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.