The document discusses how the media product uses conventions of the chick flick genre. It does this through including a female protagonist, targeting teenage girls as the audience, and focusing on themes of love, heartbreak, and determination. The narrative structure follows typical patterns of establishing equilibrium, introducing disequilibrium, and resolving things by the end. Enigma codes are used to intrigue the audience and predict future events. Overall, the media product aims to be recognizable as belonging to the chick flick genre through its characters, plot, and other generic elements.

1. +
Evaluation!!

2. +In what ways does your media
product use, develop or challenge
forms and conventions of real
media products?
I have tried to create and produce a typical chick flick film opening. By doing
this I have used generic conventions of a chick flick film within my piece, for
example: I have ensured that I have a female protagonist from which the film is
shown through her perspective, making the film inclusive and appealing to the
targeted audience.The target audience of my film is teenage girls; this is also a
typical target audience for this particular genre as the genre relies
predominantly on the idea of love which is an intimate theme that is associated
with females and by having the film from a females perspective, enables the
audience to relate and empathise with the character in a realistic way.The plot
of my film is very conventional due to genre being formulaic. It is heavily
based on feelings of love, heartbreak and determination which are all
displayed within the opening clip through long take clips and a non-diegetic
voiceover explaining where these themes have occurred. All of these factors
apply in real products, creating an aspirational film which relates heavily with
the target audience whilst maintaining the stereotypical themes that feature
within chick flicks.

3. +In terms of the narrative theory of my film, the structure of it is traditional in
that it starts off in a sense of equilibrium (Marley-the protagonist fantasizing
over a boy), changing to disequilibrium due to a few action codes such as:
bullies getting the way; losing the boy and changing the protagonist’s
way/image. All of these help build the epicenter of the film which grabs the
viewer’s interests and attention.To follow, equilibrium is solved resulting in
the film to be concluded in a way that satisfies the audience’s expectations.
Within my opening I have used narrative codes such as enigma codes to
involve the audience and enabling them to foresee/predict what will happen
later on in the film. As I have only produced the opening, enigma codes were
an effective way in setting up the films narrative. For example I have set up
enigma codes such as: who is the boy? And what will she do about her boy
problem? By the use of mise en scene and my characters facial expressions:
Marley looks straight faced and ‘fed up’ when talking about the topic of home
life, it indicates to the audience that the character feels in a specific way
about something, therefore the audience should feel in a similar way.
All of these have been set up to entice the audience to continue watching so
their curiosities can be fulfilled.Within chick flicks, enigma codes have been
put in to play so that it makes the piece unique and less predictable to others
however keeping the typical chick flick conventions.

4. +
The genre of my opening film (chick flick) has been applied to my piece through all
of these factors: Action and enigma codes to do with who certain people (boys in
particular) that are used to reinforce the typical themes of a chick flick film: Love,
loss, determination and happiness.This is also shown through including a female
protagonist which influences and involves the target audience.
Also, when it comes to the titles and credits, I have tried to ensure that the audience
is still fulfilled with the idea of a chick flick being established.Therefore the name of
my film:‘Geek to Chic’ uses rhyme to make is sonorous and easy to remember, also
with the ‘chic’ being associated with how something looks – representing that the
film includes fashion features and a self conscious aspect to it, all things that
normally arise within the chick flick genre that appeals and relates to females.
Other generic aspects are shown within my text, for example the mise en scene of
the characters clothing is very stereotypical.The antagonist of the film’s opening
(Megan) who conflicts with Marley, wears pink with fur and make up which are things
normally associated to be feminine. Similarly, the other antagonist ‘Finn’ wears black
which connotes with ‘danger’ and ‘bad’. By having this, it emphasizes their character
representations and influences how we should portray these specific characters.
These two contrasting representations are very popular within the chick flick genre
as they make it clear who the problematic characters will be/are.
The thing that challenges the typical conventions of existing media products is that
within my opening, I have used many more transitions than a usual product would
use. I have done this so that my piece is more original and interesting to watch.

5. +
How does your media product
represent particular social groups?
Within my opening sequence of ‘Geek to Chic’ I ensured that I have represented
various social groups in a stereotypical yet realist way to enable the characters to be
portrayed as accurately to real life social groups. By doing this, it allows the
audience to relate to the characters whilst provoking them to react and respond to
certain characters in an intended way.
To begin with, I have tried to create a distinct difference between genders whilst
maintaining key characteristics which are played within chick flicks. For example,
the males (Finn and Danny) have a common interest with each other which is
basketball. I have chosen Basketball as it is traditionally seen to be a male
dominated sport and also it is a popular sport to include when it comes to chick
flicks (for example: High school musical). As basketball is a key aspect of the male
interest, the representation of males is that they are athletic and sporty- enticing the
audience to admire them as this is seen as the stereotypical attraction to boys. In
addition, the character ‘Danny’ is also in a band. By having him in a band, I wanted to
produce a character that had more than one quality to admire. Music is also a key
feature that is stereotypically associated with men; therefore I felt that this would be
a trait that would appeal to even more of the audience’s interest whilst building on
the admirable masculinity which I have tried to create.

6. + When it comes to clothing of the boys, I have dressed
them in black, blue and red which are normally seen as
male colours.This was so that their image linked with
the particular personalities that I have tried to create-
referring back to being masculine. Shown on stanley in
the picture below.
Following on from this, the edit of slow motion that I
applied when you are first introduced to ‘Finn’ in the
clip, adds to the idea of male dominance and
importance – also shown in the image above (the
scene at which he enters)

7. +
Just like the males, I have tried to portray the female gender as realistic
chick flick characters whilst maintaining a realistic representation of girls. In
order to do this I have ensured that the topic of their conversations is reliant
on ‘boys’ and their image is very much based upon make up and the colour
pink.These are stereotypical associations of feminine things which helped to
create the ‘girly’ aspect of the film which attracts the audience.
For example: through the use of a voiceover, I have produced my character
‘Marley’ to introduce all of the key topics ‘action codes’ and events to the
audience, however, the longest piece of dialogue is focused on ‘Danny’ – the
boy she likes. By having this I wanted it to be clear that she is a stereotypical
female character who sets up the correct mood for the genre.
Similarly, for my character:‘Megan’, I dressed her in light colours such as
pink and cream as these colours are normally associated with females.This
also shows that females uphold different but stereotypical personalities
within the film. (Displayed on the image on previous slide.)

8. +
Another social group that has been represented in my film clip is ‘Age’.The
character of Marley’s mum is played by an actual parent –making the
character realistic and effective as to the role she is playing.The clothing
contrasts with the younger females within the film as it represents different
tastes.The mothers clothing is a lot less revealing, implying that she is a
respectable character.This is also how adults are stereotypically viewed in
society.
The proximity between the adult and Marley is shown through a low angled
shot that looks up at the mother.This is showing a sense of divergence
between the characters reinforcing the idea of the older generation being
authoritative.This can sometimes be a problem within a chick flick film.
Within my film ‘Geek to Chic’ the authority held by adults is seen as a
problem, this then drives some of the dialogue spoken by Marley which
reflects the tone of the scene. In addition, the age difference also has been a
reason of particular responses of the younger characters, for example the
mother talking and Marley shouting back.This can be seen as a realistic
interpretation of a teenager towards an adult/teacher which enables the
audience to relate to the text.

9. +What kind of media institution
might distribute your media
product and why?
For ‘Geek to Chic, I feel that the most appropriate media company to
produce and distribute it would be: Paramount Pictures. Paramount Pictures
are a popular Major media institution with experience in distributing chick
flicks. Chick flicks such as:
Mean girls
Angus thongs and perfect snogging
She’s out of my league
By having experience with distributing chick flicks, I believe that
Paramount will be able to ensure that my product has the best possible
approach when it comes to distribution.

10. +
All of the films that I have mentioned that Paramount Pictures have
distributed all have a common link. Not only are they all of the chick
flick genre; they all contain typical generic conventions that I have used
in Geek to Chic. For example: Mean girls and Angus thongs and perfect
snogging both have a female protagonist from which the audience see
the the film through their perspectives. I have featured this aspect within
my film as I know that this particular technique was successful within
these films, ensuring that my product will have a similar effect.
All of these films, including mine, all have the typical themes of love and
loss as the basis of the narrative.This reinforces that they are a chick
flick film which entices the film primarily to teenage girls.
As Paramount pictures successfully distributed these films which have
similar content/ideas as my film, I think that they are the most
appropriate film company to distribute my film. In addition, the fact that
they are a major company opens opportunities for further, global
distribution of the film due to their abilities of vertical as well as
horizontal integration with other media institutions.This would increase
the ability to view the film in multiplex and specialised cinemas across
different countries, attracting a broader audience field which could
result in the film being a big success.

11. +
Who would be the audience of
your media product?
The audience for my media product is female teenagers. I chose to target this specific
audience as previous chick flicks have been influenced heavily by females and their
emotional ideas of love. In addition, I carried out research on existing chick flicks such as
'Bride Wars' and saw that the age certificate was a 12. In addition, the film 'The Notebook' had
the age certificate of 15. As the bbfc has allocated these age ratings I felt that due to the
similarities between my film and these existing chick flicks I have decided to make my film a
12A and target girls due to the point mentioned previously.
Before I finalised that my film would be a 12A, I carried out a face to face questionnaire asking
people within my target audience if they watch chick flicks, if they like chick flicks and why
they like chick flicks.This was effective as i was able to take on board what their favorite
aspects to the chick flick genre are and apply them to my film, ensuring that I made a chick
flick film which catored for a range of interests and expectations. A lot of my research showed
that typical generic conventions such as the problematic love theme and boys were key to
producing a chick flick that was successful. As some of these aspects can be complicated it
would not be appropriate for people under 12 to watch the film unless they have a parent with
them or their parents conscent.

12. +How did you attract/address your
audience?
To attract and address my target audience I thought carefully about all these aspects
that will be to do with my opening:The characters,The genre and generic conventions
used; Narrative codes and structure, The plot and how it was stylised and the name of
the film.
The questionnaire I carried out helped me plan what I was going to do in order to gain
the audiences interest as it was able to tell me what is important to include based on the
target audiences opinions and expectations.
When it comes to the characters I have made them as stereotypical yet realistic as I
could to ensure that the audience relate to the characters, enhancing their involvement
with the film.To do this I have used elements of mise en scene such as clothing to fit
appropriately with the personality of the characters such as: pink coloured clothing for
females and dark colours for males. I have also added music to reflect certain moods or
events that evolve around different characters or aspects to the narrative.

13. +
In terms of actually engaging the audience to watch the film, narrative codes
such as the action and enigma codes (explained in a previous power point)
also provokes the audience to think about what they are watching.This is
ensuring that attention is maintained on the film as it sets up the audience to
imagine or predict future events
Another factor on how I have addressed the audience is by ensuring I have
produced a generic chick flick which is easily recognisable to the viewers.
This was done through the formulaic patterns of themes and the titles and
credits that have been applied all have a feminine font and stand out within
the scene. In addition by having the traditional film structure of having
equalibrium and dis-equalibrium, it excites the audiences emotions as they
can expect traditional features.
The music I have used also links to generic conventions that have featured as
it is typically found in chick flicks due to its happy beat and relevant lyrics.
Genre was important to consider when targeting my audience and I wanted to
ensure that I firstly chose the correct target audience for the genre I was
producing and secondly the film included many generic elements to ensure
that the chick flick genre had been established.

14. +What have you learnt about
technologies from the process of
constructing this product?
From the process of constructing my media film I have learnt how to use various
software to edit my film on. To begin with, I used a software called: Adobe After
Affects. On this, I cut and joined each clip together, putting them in the correct order
to make the main basis of my film. By doing this I have learnt that each frame of the
film has to be perfect in order for the film to render and play properly. Also on this
software I made and applied some of the credits, for example my title:‘Geek to Chic’
that appears at the end of the film was produced on this software. I chose to do this as
it produced a more proffesional title due to its ability to add special effects on to it,
eg: the glow/flash that appears when the title enters.
This was also the case for the production company logo at the beginning of the film.
(shown above) After Affects had the option of a timing or position bar which allowed
me to decide the speed at which the words enter and when they enter the clip, hence
I was able to add the ‘Bold’ and then have ‘Cob’ enter after to form ‘Cobbold’. Once
both of these were done, I added them to the film that I put together as my basis and
rendered it so it became a whole product.

15. +Although Adobe After Affects was a great software to use to produce
a proffesional product, I did have some fustrations with it. It began to
become difficult when I wanted to add music and especially when I
wanted the music to enter with a title or credit at the exact same time.
This lead to me transferring on to Windows Movie Maker as I know
this a lot more that After Affects.
Once I had uploaded the film (or as much of the film) that I had
created on After Affects, I was able to split certain scenes and join
them together with a transition. I used quite a few of the transitions
that it had to offer as I felt it made the film more interesting. I also felt
that it was a more effective way to change from scene to scene.
I then added music.The music is from a few of my friends bands and
therefore I chose songs that would apply or work well with what my
film contained. It was really easy to add the songs to my film as you
just had to press:‘add music’ then chose the file and song of which
you want to use.Then you can apply it anywhere on your work. I also
used movie maker to add more credits and that was as easy as adding
music.

16. +To use these different software’s I had to use my laptop which is
Samsung for the After affects programme and my Mac to use
Windows movie maker. Both of these worked really well for the
programme’s I used.
To film my product I used a Cannon EOS 700D DSLR camera.
Although it is predominantly a picture ‘still’ camera, I learnt how to
use ‘motion capture’ on After affects’ which enabled the footage I
filmed on this camera to be filtered and reproduced, looking
smoother and as if it was filmed on a film camera.This was a great
affect applied which improved my knowledge on film producing.

17. +Looking back at your preliminary
task, what do you feel you have
learnt in the progression from it to
the full product?
Looking back at my preliminary task, I feel that I have learnt a lot about film
production. I have learnt how important continuity is when it comes to filming
your product as without it, the text is confusing and unrealistic. I have also learnt
that changes can occur due to factors such as the actors ability and the
software/programme that you have available. For example, I had to change my
original idea of an ‘eye opening’ effect as I found after affects too difficult,
therefore I used transitions on movie maker.
The process of producing my film has drastically improved my technical and
creative skills. I have learnt how to use After affects and how to accurately piece
together individual clips so that there were no continuity errors. My creativity
level has improved because of these new technical skills as I now know how to
use and apply a wider range of effects to my products. In addition, by having the
ability and knew knowledge of what I was able to perform, my imagination and
ideas became more detailed and interesting, allowing me to try and create a
realistic approach to the visions I had in mind to do with my film.