LONELY THIS CHRISTMAS- Character Profile

Name: Victoria Richards

Age: 40

Hometown: London

Class: Upper class

Relationship status: Single

Current family: Doesn't live with family, distant from them as she pushed them away as a teenager

Other close relationships: None

Job: Successful business woman

Dress style: well groomed, sophisticated, high end, up-to-date fashions 

Religion: Atheist

Past time: Shopping, fashion shows, work lunches

Favourite sports: None

Favourite food: Sophisticated tastes, high end restaurants, fad trendy diets

Personality: shmoozer, can convince people to do what she wants, manipulative, appears confident to hide her loneliness and desperate need to be liked, show off 

Temper: quite a high temper, especially when things don’t go how she wants them to, tries to hide it because of her past and to be liked

Consideration for others: doesn’t think much of anyone else of a lower class than herself as she was brought up this way

How other people see her: a bit stuck up, no one is really fond of her because of the past and how she treated others, friendly to her face but not friendly about her when she turns away, afraid to make an enemy of her

Opinion of herself: thinks very highly of herself because she is well dressed and polite and has been successful throughout her life, brought up being told she is the best of the best at pretty much everything, however she knows she is lonely 

Ambitions: already achieved everything that she wanted to achieve, in a top job, being paid a lot of money, wants to get married and have a family and be surrounded by friends 

Most important thing to know about this character: she may be rich and appear as if she has the 'perfect life' but she is in fact very lonely. Due to the mistakes and the way she treated people in her past.

Will the audience like or dislike this character, and why?: the audience may feel sorry for her because of what is going on in the opening sequence (people are turning her down and she's left lonely at Christmas) but that is only because they do not yet know the reason behind this which they will find out later on in the film, they audience may end up sympathising with the protagonist Victoria as they will see the pressure put on her by her family to be 'perfect' and get everything right. The young teenage audience we have targeted for this film will be able to relate to the theme of pressure to be what everyone wants. 

Props, Location and Fashion Planning

For this task we focus and planned what sort of props, fashion and location we will use for the opening scene of our coming of age film

Props for Kathryn:
- plain black hairbrush
- designer make up powder
- Chanel perfume
- designer bag
- neat school uniform
- shiny black brogues
- fruit salad breakfast (fancy cutlery and bowl etc)

Props for Jodie:
- broken and scruffy black school shoes (either creepers or converse)
- scrunchie hairband
- mascara
- drug store spray
- ruined scruffy school backpack
- school uniform with holes in
- toaster and toast

Locations:
- Thornbury Castle
- The outside of Jodie's house
- Bus stop
- Inside Kathryn's room
- Inside Jodie's room
- Outside school gates

Fashion:
- School uniform
Jodie: tie (tied messily, half way down chest), shirt (shirt sleeves rolled up over blazer sleeves, buttons open at top), blazer (sleeves rolled up, dirty), skirt (short), tights (with holes in), shoes (creepers/converse - scruffy, broken, torn, untied). 
Kathryn: tie (tied correctly, right up to neck), shirt (ironed, all buttons done up), blazer (spotless, decorated in badges such as prefect and mentor), skirt (knee length like the school rules, ironed), tights, shoes (brogues - polished, shiny, tied in perfect bows). 

Character Profile

For this task we created character profiles for our two protagonists Kathryn Winfield and Jodie Smith 

Name: Kathryn Winfield

Age: 15

Hometown: London

Class: Upper class

Relationship status: Single

Current family: Mother, father

Other close relationships: None

School: St Bonaventure's

Dress style: well groomed, sophisticated, organized

Religion: Catholic

Attitude towards Religion: Strong, strict

Hobbies: horse riding, hunting, ballet

Favourite sports: Lacrosse, hockey

Favourite food:

Sense of humour: It’s hard to make her laugh

Temper: quite a high temper, especially when things don’t go how the usually go

Consideration for others: doesn’t think much of anyone else of a lower class than herself as she was brought up this way

How other people see her: a bit stuck up, teachers pet

Opinion of herself: thinks very highly of herself because she is well dressed and polite, brought up being told she is the best of the best at pretty much everything

Ambitions: top grades, best job there is, make lots of money (at least this is what her mother and father have pressured her into wanting)

Most important thing to know about this character: she may be rich etc. but she is in fact very lonely

Will the audience like or dislike this character, and why?: at first they may decide to dislike her because of her background and the fact that she’s a posh stuck up girl, which is the stereotype for the “villain” in these types of films

Name: Jodie Smith

Age: 15

Hometown: London

Class: Working class

Relationship status: Single

Current family: Mother, father, 2 brothers, 2 sisters

Other close relationships: None

School: St Bonaventure's

Dress style: casual, scruffy, laid-back

Religion: Catholic

Attitude towards religion: relaxed

Hobbies: drawing, playing the piano, writing

Favourite sports: none

Favourite food: chocolate biscuits

Sense of humour: finds typical funny things funny

Temper: quite a low temper, she tends to let things go and take the blame when things go wrong

Consideration for others: respects others because she knows everyone has their own background story (as she has been through a lot and understands people easily)

How other people see her: she comes across as the “weird girl” to the popular kids because she has no friends, lots of people know about her strange/crazy family and how she doesn’t have much money – which shows through the clothes she wears, her uniform has many holes in.

Opinion of him/herself: she thinks very low of herself because she has been treated like this her entire school life by others in her year

Other traits, especially those to be brought out in story:

Ambitions: just to get through school and get a decent job to be able to provide for her family at home

Most important thing to know about this character: like Kathryn, she is very lonely

Will the audience like or dislike this character, and why?: they are more likely to become found of Jodie than Kathryn because many teenagers can relate to the problems that she faces and therefore sympathize for her.

Audience Profile

For this task I created a presentation to show who would watch our film for example I researched who we will target as our primary audience and our secondary audience for our coming of age film.




Learning Comment:
From completing this task I have learnt that our primary audience will be females aged 14-19. We will target people from the teenage social group as that is who most coming of age films are aimed at.  We will represent our teenage characters and audience as equal within society

Preliminary Task

For our preliminary task I filmed a short conversation between two people. I used filming techniques such as Match On Action (cuts from one shot to another view that matches the first shot's actions) and the 180 degrees rule (two characters in a scene should maintain the same left/right 'relationship' to one another.)





Learning Comment
Completing this task has helped me learn a few techniques that will help make our own coming of age opening sequence look more professional. Another thing that completing this task will help with when it comes to filming our own, is to begin recording before we begin the scene to make sure that all the speech and action within the scene is filmed.

Narrative Structure

Learning Comment:
From completing this task I have found that the majority of the 'coming-of-age' films follow the same codes and conventions such as introducing the protagonist within the first few shots of the opening sequence. Another popular code and convention is that other characters, not just the protagonist are shown within the first moments of the opening sequence. In both 'Boyhood' and 'Sixteen Candles' the disruption of the equilibrium is unclear and not mentioned in the opening sequence of either film. In contrast the 'Wild Child' disruption of the equilibrium is shown within the first shots of the opening sequence. This will help me when creating my own so that the codes and conventions will allow my film to be identified as a 'coming-of-age' film.

Boyhood opening sequence:




Sixteen Candles Opening Sequence:

Representation In Film

For this task I analysed how the audience for 21 Jump Street and Clueless were represented through mise-en-scene, camera angles, the editing sound, etc.

Representation In Films 


Learning Comment:
From researching these two opening sequences and how they represent their teenage target audience and characters, I have discovered that they follow the typical codes and conventions for a coming of age film by subtly representing them through mise-en-scene's use of bright, strong colours and music that is fast paced and upbeat. The teenage social group is shown as weak and vulnerable in both opening sequences through the use of high camera angles. The social group of teenagers are represented as being quite energetic and restless, this is represented through the editing between shots as they were fast and energetic, they featured a lot of tracking shots and cuts between shots.

Analysis of Previous Students Work

For this research I looked into previous students work and analysed different aspects of it and consider:

• Things I liked/disliked.
• What i consider the strengths and weaknesses of the opening sequence.
• Areas of improvement.
• Is the material appropriate for target audiences.
• Is the rise en scene appropriate.
• Is the editing and camera work suitable and good quality.

This is the first previous students work I looked at: Sophie Barrett


The second one I looked at: Roses Are Red



Learning Comment:
From carrying out this research task I have been inspired and have a few more ideas of what is possible when it comes to creating my own opening sequence. As a member of the coming of age genre target audience I am able to see what techniques were used to engage the audience which will be helpful when I begin to plan and create my own opening scene. For example I enjoyed the opening of roses are red however it didn't get into the narrative at all and I got bored however there were mo titles at all in the Sophie Barrett one which was hard to then know what kind of atmosphere the film will be.

Audience Research

For this task I worked in a group with Megan Bennett, Rebecca Moffat and Freya Vincent. We researched the audience for 5 coming of age films (The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Superbad, Pretty In Pink and The Perks Of Being A Wallflower) we also carried out focus groups to
understand how the audience that was primary for these films felt about them now.

I researched The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Pretty In Pink.


Rebecca Moffat researched The Perks of Being a Wallflower and Superbad;



Megan Bennett and Freya Vincent carried out the focus group and a survey:




Results from the focus group:
The focus group told us that they were quite interested in the film being related to themselves (teenagers). We also found out that they prefer a gripping and engaging opening sequence however they don't whether they are introduced to the protagonist straight away.

Results from the audience research:
From analyzing the results of the survey we have found that the majority of the participants know what a coming of age film is. However when they were asked to rate the genres: comedy, romance, action, thriller, drama, crime, adventure, anime/cartoon, horror, coming of age and fantasy, in order of favourite to least favourite, only one person put that the coming of age genre is their favourite the most popular position for coming of age was 10th out of 11. This tells us that they are not very popular and that when we plan and create ours we will have to make it stand out from all of the current coming of age films. From the same question we have discovered by majority the favourite genre is comedy and that is also shown in the question what they enjoyed most about their favourite coming of age film as most answers were that the film included comedy. This will help us when planning and creating as we will know what would appeal to the target audience and how to engage them.

Learning Comment
Film research
From researching Pretty in Pink, The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller's Day Off and looking at Rebecca's research into Superbad and The Perks of Being a Wallflower. I discovered that the majority of them were specifically advertised on channels that are targeted towards teenagers, this helps target the primary audience as they are more likely to see the trailer.

Coming Of Age Title Research

For this task I selected three opening title sequences The Breakfast Club(1985), Easy A (2010), Almost Famous (2000) to analyse:




Learning Comment
By completing this task I have learnt about a few design techniques that I liked for example the technique used in 'Easy A' that blended the title names into the background to represent their teenage audience trying to fit in. I also like the friendly, more personal effect of the writing out the credits as seen in 'Almost Famous'. Doing this task has helped me as I have inspiration and ideas for my own opening credits.

• That they fit in with the teenage audience.
• Give an insight to the tone and narrative of the film.
• Connote the tone and mood of the film.
• Are creative and interesting.

Director Study

For this task, I researched into a director that is famously known for directing coming-of-age. I chose to do John Hughes who wrote, directed and produced blockbuster hits such as The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Pretty In Pink:

John Hughes
John Wilden Hughes Jr is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. He was most famous for writing and producing Home Alone 2 and then directing, producing and writing Ferris Bueller's Day Off  and The Breakfast Club. 
John Hughes's first credited screenplay, Class reunion, was written while he still worked at National Lampoons magazine; the film was classed as a disastrous attempt to duplicate the success of Animal House. The next screen play that Hughes wrote was National Lampoons Vacation (1983) and was said to 'put the Lampoon back on the map'. along with more success from his script 'Mr Mom', John Hughes recieved a three movie deal with Universal Studies. John Hughes's directorial debut was a coming-of-age film; Sixteen Candles.
John Hughes films are usually recognisable for his signature trademarks as he usually; set his films in the chicago area, uses a close up shot of 2 of the characters locking eyes. Most of his films end in a freeze frame, most iconically the freeze frame of John Bender (Judd Nelson) holding his fist in the air walking across the field at the end of The Breakfast Club. He is also commonly known for writing roles for John Candy, Anthony Michael Hall and casting members of the brat pack. 
As his films are usually fun and light-hearted, such as The Great Outdoors and Uncle Buck, the target demographic would be C2, D and E. John Hughes is well known for targeting a young adult demographic and portraying the struggles of teenage lives realistically and empathetically, he was one of the very first writers that portray the teenagers in the film that voice the struggles they face for example in The Breakfast Club they deal with the issue of pressure from parents and the battle to form their own individual identity. Ferris Bueller's Day Off confronts the problem of growing up and becoming independent, deciding your future and going different ways. 

A lot of John Hughes films go straight into the film and do not have much of an opening sequence, I find this much more effective at engaging the audiences attention as they then want to know what happens in the rest of the film as the earlier the film begins the earlier you gain interest as if there is a long section of credits the audience could get bored and stop watching. In a few John Hughes films that are primarily targeted at a teenage audience, begin with an opening monologue such as The Breakfast Club and most notably Ferris Bueller's Day Off, these monologues tend to include the opinion of the main character or voice a universal feeling of the target teen audience.

John Hughes formed a close bond with Molly Ringwald and often cast her as the lead role, John Hughes films that she starred in included Sixteen Candles (1984), The Breakfast Club (1985), Pretty In Pink (1986).

Learning comment: From researching John Hughes, I have learnt that he is famous for directing and writing some of the most well known coming of age films such as 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off', 'The Breakfast Club', 'Pretty in Pink' and 'Sixteen Candles'. I have also learnt from completing this task that he is known for his trademarks that represent to the audience that it was John Hughes who either wrote and/or directed them. Trademarks such as a freeze frame at the ending of his films, the most famous of which, at the end of 'The Breakfast Club' where Judd Nelson is walking across the field and it freezes with his fist in the air. He also was well know for casting Molly Ringwald, Anthony Michael Hall and John Candy. 
I enjoyed researching John Hughes and recognised a lot of his films that I didn't know that he wrote. I like the idea of having a trademark and therefore researching him was extremely helpful and will help when I plan and design my own opening sequence.

Here are a few examples of the opening sequences for the films John Hughes wrote; 'The Breakfast Club', 'Sixteen Candles' and 'Uncle Buck'.

Producers and Distributors

From this research I was quite surprised by how many of the 'big blockbuster' film companies are subsidiaries of bigger companies for example Paramount Pictures which is a subsidiary of Viacom and Universal which is a subsidiary of NBCUniversal. I was also surprised by the amount of subsidiaries that the 'blockbuster' film companies then owned.
I have learnt that alot of the big blockbuster companies release coming of age films, for example Paramount released Pretty In Pink and Universal released Sixteen Candles, Fast Times at Ridgemont High and The Breakfast Club. This is so that they can reach a wider audience and not just the target audiences for other genres such as action and thriller which would target an older audience.
This will help me when I am deciding which company I would want my film to be released by and who would be best to produce and represent it.

Coming-of-age Opening Sequence Conventions

This is a video of the mise-en-scene analysis I did for 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off'.




I also looked at other peoples research and analysis so that I could have knowledge of the conventions of all different types and sub-genres of coming of age opening sequences.

The first one I looked at was by Freya Vincent:



The second one was by Megan Bennett:



The final one I looked at was by Rebecca Moffat:




Learning Comment

• The most common typography used is a bold but simple font this represents the teenage audience and the teenage characters in the film. It does this through the typography as the plain style demonstrates how the teenage audience wants to be identified the same as any other age group and not stereotyped. The bold element of the typography connotes the tone of the film as fun and lighthearted. 
• The most commonly used lighting technique is high key lighting as it gives an insight into the narrative suggesting a happy and light-hearted mood to the film.
• In the coming-of-age opening sequences I included in my research, the scene was usually set within the first couple of shots, this helps engage the audience as they can then understand where the narrative takes place, making them feel more included.

History of Coming of Age Films

Learning Comment: 
From carrying out this task, I learnt that throughout time there are many codes and conventions that a coming-of-age film follows, such as introducing the characters usually within the first few minutes of the opening sequence.
Despite the time period the film is made in the protagonist is always a teenager which fits the genre of coming-of-age. From researching the history of opening sequences it is obvious that within the first few minutes of the opening sequence of a coming of age film, an insight into the narrative and tone of the film is given.
From this task, my favourite films that I researched were The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Mean Girls, I enjoyed these films over the others because they are entertaining and funny. However they also explore themes that as a teenager I can relate to, for example the struggle of growing up and having to move on (Ferris Bueller's Day Off), being stereotyped for being clever or your hobbies (The Breakfast Club) or the desire and struggle to fit in and be liked (Mean Girls).

Famous Opening Sequences

For this task I researched into ten different opening sequences, I analysed films from a range of genres so that I could closely see the codes and conventions of films from each of the genres and their similarities and differences. 

Learning Comment

From this task I have learnt that most film opening sequences have the institutional information and logo of which company produced and directed the film. I have also learnt that opening film credits include the lead actors and actresses, the writer and director but they also include the names and roles of the set leaders, for example “costume designer”.

I have also discovered that the music from the opening sequence fits the tone and theme of the film. For example the fast tempo music from the start of the Kingsman film fits the action-packed theme of the rest of the film.

From this task I recognised that in the majority of the opening film sequences such as Grease, Gladiator, Silence of the lambs, Now You See Me, Kingsman, Forrest Gump; the main characters and their backgrounds were introduced within the first few minutes of the opening sequence.

The tone of the film is set within the first couple of minutes through the music, the high and low key lighting, such as Gladiator features a lot of low key lighting within the first few minutes, connoting that this will be a serious thought provoking film. Whereas Footloose is filmed in mostly high key lighting to connote the light-hearted nature of the film. 

Non-diegetic noises such as music and sound affects were used to further amplify the tone of the film for example in the opening of the action film Kingsman gunshots and explosions to emphasize the fast-paced and exciting atmosphere. 

My favourite opening was Now You See Me as I found it to be the most exciting and attention grabbing of all of them as it attracts your attention and makes you instantly want to know more. The appeal of this film is further increased by the dialogue and non-diegetic music which builds at the right moment to create suspense and excitement which left me wanting to finish the film to know what is going to happen.