Settings in our film

Almost all our film is set in a secondary school, therefore we felt that it was important to represent this in our title sequence and opening scene. After researching the representation of schools in teen angst films, we decided to use a locker to connote a school environment, and a classroom to do the same. We decided to set our film in a 'high school' because this would be relevant to our demographic of 15-20 year olds. This audience will either still be in school or will have only left recently, making it relatable. Our first shot is in a corridor with lockers, which is a stereotypical prop in a secondary school, so this immediately sets the scene and informs the viewer of where the film is set. Lockers are seen in teen angst films such as Juno.

We filmed some of our title sequence in our common room. We wanted to show groups of students grouped together, like in Mean Girls in the cafeteria. Although this room may not be immediately recognisable as part of a school, this is suggested by the tables and chairs, as well as the iconography on the walls.

Classrooms are another recognisable feature of schools, because all schools have them, so this was another setting we used to represent the location of the film. When researching teen angst settings, I found that both Mean Girls and Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging had scenes in a classroom. This is clearly a classroom due to the layout of the table and chairs, as well as the whiteboard. 

Target Audience and USP

Originally, we decided that our target audience should be around 12-20 year old females, which is the typical target audience for a teen angst film. However due to some dark themes within the film (the main character causing a car crash which consequently lead to her best friend’s death), we decided that the film certificate would be 15, meaning our target audience would be 15-20 year old females instead. This decision came from feedback from our classmates after we pitched our idea to them. Although this would perhaps limit the amount of people who would see the film, it is important that the film is only viewed by those it is appropriate for. 

Our USP is the fact that our target audience is different to other teen angst films, as the certification is a 15. 'Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging' is rated a 12, as is Wild Child, Mean Girls and Juno, which shows that the stereotypical target audience for films of this genre is 12-20.

Risk Assessment

Risk:	Method to overcome this:
Ella could get hurt when Sean pushes her over	Ensure that Sean  is careful when he knocks into her and that Ella is in full control of her fall over.
The camera fall during filming.	Make sure that the tripod and camera are secure at all times.
A crew member could trip over the dolly during tracking shots.	Make sure that everyone looks exactly where they are going when near the dolly.
When manoeuvring the dolly, a crew member could lose control of it. It may hit a wall or another crew member.	Be very careful with the dolly and make sure a second crew member is on standby in case someone loses control of the dolly.

Initial Storyboards

Below are the storyboards for our title sequence. We tried to follow it as much as we possibly could, and I believe that we have. Although our storyboards don't include very much detail on camera shots and editing, it gave us a good idea of what we wanted to film and the shots we might need. 

The following pictures show the storyboards for our first scene. Once again, the storyboard isn't hugely detailed but it gave us a structure for future planning.

First Pitch

Feedback:

-If car crash scene is to be included, raise demographic age from 12 to 15 as scenes may be too dark for a 12 certification: we decided to change our target audience to 15-20 so as not to offend or upset younger viewers and therefore changed the certification to a 15.

-Create more sub-plots so that there is more happening and develop narrative: we created the storyline of Megan's mother being pregnant (and we decided to introduce this in the first scene when Megan's mum texts her to tell her that she is pregnant). We also created the storyline of James, the boy who bullies Megan and spreads rumours about her, liking Megan and admitting his feelings towards the end of the film. This storyline, however, was not hinted at in the title sequence or the opening scene.

Preliminary Task

Easy A Title Sequence

Easy A

0:09 - "Screen Gems, a Sony Pictures Entertainment Company."  centre of screen, sans serif font, blue text, no other text on screen

0:15 - "Screen Gems Presents" - no other text on screen so it is important, middle-left of the screen, in capitals which shows importance, "Screen Gems" is bigger, blue font, overlaying an establishing shot of a town

0:24 - "An Olive Bridge Entertainment Production" - sans serif font in white which contrasts with background and is not the same as previous titles, top of the screen, audience will pay attention because only important thing to look at

0:30 - "A Will Guck Film" - 'Will Guck' is bigger than the other text showing importance, in sans serif font, white font, 

0:35 - "Easy A" - Main title, both serif and sans serif font, white and red font, the 'A' is serif font to look like a girls handwriting relating to the characters, shoes in tree on the screen showing rebellion within school and characters/plot, school bell is heard connoting a school setting, previous shot shows of "Ojai North High School" setting the scene further.

0:45-1:41 - Cast names (e.g. Amanda Bynes, Thomas Haden Church) The names are placed within the scene suggesting that they are most likely cast names. They are spread throughout the shot, and can be seen via a PoV, suggesting that a student is walking through the grounds, all text in white, sans serif font and all same size showing that they are all as important, voice-over begins to set the story up.

1:44 - "And Emma Stone" - White font, sans serif font, title is next to character displayed in the shot which suggests it is her, both on floor showing she is perceived as inferior to other characters despite being the main character - she is the last cast title and is doing the voice-over .

2:20 - "Casting By Lisa Miller Katz csa" - bottom-left on screen shows less importance than the first few titles, sans serif font, white, characters arm covers the csa at one point.
2:31 - "Costume Designer Mynka Draper" - white text, sans serif font, side of the screen because events on screen are more important.
2:45 - "Music Supervisor Wende Crowley" - white text, sans serif font,to the side of the screen as less important than the content on the screen.
2:50 - "Edited By Susan Littenburg" - White text, sans serif font, bottom of the screen so still visible but again, not as important as screen content.
2:57 - "Production Designer Marcia Hinds" - White text, sans serif font, bottom of screen, out of the way of contents but still important enough to be shown.
3:10 - "Director of Photography Michael Grady"- White text, sans serif font, bottom of screen so less important and out of the way of the story, at an angle as if sitting on the ground, behind character as she covers it up at some points.
3:36 - "Produced by Zanne Devine, Will Gluck" White sans serif font, placed on a sign in the background to blend in with the scene and allows audience to pay attention to content on screen while keeping the title sequence interesting.
3:51 - "Written By Bert V. Royal" - White text, sans serif font, more central screen as it is a significant role in the film.