Uses and Gratifications

Casting Decisions

Casting Decisions – compared with The Duff

Toby: Most popular boy in school, Toby’s character is similar to Wesley Rush character from the Duff. He is popular, good looking, but is falling behind in lessons and needs some help.  Toby is the hero of our film 

Casey: Least popular girl in school, Casey’s character is also similar to Bianca Pipers character from the Duff, she is socially awkward, but excels at school. She needs help learning to relax and have fun.

 

Carly: Toby’s horrible girlfriend, Casey will resemble the same characteristics as Madison Morgan from the Duff, she is the most popular girl, yet the most feared and very aggressive.

Chase: Casey’s best friend resembles, jess and Casey from the duff, they’ve known each other all their lives and can’t wait to enjoy there final year together.

IMDB User Ratings

In the above Picture are 6 of some of the user ratings for some well known Romantic comedies. From my findings, it is evident that Females from aged 18-45+ are interested and love romantic comedies compared to Males 18-45+ as they are more of a secondary audience and woman of all ages our the aimed target audience. (specifically 14-28/30 year olds)

Test Shot Vlog

Storyboard of our film and audience feedback

Audience Feedback

Audition Tapes

Audience Feedback on the first draft of our script

Does it suit the conventional layout of a normal script?

From this chart above it is clear to see that the sample size believe that the script looked like a conventional script. This is good feedback for us to gather because of the fact that we are trying to copy the feel and look of the creation of a film. From the research of target audience to how we film, to how we edit and export the film.

Does the script suit the romantic comedy genre?

From this feed back above we are able to see that the script we have created suits the romantic comedy genre and that the dialogue we have used is able to entertain the audience.

Do you like the first draft of the script?

Final Concept

Overall Synopsis

Synergy Research

Shot Tests

Lighting Shots

The following are different types of lighting being tested on similar shots.As a rom com we knew we wanted to have mood lighting using warm colours, this is because we wanted it to look cosy and warm. This would make the film look more inviting and appealing to the audience.

Casting Shots

Script

Draft 1

Prop Sourcing

Costume Research by annabelleferguson on Scribd

5 Key Frames

Key Frames:

1. Casey's necklace falling out from her pocket.

Shot type: Medium

Why we have used it: This is because it is one of the most iconic parts to the storyline where Casey looses her mothers locket and is devastated about it. This is to create a sense of dramatic irony between the audience and the film, where they know she has lost it but doesn't know yet. The audience would also then know that Toby's girlfriend that is jealous of Casey finds and wears the necklace as if it is her own.

2. Casey looking sad and upset about losing her locket.

Shot type: Close up

Why we have used it: We have used this to show the impact and how valuable the necklace is to Casey. This also means that the audience is able to close up see the impact and sympathise with her as well.

3. The 3  main boys walking down the corridor.

Shot type: Long Shot

Why we have used it:  We have decided to use this shot as part of out 5 key frames because of  the facial expression of Toby walking down the corridor looking happy and popular like he has no cares in the world and that everyone swoons over him. When realistically he is failing school and using Casey to get his grades.

4. Casey and Toby sitting in the library.

Shot type: Medium shot

Why we have used it: We have decided to use this as it shows the awkwardness and the conflict between the two and how they do not see eye-to-eye. The shot also shows how Casey is doing all of the school work and Toby is just sitting there not trying while Casey is frustrated.

5. Casey walking into her prom looking revamped and less geeky looking stereotypically what people would see as being beautiful. At the same time in this part of the film this is where Toby sees how beautiful she really is deep down thinking about how smart and unique she is.

Shot type: Medium Shot

Why we have used it: We have used this shot to show to the audience how beauty isn't everything to a girl and that not all boys are attracted to popularity and beauty. It also helps to show that being smart can be attractive to some and seen as a motivational factor to better themselves.

Make Up Research

Audience Feedback on Loactions

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Location shots

We have decided to use a typical school location for the development of our film because it suits the genre of film that we are trying to create. This location helps to set the age of the characters, genre of the film and overall stereotypes of the characters that are being portrayed.

More location by Annabelle Ferguson on Scribd

Organisation/Delegation of research tasks and planning

Development - 10/11/16

Development - 11/11/16

Audience Profile (The Duff)

Target Audience Research Profile

Qualitative questions to our target audience (Sample size:  3 People)

1. Why would you watch a Romanic Comedy film?

"I like comedy and romance is something girls aspire for, I also like watching a range of films"

"Because they're funny and make the audience happy"

"Escapism for lonely people"


2. Who would you normally go with to watch a romantic comedy film?

"My friends"

"Boyfriend"

"Single lonely friends"

3. How would you expect to feel after watching a romantic comedy film?

"Happy"

"Looking for love"

"Sad because I'm lonely"

Audience Profile Final 1 by Annabelle Ferguson on Scribd

Title Survey and Audience Feedback

Moodboard

From our mood board we have been able to use some of the ideas that have been put forward onto the mood board. For example we have been able to use the pink tones within out film trailer creation for our logo. As we are a team of 3 girls, we have decided to use pink within our production company logo to represent femininity and also pink has the connotation of love. We have also decided to use a Serif Font within out film poster and for the title of the film because it helps to represent the femininity of the main character Casey within the film, showing that the film is orientated around a female lead. This is also shown in the 'The Back Up Plan's film poster however the font has been coloured pink. we have also taken inspiration from 'The Duff' for our poster having the main characters (teenage) together but also showing the relationship between the characters, in 'The Duff's poster it states this in text but we will aim to do this through facial expression and use of editing.

Production Company Logo and Analysis

Representation of Characters and Places within Romantic Comedy Films

Characters

Leading Male (Romantic Lead): Tends to be good-looking and handsome with a boyish charm, popular boy and tends to be seen sporty in teenage romantic comedies. In teenage romantic films the leading male tends to be dating a popular girl that is seen as rude and dominates all of the social groups within a school.

Leading Lady (Romantic Lead): In the majority of romantic comedy films the leading lady tends to be very beautiful and independent that is unlucky in love, with a heart of gold.

Leading Lady’s best friend/buddy: adds humor, attractive, dorky, loyal and offers the leading lady valuable advice.

Girlfriend/Ex Girlfriend: of the leading male: Gets easily jealous of the new romantic interest, beautiful, prioritizes her social rankings over emotions and studies.

Location

Coffee Shop: Used because of its warm connotations and friendliness – used in films such as ‘Friends with benefits’

School: Used in typical high school romantic comedy. Use of the hallways for example ‘The Duff’ to show the power and status of the cast and using a range of medium and long shots or dolly zooms to introduce characters. Also the school playing field is used because the male lead tends to be sporty shown again ‘The Duff’ and also in ‘A Cinderella Story’. This tends to be where the male lead and female lead tend to realize their love for each other. The school hall is also used in romantic films because of their use to be changed into a magical prom scene also where some characters also find love on the dance floor.

Our Film Narrative and Trailer Narrative Research

We have been able to base or narrative following Todorovs' theory, following the stages he proves to fit most films. Following the stages of Equilibrium, Disruption, Realisation, Repair and restoration.

I was able to complete research into Todorovs' theory within my AS coursework:

Below is a table in which shows Todorov's theory in relation to our film idea.

Stages
Equilibrium	Casey is a nerd, Toby is a jock, two opposites that don’t like each other
Disruption	They are thrown together to work on a class project Carly (Toby’s Girlfriends) becomes jealous and steals her locket
Realisation	Casey realises she likes Toby but hears him talking about her negatively
Repair	Toby attempts to win Casey back but she doesn’t want to hear it
Restoration	Toby breaks up with Carly and gives Casey her locket back and they end up together

The images shown below show how Todorov's theory can be applied to a range of different of Romantic Comedy genre films.

From comparing the range of films I decided to research it is clear to see that the Equilibrium of the film is not shown in the film.I think this is because it isn't as important to know what happens at the beginning of the film because this is usually where the characters and the location is introduced.

The Disruption of the film is not shown either, this is due to the fact that the director wouldn't want to the audience to know the main root of the problems within the film and try and intrigue the audience this way.

The recognition and repair are usually shown within the films trailer. This is because of the fact this is usually where the comedy aspects are found and used within the trailer to intrigue the audience. Although the restoration is not shown because this would give away the ending of the film and ruin it for the audience.