posted several of our test shoots on YouTube as well, although it was fairly time-consuming to upload them. To access the media department during the shooting/editing processes, we used our emails as it was the easiest way to contact our teachers after school or on weekends. 

Conclusion - From producing the opening, I have learnt significantly more about editing and the software that we used, although I would have liked to produce more realistic-sounding voiceovers.