Cast Changes

Due to unforeseen circumstances Mark who was playing the 'nerd' cannot attend on Monday when we are set to film. Therefore I have had to use Dave to stand in and play the 'nerd.'

Analyse what I have created so far using the 3 codes

I started filming during half term but only managed to get a few shots of the lead character. But its a start I guess.
I made sure I stuck to the technical conventions of a romantic comedy trailer; ie some movements are exaggerated. I experimented with different movements to get the lead girl out of bed. The first was just a simple mid shot of Gracie looking at the time, a close up on the time, back to a mid shot of her sitting up and then running out of bed. I used a low angle shot to show her feet running out the room. Later on we experimented with not breaking the 180 degree rule whilst she was getting out of bed. I don't think I will use the shot of her rolling out of bed as it looks messy and I don't think it fits with the convention of a romantic comedy, its almost like we tried to be too funny.
The next shot we did was of Gracie walking down the street. I used a hand held camera shot as I didn't want the actor walking towards the camera. I used a simple mid shot to create this scene as it will only feature quickly in the trailer.
Shots like two shots, reverse shots and high angle shots will be used when i encorporate more actors into the trailer.
A typical symbolic code for a romantic comedy conveys everyday props, clothes, styling and location. In the shots I have done so far Gracie wears everyday, simple clothing. The colours are pastel which is a convention of a romantic comedy, which highlights her innocence and kind ways. The location is in two parts, one is at my house and the other in the school. These locations are simple and conventional to a romantic comedy. I have only filmed in my house so far and may need to continue filming there. When I was filming, luckily the weather held out and it fit with the up beat feel of the movie. In the shots I filmed all the props fit well with the location and I feel the movie is becoming conventional to the genre.
The audio code does not yet feature in the filming I have done. This is due to the fact it is just Gracie in the opening shots so the audience can establish the main character. Music, dialogue and the voice over will be added during the filming and editing stages.
However, I will have to start considering music which will fit with the shot on the screen and how the music will fit all together.
As you can see I still have a lot more work to do but its starting to all come together.

Filming Schedule

Its nearing the end of October and I really need to start filming my final product. I have decided that I am going to begin to film in school this week. Instead of the characters being adults I want them to remain the ages they are. This does not affect the trailer in anyway and makes it easier to film in school because the characters of Gracie and Justin will be studying in school. It was very difficult to make the school look like an office environment due to other students moving around and displays on the walls.

The 'home' scenes will have to be filmed in the October half term. This may be an issue for one of the cast members as he has other commitments. However, I shall have to speak with him to decide whether or not he will be able to commit to the film. If not I have a stand in who can play the geeky character. Monday 25th October seems like the best day for most of the cast and we still have time in the week to carry on filming if its not complete or needs to be re-done.

The only big issue I have is filming in school due to the clash of peoples lessons however, most of the filming will have to be done in Wednesday 20th October in our final media lesson of the term. If these scenes are incomplete I shall have to film in November whilst I am editing the other scenes in the trailer.

Analysis of how males and females are represented in my chosen text...

In a romantic comedy there tends to be many different stereotypes for men and women and this is dependunt on the plot of the film. I have done some previous research into this so that I could portray conventional stereotypes within my trailer however there are more types of characters which can be shown in the film.

The leading lady

I have noticed that there are two types of leading lady. The first is the American leading lady, who has a tendency to be in control of the entire plot of the story and constantly looks perfect. The other is the typically British leading lady. The British leading ladies do have imperfections and don't necessarily have power or control through the storyline (look at Bridget Jones). Many women admire the lifestyle that the American leading lady has; a well paid job, lots of men after them, designer clothes, going out for lunch every day with their friends (i.e Sex and the City) etc...but not many women lead this sort of life style. Unlike, the lifestyle of the British leading ladies. These can be classed more as role models due to the fact they portray a real life version of a real woman. They do not necessarily have well paid jobs and live in the most upbeat part of town, but women can relate to them (e.g Emma Thompson in Love Actually) This character has a family but a husband who is cheating on her, this lifestyle does appear more realistic (but not the best obviously) compared to everyday women having such a glamorous lifestyle. I believe there has to be a balance between the two leading ladies which is why both American and British romantic comedies still remain popular.

The Leading Man

Once again men are portrayed in different ways in romantic comedies. You can get an arrogant and mean stereotype or you can get the caring and lovable lead man. In P.S I Love You, Gerard Butler is the caring stereotype who loves his woman and the complication is not him cheating or seeing someone else like most of the leading men are caught out doing. Conversely, the character of Hugh Grant in Bridget Jones Diary is seen like the arrogant steretype that treats the leading lady badly. A lot of the men in romantic comedies are portrayed this way which is one of the reasons, I think, is why men don't want to watch this genre of film. Men in American romantic comedies don't tend to hold the power in the relationship e.g 500 days of Summer, but in British romantic comedies it tends to be the men that cause the complication and have the power E.g Alan Rickman in Love Actually who cheats on his wife.

As you can see it is very difficult to show how men and women are represented in romantic comedies because there can be so many different interpretations and storylines to this genre.
I have chosen characters for my trailer that fit the British representations of men and women and hope that the audience can relate to each character.

Test Shots

I have recently done some test shots of the more difficult ideas I have had that will feature in my trailer. The first shot is of the character Gracie walking, I want to take a low angle shot of her walking but due to the lack of resources I cannot do this easily and get a good shot. Therefore I shall have to use a hand held, high angle shot and zoom in on the feet so that her arm and leg cannot be seen. I would also like to re-shoot the image of her walking in ugg boots so that I can fade it into high heels and then allow the trailer to flow into the next incident. The other shot is of the paper flying in the air when Gracie and Justin bump into each other in the corridor. This didn't go to plan as it was hard to get a good shot of the paper in the air and on the floor. Yet, I have thought about how I can overcome this and I thought I could experiment with different shots and techniques to create the paper in the air effect. Also the editing will help with creating the final image of the paper in the air. I can use images of the paper in the air and gradually falling down and put the two separate shots together during the editing process. The paper also fell very quickly so using Imovie I can slow the shot down making the paper fall slowly to the ground.

'A Girl Next Door' Script

I have created a script for the trailer of 'A Girl Next Door.' It contains all the characters lines and the voice overs script along side this. Along with shot sizes and movements of the characters.
The protagonist is called Gracie Jones and the two male leads are named Justin and Michael. I chose these names by picking a book at random and opening up pages within it until I saw a name which would fit the character. A few of the scenes have been changed since the original flow chart ideas due to the flow of the voice over. For example in the script scene 8 has become a montage of the different themes in the film ...love, truth and change. Each of these themes will be highlighted through different actions. It sounds complicated but hopefully once I start filming I can upload it and make it look simple. The script fits with the five step structure, it provides the audiene with an exposition, development and complication but does not show the climax and resolution due to the fact it is a trailer and not a complete film.

I have decided on a film title 'A Girl Next Door.' This came about as I kept reffering to the protagonist as a 'girl next door' type of character. However, there is a horror film and another romantic comedy which has used a very similar title previously. Yet doing research on both of the films neither of the titles have been used because the lead women are a 'girl next door' type of character, they happen to live next door to the lead male. Therefore, I have used the film title for a different reason which will make the storyline original.

*Another Trailer to highlight the English Voice Over

'Angus Thongs and Perfect Snogging' is an independant British film, with well known British actors. As my film will be an independant film I thought this was a good representation of how a voice over can be used and still remain British. The film is shot all on location, which is how my trailer will be shot, showing that it is a conventional method of filming. Shots of the action are edited into a montage, with some shots establishing the story line and others providing comedic value. I am planning to do this when I edit my trailer together and each shot will dissolve into the next shot, which is another convention I have noticed when watching romantic comedy trailers.

Scriptwriting

Having looked at information about scriptwriting it has been noted that a simple story line consists of five simple steps. The first one is exposition which is the opening premise, the setting and the scene. This step will feature in the trailer to set the start of the film when not a lot of the action is taking place. The next step is the development stage where the situation is built on and moves forward. Once again this step will feature in the trailer to keep the audience interested but still not giving too much away, following the enigma code. 'What is going to happen?' The complication step will be in the trailer to keep it conventional yet the climax and the resolution won't be. This is because as a director I still want people to come and see the film without knowing what is going to happen.

Following these conventional steps I am currently developing the final script for the characters and voice over, which will feature on

my blog when it's complete.

This is an image of a previous film script and this is how I shall produce my script to keep the tone of my trailer professional.

Location Part 1

These pictures are of my first location which will feature in my trailer. In every romantic comedy trailer part of it is shot in a house due to the story line and types of characters. Also the rooms appear bright and from the mood board most of the colours used are pastel colours on the walls. In a big budgeted film production a set would be made for particular scenes and some scenes would be shot on location. As I don't have a high budget all my shots will be done on location.

I have carried out a 'recce' in all the rooms and have established the accessible power points in each room so that the camera battery can't die in the middle of filming as we are on a very tight schedule. Also I have noted some possible problems which could occur whilst filming and these are; nosie from other sources whilst I am filming and the weather because this will affect the lighting and overall feel to the movie. I will have to do most of the filming in one day as there is a deadline and i need to film in other locations. The shots at home will be done first during the half term holidays and then the 'office' scenes will be shot in school later on.

The Character which causes the complication - Love Actually

This is the scene which creates the tension between a newly married couple. The male character is my female character which complicates everything. Even though my version of this character will be more mean about what she does, I feel this clip still represents the complication that my lead roles will face.

Choice of actors and actresses

These are the actors I have chosen to play the lead roles in the trailer I am making.

The first picture is the lead girl in the film and I chose her because I think she fits the 'girl next door' type of character. She is pretty and quirky looking which is the type of character I need. Picture 2 is of the 'attractive man' and I personally think this actor fits the role well. He is kind yet looks arrogant in the picture which is the stereotypical character of the attractive man. Even though his clothes aren't the type you would see on this kind of character, this can be easily addressed when considering costume and make up.

Picture 3 is of the 'geeky' character. The use of the glasses were just to help put across who the character is. I will not be using these glasses as I feel they are too stereotypical for the 'geeky' character.

Picture 4 is the best friend character. She appears kind and is always there when the lead girl is in a crisis. Even though she does not appear much in the trailer she is an influential character in the film when the lead girl has to decide between the two lead males.

Picture 5 is a new addition to the cast which I would like to bring into the trailer. I would like to incorporate a problem character which causes the 'complication' in the film. This character is always seen in a romantic comedy and causes the lead roles to reconsider their relationship. These characters can be men or women and in my film its a woman. However, in the film 'Love Actually' it is a male character which comes between two people, you can see this clip in the post above.

I feel that the choices in actors and actresses that I have picked will really help me start to create mise-en-scene for the film and they symbolize the key characters in a romantic comedy.

Sterotypical Characters of a Romantic Comedy

After watching many trailers for the romantic comedy genre I have noticed a particular sterotype for each character.
The female lead is always attractive to a male audience and this is so that it does appear realistic that men would be fighting for her attention. If you look at the images below you will see how I have developed previous ideas into my creation of the stereotypical female lead.
In a british romantic comedy, like 'Love Actually', 'Bridget Jones Diary' and 'Notting Hill' the casting director has chosen to use an actress with a 'girl next door' look about her. As my new romantic comedy trailer will be a british film I would like to stick with the convention of having an everyday kind of looking woman. More young girls will be able to relate to this kind of character as well, rather than a glamouros sort of character.

There is also the stereotypical 'good looking' male in a romantic comedy. This is to generate an audience and make sure the director supplies what the audience wants. However, within the story it also develops the plot and makes the audience want to continue watching to see if the female lead ends up with the 'good looking' guy or the 'underdog.' The typical 'attractive' male tends to be arrogant and mostly all of the time gets the girl. In the trailer that I create I dont want my 'attractive' male to be percieved as arrogant as I would like to make it so the female has a hard time when choosing between the two male leads. Also in everyday life not all attractive men are arrogant and if I stick to this then it may make more men want to watch it as they tend to feel that men are getting a hard time in the romantic comedy films, as they are always percived as the 'bad' characters.




In most romantic comedy films there is almost always whats known as 'the underdog.' This sort of character is percieved as being geeky and 'will never get the girl.' In british romantic comedies for instance you have the character of Mr Darcy in 'Bridget Jones Diary.' He appears to be geeky and uncool when the audience first see him yet as the plot develops the protagonist starts building feelings for him. I would like to re-create this in my trailer but still leave it to the imagination of the audience as to who she chooses in the end.

A flow chart of ideas

I have drafted out my trailer through a flow chart so people can see the direction in which my trailer is going. The photo isn't clear enough to see what my ideas are so I shall explain each box in the flow chart.

1) Opening shot of a woman lying face down, she is hung over and oblivious to the world around her. Suddenly her alarm goes off and she reaches out slowly to turn it off. Close up on the time, its 9.30am and a close up on her face...panicked/ comedic expression on her face.

2) Low angle shot of woman running in heels to work. There is a cut to her running round a corner. She runs into the good looking man he looks confused and there is paper work everywhere.

3) Close up on woman's face, she has very bad make up on. Cut, reverse shot, woman walks into the toilets and sees her face in the mirror... "Holy..."

4) Woman meets up with the good looking man its a new day. Man: "Fancy a drink after work?"

Woman, who looks shocked, says "yeah." The man walks off...woman is still left there smiling.

5) Woman walks down the street and the geeky character taps her on the shoulder, the woman looks confused then realises who he is.

6) The geek sits at home with two of his mates and tells them how he is going to win her back. One of the mates asks how and there will be a cut to a dream like state where he imagines dancing to the song 'I'm too sexy' Then it cuts back to his normal confused face.

7)Male voice over..."This year..." shot of geeky guy and woman together. The audience can instantly see the chemistry.

8) Male voice over..."Or a typical..." Shot of good looking guy and girl on original date, once again the audience will see their chemisty.

9) Male voice over..." A story..." Geek is dancing with the girl, another quick cut, geek shouting to the girl; "Please, I love you."

10) Cuts to the girl lying in bed, crying and it is raining outside. Cut to the attractive man and girl laughing.

11) Voice overs of actors names and a close up of each actor. Male voice over; "In (film name)"

12) Shot of the girl and her best friend in a kitchen...Friend; "Which one is better in bed?" From this the lead girl tilts her head and looks concerned

13) Coming in 2011 and then the screen will fade to black.

I have used the majority of the conventions which feature in a romantic comedy trailer for example the use of a voice over. Also I feel the trailer doesnt necessarily give away too much of the plot making the audience want to watch the whole film. Yet, it still informs the audience of who the main characters are, the story line and the genre it comes under.

I still need to develop a few of the comedic punch lines but this will be done when I develop a script for the actors involved. I have also considered some of the music tracks I will use in the trailer and there needs to be several, as one of the typical conventions is that the music changes and stops depending on whats happening at that time in the trailer. I also need to come up with an original title for the film but once again I'm sure this will develop as I write the script and begin to film.

Market Research Results

Results from the market research suggest that most people enjoy a good American romantic comedy. However, there were also a few British romantic comedies which were suggested and I would personally prefer to create a new independent romantic comedy as there is a space in the market for one.

Everyone suggested that a romantic comedy should be no more than a 15. This is due to the fact that a director can still incorporate the innuendo and taboo language without it being over the top. Also romantic comedies appeal more to a teenage girl so making it a 12 or 15 will still generate and bring in a big audience.

The choice of a lead character was split half and half with half the people wanting a male lead and others wanting a female lead. In a British comedy you tend to see a quirky female lead e.g Bridget Jones, I would like to re-create this type of character so that it fits with the conventions of a British rom com.

Using a female lead will also bring in a wider audience, for example males and this was suggested in my market research. I would like to use a stereotypical character of a 'girl next door' look with the female lead. Even though the girl wouldn't have the stereotypical look of a protagonist, it would bring in a male audience and maybe have older generations of men watch because she isn't some 'sex symbol.' More girls will be able to relate to her which will still generate the audience you need for a profitable film.

Another suggestion to make my film appeal more to wider audience was to focus on the comedy more rather than the romantic side. Men prefer comedy to romance so it would create a twist on the conventional plot of a rom com.

The final suggestion was to create stereotypes for characters. I have taken this on board and want to create two comedic male characters. One being an over the top, attractive, business man and the other a geek that the girl knows from her school days. Both men will fight for the girls affection throughout the film. The girl will have a best friend character and the geek will have a lot of other 'nerdy' friends and his dad will be another version of his geeky son. These types of character will add to the comedy of the film therefore appealing to the male audience which is what I wish to achieve.

Mood Board

Whilst the questions for my market research are being carried out I found it necessary to create a mood board for the genre of my film. This has given me plenty of ideas when creating a poster and the general story like which happens in a romantic comedy film. The mood board also gives a general idea to the genre of the film and shows some typical conventions of posters. This mood board shows the romantic side to films as well as the classic comedy moments in a good Rom -com. I have identified the key conventions and can now start to plan the story behind my trailer.

At a first glance the colours appear pastel and all the actors are young and fresh faced. I would like to stick with conventions of a typical rom com film so will consider these colours when thinking of costume and look for young actors.