Music and Sound

Music and Sound

Searching for music on freeplaymusic

We used a website called 'freeplaymusic' to find our music as we were able to find a variety of different genres of music that are all non-copyright, the reason we couldn't use current music from the charts and so on. However we searched keywords such as 'happy' and 'upbeat' which allowed us to find music that suited our opening sequence as we wanted to portray a positive opening seen that would engage our teenage audience.

List of potential song choices

 Firstly we choose our first song for the opening sequence because it was very catchy and upbeat. We found from our research that the majority of teen angst films start with a positive upbeat song, such as in Angus, Thong and Perfect Snogging and also in Easy A. The song that we choose was called 'Love song in my mind' by Adam Micheals, we knew it was the correct song because it was easy to sing along to and we found it stuck in our heads all day, therefore it should have the same affect on the audience. We also felt that this song was correct because the first line of the song was 'you're like a love song in my mind', this immediately sets the plot that our film will be based on love problems.

We also decided to change the soundtrack when the protagonists of the film are introduced for the first time. This is because it sets a sound motif for different characters and the song we changed it two suited these characters. The song was called 'rocka pock' by luke newman and was very much a song that emphasised the power of the characters through the loud and rocky tone and rhythm of the song.

The last soundtrack we decided on was called 'love problems' by Katy Lucy and is a very mellow and delicate song. We decided to carry on the sound motif relating to characters and this soundtrack starts on the introduction of admirers of Rose who is called Tommy Brown. The song suited his cute personality very well so decided to incorporate this to portay him in this way immediately.

Music/Sound Analysis:
0.02: Non-digetic swoosh sound effect
0.04: Digetic alarm sound effect starts
0.11: 'Love song in my mind' fades in
1.15: 'Love song in my mind' fades out
1.16: 'Rocka Pocka' fades in
1.28: 'Rocka Pocka' fades out
1.31: 'Love Problems' fades in
1.45: Volume of 'Love Problems' decreases, digetic speech starts
1.49: Digetic speech stops, 'Love Problems' increases to normal volume
1.53: 'Love Problems' fades as clip ends

Initial ideas!

Initial Ideas:

In todays lesson we brainstormed about the type of conventions that we feel would be most valued in a teen-angst film so that it stereotypically suited the genre. We decided it would be important to incorporate elements of love, friendships, popularity and conflict. We came to this conclusion as teen angst films stereotypically present the issues and lives of the stereotypical teenager and we believe these are all typical elements of a teenagers life that would be suited to a film.

Having done thought about these factors that we wanted to include we came up with our first ideas for our film. We decided we wanted to include a main character who is the stereotypical pretty teenage girl who all the boys fight over. We decided this main character could be new to the school and which means we could convey the social issues of teenagers joining a new school. Secondly we thought about another rival popular girl to the main character who would have a sidekick and the pair would form a great rivalry between them and the main character. Lastly we thought it would be important to have two popular stereotypically good looking boys as this would provide the concept of love between the boys and girls in the film. 

Further to this we had ideas about the concept of our film opening. We decided that we could base our first scene around the main character getting up and ready for her first day at this new school. This means that we could use the mise-en-scene of the setting and props to portray the main character as a stereotypical 'girly girl', such as having stereotypical conventions like make-up and a pink room. We also decided that in the second scene we could introduce this rivalry between the characters by having some sort of fight scene.

Mean Girls Characters

Mean Girls Characters

In today’s lesson we discussed our most likely demographic that we we will be looking to target and we decided that teenage girls will most probably be our target audience. After looking back at my research I found that besides Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging the films I had researched were aimed towards a male target audience. This meant although I had a good understanding of plots that fit the conventions of a teen angst, I felt it I needed more knowledge about the stereotypical teenage girl characters. Which is why I decided to research about the mean girls characters, as this is the most stereotypical ‘girly girl’ film to gain more of an insight about stereotypical female targeted characters.

After watching the film it was very clear that the main characters shown above are a very stereotypical representation of teenage girls who value appearance, popularity and material items. Cady Heron is seen in red in the middle of the photo, is the main character of the film and is regarded as the protagonist. She is a new girl from Africa, at the start of the film she is very modest and keeps her dignity by showing no interest in becoming a stereotypical ‘popular girl’. However as the film progresses she becomes part of the plastics which is the group of three that are also shown in the photo. The girl to the right of Cady is called Regina George who is the leader of the plastics and introduces Cady to the group. Regina is the stereotypical good looking, blonde, popular American girl who all the boys want to impress. She also appears to be the meanest of the characters due to her actions such as fooling Cady with regards to a boy, which leads to Cady taking revenge. However on the right we have Gretchen Wieners who is part of the plastics and acts as a sidekick to Regina. Gretchen’s dad is very wealthy as he invented the toaster strudel which means she has lots of expensive material items that the teenagers seem to value in the film due to their care for appearance, representing her popularity. Lastly the girl on the left is called Karen Smith and she is the stereotypical ‘dumb blonde’ character. She is part of the plastics but due to her character she appears to be too dumb to actually offend anyone like the others.

Easy A Title Sequence

Easy A Title Sequence

Shot 1: 0.18-0.21 seconds, establishing shot of a town with a woman walking across the road in the background. A large sans serif font is used for the writing of “SCREEN GEMS PRESENTS”.

Shot 2: 0.22-0.23 seconds, close up of a sign that says “Ojia CITY LIMIT” in a sans serif font.

Shot 3: 0.24-0.27 seconds, mid shot of the top of a flag pole and flags with sky in the background. To the top right of the screen is text that says “AN OLIVE BRIDGE ENTERTAINMENT PRODUCTION”.

Shot 4: 0.27-0.29 seconds, long shot of a vineyard with crates of oranges.

Shot 5: 0.30-0.35 seconds, close up of an orange with the text “A WILL CLUCK FILM” in medium sized white font in the top right of the shot.

Shot 6: 0.35-39 seconds, this shot is important because it shows the name of the film for the first time. The setting of the shot is in branches above a tree at a school. The words 'Easy A' are displayed on the right side of the shot in a white sans serif font. The shot then leads to the next shot  as the camera slowly drifts down onto the path.

Shot 7: 0.39-0.44 seconds, long shot of the school showing an area of grass with several trees on there. The names 'Penn Badgley', 'Amanda Bynes' and 'Dan Bryd' are shown in the shot in a standard white sans serif font.

Shot 8:0.45-1.06 minutes, the camera continues panning down the path in a point of view shot. The name 'Thomas Haden' is displayed in the same sans serif font on the floor as people walk over and around it.

Shot 9:1.06-1.10 minutes, the name 'Patricia Clarkson' now appears on the left side of the shot in the same font. As the camera continues to move, the name moves to the centre of the shot and can be seen more clearly. There continues to be crowds of people in the shot and in the distance the name 'Cam Gigandej' can be seen.

Shot 10: 1.10-1.14 minutes, the name 'Cam Gigandej' can be seen in front of the crowd of people, the font and the font colour continue to stay the same. It is placed at the bottom of the screen and the font size is medium.

Shot 11: 1.14-1.23 minutes, there is a long shot of a boy skateboarding along the same path and people dancing in the background. The names 'Lisa' and 'Malcom' appear on the screen in the bottom of the shot in the same font.

Shot 12: 1.27-1.35 minutes, the names seen in this shot are 'Aly' and 'Stanley'. Aly is placed on the floor below the centre of the shot and Stanley is placed on the far wall along the wall in the same font. The camera keeps on panning until there is a close up on the text 'Stanley Tucci' and the words disappear when a group of girls walk past.

Shot 13: 1.38-1.44 minutes, there is a mid shot as the girl in the white vest is walking up the path past the lockers and the names 'Fred', 'Juliette' and 'Jake' appear. All 3 names are lined up on the wall in the same font.

Shot 14: 1.43-1.46 minutes, there is a mid shot of the girl with the white vest as another character bashes into her. All of her books fall onto the floor and she picks them up as the shot changes into a high angle. The name 'Emma Stone then appears on the screen in the same font.

Shot 15: 2.20-2.24 minutes, there is a mid shot of two girls walking along and the text  'Casting, Lisa Milla...' appears on screen in the same font as before.

Shot 16:2.31-2.34 minutes, there is a mid shot showing the two girls again and there is text in front of the girl on the right saying 'Costume Designer...' in the continued font.

Shot 17: 2.45-2.51 minutes, there is a mid shot of a teacher walking away from the girls and text appears on the girl to the top right saying 'Music Supervisor...' .

Shot 18: 2.51-2.54 minutes, there is an over the shoulder shot from both girls point of view of the male teacher. At the bottom the screen appears the text saying 'Editing by...'.

Shot 19: 2.56-2.5 minutes, The camera angle and placement of the text is exactly the same as the previous shot. The text in this shot reads; 'production design...'

Shot 20: 3.10-3.26 minutes, The two girls are walking down the path and then the text 'Director of photography...' appears on the path also, on the left side of the screen and the camera is pans down the path as they continue walking until the text can not be see anymore.

Shot 21: 3.34-3.40 minutes, the two girls are continuing to walk down the path, above them is a shop sign but the name of the shop has been replaced with text saying 'Produced by...' in the top of the screen.

Shot 22: 3.52-3.56 minutes, there is a low angle shot of everyone sitting in the garden saying 'written by...' in the centre of the screen and the font remains the same as it has been throughout the whole title sequence.

Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging

 Teen Angst Films: ‘Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging’

Main Characters:

Georgia: Georgia is the main character that the whole film revolves around and is seen as the protagonist. She is a stereotypical teenage girl at the age of 14 going through the everyday social struggles teenager which is very relatable for the young target audience. Georgia thinks of herself as not being very popular or attractive and her aim throughout the film is to try and change this. This is brought on by an instant crush when she meets Robbie the new boy in school who she try's to win over. However Georgia is portrayed as a very shy character in front of him but grows confidence as the film progresses. Overall Georgia is a very likeable character that the audience can sympathise with.

Lindsey: Lindsey often referred to as"wet Lindsey" by the ace gang(Georgia and her friends), is the stereotypical pretty blonde that is very popular in school. Lindsey is the main antagonist in the film because she is portrayed as the school bully and is what stands between Georgia and Robbie being together. She is a very desirable character for others in the film because of her good looks and popularity however Georgia and her friends see her true nasty and ugly personality which becomes clear by the end of the film. Overall Georgia's character is very shallow and loves everyone's attention. 

Robbie: As the new boy in school Robbie is immediately the target of Lindsey and Georgia because of his attractive personality and good looks. The lust of both characters for Robbie is a reason why such a great rivalry forms between Georgia and Lindsey. Robbie is also a stereotypical protagonist as he is a white British male who is good looking. This is why his character is why appealing for the females in the film and also acts as eye candy for females as the young target audience. 

The Ace Gang: The Ace Gang is formed by Georgia and her group of three friends Jas, Ellen and Rosie who form the protagonists of the film. They are all stereotypical teenage girls who share the desire for finding boyfriends and being popular. The group under go many situations with each other such as going to Robbie's gig which demonstrates a typical friendship between young girls. However there are times when they fall out such as when Georgia kicks Jas when they are having an argument in the gym class. This relationship between the friends is very relatable for the young target audience.

Settings: Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging is based in a seaside town in Britain which is portrayed to the audience through typical iconography such as the fish and chip shop . The overall image given of the location is very dull and ordinary through the use of dark colours and bad weather which is what the audience would expect to see in Britain. This makes it very relatable for target audience as they are likely to experience this kind of setting everyday. 

The majority of the scenes are based within the grounds of the school or school related topics which is clear through the use of classrooms and iconography such as school clothes, school bags,PE kits. This is important because the young target audience will all experience the same thing every day which makes the film very relatable for them. 

Narrative: Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging is a film about two school girls fighting over a boy called Robbie. The main character Georgia who lives an average life of a 14 year old girl going to school with her group of unpopular friends and lives in a typical nuclear family home set up. Georgia first meets Robbie in a local shop where Georgia is love struck by him but he is blinded by Lindsey who he starts dating. However after time progresses Robbie breaks up with Lindsey which gives him and Georgia the chance to date but after several events such as awkward kisses between the pair it seems that he isn't interested. As a result Georgia uses her female traits to lead on Robbie's friend Dave to make him jealous. This ends in a breakdown of Georgia's friendship with her friends (mainly Jas) and also Robbie. The subplot to this is that Georgia's dad has been offered a job in Australia which would involve her and her family emigrating. Georgia who was firstly against this idea decides it may be best because of her unfortunate situation with her friends. However Georgia's mum throws a party for her 15th birthday with the help of Jas. Georgia then reunites with her friends and ends up with Robbie, the perfect ending for the protagonist.

Mise-en-scene: 

Props: Props are effectively used in Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging to represent the confusion of growing up through your teenage years. For example the image to the right shows how the main character Georgia is interested in boys because of the book that she is reading. However this contrasts with the scooter that is also in the shot which suggests she also enjoys playing on it which portrays her as slightly childish. This is relatable the audience because the young target audience may also be going through this stage of confusion.

Lighting: Lighting is used to set the mood of each scene for the audience. For example in the image to the right there is bright high key lighting being used to portray the happiness of Georgia and Robbie. This is important because Georgia's aim throughout the film was to win over Robbie so this lighting shows how the two of them together is positive through this bright lighting.

Costumes: The costumes are used effectively to represent 'The Ace Gang' as unpopular and foolish. For example the image shows that the have been dressed in some very unflattering fancy dress that portrays them in this unpopular way. We can tell that the group does not feel confident in their outfits from their displeased facial expressions. This contrasts with popular characters like Lindsey who is wearing a sterotypical pink girls costume and she is portrayed as happy. This use of costumes shows the social divide between characters and the audience should be able to relate to these differences in choice of teenage clothing.

Film Production Companies

Film Production Logos

Warner Bros Pictures:

The first thing that catches the viewer's eye in this logo is the large, slightly three dimensional, gold plated badge. The first component of the sheer size of the badge is important as it has the connotation that they are a large successful film company themselves which promotes quality from the outset. Secondly the three dimensional feature adds a depth of meaning about the work that company do, connoting that they will bring these films to life appearing as close to reality as possible, much like the logo is brought to life by this feature. The gold plated badge connotes wealth and luxury which is important because it once again suggest they are the best. Lastly the clouds in background show that they are in the sky and the phrase "the sky is the limit" is very relevant as it shows that the company are the top in the film business. The Warner Bros have produced some quality well known films such as the Harry Potters, The Batman films and The Matrix. These are very well respected films which shows how the films produced conform to what is portrayed by the logos.

DreamWorks:

The DreamWorks logo suggests an element of mystery and fantasy from the aspects that are involved. Firstly the crescent moon and fluffy clouds portray the idea of another world and a place of dreams. This suggests that DreamWorks produce imaginative films that will take the viewer to a place of their dreams. The stars in the background are also important as it connotes the idea of fantasy because stars are often thought of as magical. Furthermore also suggesting that the company uses lots of top film 'stars' which shows they are of high quality. The little boy that sits on the moon links the idea of dreams with children's extraordinary imaginations and daydreaming, creating another mystical convention. This is supported by the films that DreamWorks have produced such as Kung-fu Panda, Shrek, Chicken Run and Madagascar. These are all family favourites because of their appeal towards children which shows the relevance of the logo conventions.

Metro Goldwyn Mayer:

The MGM logo immediately catches the viewers attention because of the fierce looking animal that is the main feature of the logo. The lion comes with many positive connotations for the film company, the lion is the king of the jungle which portrays MGM as the king in the world of film productions; setting them apart from competition. The lion also has the connotations of strong leadership, loyalty and strength which are all very valuable values for a film production company to have. Further to this, classy golden tape and badge show the wealth and high standards of MGM as a company. Adding to the serif font portrays the traits of taking care for the finest details which is important for film companies. MGM have made some very popular recent films such as 21 Jump Street, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and The Hobbit's. This shows they are keeping involved with the latest competition and producing well made popular films.

Pixar:

Pixar have chosen a very simplistic logic which has the connotations that they like to produce simple and films that are easy to understand. This very relevant for Pixar as their main target audience is children. The basic sans-serif font also has the connotation that Pixar like to get the job done without overcomplicating the process, which is a great value to have for a film company. The baby blue background also connotes the values of trust, intelligence and wisdom from the symbolism from the colour and this is very valuable for a company like Pixar. The logo also features a bedside lamp which has the links to dreams and bedtime which suggests they produce films that take the viewers to a place of dreams and of a different world. This is very much the case as Pixar have produced films like WALL-E, Toy Story, Finding Nemo and Monsters, Inc.

Popular Teen Angst Film Openings

Popular Teen Angst Film Openings:

I have decided to look at some popular teen angst film openings to try and get some ideas for our own film opening. I have noticed some popular and generic conventions for teen angst opening so I believe these will be important features that we could include for our own. I decided to look at the popular teen angst films called 'Footloose', 'Pitch Perfect' and 'Clueless'.

Footloose:

-The setting of the opening is a party which is very stereotypical for teenagers.

-Different social groups are presented all together, such as males, females, different ethnicities. Although there are no elderly, children or disabled people represented.

-The music is very loud with an up-beat tune which is a typical representation of teenagers as they are known for stereotypically playing loud music at parties.

- The title 'Footloose' is blended in half way through the title sequence between other titles. A sans-serif font is used which reflects the outgoing and slightly crazy representation of teenagers in the title sequence.

-The bright yellow font used reflects the bright and careless personalities of the characters shown in the opening scene.

-The iconography of the props such as the litter of red cups on the floor conveys a value for drinking but also portrays them was irresponsible.

-Shot used of two characters kissing represents the convention of love which is typical of a teen angst.

- The car crash represents an important social issue that is relevant to teenagers as it can affect many young people.

Pitch Perfect:

-The setting is firstly based at a taxi point, which reflects the stereotypical convention that teenagers like to travel around. This is then followed by the next setting which is at a university campus which is also a relatable setting for teenagers.

-The soundtrack is very fast-paced which reflects the chaotic lifestyle of teenagers. The song is also based on a popular chart song which is important because it is stereotypical that teenagers like to listen to chart music.

-The close up shots of the editing software used to edit the music reflects how technology is an important to teenagers.

-High key lighting used to present a happy and careless atmosphere.

- Main character has a briefcase style of bag which is unstereotypical for a teenage girl as we would expect to see her carrying a handbag.

- The main character is wearing dark clothing which represents her as a counter type compares to the bright clothing of other teenagers, such as the bright yellow tops of the group of boys on campus.

-The titles are very organised and continuously symmetrical which represents the idea of 'perfect' from the title of the film.

-The colours of the main characters props also portray her as a counter type as we would expect to see bright coloured luggage and jewellery opposed to the black which is the colour of hers.

Clueless:

-The production company logo is presented very with 5 different bright colours which is reflecting the busy and bright lifestyle of teenagers.

- Stereotypical good looking and desirable girls represented as the main characters.

- Starts with lots of short quick cuts between different shots of the characters which conveys a careless and chaotic lifestyle.

- High key lighting used portrays a fun and positive atmosphere.

-The soundtrack used, 'We're the kids of America' is a well known pop song which reflects teenagers stereotypical love for chart music.

- The voice shows the main character talking about others behind their back and this idea of backstabbing is a typical social issue for teenagers so they will be able to relate to this.

- The shots of the main character looking at herself in the mirror and taking care in choosing her outfit reflects how teenagers care about their appearance which the audience will be able to relate to.

-The glamorous lifestyle presented, such as material items like her car and nice clothes and also her popular social status, shows what is valued in this teenage world.