REPRESENTATION AND STEREOTYPING IN OUR FILM

Although our film lacks ethnic and class stereotyping, it could be argued that the topics
we cover in our coming of age film are stereotypical to their genre. When watching a
common of age film, it is not a shock to discover that there will be an element
of romance within the story, amongst other typical issues that affect teenagers:
alcohol, drugs and their relationships with those people around them. We have conformed
to this stereotype of our genre by exploring the issue of having a mother alcoholic and
lack of a fatherly figure, and the impact that this has on their child. In portraying this
stereotype, we have arguably conformed to the view that every story containing an
alcoholic either portrays sadness or heroism. This is according to the theorist Richard Dyer.
The representation in our film could also be seen as subverting stereotypes due to
the complicated issues that our character, Clio, goes through and the interesting narrative
that she follows to achieve happiness and solitude. It is not a common pathway that is seen
in our chosen genre.

In terms of gender stereotyping, the narrative end that is not revealed in our trailer
leaves it a mystery as to who the hero of our story is, and therefore it is unrevealed if we
conform to, or subvert the stereotype of it normally being a male protagonist.
Furthermore, our lead character being a female could already be seen to subvert
stereotypes as the role that she has in the film shows how she is responsible for fending
for herself, unlike other films that represented women to be dependent upon other people.

The representation of age in our film conforms to the stereotypes of topics which are
normally covered, both happy and sad. We see Clio going through a break up with her
boyfriend, taking care of her younger brother and debating the idea of running away -
all of these things which are relevant predominantly to their age group.

APPEALING TO OUR TARGET AUDIENCE

Our chosen genre is a hybrid combination of coming of age and drama.

Our storyline follows a young teenage girl struggling with day to day encounters.

She finds herself pushed to her limit when she has to make the decision to run away

or face her problems. Based on the storyline and genre, our target audience

will predominantly be young teenagers/ adults between the ages of 15 to 20,

and in particular female. We believe as a group our characters and settings

we have chosen to use will appeal to our target audience.

Our main female protagonist ‘Clio’ played by Orla Jordan is aged 18.

Clio is a teenage girl on the verge of becoming an adult, her character already deals

with problems such as caring for her younger brother, recovering from

the death of her father and her recent breakup with her boyfriend.

These circumstances are something most of our target audience may face as they

experience adulthood. This collaboration of circumstances allows for our target audience

to potentially experience a personal connection with Clio.

They may have already gone through some of the problems Clio is dealing with.

Our target audience may also appeal to Clio (Orla Jordan) as she is of a similar age as them.

Our main male protagonist ‘James’ played by Toby Payne is aged 20.

James is a awkward and geeky character who babysits Clio’s younger brother.

His role in the film is to support Clio after her break up and partner her during the revenge.

During this one night spent together James begins to gain feelings for Clio.

James character will appeal to our potential male audience who also struggle to confront girls.

Our chosen settings are relatable in many ways.

For example Stoneleigh Station is a train station which is a method of transport

chosen by many young teenagers/ adults. We also used one our houses as a setting.

Houses are relatable environments as the majority of people live in houses.       

   

     

      

ACTOR INTERVIEWS

We have decided to conduct actor interviews so that we get the best people
to play our roles. We think it is so important that our characters are portrayed
in the most realistic way possible. We hope to have multiple people applying
for each role so that we have the option to select the best person for the job.

From the actor auditions we selected Orla to play the role of Clio and Toby to
play the role of James.

We particularly liked Orla's confidence and presence when she was
answering the questions. We thought that she showed similar qualities
to the character Clio and when describing how her and the character
were similar she showed a great understanding about the role.
We also liked how enthusiastic she was about the role itself.

Once again we liked Toby's confidence and enthusiasm to play the role.
He understood the character well and showed the ability to be quite
awkward and confident himself in his audition.

We thought that these two characters would have the best connection
and would be easier to portray this when filming.

SOUNDTRACK RESEARCH

Soundtrack Research – Non-copyright music:

We couldn’t link any MP3/MP4 music to the blog. However, researching on YouTube,
we found, as a group a selection of songs that could be appropriate to play throughout
the trailer. We decided to choose one song which could be used during our opening, this song
would predominantly be slow and portray an emotional emphasis.
The second song would be much more upbeat, as this would be used during the time
when Clio and James trash the ex boyfriends car. The final song will revert back to the original
mood of struggle and pain, however we will use on of the first two options.
Our only problems with choosing the music is the copyright issue, we just had to make
sure that everything is copyright free.

Opening song: (Option 1)
We have decided to research two possible options for the
opening background music of the trailer. We discussed as a
group finding and opting for a musical version which involved
no lyrics. This way the song wouldn’t overpower the voice
over we record which will take up a large section of the trailer.

Ruth B - Lost Boy (Karaoke Version) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8R1xIYOwxRA

We originally first came across this song on spotify, as we
continued to listen to it we thought the background tune was
very simplistic but powerful and wondered if there was a
version without lyrics. Further research helped us to discover
that the only version we could potentially use was a karaoke
version. We would be able to use this version from YouTube
as long as we left a link in the description of the final video.
We particularly liked this version as the piano interludes
were repetitive but helped to create a calm but dramatic
edge to the song.

Opening song: (Option 2)

Gnash - I Hate U I Love U (feat. Olivia O’Brein) (Karaoke Version) -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Bti9H8Y24U

When listening to the karaoke version of ‘Lost Boy’ we
came across this version of ‘I Hate U I Love You’. Once again
this song is a slow tempo but differs from the first option
as it has a more powerful undertone from the piano and an
additional clapping sound. It appears more tense and
dramatic, potentially representing how everything in her life is
falling apart. We would be able to use this version from
YouTube as long as we left a link in the description of the final video.

Second Song/ Song used during destroying ex boyfriends car scene: (Option 1)

It is important we find a song which captures Clio’s aggressive emotions and
ultimately negative attitude towards this whole situation. The choice of song will
massively help to determine the mood the actress is trying to portray.   

M.I.A - Bad Girls

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uYs0gJD-LE

We discovered this song when searching for powerful female
hits. We believe this background song helps to give the
character Clio an alter ego of confidence and dominance even through her times if struggle. The lyrics also correspond
with the actions being shown eg. the destroying of the car.
The quirky undertone creates a uniqueness to the song,
helping to make the song more memorable.
We particularly liked the power which is created through
the drums.

Second Song/ Song used during destroying ex boyfriends car scene: (Option 2)

Natalia Kills - Problem

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZrZI6OmezE

We discovered this song during our time spent researching
and analysing coming of age trailers. A section of this song
was used during the trailer of the film ‘The Duff’.
We particularly liked this song as it had a powerful beat and
would work well with the action being portrayed
on the screen. This song is similar to ‘Bad girls’ as it would
enable to support Clio’s alter ego and confidence.  

SOUND EFFECTS RESEARCH

During our opening trailer, there will be many occasions where our
storyline will be enhanced due to the use of diegetic sound. I am researching the use
of different car sounds, amongst other realistic additional effects that we could add.

Ambience Car Interior Parking Lot Near Construction: This sound would be fairly useful for
when our actors are in the Sainsbury’s car park as it will add another dimension to our trailer.
The only bad thing about this sound is that it has some sections where you can
hear vehicles reversing or construction vehicles driving but there isn’t any visible in our
footage, so the audience would have to understand that it is off screen sound.

Ambience Car Interior Start Car Roll Down Windows and Sit: This sound may come in
handy if we decide to have a section without a soundtrack whilst our actors are in the car.
It is good because it isn’t too overpowering, unlike some of the other sound effects
I have heard. Its negatives are that it is very subjective to the timing of the movements of our
actors.

Crash Metal: Another sound effect we have looked at is metal being dropped onto
a wooden surface. If it is toned down enough, then this sound effect should work really well
when Clio is seen dropping her keys on the floor.

EVALUATION OF PRELIMINARY TASK

For our preliminary task we wanted to improve it from last year as we feel like we have
gained new skills and have developed our old ones. As a group we wanted to use all the skills
we had gathered and put them into practice within our preliminary task.

When looking back at our old preliminary task, it was clear to see that we used very basic
editing alongside very basic camera shots. Whereas in our more recent preliminary task we
used a variety of shots, and tried to use more abstract editing, this can be seen through our fast
edits when the girls in sitting and looking at her phone.

Improvements we made from last year to this year included; at the very beginning we had
production titles. This made our preliminary task look more professional, this was also joined
by credits at the end. Even though it was a very short piece of work, we feel that it had good
aspects.

We used a different location this year which mean we had variety in our setting from last year
as we wanted to experiment with different shots too. We also wanted to try out this setting as
we wanted to use it as part of our final film trailer. We found that it worked well, and the
preliminary task was very helpful in constructing our ideas for our final piece.

However, when filming we found that the surroundings were quite noisy, and we noted that
at certain times of the day, the location of the station would be very busy as it is a regularly
used station.

When it came to the editing process, we found it quite easy to edit, however when we
uploaded we found that the whole piece had a black border around it. We used it anyway as
we were proud of our work, however we have had to work out why this happen and we have
had to find a solution for our final piece as it wouldn't look professional otherwise.

The sound behind the videos didn't quite come out as planned. We were happy with the
opening titles sound effects, yet after the first train noise, and the voice over the train just
cut out. We didn't think if fit quite right, therefore we know now that we've got to spend a bit
more time carefully cutting together our sound effects and voice over clips to make it flow better.