1. PR7 Me and My Movies
My chosen genre is Romantic Comedies the first film Iāve chosen is 10 things I
hate about you, the films directed by Gil Junger and its year of production is
1999, the film is about a new student at Padua High named Cameron James
(Joseph Gorden-Levitt) he gets given a tour of the school by Michael (David
Krumholtz) who becomes his best friend, during the tour Cameron sees a girl
names Bianca Stratford (Larisa Oleynik) he then finds out she cant date anyone
until her older sister Kat (Julia Stiles) does, Kat is completely different compared
to her sister she keeps her head down, unlike her sister who loves the attention
from everyone and is the most popular girl in her year, Cameron knowing this
now makes it his mission to find someone for Kat so once sheās dating someone
he can try and date Bianca, Cameron choices Patrick Verona (Heath Ledger) he
asks him to get to know Kat, this then moves onto Patrick actually liking Kat and
Cameron gets his chance with Bianca.
The second film Iāve chosen is Sheās The Man directed by Andy Fickman and its
year of production is 2006, the film is about a girl named Viola Johnson (Amanda
Bynes) who is on the girls football team which might not last long due to the
coach at the school telling them they cant continue with the team, Viola is not
happy about this and tryās to join the boys team which she is quickly shut down
and told that girls cant play football, she then comes up with the idea to disguise
herself as her twin brother Sebastian and goes to the rival school Illyria boys
football team and makes it on the team, she ends up in a shared room with Duke
(Channing Tatum) she gets to know him as Sebastian and ends up really liking
him, but Duke had fallen for a girl named Olivia, whilst this is going on Olivia is
falling for Sebastian who is actually Viola, now to make matters worse Violas
brother is coming back from London early and arrives at the campus without
knowing his sister has replaced him.
My third chose is Sixteen Candles, this film is directed by John Hughes and its
year of production is 1984, this film is about a girl named Samantha (Molly
Ringwald) who wakes up on her 16th
birthday but all her family has forgotten, her
sisterās wedding is coming up so everyoneās mind is occupied by the planning,
Samantha really likes the older senior boy named Jake (Michael Schoeffling) her
day continues to get worse she finds out her grandparents are staying over for
the wedding and take her room also bring an exchange student from china to
stay over as well, the geeky freshman (Anthony Michael Hall) who continually
tries to get with Samantha, she ends up catching the attention of Jake and every
time they get a chance to talk something gets in their way.
3. in earlier roles, for example my chosen film 10 things I hate about you stars
Heath Ledger who was hugely successful in the movie The Dark Knight when he
played the famous Joker, also Joseph Gorden Levitt who also starred in another
batman movie The Dark Knight Rises and one of my favorite films 500 days of
summer and the movie Inception along side the huge actor Leonardo Dicaprio,
and another actor from my chosen movies was Channing Tatum who starred in
Sheās the Man, he is now in massive films like 21 Jump street, Dear John and the
new film Jupiter ascending heās also going to be starring in the new x-men in
2016. A good example for actors who have became big is Chris Evans and
Scarlett Johansson who where both in the film The perfect score in 2004 about
high school friends breaking into the school and now both star in the Avengers
and Captain America movies together he plays Captain America and she plays
the Black window this shows how far people can get when acting its interesting to
see them play different roles when your so use to them as the one character, and
to see two actors be in the same films like when they were really young up until
now.
Intertextuality in 10 things I hate about you is that itās based off of The Taming Of
The Shrew by William Shakespeare the film title is actually supposed to also
sound like The Taming Of The Shrew when you say it there is also a lot of
references to Shakespeare like last name Verona is used in Romeo and Juliet as
the setting, also the character Michael is a fan of his work and uses this to get to
know a girl in the film who is Kats friend in the film they dress up in costume for a
dance as characters from his work, also quotes are used with slight changes to
make them more modern. My other chosen film Sheās the man is an adaptation
of The Twelfth Night a comedy by William Shakespeare, character names are
used from the Twelfth Night like Duke (Channing Tatum) is taken from The Duke
of Illyria from Twelfth Night, also Olivia is used in both and Sebastian in Sheās the
man who is Violas disguise Is called Cesario in Twelfth Night, thereās also small
details in the film which connects to Twelfth Night like Feste is a clown in Twelfth
Night it is used as a second name for someone in Sheās the man, there is a Pizza
Parlour named Cesarioās and the fact that Sebastian Violas Brother not her in
disguise goes to London. The Plot has obvious similarities Duke in Sheās The
Man and The Duke of Illyria are both in love with Characters named Olivia also
the big relation is Viola dressing up as her twin brother like the Viola in Twelfth
Night does and in the end Olivia ends up with Violas Twin brother by mistake in
both stories and Viola ends up with Duke/The Duke of Illyria. Intertextuality is
used a lot in Romantic comedies you see a lot of similar things like the typical
Airport scene where the boy realises heās made a mistake and runs to stop the
girl getting on the plane at the very last minute or a very similar airport scene this
is used in films like Love actually, The proposal, Sweet home Alabama and
Valentines day these are ones I can think of off the top of my head there is
probably a lot more, then thereās things likes high school settings with the evil
head teacher this has been used in films like The breakfast club, Ferris butlers
day off and Back to the future, also Nerdy girl gets a make over scene this has
been used in Sheās all that and John tucker must die, Romantic comedies always
4. Night it is used as a second name for someone in Sheās the man, there is a Pizza
Parlour named Cesarioās and the fact that Sebastian Violas Brother not her in
disguise goes to London. The Plot has obvious similarities Duke in Sheās The
Man and The Duke of Illyria are both in love with Characters named Olivia also
the big relation is Viola dressing up as her twin brother like the Viola in Twelfth
Night does and in the end Olivia ends up with Violas Twin brother by mistake in
both stories and Viola ends up with Duke/The Duke of Illyria. Intertextuality is
used a lot in Romantic comedies you see a lot of similar things like the typical
Airport scene where the boy realises heās made a mistake and runs to stop the
girl getting on the plane at the very last minute or a very similar airport scene this
is used in films like Love actually, The proposal, Sweet home Alabama and
Valentines day these are ones I can think of off the top of my head there is
probably a lot more, then thereās things likes high school settings with the evil
head teacher this has
been used in films like
The breakfast club,
Ferris butlers day off
and Back to the future,
also Nerdy girl gets a
make over scene this
has been used in Sheās
all that and John tucker
must die, Romantic
comedies always have
the same plot where
boy gets the girl or the
best friends realise
they were meant to be
etc. Another romantic comedy Clueless was based on Jane Austinās novel
Emma. You could say Not another teen movie used Intertextuality because it
referenced so many cliques in Romantic comedies it has the airport scene where
you actually see Molly Ringwald giving the girl her plane ticket and they also
have the breakfast club scene with the same actor who played the head teacher
in the original film plays the same character but in Not another teen movie.
The left picture is Paul Gleason from The Breakfast club (1985) and the picture
on the right is Paul Gleason from the same scene re-enacted in Not another teen
movie (2001)
Star Theory is when you see a certain actor/actress in a film and that is what
attracts you to go see the film/ the reason you want to see it, Molly Ringwald was
6. codes through out the whole trailer thereās a song playing a typical upbeat love
song about wanting somebody then the trailer narrator with the lines describing
character and then the audio from the film itself of the actors talking, all this
together establishes genre it makes it clear its going to be a romantic comedy
with what it shows In the trailer.
The second trailer ill analyse is Sheās the Man, the first character it introduces In
Viola the first scene in the trailer is of a fancy room all sophisticated as they talk
about being lady like Viola shoves the door open and everyone turns to her in
shock throughout the trailer it shows that sheās sarcastic and always slips up
making it obvious itās a comedy, then another girl says make sure sheās in the
back of the group photo this shows that sheās not like them it then shows her with
a football and her hood up complete opposite to all from the other scene, you
then meet her twin brother who announces that heās going to London for a couple
weeks and thatās when you see that sheās going to pretend to be him, you then
see Viola dressed as her brother meeting Duke who she is roommates with heās
the typical good looking guy whoās having trouble speaking to Olivia who is the
pretty girly girl, he asks Viola (Sebastian) to help, this shows to two main
characters and then it goes on to tell you that Duke ends up liking Viola and it all
gets confusing from there. The setting is obviously a school with the football team
and the dorm rooms it also shows cheerleaders the stereotypical thing to see this
could also be classed as iconography like the lockers and the head teacher and
the prom event, technical and audio codes there is a song playing in the
background throughout which is a upbeat song which you would normally hear in
high school movies and a narrator who explains the whole story and every now
and then audio from the actual movie itself.
The third trailer Iām going to analyse is Sixteen candles the first character
introduced is Samantha the main character sat next to the geeky character on
the school bus as he tryās to flirt with her, then the narrator says āthis is Samantha
bakerā giving her a name then it also tells you that it her birthday, it also shows
you a scene where sheās talking to her grandparents who are playing the
embarrassing ones when they make a joke. It also introduces you to the good
looking character her love interest Jake this shows that its going to me a love
story and also there are loads of jokes made, iconography in the trailer are things
like school bus, the typical geek looking characters the good looking guy and the
quiet shy girl these are important they make the genre when they are all looked
at together, the setting is in a high school where they have the high school dance
and then thereās also a wedding scene. Then lastly there is technical and audio
codes throughout the trailer there is a mans voice narrating the whole thing he
introduces characters tells you a bit about the story and also some of the actual
film audio is played.
7. Media literacy is when you see adverts about films and promotional things for
example there is so many websites you can find information like Facebook,
twitter, YouTube, Tumblr etc these give people information on new films, twitter
has a feature that puts promotional tweets onto your timeline every now and then
one that stood out was a promotional tweet for a new film called The Duff which
is a romantic comedy same as my chosen genre its based in a high school the
tweet appeared on my timeline with a link to the trailer on YouTube another
example of how people get their product brought to peoples attention using both
twitter and YouTube together, With todayās websites every new film being
released with most definitely have a Facebook, twitter, YouTube, Tumblr and
plenty of other accounts stretching out to everyone to create an audience,
because of the amount of people using these platforms all different ages can see
these promotions, Iām guilty of checking out a new film from seeing the trailer on
the homepage of YouTube or a tweet about it I see more online than I do on TV
after looking into Cinderella I saw all the websites about the film before I even
watched the advert on TV which is a good example of how having platforms like
this helps boosts audience. Personally I find out about films online especially
YouTube if I see a film I might be interested in on the homepage I will watch the
trailer, even being told about a new film coming out YouTube and all the other
8. platforms are there so I can look into new
films without having these social media
websites it would be harder for people to find
out about films coming out unless they went
cinema a lot or watched a lot of TV, because
of social media and how popular it is it lets
companies who want to promote their
products give them a could chance of getting
an audience.
9. Active Spectatorship is the way audience reacts to different films, some people
can watch a film and accept the story and not even think about it others think way
to much into it and think about it differently, it is impossible to say that a film will
have the same impact on every single person watching because of how different
the audience is and also that a film will be read or understood by each person in
the same way. Some people might see a message in the film and some watch it
not even aware that itās a possibility, for example in Titanic the scene where Jack
dies itās all set up and has the music and the lighting all to add to the sadness of
the scene this is the director trying to get a reaction from the audience most
people agree that this scene is sad, another film is Pulp fiction because it is shot
in non-linear this makes the audience try and mix up the scenes in their head to
try and get the correct timeline, a lot of people might not agree with having the
timeline like another person, Films do not just have an effect on audiences but
also audiences can have an effect on films, for example a fandom, Fans are
people who love a particular film, genre, character or star and they share with
other people this creates a fandom people might come together to discuss a film
they like a an actor/actress they like, also people who would spend money on
merchandise for a particular film it can also inspire people to start media careers.
A lot of conventions are held to celebrate films and bring fans together this is
more in the action adventure genre or horror genre things like comic con which
celebrates comic books and TV series casts go there to do panels and interact
with fans itās a chance to see you favorite actor/actress in person, social media is
a big part of fandoms when it comes to films, a lot of people go onto Tumblr
where fans can make GIFs and images and put their favorite quotes onto their
blog and share with other fans, they might get a personal connection to their
favorite characters stories it depends on how someone views the film, whereas
other people will watch a film and just enjoy the story and not want to become
fanatic about it. You canāt really become a fan over my chosen genre like create
a massive fandom unless the films have more than one. A way people relate to
this genre is how relatable is itās based on real life events some films can be
about getting married others can be going through high school and some just be
about a relationship but people can watch these and relate but also can have a
laugh watching them like the film bridesmaids which is a romantic comedy some
people might watch this and see something that might of happened to them like
when their friend got married other people may of never experienced it and still
enjoy it just the same these are two different reactions to the film.
Reception Theory was created by Stuart Hall its how we react to film based on
age, gender, social class and ethnicity, there is the contextual which is involving
or depending on a context and then there is textual which is relating to or
conforming to a text or texts. Reception theory argues that contextual factors
more than ones influence the way the spectator views the film elements of the
identity of the viewer, in which place you view the film like your home or in the
cinema, also if the film sparks the interest from the viewer by the genre,
franchise, star theory or the Laceyās repertoire of elements and also social,
10. historical and political issues or their beliefs. Stuart Hall has different types of
ādecodingā text there is preferred, negotiated and oppositional. Preferred is how
the producer wants the audience to view the media text they agree with the
message is it conveying. Negotiated a compromise between the preferred and
oppositional readings the audience understanding and agree with the text but
disagree with other areas they have their own views on and oppositional the
audience rejects the encoded meaning and creates their own meaning for the
text they fully disagree with the message being submitted. My thoughts towards
romantic comedies/ why I chose it as my genre, I personally think that that most
of them a based on true events with some exaggeration for example Juno its
about a teenage pregnancy or Clueless about a popular girl going through high
school and Bridesmaids about someone getting married I like comedy films
because watching them can put you in a good mood also romantic comedies are
probably one of the most popular genres, I didnāt realize that most of the films I
like were romantic comedies and I wouldnāt class it as my favorite genre, it
probably started from Mean girls because when I was in high school it was one of
my favorite films and most of my friends favorite film, I was always curious with
the whole American high school and how different it was to English schools, I just
enjoyed films like that because they are teen films and relatable even recently I
went to see The Duff the new film I wrote about in the media literacy part again
the film was funny and really relatable. I guess it just started from there I watched
more films under that genre and enjoyed them. Looking back on what Stuart hall
used especially age and gender films like these always have a girl as their main
character this relates to gender it would be more relatable to me and also high
school films like sixteen candles and sheās the man are all based around people
who are my age so thatās another thing that can be looked at its an obvious
reason as to why I would want to watch these films.
Iād say over all because the films I chose are quite old I wouldnāt of saw the
marketing campaign so I couldnāt really say if it has met my expectations, if I was
to look at how popular a film was and say it was the reason I chose to watch it I
would definitely agree.