QUESTION 2

ERIN BLAKE

Played by Amara

16 years old

Shy, Clever, Prefers the indoors

The main character in the film, is represented as a teenage girl, with personal struggles that affect her aspects of her life – Social, educational, family life etc.

This teenage character created is quite quiet and prefers to be in the background of things. This type of character is reflected in other teen drama films, such as The Perks of Being a Wallflower. We decided to continue with the normal conventions because we thought that the way the characters personal struggles were reflected through their actions in social situations could be related to other films of the same genre and would therefore appeal to a wider audience.

It would appeal to a wider audience because the character represented is familiar and portrays realistic characteristics that people can relate to in everyday life.

ISLA HALL

Played by Phoebe

16 years old

Outgoing, loyal, popular

Another character in the film opening, is another teenage girl but her personality contrasts to the main character Erin Blake.

The character of Isla contrasts to the character of Erin in personalities. This contrast between characters highlights the personal struggles that Erin is dealing with.

Using the influence of the film Perks of a Wallflower again, we decided to use the idea of different personalities to bring out the difference in people and the main plot of the story. The personalities help shape the narrative and atmosphere of the plot.

AMBER HOCART

Played by Lucy

17 years old

Daydreamer, giggly, friendly

The third character in the friendship is again a teenager girl, who’s personality again contrasts with both of the other characters.

The personality of Amber provides a make shift safe haven for the audience. Her personality creates an escapism from the reality of the storyline and the depressive atmosphere that surrounds the character Erin.

We decided to create a character with this personality because it can add comedic effect to the film and lighten the atmosphere.

Construction of charactersWe constructed the characters based off our research, e.g. Gone girl and America

Honey. Therefore we had differentpersonalities all mixed together to form strong social group. We tried torepresent our characters in a positive light because we wanted to reflect thegood aspects of teenage life like strong friendship.

We used the costumes of our characters to help highlight their personalities.For both Erin and Isla the costumes were everyday clothes from shops such asTopshop and Zara. The clothes were fashionable but not expensive orexpensive looking. Small costume parts were added, for example a hat on Isla,to highlight the slight quirks and personality differences between the two girls.For the character of Amber the costumes she wore were slightly quirky, forexample instead of typical jeans and a fashionable top she work skirts andcardigans. She still looked pretty and a teenager but her fashion stands outamongst the other girls.

StereotypesDefinition:A widely held but fixed and oversimplifiedimage or idea of a particular type of personor thing.

Our film opening is based around teenage girls and their lives. Examples of teenage stereotypes:MoodyDisrespectfulLazyRebellious

GIRLS:Obsessed with their appearanceDumb/DitzyChanges moods quickly – giggly/moodyBad at sports/ GamingConform to a ‘group’ (nerd, geek,hippy)

Challenging stereotypesIn our film opening we challenged the teenage and girl stereotypes by all three

characters wearing different types of clothing/make up and the setting was mainly at a school but also at an arcade.

This challenges the stereotypes because whilst the girls all make an effort in their appearance, all styles are different but do not conform them to a certain ‘group’ – e.g. nerd/Goth.

The setting is also important. By being in a school, it highlights that the girls are educated and make an effort to go to school and get an education.

Another setting shown is an arcade. In the arcade the girls play a basketball game and a motorbike game. Whilst it doesn’t highlight the girls skill, it shows that they are interested in sport and gaming which rejects the stereotype of girls are not interested/good at sports and games.

Main characterOutfit – Tracksuit from well known brand (Ellesse). Simple outfit but fashionable and relevant.

Minimal make up – natural look and natural colour hair. Shows she is confident with the way she looks.

Calm, friendly persona. She is dealing with personal struggles but her persona does not really refelect this. She is shy but with her friends her loyal and hyper side comes out.