Use, Develop or Challenge Codes and Conventions of a Teen Film?

MISE-EN-SCENE:
Locations- I will use a combination of scenes in school, activities and in her bedroom as it is her everyday life.
Props- I am going to use social media and technology e.g. a laptop and iPhone.

Costume- I am going to stay in with the conventions of the teen film. I am going to make the costumeup to date to attract the then audience.lighting- I am using natural lighting in my scenes as I want to make it look realistic and developed the lighting as Hollywood films use professional bright lights. As you can see by this image from the 'DUFF' a recent teen film.

EDITING:
Techniques I am planning to use- montage of clips manipulating the speed by slow motion and speeded up and reversed.
-In teen film they use quite quick transitions between scenes and use interesting transitions. I want to make a realistic teen film therefore I am combining characteristics of a normal life with a teen film.

CAMERAWORK:

-I want to use many different camera shots e.g. close ups, aerial shots and tracking shots to show my character throughout the film. The close up shot of her face will show her emotions through the film. I am using an aerial/birds eye view shot to show her on her bed. In the 'DUFF' they use tracking shots for the mean girl and over the shoulder shots through conversations which I want to include. 
SOUND:
-I want to emphasises the sound in the montage clips at the start of film as I want my main role to be writing, cutting, drawing and gluing and the sound to be really loud as it portrays her concentration. 
- I want my music to show the emotions of my character and the music to get happier through the film to convey what happens to my character.
In most teen films they use very up to date pop music in their films to attract the teen audience. I want to use music my target audience will know to attract them more but have it to up to date as it will distract my audience from the storyline.

Use, Develop and Challenge codes and conventions of a Documentary?

Mise-en-scene:

• Locations: I am using different locations as documentaries use many,bedroom, school-dance studio, pool and beach. To show Beth's everyday life and the activities she does.
• Props: I am using her art books to show her hobby and how it helps her to stop stressing.
• Costume: there is no set costume worn in documentaries therefore I am using normal clothing.
• I want the lighting to be all natural as there are no professional lights in everyday life so I am challenging the genre  and wont give a realistic look. 

Editing:

• I am going to use slow motion, reverse, split clip and speed up to manipulate my clips to show the emotions of my characters.
• through different types of cuts to shift to a different angle can create opinions and thoughts in the audiences head.
• I want to use POV as it makes the audience live through the eyes of my character and helps as it is her everyday life.
• I will use of a reaction shot--a medium shot or close-up of a character/person just after significant action occurs within the scene.

Camerawork:

• I want to use different unique shots as I want my audience to get different interpretations. 
• I want to develop the distance of the shot to show different emotions of my character e.g. close up and medium shot.

Sound:

• I want to detach the sound and manipulate it to give it an artistic feel. 
• I can also use different types of interviews e.g. direct and indirect through my film.
• I want to use voice over narration or direct narration, I think I am going to challenge this by combining them together. 

I want to combine the codes and conventions of the genres of teen and documentary to make the sub genre 'Teen Documentary'.

What are the important aspects to creating a Short Film?

There are different aspects within creating a short film but all are fundamental to the overall product. Before you have made your short film it is hard to know which aspect is most important. Here are some of the processes I will go through when making my short film:

• Script writing- Is the foundation of a story/plot of a film.Through script writing you see your words translated into film. Script writing is used in most media, for example films, TV programs and video games. Most scripts include stage directions, character lines, lighting and visual actions.

• Producing- Film producers fill a variety of roles depending upon the type of producer. A producer is either employed by a production company or independent, producers plan and coordinate various aspects of film production, such as selecting script, coordinating writing, directing and editing, and arranging financing. Film producers help and look over the whole film process and present it to the distributors. 

• Directing- The director controls the artistic and dramatic aspects. Directors visualises the script while guiding the technical crew and actors to fulfil the vision.

• Cinematography(director of photography)- Means "the art of making motion pictures" . They are responsible for achieving artistic and technical decisions related to the image.Director of Photography is in charge of all the photography components of film, e.g. framing, costumes, makeup, and lighting, as well as the assistant of the post producer for color correction and grading.

• Sound- in film is curial to portray emotion and the story/plot. The soundtrack of a film will include music, sound effects and human voice. There are two different types of sound effects, synchronous sounds match what the audience see and shows realism of the film. Asynchronous sounds are not matched to the visual film on the screen, this gives a certain atmosphere and style to a film. Background music have different interpretations including adding emotion and rhyme to the film, linking different scenes in a film and sound can suggest what will happen in speed. 

• Editing- is part of the creative post-production process of filmmaking. The editor works with the raw footage, selecting shots and combining them into sequences to create a finished motion picture. They can control how the audience feels and what emotions they will feel throughout the film. Editing is done on digital technology for example Final Cut Pro and iMovie. 

With all of these aspects it would create an overall successful film  from all the research and planning then production and post production.

Digital Technology

Target Audience

My target audience is very conventional to my film genre as teenagers will find a teen genre film more interesting than adults e.g. middle age. I think there is a gap in the teen/documentary market as they all convey the themes e.g. school parties and proms and not the friendship built through school. I am making my short film a bit of a twist on a teen film as I am going to make it a documentary style. A teen plot is typical based on love, rebellion and arguing with parents but I am going to challenge this by making it about a growing friendship. But I am doing a more realistic topic e.g. stress as everyone goes through it. I think I am attracting a mass audience as everyone has been to school and can relate and don't want to exclude certain types of people. 

Where could my short film be shown?
The short film business is quite small therefore there isn't many places to present my short film. However I can show my short film on YouTube and the website 'Short of the Week' but short films are not shown on TV.

Plot Synopsis

A teen documentary evolving around 'Beth Tierney' and her everyday life. Through her everyday life she shows how she doesn't get stressed out about her approaching GCSE's. She does this through her hobbies e.g. dance, art, friends, family and holidays. This film is an educational documentary for teens as it explains how she becomes more relaxed and less stressed through her hobbies.

Storyboard

I chose to draw out my storyboard so I could make it more in-depth and detailed even though this is a rough outline. I have wrote about what kind of camera shots I want to use and some editing techniques. I have shown a rough plot but it will be more clear in the plot synopsis. The locations through the short film are shown in the drawings e.g. main characters bedroom,dance studio and a park.  As there is only 10 pictures in my storyboard it is a summary of what my short film is going to roughly look like.