Best Enemies Film Opening - FINAL!

This is the final, finished version of our film opening for Best Enemies: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAjqBH4NAuY

Reshooting due to audience feedback

After looking at our audience feedback questionnaire, we found that a lot of our audience commented on the continuity of the last scene. Therefore, we re-filmed this today and it now flows a lot better than before. Mostly, we found that by using a pan in two different shots they flowed much better and did not jump as much. As the actor playing JJ was not available for our reshoot, we had another actor, Dot, take his place.

Next, we plan to get audience feedback for our new and improved piece, and then finish our evaluation presentation and individual evaluations.

Audience Feedback Questionnaire

1. Do you feel our teen comedy is similar to teen comedies you have seen in the past?
Very similar
Quite similar
Similar
Not very similar
Not at all similar

2. How do you feel teenagers are represented in our films?
_________________________________________
_________________________________________
_________________________________________
_________________________________________
_________________________________________

3. Which film company do believe would distribute our film?
20th Century Fox
Disney
Paramount Pictures
Working Title
DreamWorks
Film4
None of the above
Other (please state) ____________________________

4. Who do you feel our film would appeal to?
Male
Female
10-15
16-20
21-25
26+

5. How do you feel we appeal to our audience? Tick the appropriate boxes.
Character Types
Costumes
Setting
Plot
Props
Other (please state) _____________________________________

6. Do you feel this is a stereotypical teen comedy?
Yes
No

7. What do you feel we could improve?
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________

Reshooting and music

Still in the process of editing our opening. We did have to reshoot the last scene again but now we're happy with how it looks. The only problem at the moment is finding music to accompany the first scene in the opening, as the song we use must be from a source with no copyrights. Currently I am trawling through a long list of unsigned bands on myspace.com, however to no avail, as I have found not one suitable song!

Filming and editing our opening (so far!)

We have filmed all the scenes in our opening. We did have to reshoot one scene as we felt it did not flow well with the rest of the action, but apart from that everything went OK. We have uploaded it and so far have put the shots together and added some transitions, however we still have a lot of work to do in order to get it perfect!

Casting and Shooting Schedules

Cast:
Katie Chivers as Jessica
Grace Beard as Emma
James Fowler as JJ
Group of girls includes Lauren Currier, Rachel Webb and Rachel Lewis

Shooting schedule:
Wednesday 11 March 2009 - Film all scenes
Friday 13 March 2009 - Upload, edit and shoot any unfinished scenes
Monday 16 March 2009 - Edit (add music, transitions, titles etc)

Wednesday 18 March 2009 - Reshoot last scene

Friday 20 March 2009 - Edit

Friday 27 March 2009 - Reshoot last scene again and edit (FINAL)

Storyboard for film opening

Will scan this ASAP.

10 minute PPT Presentation- Pitch for Film

How are we conforming to conventions?

We are conforming to the codes and conventions of a teen comedy in our opening in the following ways:

• Settings. Conventional and relatable settings of teenage life including college and teenage girls' bedrooms.
• Character types. Stereotypes of social groups, conventional to teen comedies, are found. E.g. Emma is a 'geek', Jessica and JJ are 'cool' and 'popular'.
• Costume. Clothes will be laid back, casual and quirky so teenage audience can relate to characters. Costume identifies character types; 'geeks' wear glasses etc and 'popular' kids are more fashionable with designer clothing.
• Props such as schoolbooks and a backpack for the geeky character and make-up and a mobile phone for the fashionable, popular character connote character types. Also, props such as laptops and mobile phones will be seen in the girls' bedrooms which are convetional to teen comedies and will let the audience identify with the characters.
• The issues conventional to teen comedies such as friendship and relationships are addressed in the opening, hinting at the plot/narrative to the film. Also, the characters undertake relatable activities to our teenage female target audience such as gossiping and getting ready for school.
• Non-diegetic music will be fast-paced with a steady rhythm, sounding like a contemporary pop song, conventional to teen comedies.

We also thought about an issue which came up in earlier planning when researching comedy films: the difference between British films and American films. The above codes and conventions follow that of a stereotypical American teen comedy, but also apply to British teens too; for example, the setting of a college and props used, like mobile phones. These codes and conventions, therefore, appeal to a western target audience. However, the references to British pop culture (British TV show Jordan and Peter) appeals on a more personal level to our British target audience, and we mirrored some of the self-deprecating humour we found common in British comedies in the character of Jessica, as she is almost like a parody of the stereotypical 'popular' girl.

Script for film opening

Scene One
Jessica and Emma get ready for school.
They come out of their houses at the same time, greet eachother, and begin walking to college.
Emma: "Oh my god. Have you got your essay for English?! Mine took the mick!”
Jessica: Rolls eyes. "As if. I haven't even started it. I’ll just hand it in tomorrow, she won't mind. I couldn’t miss Jordan and Peter last night!”
Emma: “Yeah... but Jordan and Peter won't get you your A Level."
Jessica: “Yes they will. She's an inspiration, she's proper clever. You know I want to be a glamour model.”
Emma: “Well, I plan on using my brain to get my A Levels.”
Jessica: “Yeah, well I plan on using my tits!”

Scene Two
Outside college, a group of girls sit, gossiping.
Girl 1: “Oh my God! Did you see Jordan and Peter last night?!”
Girl 2: “Oh, she is amazing! My idol!"
Girl 1: “Yeah... but he is FIT!"
Girl 3: “Oooo... 11 o'clock!"
Girl 1: “No, it's half 8!"
Girl 3 : "No, look at 11 o'clock!"
JJ: “Excuse me, could you point me in the direction of the main recpetion please?”
Girl 2: “Yeah... I'll point you in any direction...!"
Girls giggle.
Girl 3 “Yeah, it's just down the drive and to your right.”


Scene 3
Jessica and Emma are in mid-conversation when Jessica spots her friends. She pushes Emma into a bush a second before they notice her and wave.
Girl 2: “Look down the road!”
She gestures to JJ walking away.
Jessica: “Nice arse! Who the hell is it?”

Film Title: 'Best Enemies'

We decided on a name for our teen comedy: Best Enemies
This simplicity in a title is found in many teen comedies, e.g. Mean Girls. It sums up the plot of our film- a clever ploy on the phrases 'Best Friends'/'Worst Enemies'

Detailed Explanation of Film Opening

• The two girls are getting ready for school in the morning in their respective bedrooms. We do not yet see their faces in full; this opening scene includes only close-ups of props such as Jessica's make-up or Emma's glasses, with perhaps one or two close-ups of their mouths or hair to demonstrate the differences between the girls' character and costumes.
• The accompanying non-diegetic soundtrack will be music following a steady beat with a high-pitched tune, typical of a contemporary pop song in order to engage and relate to our target audience.
• Cut to them picking up their bags in the hallway. Still we do not see their faces; probably a medium close-up/close-up of their feet and their bags as they collect them which will demonstrate the differences in costume- Jess will be wearing high-heels/fashionable girly shoes and will scoop up a fashionable- perhaps designer- bag and Emma will wear scruffy looking trainers and will pick up a back pack.
• So far, the audience can see that these girls are total opposites. We then see a medium long-shot/long shot of two houses, with the front doors next to one another, out of which the girls emerge and greet eachother with some kind of personal handshake or salutation.
• The camera will then track the girls talking from a medium shot/medium long shot, walking up the road to college. We can see they get along brilliantly through ease of body language and conversation.
• Cut to a group of girls gossiping outside college. After some dialogue, JJ approaches the girls (we see this from a cut to him framed in an over-the-shoulder shot. Maybe at a slight low angle to connote how much he is admired by the girls).
• JJ asks where the reception is, sending the girls giggling.
• The camera will then pan to Jessica and Emma walking towards the school. Spotting Jess, the girls wave, wondering who she is with. In a sudden movement Jess pushes Emma behind a wall and runs towards the girls.
• Jessica exchanges some dialogue with the girls about JJ, with one more very long shot of him walking into the college as Jessica comments on his 'nice arse'.
  
  
  

Planning for Film Opening: Character Profiles (so far!)

We drew out some of our characters for our film. Here are some scans.

Jessica:

Propp's character type: Heroine
Name: Jessica
Age: 16
Hobbies: shopping, listening to music, reading gossip magazines
Costume: takes great pride in appearance, revealing and provocative clothes e.g. short skirts, low tops etc
Subjects: art, drama, photography

Emma:

Propp's character type: Heroine; helper
Name: Emma
Age: 16
Hobbies: video games, reading, astrology
Costume: high neck jumpers, glasses, trainers, back pack; not concerned with appearance
Subjects: art, maths, English, technology, physics


JJ:

Propp's character type: Prince at first, then villain
•Name: JJ
•Age: 16
•Hobbies: football, girls, guitar, enjoys working at his dads garage
•Costume: wears designer labels, tailored and well fitting clothes- connotes wealth
•Subjects: still studying GCSE syllabus

Planning for Film Opening: Synopsis of Film

We decided on a plot for our film. Here is a short synopsis.

Beginning Stereotypically, by western terms, a 'geek' girl (Emma) and 'popular' girl (Jessica) are friends outside of college. However, in college, Jessica shuns Emma in order to fit in with the 'cool' kids.
Middle A new 'hot' guy (JJ) starts college, and both girls are determined to win his attention, which causes them to argue and break friends. Emma has a miraculous new make-over which deems her popular and no longer a geek, much to the annoyance of Jessica. JJ decides to pursue Emma at this point, but after a short-lived relationship, Emma breaks it off with him after discovering that he is cheating on her.
End JJ then asks Jessica out on a date, at which point Emma tries to warn her about him out of loyalty to her, but she argues that Emma is just trying to ruin her chances with JJ out of jealousy. However, after seeing him for a while she realises that Emma is right and swiftly breaks up with him. The girls quickly reconcile, find funny ways to take revenge on the boy, and their friendship is restored.