Teen angst research

The first film i researched for teen angst films was Easy A.

Here is the evidence i discovered that shows Easy A is a teen angst film from it's title sequence and opening scene:

• High key lighting
• Cheerful / upbeat music
• Setting: school, teen bedroom setting
• A flashback from the main characters past showing an awkward situation - shows how uncomfortable she is and thee teen target audience can relate. 
• Props: Shoes tied to the tree - assosiating teens / bullying as well as the books that are dropped on the floor when a girl is pushed over.
• Teen girl is the main character - often the case in teen angst films
• Theme: related to growing up / coming of age
• Use of a voiceover to introduce characters and explain plot
• Different front sizes and colours - used to make text more appealing - also used a lot in teen angst films.
• Use of comedy - to appeal to the audience

Here is the evidence that shows Footloose is a teen angst film:

• Misé-en-scene - a party; dancing, singing, alcohol and relationships are all stereotypically associated with teenagers
• Teen love
• Teens showing a hedonistic feeling
• Social groups - male and female, all part of a performing arts group, no old or disabled people
• The Footloose title is handwritten and lit up like stage lights. The fact that it is handwritten represents hedonistic feeling
• Music is loud, upbeat, cheerful - use of digetic sound when the characters sing along
• Friends and relationships are what is valued - also typical of teen angst films

Teen angst movie collage

In this collage i have picked stereotypical teenagers from teen angst films. Top right is an image from Juno, where the main character is pregnant, and this is typical for teenagers because teenagers are stereotypically obsessed with sex. Other stereotypical representations of teenagers also occur in this collage, like the 'bitchy' popular girls in the bottom right image, from Mean Girls, and the image of the main character from Perks Of Being A Wallflower partying in the image in the centre. In the same image, the fact that the characters are at a party and dancing will also suggest there is going to be enjoyable music in the film, which again is something that the teenage audience would appeal to. There are also good looking male and female characters and often teen love, as shown in the bottom left image, also from Juno. The image in the middle-left taken from Mean Girls, portrays teen girls as people who care about their appearance which is another stereotypical representation of teenagers. In the same image, the girls are represented as being best friends due to them wearing the same clothing and taking part in typical girl activities together, which is relateable to the target audience as teenagers generally have 'friendship groups'. All the movie titles in the collage e.g Juno, Dear Lemon Lima, Easy A and The Perks Of Being A Wallflower all use bright and colourful text to connote happiness and this is another feature of teen angst films. As you can see in the images above, there is also a frequent use of high key lighting. This is often used in teen angst films as it suggests an upbeat and happy mood, making the film more enjoyable to watch for the audience. Teen angst films are often from a person's perspective and they usually highlight the different social groups. For example, Mean Girls is focused on life from a popular girl's point of view, whereas Perks Of Being A Wallflower is a film from the 'minority' or 'outcasts' point of view, this is so a wider range of audience can enjoy the film. All the images represent the general narrative in each of the films they are taken from, and the majority of the images represent things teenagers commonly see / take part in / problems they may face. For example; the dancing, the stylish clothing, the 'bitchy' girls, pregnancy and romance. Cinematography is apparent in all the images. One example is in the bottom right image from Mean Girls. The photo is taken from a relatively low angle, meaning the camera is looking slightly up at the girls. This represents their importance and dominance, which suggests they are the main characters in the film as well as being the 'popular' girls in school. Similarly in the top right image from Juno's front cover, it is taken from the side which means the audience can see that she is pregnant. This is a common issue either witnessed or experienced by teenagers and it will influence them to see the film. In some of the films they use very popular actors that are commonly found in films that appeal to the target audience.  For example; Emma Stone in Easy A, Michael Cera in Juno and Emma Watson in Perks Of Being A Wallflower.

Spider-man title sequence

Spider-man film cover

00:00-02:29

T1: 00:05 - Columbia Pictures presents
T2: 00:10 - A Marvel Enterprises / Laura Ziskin production
T3: 00:19 - MAIN TITLE: Spider-man
T4: 00:24 - Starring Toby Maquire
T5: 00:30 - Willen Dafde
T6: 00:34 - Kristen Dunce
T7: 00:39 - James Franco
T8: 00:43 - Cliff Robertson
T9: 00:48 - Rosemary Harris
T10: 00:53 - J.K. Simmons
T11: 00:58 - Gerry Becker - Bill Nunn
T12: 01:03 - Jack Betts - Stanley Anderson - Ron Perkins
T13: 01:09 - Casting by Francine Maisler and Lynn Krisswell
T14: 01:14 - Co-producer Grant Curtis
T15: 01:21 - Music by Danny Elfman
T16: 01:31 - Costumes designed by James Acheson
T17: 01:36 - Visual effects desined by John Dykstra, ASC
T18: 01:40 - Edited by Bob Murowski - Arthur Cobern, A.C.E.
T19: 01:45 - Production designer Neil Spisak
T20: 01:51 - Director photographs Don Burgess, ASC
T21: 01:57 - Executive producers Avi Arad - Stan Lee
T22: 02:05 - Produced by Laura Ziskin - Ian Bryce
T23: 02:09 - Based on the Marvel comic book by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko
T24: 02:16 - Screenplay by David Koepp
T25: 02:24 - Directed by Sam Reidi

Film production logos

(20th Century Fox) The text is surrounded by spotlights that are pointing up at the sky, this shows it's relation with films and the bold, capital letters suggests its importance and relevance. The fact that the text looks like a tall monumental building, also represents how popular and well-known 20th Century Fox is. In the image, you (the audience) are looking up at the logo, which also connotes its importance and represents how dominant it is in the film industry, which is also represented by the gold text.

(Paramount) The Paramount text is at the tip of the mountain which connotes its importance and and how well known it is. The stars around the Paramount text  represents something as being good and that they are 'up in the stars' - which connotes they are a very accomplished in the film industry. The Paramount text is also above clouds, which again shows how 'high up' it is in the film industry. Even the word 'paramount' means supreme power, or to be more important that anything else which connotes how much of a large company it is.

(Take Two) The denotation of this logo are the two T's that stand for 'Take Two' , these T's are formed together to make a film reel, which connotes it's relevance to the production of films. The name 'Take Two' also represents it's relevance with the production of films, as 'take two' is a phrase used in the making of films, if a shot wasn't done correctly the first time - so the name suggests that something didn't necessarily go right the first time so they are trying again. The use of just white and black for colours, may suggest that the production company is relatively low budget. 

(Film4)  The text is sans serif font and i also in capital letters which expresses their confidence and how proud they are of the films that they produce. The colours red and white connote pride in their work and premium quality. The large white straight lines (that make the number 4) connote boldness and confidence in their production as well as emphasizing the company they are a part of.

(Dreamworks) The whole logo is based upon dreams and connotes imagination. The image of the boy sat on the moon fishing connotes that the boy is dreaming and in a special place to him, which allows him to use his imagination. The night sky and the clouds connote "reaching for the stars" and dreams. The soft, light colours also represent that the film company mainly produce children's films. 

Preliminary task

In our preliminary task we were given a storyboard to follow and were split into small groups. The storyboard involved someone entering a room and sitting down at a table with a different character, then they had to have a short conversation that we had to construct.  I was in a group of 4 and three of us had to allocate ourselves with characters while the spare person would do the filming. There were certain rules that we had to follow while filming like the 180 degree rule. This is when we make sure the camera stays on the same side of what is being filmed, this avoids confusion for the audience. If we kept moving the camera around the room the audience would get confused with what is happening and will not understand. We also used shot reverse shot during dialogue to make the scene run more smoothly and the help the audience understand who is speaking and what is happening during the scene. We used close ups of the characters as another way of letting the audience know who is talking and so they understand what is happening. We also used a close-up on the main character's hand when he opened the door, and this lets the audience feel involved in a way and let the audience see from the characters perspective.

Film Research

The two films i was given to research were Gravity and The Selfish Giant.
Gravity:

Here are the key points that i discovered:

• Directed by: Alfonso Cuarón 
• Produced by: Alfonso Cuarón and David Hayeman
• Written by: Alfonso Cuarón and Jonás Cuarón
• Starring: Sandra Bullock and George Clooney
• Music by: Steven Price
• Distributed by: Warner bros. Pictures
• Released October 4th, 2013 (US)
• Released November 8th, 2013 (UK)
• Budget: $100 million
• Genre: Sci-fi thriller
• Running time: 90 minutes
• Cinematography: Emmanuel Lubezki 

The Selfish Giant:

• Directed by: Clio Barnard
• Written by: Clio Barnard
• Starring: Conner Chapman
• Distributed by: Cinéart 
• Released: May 16th, 2013 (Cannes)
• Released: October 25th, 2013 (UK)
• Budget: N/A ('low budget')
• Genre: Drama
• Running time: 91 minutes
• Cinematography: Mike Eley

Here are links to interviews for some of the people involved in both Gravity and The Selfish Giant:
George Clooney (Gravity): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yh3HOVcF1_A
Sandra Bullock (Gravity): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MV03Yaoaixg 

Alfonso Cuarón (Gravity): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8vDsW0D8hQ

The Cast (The Selfish Giant): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilMMJZDgDh8

Clio Barnard (The Selfish Giant): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdAHyWHbH4E

And finally, here are links for the film trailers for both Gravity and The Selfish Giant:
The Selfish Giant: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrHcLLWCVI0
Gravity: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiTiKOy59o4

I also came across posters for both movies. One poster that appealed to me for Gravity was one which was a poster of Sandra Bullock when she is floating away from the spacecraft. The extreme long shot of her floating away from the spacecraft creates a worried/scared feeling for the audience as it makes them wonder what is going to happen to her, and this will make them want to watch the film to find out what happens. The film slogan "Don't let go" is also at the top of the poster, this creates the same feeling for the audience and it makes them wonder what sort of situation Sandra Bullock is in, in the film. Sandra Bullock and George Clooney's names are also at the center of the poster in a bold font, this is to grab the attention of the target audience who are interested in their other films.

The Selfish Giant film poster that  saw has the film title in bold, block style pink text that takes up almost the entire poster to immediately grab the attention of the audience, as well as a picture of the main character Conner Chapman, and a horse, which gives an idea of what the film contains. At the top of the poster there is a quote "Britain has found a new director to be proud of" and this quote will influence the audience to see the film, because it suggests that the film is very good because Clio Barnard is an accomplished director. The poster also contains 9 ratings, 4 of them being 5-star ratings. These are ratings given to the film by certain audiences that may appeal to the target audience, and these ratings spread across the poster are to try and enhance the number of people interested in watching the film, as many people judge whether or not they want to see a film based on it's ratings.