Teen Angst Movies

Teen Angst Movies are films that are aimed generically towards teenagers. They have themes associated with growing up and the coming of age. Some classic teen angst films include:

• Clueless
• Mean Girls
• Angus Thongs and Perfect Snogging
• Just My Luck

 These films follow certain conventions, such as having females as the main characters, having themes such as growing up and coming of age, and set in a school or home.

Here are some clips from well known teen angst movies

Mean Girls

Clueless

Pitch Perfect

Just My Luck

Angus Thongs and Perfect Snogging

A Cinderella Story

Another Cinderella Story

From looking at the generic conventions of teen angst films, I have highlighted four key areas that contain the conventions. These are, character, costume, props and setting. Within each of these categories there are specific things that altogether make up a typical teen angst film.

The main character in a teen angst film is usually a female teenager such as Bella in Pitch Perfect and Cady in Mean Girls. Then there is a good looking love interest, generally a male, white skinned and also young, the same age or slightly older than the main character, for example, Robbie in Angus Thongs and Perfect Snogging, or Austin in A Cinderella Story. Then there is the evil character, who is generally a female, blonde and if the film is in a school setting, is the queen bee, the most popular girl in the school. Some examples of this are Regina George in Mean Girls, Fiona in A Cinderella Story, and Vivian Kensington in Legally Blonde.

Costume plays a large role in creating the effect of a teen angst movie. They can create a setting such as the characters wearing school uniforms to give the setting of a school, or social groups such as a group of people wearing the same colour scheme to show their unity. The costumes I have used as examples are from a range of films, settings and situations such as parties, work and school uniforms.

Props such can make a scene feel more realistic. In teen angst movies, props that can be relevant to a school such as books and bags are used to show authenticity, but they are not the only props included. Props such as microphones, headphones and drumkits are used to show an underlying musical theme to the film such as in Angus Thongs and Perfect Snogging and Pitch Perfect. Mobile phones, "cool" cars and laptops are also used to show the technological diversion of today's youth, and that people can communicate quickly. Makeup tables and sets are used to show that the youth of today care about their appearance.

Choosing the right setting for a teen angst film is crucial to making it seem as if it is real life. Most commonly, the films are set in a place such as a school, where teenagers can relate to the people and situations that are present. Other locations used include a shopping centre, cafe or school dance.

Title Sequences

This week, we started looking at title sequences are formatted. We looked at films from a range of genres, such as teen angst, horror and comedy. We then watched the title sequence for Juno and had an assistive timeline, such as the one above. We had to note the amount of names that are credited in the opening sequence, and we noticed that generally this is around 20 names. Then, we had to create a timeline for a film title sequence of my own.

The timeline above is my timeline of the Forrest Gump titles. The sequence involves a feather drifting naturally through the sky and city, before landing on the feet of the main character. He is the only character introduced in the sequence which is unnatural, but other characters are better introduced in the following scene. Directors of the film say that the feather was chosen to represent fate and opportunity, as it could land anywhere at all and it lands at his feet. The captions in the sequence are in a sans serif font, and they appear every 5 seconds in the same white font each time.

I also studied the opening sequences of films such as Mean Girls, Easy A and Clueless to see how teen angst films usually are started. I found that some of the features of typical teen angst title sequences are:

• Voiceover
• Female main character
• Introduction of main characters, themes and settings
• Titles edited to fit camera movements and settings
• Layered sound
• Upbeat music 

From doing this, I have started to understand what goes into making a title sequence, and how to plan one. I also know how to tailor a title sequence to fit the typical features of teen angst films, and therefore how to make my own film seem more appealing to my target audience.

Film Company Logo Evaluation

Preliminary Task

For our preliminary task we had to create a short continuity sequence, mainly to focus on:

• 180 degree rule
• Shot-reverse-shot
• Match action

We learnt from this task  how to use the 180 degree rule, which is where the camera cannot move past a 180 degree line. This is so that the action and characters on screen do not constantly move from side to side, improving the overally effectiveness and continuity of the film.

Match action means that we do not have to film as much footage, as it allows us to cut down on certain segments of the film. An example of this is when a character is seen opening a door, and then is seen walking in the room. This still makes sense without showing the full footage.

Some of the main things we could improve on if we got the chance are:

• Sound/background noise
• Range of camera angles and movements
• Better continuity.

The filming and editing processes was a lot smoother than when we filmed our swede, as we had planned the task and camera shots effectively.

Gravity: The Game??

As a follow on from my case study, I found this game on a random search through movie games. The game is used for advertisement as it is a way of people to get involved with the film without them having to go to the cinema and pay to see it. It gives insights of what the film is about as the objectives are based on the storyline, having to detach, being spun into space, and having to get back to earth.

Advertisement

For part of our A-Level course, we are studying the release of two films; Gravity, and The Selfish Giant. We had to find as much advertisement around for the two films as we could throughout the half term.
Because The Selfish Giant is a low budget, independently produced film, there was next to no advertisement. I didn't see any at all throughout the week, but that doesn't mean there is none, just that it is not where I looked.

Gravity however had a vast amount of advertisement, not just limited to those I got evidence of. There are 3 posters located on bus stops that are quite close together on a road near my house.

Then on a trip to Cambridge I saw this poster:

And on a trip to London I saw multiple posters in different places:

As well as this advertisement on the homepage of youtube:

This project has taught me that a big Hollywood production will typically be viewed by more people as there is so much advertisement around. If I didn't know anything about the film Gravity before I'd seen any of these advertisements, I would by the end of the week. Whereas on the other hand The Selfish Giant I have not even seen the trailer for without going online to find it.

GRAVITY

The film Gravity was directed by Alfonso Cuaron, and stars Sandra Bullock and George Clooney. This is a basic summary of the plot:

Dr. Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) is a brilliant medical engineer on her first shuttle mission, with veteran astronaut Matt Kowalsky (George Clooney) in command of his last flight before retiring. But on a seemingly routine spacewalk, disaster strikes. The shuttle is destroyed, leaving Stone and Kowalsky completely alone - tethered to nothing but each other and spiraling out into the blackness.

The film is created by Warner Bros, which is one of the Big 5 producers in the film industry.

Gravity has already won two awards: 

Hollywood Film Festival 2013

Won Hollywood Film Award

Actress of the Year Sandra Bullock

Venice Film Festival 2013

Won Future Film Festival Digital Award

Alfonso Cuarón Warner Bros. Heyday Films Esperanto Filmoj

THE SELFISH GIANT

The Selfish Giant is directed and written by Clio Barnard, and it stars Connor Chapman, Shaun Thomas and Sean Glider. The plot summary is:

The Selfish Giant is a contemporary fable about 13 year old Arbor and his best friend Swifty. Excluded from school and outsiders in their own neighbourhood, the two boys meet Kitten, a local scrapdealer, and begin collecting scrap metal for him using a horse and cart. However, when Arbor begins to emulate Kitten by becoming greedy and exploitative, tensions soon start to build, leading to a tragic event which transforms them all.

The production company is BDI Film Fund and Film4

The Selfish Giant has had 4 nominations and 1 win:

Cannes Film Festival 2013

Won Label Europa Cinemas

Clio Barnard

London Film Festival 2013

Nominated Best British Newcomer	Actor Conner Chapman
	Actor Shaun Thomas
Nominated Best Film	Clio Barnard

Warsaw International Film Festival 2013

Nominated Competition 1-2 Award

Clio Barnard