Mean Girls Research

 

This picture is from a scene in mean girls. It is a mid-long shot showing 3 girls, each looking in a mirror. This shot type allows the audience to see what the characters are wearing but also their body language and facial expression. The characters are teenaged girls as teen angst films are mostly targeted at girls between the ages of 12-18 years as they can relate most to the characters. Two of the three girls are wearing skirts which connotes that they are very feminine girls and this is a stereotype of teenaged girls. Another reason they could be wearing skirts is to catch the interest in boys as this is stereotyped as the main focus of girls this age. One other possible reason could be that they are trying to rebel against rules of school/society that has a certain expectation of what they should wear. This is done purposely so that the audience can relate to this as they may also be thinking/feeling this way. The blonde girl is in the middle as she is blonde, pretty and often the leader of the group of friends. Putting her in the centre of the shot and the three girls portrays her as the centre of attention which may reflect on her attitude to most things in life. Also the lighting is fairly low key around the edge of the room but is high key on the girls, particularly the one in the middle. Again this portrays her as the centre of attention and the leader of the group. The girl on the right is the only one wearing trousers and not doing her make up. This is a countertype of girls in teen angst films as they are usually wearing girly clothes such as skirts and these clothes are often pink. Also girls are stereotyped to care a lot about their appearance and this is shown in this picture as two of the girls are looking in a mirror and doing their make up while the other girl is looking in the mirror at herself

In this picture from mean girls, it shows that the group of girls are in a shopping centre. This is a stereotype of girls as they are often thought to enjoy shopping and socialising with their friends. This shot is a long shot as you can see clearly what they characters are wearing but also what is around them. The setting is a nice setting as it looks like it is high quality and somewhere that could be expensive. This connotes that the girls are not lower class and more likely to be middle class. It also shows that they are not scared to spend money and so probably care about how their peers look at them. This is a stereotype of teenaged girls as they often want to be popular and looked up at by their friends. There is high key lighting that shows that this is a light hearted scene and that nothing terrible is happening and they are enjoying themselves. All four girls are wearing pink which is stereotypically a girl’s colour. 3 of them are also wearing skirts which is, again, another thing that portrays them as stereotypical very feminine girls. An example of iconography is that they have handbags and this is very common in teen angst films since many teenaged girls will have handbags to look after their belongings.

The main narrative in the video is that a new girl, called Cady, joins the new school after leaving where she grew up in Africa as her parents were conducting research out there. This was her first time in a public school so she was unfamiliar as too how the social hierarchy works. At first she befriended two people called Janis and Damien. She learns from them that the highest social status she could have is from being friends with the 'Plastics'. Cady is accepted into the plastics and her and Janis hatch a plan to bring down the leader of the plastics, Regina George. Cady learns about the 'Burn Book' and also falls in love with Regina's ex-boyfriend, Aaron Samuels.
Cady carries on ruining Regina's reputation and her popularity. She turns her friends against her by telling them that Regina sees her as a better friend. She also tells Aaron that Regina has cheated on him with another boy. She also goes on to trick Regina into eating high calorie nutrition bars by telling her that they will help her lose weight. After this it turns out that Cady has lost her personality and has changed and become more like Regina.
Regina decides to leak the contents of the 'Burn Book' and spread rumours around the school. She makes up a fake rumour about herself in order to put the blame onto the other members of the 'Plastics', including Cady. The girls are made to apologise to their peers and when it comes to Janis, Regina makes a joke about her sexuality. Janis them reveals about her and Cady's plan to ruin Regina's reputation, with the support of the rest of the school. Regina runs out of the school upset, where she gets hit by a bus and rumours start that Cady pushed her.
Cady is distrusted by everyone, and she takes the blame for the 'Burn Book', she feels less guilty after this and even joins the matheletes where she realises that insulting people's appearance won’t help her with her situation.

Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging (2008)

In this film there are a group of girls, Georgia and her friends, Jas, Ellen and Rosie who all attend the same school. On the first day of the school year there are two new boys who are brothers, Robbie and Tom who instantly catch the eye of all of the girls. Georgia then decided she is going to try and befriend robbie and get close to him.

Georgia knows that Robbie likes cats and so pretends that her cat, Angus, has run away. Jas, Georgia's friend has the cat but it does actually escape and so Tom has to catch up and this leads to Tom and Jas dating. Despite this, Robbie is seeing Georgia's rival - Lindsay.
One side plot is that Georgia's dad gets offered a job in New Zealand, which he takes and he flies to out to New Zealand to begin preparation.

Georgia wants to date Robbie so bad that she starts having "snogging lessons" from a boy named Peter Dyer. This lead to Peter liking Georgia so much that he tries to kiss her at a party a few nights later which causes her to fall in a bush and her underwear to be shown to the people standing around, which happens to include Robbie, Lindsay, Jas and Tom. In a panic and to try to show that she has nothing to do with Peter and to try to stop him being obsessed she tells him that she is lesbian.

A few days later Tom invites Jas to go swimming with him and Robbie. Georgia hears about this and so plans to go and meet them there. While in the pool Robbie and Georgia kiss but then Robbie leaves because he "has to sort some things out" although he promises to call Georgia later. After a few weeks a boy named Dave invites Georgia to a gig, which happens to be Robbie's band playing. Georgia agrees to go with Dave and while there Robbie tries to talk to Georgia but Lindsay stops then from speaking.

After a while it turns out that Georgia was using Dave to make Robbie jealous at the gig. Dave tells Robbie this and so Robbie and Georgia stop talking. Eventually Georgia finds out that it was Jas who told Dave this and so they fall out and tell each other that they never want to speak to each other ever again. After this Georgia agrees to go to New Zealand with her dad and so goes to the beach to try to make up with Robbie. At this point Robbie admits that he still likes Georgia and that he has dumped Lindsay.

Finally, Georgia's mum plans a surprise 15th birthday party for her, which Jas had helped to organise. Jas and Georgia make up and Georgia's dad also returns to England as he has received a much better job offer there. It also turns out that Robbie's band are performing at the party and they play a song called "Ultraviolet" which Robbie had written about Georgia. Lindsay interupts they party as nobody had attended hers and tells Robbie that he either takes her back or loses her forever. Robbie tells her that he wants Georgia and then they kiss on stage.


This film would appeal to teenagers as they can relate to the plot and many of the side plots within the film. This means that they would enjoy watching the film as they can appreciate and empathise with the characters in the film. It may also remind them of things that have happened in their lives and this could be a good thing and so would make them happy.

What have I learnt about making a film?

The task we were given was to split into small group of 4 or 5 and make a swede of a popular film. We were given half a lesson to plan and then a week to organise actors, settings and props. This task was designed to help give us a basic understanding of what the process of planning, filming and editing a film is like. A swede is the remaking and summarising of a popular film using little or no budget at all.

Once we had split into groups we started to plan out what film we would create a swede of. My group chose The Hunger Games. Having no budget meant that we had to plan which props we would use in advance, and this was discussed and each person in the group were told what props they had to bring in. Another step in the planning process was deciding which actors we could use. We had to plan how many we needed, when we needed them and who would do what. Adding to this we also had to decide on locations for each scene that we were doing and in the end it was simple for us as we only needed two locations. Once we had sorted all of these then we started to think about what shots we would have and how the storyline would go.

On the day of filming we firstly discussed risk assessments. This included what risks could occur when we were out filming and what could be done to reduce or avoid these risks. The main risks we came up with were that people could trip, equipment could be damaged and doors could slam on people. To avoid these we decided that people should walk sensibly, camera the camera and tripod with the legs on the smallest setting, and be careful when opening/closing doors.

We then went on to discuss how to use the equipment properly. This meant how to put the camera on to the tripod, how to film with the camera and how to use extend the tripod legs. This therefore enabled us to get the best shots that we could as the tripod would hold the camera steady and also level. My group tried to get a variety of different shots which included, panning, close ups, mid shots, long shots and extreme long shots.

The final aspect of filming the swede was time management. We had a deadline to meet, which meant getting all of the actors together at the right setting, getting the acting right, filming it and getting back to the arranged place in time. Organising actors is a big problem when trying to film on such a tight time schedule and everyone has to know what they are doing and work together.

How do you and your peers use film?

There were 22 people in the sample that we took, out of this sample 3 people went to the cinema between 0-5 times, 8 people went between 5-10 times and 10 people went over 10 times. This shows that the majority of people use the cinema frequently; however these figures depend on how close any cinemas are located nearby. People usually go to the cinema to either socialise with their friends or because they are interested in watching the film.
11 people said they would go because friends are going and 10 people said they would go because they like the film.

5 people said that they would buy popcorn and drinks at the cinema but 17 said that they wouldn’t. This is mainly due to the fact that these things are too expensive and so many people do not bother or they take their own snacks and drinks.

Out of the 22 people that were surveyed, 17 said that they prefer to watch big Hollywood films as opposed to small independent films in the cinema. Nobody said they would prefer to watch independent films and 5 said that they would watch any films that they liked the look of. At home 17 of the people said they would watch films online as opposed to 5 people who would prefer to watch films on DVD. This would be likely to the fact that it is sometimes easier to watch films online rather than going out to buy a DVD. Also, if 3D is available, 6 people would choose to see that as opposed to 16 people who would see the 2D version. Again this is due to the fact that the 3D version is more expensive although many people think it is more enjoyable in 3D.

13 people said that they do stream/watch films illegally online and 9 people said that they don’t. This is due to the fact that illegally streaming films is much easier because it can be accessed through the internet at home on multiple devices.

Out of the 22 people who were surveyed, all of them said that they would be most influenced by a trailer to go and watch a film, compared to posters and TV spots. This is because trailers actually show you a little bit of the film and also outline the plot. In addition to this only 4 people said that ratings and reviews would influence them to go and see a film in the cinema whereas 18 people said they wouldn’t. Family and friend reviews can help the most to influence people to see films as they often know if the film would appeal to you or not.
Also 19 people said that they do visit film websites when trying to decide if they want to watch a movie or not and 3 people said they don’t.

Nobody in the survey said they make their own films.

18 people said that their family subscribe to Netflix, Love Film or a similar subscription service and 4 said that they didn’t. These types of services have become much popular in the last few years due to improved internet, easy access through multiple devices such as tablets, Laptops and games consoles. It has also become slightly cheaper to pay for these services.