Strcuture of the film

For the structure of my film I am going to use the basic Todorov structure. I have chosen this structure as most teen dramas reflect that structure.










The film will start with an equilibrium, the characters will be introduced and the audience will then get to see how the characters are in terms of personality etc. I will reflect their personalities through mise-en-scene and therefore the audience will establish themselves with the characters and know whether or not to emphatise with the protagonist or not.

The disruption within the narrative will be when the main charatcer discovers she is pregnant.This will come after we have established the type of character she is and the impact this disruption will have on her life. The disruption will come quiet early within the film this is so that the rest of the film can explore the different issues that the disruption has on her life, and will explore choices she has to make in order to sort her life out.

The quest will be exploring who she is as a person and this will draw the audience within the narrative a lot more. The quest will explore choices that mean teen parents face and the strruggle to cope the unexpected news. The quest will also focus on how different people percieve teen pregnancies and how the individual deals with these predjudices.

The resolution will resolve a new equilibrium and this will the point at which the protagonist has the baby. This will establish a new resolution within her life and will therefore discover her virture and will resolve the issues she's been trying to resolve throughout the film.


The sequence I am going to focus on will be the disruption but most importantly the time she finds out she is in fact pregnant. I wanted to focus more on this scene because I liked the idea of using close ups to show the protagonists facial expressions to express feelings and emotions. I also like using the disruption sequence so that the audience can build up an empathy with the characters.


I have also been considering a story type and have decided to focus on the unrecognized virtue, I have taken influence from Juno for this because during the film we see her searching for herself. We see her considering factors in life which she needs to change in order to recognized what her purpose in the world is. In the film Juno we see how she battles to come to terms with the person she has become and the person she wants to be.  During the film we see her ups and downs and this makes us empathise with her more and engages us more into her storyline.

I like this close up from the film Juno as I like the way the audience are draw to the fear in her eyes and can visibly see how the news that she's pregnant has devestated her.






I like this medium shot of Juno in the car. This is taken from the scene were Juno finds her situation to much to deal with. The medium shot shows Juno centered framed and she looks packed into this one place which could reflect her place of mind of been trapped into this situation which she never asked for.

Examples of drama films

The genre I am exploring has many sub-genres and therefore I have decided to look at 'Teen Dramas' as this is the genre I hope to reflect in my final piece.

The first film I looked at within this genre is Juno which explores issues of teen pregnancy and the issues of adoption, however the film keeps light hearted with comical ellements.



This is the trailer for Juno were it becomes clear that the genre is a teen drama and does reflect these type of issues. This trailer reflects my genre because it reflects real life situations such a teen pregnancy and adoption, the film also shows how different people cope with the situation. It also shows how many people view teen pregnancy, for example Juno is faced with the fact that she has to be looked at in a different way by people at her high school and in the trailer it's notable that she isn't quite sure who she is within herself 'I dont really know what kind of girl I am...' this shows how teen Mum's may find teen pregnancy hard to deal with and therefore feel like they've lost themselves. The film makes the audience connect with Juno as a character because of all the emotions she is going through and how her story is presented to the audience from the very beginning.

Also in the trailer we are shown how the issue of teen pregnancy is taken light heartedly within the film making it appeal more to a wider audience who enjoy a comedy, the one liners used make for a more entertaining viewing experience and the fact that Juno's character is quite un-aware of the seriousnesses of her situation adds to the comical element a lot more. The audience are almost draw in to her character because of the way she brushes the seriousnesses of her situation off and the way she is able to deal with her situation by pretending it's something normal, this makes the audience connect more with her character when there is a disruption within the todorov structure.




This next trailer is from the film Mean Girls were not fitting in is the main theme throughout the film. In this film we are presented with a girl who is finding it difficult to fit in within a new high scholl environment, she meets a group of popular girls named the 'plastics' because of there girly like qualities and there ability to 'bitch' about everyone within the high school. Lindsey Lohan plays Cady Heron who moves from Africa to America and joins a new school, here she finds herself a part of the plastics until she realises how there using her for their own selfish gain.

The film explores the main issue of not belong to a social group within society and in the film the main character is played by a girl as not fitting in within a social group is notable harder for teen girls and the main audience for Mean Girls was the teenage girl audience. At the end of the film the plastics loose the battle for populairty and therefore Mean Girls follows the ethic that 'the underdog always wins' and that people always get what's coming to them.

Other themes within the film are weight issues and boy issues which a stereotypical girl is known to have and therefore Cady fits within the stereotypical girl and is meant to reflect girls within society. Lindsey Lohan plays this role well mainly because of her laid back image which she has been given for the role of Cady.


 
This is the trailer for the hugely popular cinderella story were Hilary Duff plays a modern day version of the fairytale cinderella. In this film we are presented with the issues of not fitting in with society and not conforming to the social norms of a modern day high school. Also Hilary Duff's character Sam is also focred to live with a step parent after her Dad died at a youne age, this is also one theme that makes the audience connect more to her character.

In the film Hilary Duff plays her character well as she reflects the 'tom boy' of society and therefore isn't the usual type of girl that the popular boy would go for and this appeal to most of the target audience of teenaged girls. The appeal to the audience most is the character of Sam's love interest Austin Ames who plays the stereotypical America jock who's admired by the boys in school and is liked by most of the girls within the school.

This film folows the fairytale cinderella and trys to reflect teen issues into a modern day version of the fairytale making this appeal to a wider audience and appeals more to the teen girl target audience who enjoy the romantic teen drama.

This trailer is for the hugely popular Angus, thongs and perfect snogging which is made to appeal to the British teens. The film is set in the British seaside town of Brighton and therefore appeals more to the British teen. The locations within the film seem more realistic and therefore the audience will relate to the characters more. The locations also make the film seem more accessible and aren't the stereotypical California backdrop with perfect sunshine and amazing beaches but instead portray the more realistic storyline with the use of a British seaside as the backdrop. The audience like this more as it makes the film seem more realistic and therefore makes them believe that this type of story can happen to them.

Another element of the film is the use of actors. For example Georgia the main female protagonist isn't the stereotypical hopeless romantic who never gets the guy, she's more believable within her role as this character because she isn't the female ideal of skinny blonde with perfect hair and perfect facial features, instead she's average weight with short brown hair and her facial features aren't perfect but that's what makes the audience like her more is the fact that she is relatable to them and therefore they engage with her more and ultimately want her to end up with the films main heartthrob; Robbie. Robbie is what most typical teenage girls would see as perfect, he's good looking, romantic, sweet and kind and plays in a band, the appeal of Robbie targets the audience more because the female audience will be lusting after him while wanting a happy ending for the characters within the narrative. All these elements of these characters make the audience engage more with the narrative and become emotionally connected to the characters as the story progresses.

Angus Thongs and Perfect Snogging is the ideal teen drama movie, it has the typical storyline which teens are known to love, it has the happy ending which teens are also going to love and it has characters which we see and develop and can realistically relate to making this my favourite of all the films I have explored.

Genre codes and conventions

The drama genre often reflects real life situations but portrays them in a more dramatic, entertaining way. Drama films often portray issues of infidelity, teen issues or the more established film may look into world issues such as the film 'Remember Me' featuring Robert Pattison who looked at the tragic terrorist attack 9/11.

Drama films are often used to portray a message about the society which we live in, it gives across a message in an entertaining world and through the use of mass media the message can be viewed in the masses helping to spread the message of the film.

Teen dramas are often focused on teen pregnancy such as the film 'Juno' who used the topic of teen drama to also include a comical element, making the issue of teen pregnancy some what not as serious but was done to show how common or typical teen pregnancy has become. The film Juno had the message that if society sees teen pregnancy as not something serious then teens won't take it seriously either. 

In teen dramas the characters often portray teens in real life, someone who the audience may recognise or can draw out characteristics of the character which they can associate with someone they know or have seen. The characters in teen dramas are often characters that teens can relate too and often hold the values and beliefs of most teens. For example in the film 'Mean Girls' we are show characters with different characteristics which the audience can relate too, in 'Mean Girls' Lindsey Lohan's character Cady has to change her values and beliefs to be able to 'fit in' with the more popular members of her high school, this is a subject many teen girls can relate to and therefore establishes an audience.


Another sub-genre of the Drama genre would be historical. This sub- genre explores past events in time and the example of 'Remember Me' would be an example of that. Another example would be the film 'The King's Speech' were by the film explored the life of King George VI and his rise to the throne and the speech therapist who helped him there. This film shows historical events that have been made into a media text to entertain but to also reflect a real life past event.


Another example of a sub-genre of the Drama genre would be a 'Romantic Drama' were by love within the film is complicated because the two main protagonists have difficulties in been together for example family disapproval, forbidden love. An example of the Romantic Drama would be Titanic were Rose (Kate Winslet) and Jack (Leonardo Di Caprio) fall in love aboard the R.M.S Titanic in 1912 and the first problem they encounter is that Rose is from a wealthy background were as Jack is from a poor working class background, another problem is that Rose is due to be married therefore hindering the romance between the couple.


Another sub-genre of the Drama genre is a 'Crime Drama' were the films main theme is Good Versus Evil, in the film the protagonist often wins. An example of this type of Drama film would be any of the Batman triology were Batman plays the protagonist (the good guy) and the antagonist is played by one of Batman's enemies.

Deciding upon a genre

For my FM1 Film Studies coursework I have been looking at genre choices and have been looking at the codes and conventions for each. The genre I have chosen is the drama genre, I have chosen this genre as I believe I can create a storyboard based upon this genre using the right characters, locations. I also find this genre of interest as it portrays real life situations in a dramatic way. Also this genre gives the director the chance to develop character profiles within the film and make the audience empahise with the characters a lot more so that when the discruption occurs the audience are more involved with the narrative.