Q1) In what ways does your media product develops or challenge forms and convention of real media product?

Firstly I would like to explain the main genre of my film and which institution caters these types of films really well. Main genre of my film is romantic comedy or chick flick as they are highly budgeted films so my chosen media industry is Hollywood which has produced thousands of chick flicks than any other industry.

Chick flicks are targeted at teenagers and young adults mostly females in which the plot is based upon the special interests of teen girls, such as coming of age, first love, rebellion, conflict with parents, teen angst, and alienation. They are designed to appeal to a largely female target audience and these films are light hearted, and have humorous plotlines.

My film had been developed using various codes and conventions. Firstly through the mise en scene which includes costumes, props, location and even sound. My film “Inversely Proportional and one of the hit film like “From Prada To Nada” shares several similarities.

As mostly in chick flicks, chick is shown very fashionable and is wearing bright and branded clothes and wearing lots of makeup while the nerd girl is shown wearing casual clothes and no makeup at all. As you can see in the screenshot of the film “From Prada To Nada” that Mary is wearing branded and fashionable clothes and on the other hand Nora her sister is wearing very normal and casual clothes.

On the other hand Nora her sister is wearing very normal and casual clothes. She isn't looking very fashionable

Nora in “From Prada To Nada”

Flora in Inversely Proportional

In my film the chick is seen wearing a funky top and a bottom and she cares a lot about what she is wearing this clearly tells audience that Flora is the chick.

 While on the other hand Bella who is shown as a nerd is wearing casual clothes and she isn’t very fashionable this indicates the fact that she doesn’t care about herself and what clothes she is wearing. The pictures below indicate both the characters of my film.

Another thing which is similar in most of the teen films is that it shows the nerd girl always studying and working in her assignments. This thing is highlighted in From Prada To Nada and my film. The nerd girl Nora is shown studying and all her books are spread all over the table. This immediately gives audience clear hint that this is a nerd girl who likes to study.

It is a screenshot of my character Bella who is shown working on her book. In the frame we can see the books piled up in a side and some notebooks beside her hand. Normally a nerd is seen doing his/her assignments and always studying. By seeing this my audience which is normally teenage girls will easily identify the nature and habits of this character as they have experienced such characters in their real lives.

Another thing that is similar in many chick flicks and so do I have also portrayed in my film is that the chick normally goes into the shopping malls and tries out different stuff on them. My character flora is shown trying different clothes on herself and on the other side Mary of from Prada to nada is also shown trying out glasses at herself.

Normally the girls shown in these types of films are best friends and they like to hangout with their friends whom they trust most. On the other hand the film that had supported the idea of bond of friendship is The Sisterhood Of Travelling Pants. The picture below shows that how these five girls are bound in the relation of friendship and they normally goes to shopping with each other.

“Sisterhood Of Travelling Pants

In my film I have portrayed the idea of friendship and how this bond is strong and powerful. I have shown both Flora and Bella going on shopping and how much they enjoy each others company despite of having differences in personality.

Challenges.!!

Now moving on to the challenges of my film. Firstly in most of the chick flicks or romantic comedies there is a guy involved and the girls whether it is a nerd or chick falls for him. The examples could from “The sisterhood of travelling pants” and “From Prada to Nada”.

Edward & Nora in “From Prada To Nada

Eric & Bridget In “Sisterhood Of Travelling Pants

In my film I haven’t shown any guy involved in it and it solely revolves around girls. This thing shows that a film is not necessarily had to be about boys, the relationship the girls have with them and the problems arising from them. In my film I have highlighted the idea that a chick flick could be made without any male involvement or dominance over the plot.

Another challenge that my film has put up is that in the editing process is that I have used jump cuts. Normally the chick flicks start off with a normal pace and usually no jump cuts are uses. In my film I have used jump cuts in the start credits because I wanted to increase the pace of my film and wanted my characters to act quickly.