TEEN MOVIES – CONTROLLED ASSESSMENT

Know how to write about conventions of teen movies in

relation to films studied

TEEN FILMS STUDIED Rebel without a Cause (1955) Nicholas

Ray The Breakfast Club (1985) John Hughes La Haine (1995) Mathieu Kassovitz

TEEN MOVIE CONVENTIONS Common settings – high school, shopping

mall Iconography - Visual symbols- e.g.

clothing, also cars/bikes Themes/narratives (storylines) –

relationships (with each other, adults), conflict, adolescence (being a teenager), feeling like outsider

Mainly teen characters Aimed at teen audience Soundtrack important – popular music of

time

HOW CONVENTIONAL? Look at the list of conventions for teen

films Discuss your 2 films in relation to these Do you think that teen film is the main

genre? Or is it partly teen with another genre? (this is called a hybrid) What other genre could it be described as?

1950S – BIRTH OF THE TEENAGER! This term was not widely used before

the 1950s After the second world war, Western

societies (especially US) were increasingly wealthy. Also more children began to stay on longer in education

1950s teenagers began to have more money to spend – films started being made to appeal to this audience

‘THE WILD ONE’ (1953) One of the first teen films. It is about a group of teen bikers who

arrive in a small town and terrorize the locals

Its main star was Marlon Brando – this helped it appeal to a wider audience

It used colloquial language (slang) that teenagers at the time might use to directly appeal to them