Response To The Bling Ring

The film we watched is called 'The Bling Ring'. The bling ring is a teen drama. There are many things in the film which shows how the movie is a teen drama. 

The film starts off typically, in a high school. Theres an outsider that comes in new and doesn't know anyone. This is very common in most teen films. Another common thing in the film is that there is a bad girl. She's sort of the ring leader. Then theres the 'Clique'. The group of girls take in the new boy. All these characters is what makes this film a teen movie. 

This film is very modern and everything that happens, shows us that the teenagers nowadays are interested in nothing but fashion and how they look; rather than care about the wider world. 

The clique are represented to be very materialistic; they love fashion and make up. The ring leader in particular, loves the celebrity lifestyle and wishes she could live like that. In a way, this links with other teen dramas because the way the teenagers live their lives is how most teenager want to live life and is shown in most teen movies. In most teen films, you will see teenagers partying and living life to the fullest. This is how it is in The Bling Ring. One thing that differs from other teen dramas, is that the boy is lured in to the group by the ring leader. This is doesn't normally happen in most teen films. 
Also what the teenagers do in The Bling Ring is very different than other typical teenage movies. The clique set out to rob the celebrities houses which doesn't often happen in teen dramas. 

The outsider is exactly how an outcast should be portrayed. He is a young boy who doesn't really know how to dress and feels insecure about himself. He doesn't know how to be around people and feels like he doesn't belong. This is very similar in other teen dramas because there is always an outsider who doesn't get along with the others in a high school. 

The robbery in the film is what makes this movie unique in a way. As a whole the teen drama was good but the ending could've been better. The consequence for those teenagers wasn't enough and frankly that i think that, thats what let the film down. 

The Bling Ring

The Bling Ring (TBR) is a teen film because of the teenage characters, high-school setting and the themes of fame, clothing, money and glamour. 

It reflects the materialistic world American teenagers either tend to live in or tend to want to live in. It also could portray that in modern culture, the only way to get noticed in Hollywood is by how you look, not anything else. The 'Bling Ring' are represented differently to other cliques in other teen films; often in teen films, the rich, fashionable, popular group always start out that way, whereas in TBR, the clique have to steal to have the 'rich, fashionable, popular' status that they want.

TBR is different to other teen films because it's ------>
and that there isn't really a happy ending. There are no typical themes (e.g. romance, violence, etc.) in TBR, which will make it difficult for teenagers (and some adults) to find it entertaining. 



Marc Hall, the protagonist, is firstly portrayed as being an outsider, 'the new boy' in a school for bad kids, but is then sucked into a group of the main, but antagonists characters. Very similar to Cady Heron from Mean Girls, although TBR goes a bit step further by going into burglary and crime, something more serious than just bitchiness and fights over boys and popularity status. 


The Bling Ring shows social networking can be used for bad (finding out celebrities' addresses) and is easy for the police to track down criminals. It could also represent modern stars as being glamourous, but they really do lack in their housing security...

My verdict. I found TBR boring, it was very repetitive 'let's go rob Paris Hilton...let's go rob Paris again!...let's go rob a Victoria Secret model...' I'm sure if there was more time in the film they would've robbed the whole of Hollywood. Maybe even America. The only thing that made the film 'alive' is that it's based on a true story.



Also, I could not stand Emma Watson's American accent. 

Identification of Stereotypes

Binary oppositions are based on stereotypes. A stereotype is a generally understood and common idea(s) that are often exaggerated to give a representation of certain characteristics/qualities in people, characters and groups. A lot of teen films (especially ones set in high-schools) contain stereotypes. Mise en scene is the key way to portray a stereotype. It's what makes it easier for the audience to recognise.

Examples of stereotypes:

• The Jock: 

• Usually seen wearing their varsity baseball jackets
• Popular and smooth with the ladies
• Often seen in a group
• Likely to be going out with a cheerleader/mean girl
• Tall and muscular

Examples of jocks would be Troy Bolton from the High School Musical franchise and Andrew Clark from The Breakfast Club.

• The Mean Girl:

• Often in a group of three
• Ringleader is blonde
• Skimpy, tight clothing
• Loves the colour pink
• Likely to be rich
• Well-presented

Examples of mean girls would be The Plastics/Regina George from Mean Girls or Lana Thomas from The Princess Diaries.

•  The Cheerleader:

• Very likely to be wearing their cheer uniform
• Usually athletic and slim
• Quite often dumb/non-academic
• If the captain, quite bossy

Examples of cheerleaders would be Britney Allen from Bring It On: All or Nothing or Jennifer Check from Jennifer's Body.

• The Nerd:

• Likely to be wearing glasses
• Bland coloured chequered shirts
• Jumpers
• Beige high waisted trousers (w/ braces)
• Big backpack
• Neatly dressed

Examples of nerds would be Will McKenzie from The Inbetweeners Movie or Brian Johnson from The Breakfast Club.

• The Weirdo/Loser:
  
• Sometimes wears and listens to 'vintage' things
• Sometimes brags about uncool activities
• Usually short
• Often against the idea of 'populars'

Examples of weirdos or losers would be Allison Reynolds from The Breakfast Club or Philip F. "Duckie" Dal from Pretty in Pink

Stereotypes

When it comes to teen films most of them are created off of the representations of the characters that usually fit the typical stereotype.

Examples of these stereotypes are: 

• The Nerd 

Usually has glasses with huge, thick lenses, a checked shirt buttoned all the way to the top, a backpack, lots of books and braces. 

• The Mean Girls 

All of them pretty, wear lots of make up, have on skimpy clothing (short skirts, high heels etc.), wear lots of pink and the leader of the group is usually the prettiest or has blonde hair. 

• The Popular Guy

Wears a baseball jacket, jock, smooth with the ladies, a flash, expensive car and usually has a crowd behind him. 

• The Cheerleaders

Matching uniforms, usually stay in that uniform for the majority of the film, dumb, the majority of them are blonde. 

• The Pretty Girl

By herself most of the time, quiet, fits the stereotype of a perfect girl.

Representation of Stereotypes

There are many representation of stereotypes in teen movies.

What is stereotype?
A definition of stereotypes is a generally understood idea or set of ideas, that are often exaggerated to give a representation of certain characteristics/qualities in people, characters, groups.
There are lots different characters in teen movies, for example:

The Jocks

















The Nerds/Losers/Weirdos

The Cheerleaders

The Popular Guy

The Pretty Girl

The Mean Girls,














The Fat Guy

This movie is a classic teen film to show the different types of characters.

Binary Oppositions

A big part of teen film openings are dependent on binary oppositions to make the rest of the film interesting to watch through camerawork, editing, sound and mise en scene. Some examples are:

• Princess Diaries: 
• Popular vs Unpopular
• Common vs Royalty
• Lily vs Mia
• Confident vs Shy
• Ten Things I Hate...: 

• Popular vs Emo
• 'Stud' vs 'Dweeb'
• Student vs Teacher
• Jock vs Nerd
• Romeo + Juliet: 
• Montague vs Capulet
• Wild boys vs Rich & Composed
• Informal vs Formal
• Male vs Female
  
• Ferris Bueller's Day Off:
• Brother vs Sister
• Ferris vs Parents
• Ferris vs his friend

Genre and Convention

A teen film has various different themes and topics. There usually is romance, conflict, friendships, competition etc in teen films. All these are quite essential in order to attract young teenagers. Teen films are usually watched by young boys and girls from the age od 12-19/20. In a typical teen film, you will find that that the location is usually in a highschool.

Other locations tend to be in diners, forest/woods shopping malls, house. Theres are also sport locations which are football/rugby stadium, sporthall, gym, dance studio, field. In a highschool, the location the teenagers woulds most likely be at are the hallway, cafetria, toilets, sporthall and classroom.

The locations within the home in teen films would be the kitchen, livingroom, the front of the house and garden.
There are many more locations that would be in a teen movie/s;beach,arcade,cinema,bowling,ice-skating, secluded place, car park etc. Nowadays, teen films are very similar to each other. There is always some sort or romance, one way or another.

The character always seem to stay the same; theres the popular guy most likely known as the "jock", the poplruar girl most likely a cheerleader, the new girl/boy, the geeks/nerds. It never changes with the characters in teen films. also the same thing happens between the "jock", "cheerleader" and the "new girl/boy".

Researching Target Audiences-3 Teen movies

John Tucker Must Die http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEnLySS2Op8 She’s The Man http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4OhwrMidSU 17 Again http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mfcKxkvhQw With these three trailers, it is clear that the target audience are young teenage girls. The reason why the audience would specifically be teenage girls is because of the young male actors in these films. This is what attracts the female audience into watching the films. The genre for these films is chick flicks. This not only attracts girls but also some male audience, but most of chick flick films are targeted towards females because they can relate with the films more. The male actors never fail to attract the females, especially the ones in these trailers; they are quite the eye for the ladies. the actors in these trailers are the main characters in the films. Their names are Jesse Metcalfe, Zack Efron and Channing Tatum. These male actors are very well known and very handsome, and this without a doubt is why a majority of women, mostly young girls watch these movies. The storyline is important when it comes to selling films to a particular audience. There are many storyline for example, when a girl seeks revenge on her other friends; when a girl likes a boy who like someone else; rivalry between two teams etc. all these storylines attract different audiences and with these three trailers, the storylines are for the female audience. The storyline with the three trailer are similar because it is about a girl who like a boy or ends up liking the boy who likes someone else or isn’t into them. The situations and the settings in these three trailers make the female audience feel like they can relate to it. However, there are different situations and settings that appeal to different audiences. There are situations in teen films where there are cars for example, involved and that would most likely attract boys. For girls settings such as diners and situations where there is a lot of romance is involved and also love triangles, is what will attracts them to these particular films. Romance and girl rivalry is what is always a hit with grabbing girls attention and it is completely the opposite with boys; it is more action and competition. The different types of genres in films are comedy, action, fantasy, adventure, romance, horror, thrill etc. In teen films, the genres tend to be more things like romance, action, comedy and horror. The reason for that would be because they can relate more to these types of genres and enjoy watching it. Not only is it because they will enjoy the films but also because the genres used in teen films tend to have young people and this allows the teen audience to be interested. There are many films that are targeted towards both genders but there are also a variety of films that are separated and are targeted towards either girls or boys.

3 Teen movies

• Twilight is a teen movie that is filled with fantasy, rivalry, conflict, adventure and romance. The main audience for this film is most likely to be teen girls because of two of the main characters in the film which is the vampire Edward and the werewolf Jacob. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edLB6YWZ-R4

• Scream is another teen movie that is filled with lots of suspense, fright and horror. The main audience for this movie is both genders who are teens as teenagers have the highest rate of watching horror movies. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTWf9QGdJCQ

• The last teen movie is Bring It On which fits every typical teen stereotype that you would come across in a teen movie. This film involves a lot of rivalry, relationships, friendships, socialising, fights and arguments. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IP6mF9YffvQ

Sub-genres

Teen films are films that are based around the lives of teenagers and involve a lot of stereotypes. The main audience for teen films are usually young adults and teenagers as they can relate to most of the scenarios that are illustrated in the film.

There are different sub-genres of teen films, for example:

• Comedy

• Action

• Horror

• Fantasy 

• Romance 

• Drama/Crime 

Usually in teen films you have stereotype characters such as the popular guy (jock, sports team captain), the pretty girl every guy wants to get with (usually the cheerleader captain), the geeks/nerds, the outcasts and the new girl/boy.

The typical locations that you would come across in teen films is...

Within the home - Kitchen, Bedrooms, Living room, Garden, Bathroom

Within School/College - Hallways, Classrooms, Cafeteria, Sports hall, School bus

To do with sports - Football stadiums, Basketball games, Gym, Dance studios

Hanging out - Diners, Forest/Woods, Shopping Malls, Parks, Cinemas, Arcades, Beach

Genre and Sub-genre

Teen films
A lot of teenagers watch teen films as it either features a popular actor/actress of teen films (e.g. Zac Efron or Lindsay Lohan), or because they feel that they can relate to the characters and their situations. Also adults also watch teen films because it may feature an actor/actress that was in one of their favourite teen films or because it reminds them of their childhood. 


Themes and topics

There are many themes and topics to teen films:

• Romance/relationships
• Conflict with adults
• Friendships
• Sport/competition
• Aspirations
• Drama
• Violence
• Betrayal
• Crime
• Drinking/partying
• Rebellion

A good example of a teen film that has most of these themes and topics is Step Up.

Sub genres

Different teen films have different audience and appeal to different people because of sub genres. Examples (and their movies) of sub genres are:

• Romance (Sixteen Candles)
• Comedy (The Inbetweeners Movie)
• Adventure (The Hunger Games trilogy)
• Fantasy (Beastly)
• Competition (Bring It On)
• Horror (Carrie)
• Sci-Fi (I Am Number Four)
• Thriller (House at the End of the Street)
• Action (Kick-Ass)

Locations
A lot of teen films are all based around similar locations. 

• If the location is at a character's home, it is likely to be either the bedroom, kitchen or garden. 
• If the location is at school, it is likely to be either the classroom, bathroom, hallway, canteen, gym or school bus.
• If the location is a sporting location, it's likely to be at a stadium, park/field or dance studio
• If the location is a 'hang out' location, it's likely to be at a diner, woodland, shopping mall, beach or cinema

Characters

Every teen film will contain at least one character with a particular stereotype:

• Cheerleader 
• Jock, usually quarter-back
• Geek/nerd
• Main character's best friend 
• Outsider
• Bad boy/girl
• Popular one(s)
• Loser
• 'Cool' adult
• Teacher

Teen films with different audiences

The Inbetweeners Movie (2011, England)

The Inbetweeners Movie will have a specific audience because British teenagers can relate to a 'lads/ladettes' holiday after they leave college. Also, the audience will be inherited from the audience the TV series had. The language used and script contains a lot of humour and colloquialisms that only British teenagers will understand and relate to.

Step Up 2: The Streets (2008, Baltimore)

Step Up 2 mixes high school conflicts with dance battles, which brings an even more diverse audience. The particularly good-looking and famous cast, e.g. Cassie and Channing Tatum, feature in the film which would appeal to males and females, for different reasons. It is set in Baltimore with kids from the streets or outsiders in a posh performing arts school, finding their way and themselves through dance. Something teenagers and dancers will understand.

The Breakfast Club (1985, America)

The Breakfast Club was set and released in 1985, so the audience will very different to the audiences for the other two movies. It is set in a typical American highschool that features characters from all different stereotypes (criminal, outsider, geek, jock and 'princess') all facing detention, leaving a lot of the audience able to relate to at least one of the characters. Two of the actors, Molly Ringwold and Anthony Michael Hall, would have brought inherited audiences from their previous film (which was also a teen film), Sixteen Candles.

Teen film interview!

We interviewed teachers and students at college, asking them various questions on teen films.

What happens at the start of the film?

Things you expect to see:

• Company ident (e.g. MGM, Warner Bros., Dreamworks, etc.)
• Sound/music (e.g. Skyfall for Skyfall, etc.)
• Titles/credits (e.g. film title, main credits, director, producer and company, stars and distributor(s)
• Images (from film)

Prelim 2

Prelim

Introductory post!

So this is Group 28. 
From left to right we have Yashima, Shenaya and Rahena.