2. Mark Waters
• An American film director
• He is the director of :
• Mean Girls (2004)
• Freaky Friday (2003)
• Head over heels (2001)
Trade Marks: He is known for directing light- hearted family orientated films. He mainly
directs comedy films with a large teenage target audience. Lindsay Lohan stars in two of
his films (Freaky Friday and Mean Girls), this would attract a mass teenage target
audience of females as they may be a fan of hers and may therefore watch the films
produced by Mark Waters as they will want to identify with Linsday’s character.
Techniques: He uses bright lighting to connote an uplifting atmosphere which represents
the comedy genre. We could incorporate this lighting into the scene where the team of
teenagers become friends again and begin to work as a team against Ms Graham
Andy Fickman
• American film director
• Director of :
• She’s the man 2006
• The game plan (2007)
• Parental guidance (2012)
• Trade Marks: He gained an award for Best comedy director, he is also known for directing family
comedies which applies to a mass target audience. He is known for having stereotypical prop 8 stock
characters such as, the jock and the popular girl. This would appeal to a teenage target audience
and would therefore attract them as they will want to identify (uses and gratification theory) with
the characters superior representation. In order for our opening sequence to be successful we must
include these prop 8 stock characters.
Techniques: He ensures everyone on set is relaxed by creating a good environment, this will be
something we will incorprate whilst we are filming as a positive atmosphere will represent the comedy
genre to our teenage target audience, thus attracting them to watch it. We need to ensure our we are
relaxed before acting and filming to ensure we get the best quality filming.
3. Will Gluck
• American film director, producer and screenwriter
• He is the director of:
• Easy A (2010)
• Fired up (2009)
• Friends with benefits (2011)
Trade marks:
Easy A and Friends with benefits were marked as two of the wittiest and most crowd-
pleasing comedies to emerge from Hollywood in many years. Will usually incorporates
elements of romance in this films in order to attract a mass teenage target audience of
females as they will want to identify with the female characters and their love life (uses
and gratification theory). This means that in order for us to attract a mass teenage target
audience we should use the romance genre as well as comedy. We will be using this as
we will be showing the romantic relationship between Sophie and Joe the jock.
Techniques: Justin Timberlake claims that Will Gluck did everything he could
in order for his actors to succeed. ‘’ "He wants to see the guys relate to you
and the girls fall in love with you." This would attract a mass teenage target
audience as the female audience will see the protagonist as an object of
desire (Laura Mulvey). The male teenage target audience will be attract as
they will want to identify with Justin’s character as he is represented as cool
through the clothes he wears and the girl he dates (uses and gratification
theory). We need to make our characters relatable, such as the popular girl,
so that a teenage target audience of girls feel attracted to watch our opening
sequence because they can identify with the character (uses and gratification
theory). Sophie will be wearing fashionable clothing that the teenage target
audience of females will want to identify with (uses and gratification theory).
4. Woody Allen
• An American screen writer and director
• Director of:
• Midnight in Paris (2011)
• To Rome with love (2012)
• Annie Hall (1977)
Trade Marks:
Allen often stared in his films, through the persona he developed as a stand
up comedian. He is most known for directing romantic comedies, through
doing so, he set up a fashion trend with the clothes worn by Diane Keaton
in Annie Hall (the masculine clothing, such as ties with cardigans, were
Keaton's own). This means in order for our teenage target audience to be
attracted to our opening sequence, we need to ensure our characters have
a good fashion sense. This is because our teenage target audience will want
to identify with the characters through their cool representation connoted
through the type of clothing they wear.
Techniques: As well as ensuring the acting is exquisite Allen was fond of ‘’
showing the city emotionally’’. He believed that through showing Paris
through his eyes it romanticised the whole film ( Midnight in Paris). This
shows that setting is an important aspect, meaning we must consider
settings which will fit in with out comedy/ chick flick genre in order to
attract a teenage target audience who will be able to identify with the
setting (uses and gratification theory). The scenes where we show Sophie
and Joes relationship should be set in a romantic setting such as a
restaurant near the school.
5. Mel Brooks
• American film director and producer
• Director of :
• Get smart (2008)
• The producers (1967)
• Life stinks (1991)
Trade Mark:
• He based some of his comedies on his own life, he also always
uses music from John Morris, the main villain wears a mustache
or a beard and the lead characters in any of his films is always a
male. This shows that we should use stereotypical props or
clothing to connote that one of our characters is the villain
(prop 8 stock). This will attract a teenage target audience as it
will offer them entertainment (uses and gratification theory).
Ms Graham’s will be playing the villain in our opening sequence,
this will be represented by the use of various low angle shots to
connote her power.
Techniques:
• Most of his films have a wacky song and dance number to represent that
it is of the comedy genre. In order for our teenage target audience to be
attracted to watch our opening sequence we should use non-diegetic up-
beat music. This is because it will create entertainment for our teenage
target audience (uses and gratification theory). In our opening sequence
we will be using an up beat soundtrack to represent the uplifting
atmosphere and the comedy genre.
6. Matthew Vaughn
• An English film producer and director
• Director of :
• Kickass (2010)
• Swept away (2002)
• Snatch (2000)
Trade marks:
Matthew always added an element of surprise to his films ‘’ If you
give the audience what they expect, they'll be bored’’. This shows
that in order for us to attract a teenage target audience we must
have elements that challenge the genre such as adding mystery
into our comedy genre. This will offer our teenage target audience
escapism and entertainment (uses and gratification theory). We
will have elements of mystery, when the teenage target audience
are informed that Ms Grahams may be a murder, this will create
an enigma for them (Barthes enigma code).
Techniques:
“As a director, I'm mainly interested in telling stories, which seems like a
forgotten art in modern movies’’. This shows that in order to a teenage
target audience to be attracted to watch our opening sequence we must
ensure we have a clear and capturing narrative which would appeal to
them. Through the prop 8 stock characters a teenage target audience will
be able to identify with them and their contribution to the story (uses and
gratification theory). We will have prop 8 stock characters as Lola is the
stereotypical geek who will offer entertainment to the teenage target
audience (uses and gratification theory)
7. Jerry Lewis
• An American film director
• Director of :
• Cinderfella (1960)
• The Ladies Man (1961)
• Your never too young (1955)
Trade marks: Jerry said ‘’ it has to be about chemistry,“. This means in order
for our opening sequence to be a success our characters should have
chemistry. This will help in attracting our teenage target audience as they
will find the acting believable and will find is as a form of escapism (uses and
gratification theory).
Techniques:
Jerry was keen on getting shots from different locations and then picking out
the best one. In order for our opening sequence to be successful we must
ensure we shoot in different locations and then pick the best ones. This will
help in attracting our teenage target audience and the right location means
that they will be able to identify with the setting and will feel as part of the
film (uses and gratification theory). A teenage target audience will be
attracted to watch our opening sequence as it will be set in a school
building, meaning they will be able to identify with the school environment
(uses and gratification theory).
8. Terry Gilliam
• An American born British screen writer and director.
• Director of :
• Life of Brian (1979)
• The imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus (2009)
• Tide land (2005)
Trade marks:
He has a liking for wide-angle lenses which distort the faces of
his characters in close-ups. The distorted faces help to add
suspense as they are not what the target audience would
expect to see. Although Terry’s films are of the comedy genre
he shows diversity in his work by incorporating other elements
of genre such as mystery. This suspense creates an enigma for
the target audience (Barthes enigma code). In order for our
opening sequence to be successful and diverse we should aim
to add elements of mystery as this will create an enigma for our
teenage target audience, thus creating escapism for them (uses
and gratification theory). We will use the titled camera shot
when Sophie is shown running out of the staffroom to create an
enigma( Barthes enigma code).
Techniques:
He is admired for his dynamic mise-en-scene. As well as this he likes to
add a lot of background detail into his films. This should be something
we should consider doing for our opening sequence. If we have a lot of
background detail our teenage target audience will be attracted as they
will be able to identify with the school setting (uses and gratification
theory), and will therefore feel as part of it.
9. Frank Oz
• Born in England, American film director
• Director of :
• Death at a funeral (2007)
• The stepford wives (2004)
• House sitter (1992)
Trade marks:
He believed that characterisation was what made a film. He focused on
costume and props, most famously in the Muppet movie. In order for our
opening sequence to be successful we need to focus on characterisation and
props in order to represent a certain character as stereotypical. This will attract
a teenage target audience as they will want to identify with the characters
personality or popularity (uses and gratification theory). We will make Sophie,
the popular girl character, look fashionable so that a teenage target audience
of females will want to identify with her good looks (uses and gratification
theory).
Techniques:
He used animatronic Muppets, this represented that the genre was comedy,
this also attracted a younger target audience. In order for our opening
sequence to attract a teenage target audience we should consider adding
elements of animation, such as in the opening titles. This will attract a teenage
target audience as they will find it informative of the genre and will therefore
realise it is aimed at them (uses and gratification theory). We are considering
using animation in our opening sequence as it will offer the teenage target
audience entertainment (uses and gratification theory).
10. Rob Reiner
• An American writer, director, producer and actor
• Director of :
• When Harry met Sally (1989)
• Flipped (2010)
• Rumour has it (2005)
Trade Marks:
Rob often includes references to his previous films and
frequently uses music by Marc Shaiman. This shows that in
order for our opening sequence to be successful we should use
the same type of music used in other comedy films. This will
help attract a teenage target audience as the non-diegetic
soundtrack of up beat music will represent that it is a film of
the comedy genre. They will then want to watch it as it will
offer them entertainment (uses and gratification theory). We
will be using non-diegetic up beat music to represent the
comedy genre.
Techniques:
‘’While filming the scene in Stand by Me (1986) in which
Gordie and Vern are being chased by a train, he couldn't get
Will Wheaton and Jerry O'Connell to look frightened enough,
so after a take, he proceeded to yell at them until they began
to cry. He then filmed the scene over again’’. We need to
ensure our characterisation skills are as good as the camera
work, as this will help in attracting a teenage target audience
who will want to identify with the characters (uses and
gratification theory).
