This is one of the most widely used stereo typical character in teen dramas. The jock. The jock is used in tv dramas such as glee, and one tree hill, as well as in teenage films including American pie, and mean girls.
The nerd in also a commonly used character. They are usually the ones who are picked on and bullied, however in skins the stereo type is reverted, and JJ (pictured above) is the popular nerd who everyone likes.
The stereo type of the rebellious teenage is also a commonly used character in teen dramas, and Cook is a classic example of this. They are always very popular, slightly violent and get all the girls they want. This stereo typical character is one who will be featured in my short film.
The final stereo type used in teen dramas is the bitch. There is always a bitch who enjoys stiring things up. Above you can see a picture of the bitches in mean girls, like there are bitches in gossip girl, 902110 and glee. They are almost in every teen drama.
There are several things to expect from a Teenage drama. These run through three main conventions, which are the narrative, the style and the representation.
The narrative in teenage dramas are usually roughly the same. They usually concentrate on certain thing, which teenagers in real life are usually going through. For example, they will use issues such as drugs and sex, which is something that the modern day teenager is becoming more and more involved in. You can see this in dramas such as Sugar Rush and Skins. They both incredibly similar narratives, which are predominantly sex and drugs, which i mentioned before is becoming a more commonly used narrative for teenage dramas. Sugar Rush is based around a girl who is confused about her sex life, which many teenage girls these days are, and skins is based around teenagers who have no time for anything but sex and partying, which in the end ruins their chances of good university, another thing that modern day teenagers are dealing with.
They also concentrate on more main stream issues that are effecting far more people in major ways such as parental issues and social issues with your peers. For example, in skins part of it concentrates on the relationships with the kids and their parents, as it does also in Sugar Rush. In both of these dramas there are teenagers who are suffering bad relationships with their parents, as well as going through hard family times such as divorce and new manage. a common occurrence in the first and second series of skins. They also focus on peer relationships and the ups and downs of them. For example, skins is primarily based around a group of friends, and whats going on in their lives and how they cope with these issues.
The style in teenage dramas are usually the same as well. They are usually shot and edited in ways to make them gripping, and exciting to watch. The cinematography in teen dramas if done as it is in order to make the viewer feel for the characters, and consequently become indulged by the piece. An example of how they do this is to make the film fast paced. this involves three things. The music used, the style of camera shots and the editing style. They will usually use fast paced main stream music which teenagers know. They will also edit the piece quickly, so it is fast and snappy, and keeps the viewer gripped. The camera work will also sometimes by shot hand held, to make it seem more realistic, and again to suck the viewer in, making them feel as if they were there and involved in the moment.
Teen dramas also have many stereo types. They use these stereo types to represent people. For example, they all use the most obvious stereo type for teenagers, which is addicted to sex and partying. Not only is this not only a lie, but they then exagurate the stereo types to an extreme, however people can relate to the ways these characters are represented due to the fact that they are stereo types, and the people who make the stereo types, are the public, who are also the ones watching the dramas.
All these things will be used to make a teen drama, and they will all be evident in teen dramas.
This is one of the most famous teenage dramas. It is about a group of teenagers who spend the majority of their time partying, and taking drugs. It focuses on the stereotypical rebellious teenage look.
This is another typical teenage drama. Not only is it based around teenagers, but it is based around the realistic theme of a glee club. Something that is a common occurrence in America, and so is something that teenagers can relate to.
Sugar rush is a teenage drama about two girls who are very into sex. Much like Skins the drama is based around sex and drugs and alcohol. Something that every teenage is interested in.
The film is based around a character who seems to always be in the wrong place at the wrong time. He is supposedly a badly behaved character who is always getting into trouble, and also causing trouble, yet he is actually just the unfortunate one who has become involved with the wrong people. Truthfully, he is a charming young man, who cares for people and wants the right things to happen, but has formed his friendships with the worst possible people, who eventually end up driving him to expulsion.
The film will start with the voice of an old, yet very proper man. this will be over the image of a study door. The scene will then go on to introducing the headmaster, and the main character. It is in this part of the film that you find out he has been expelled. The film then goes into the scene of the boy trying to briefly explain himself, and then leaving, on the way out, bumping into his friend who pushed him to this outcome.
You then have the scene of the boy on his phone, wondering how he is going to call his parents. He will call his parents, but then immediately hangs up, only to send them a short text telling them he is on his way home. You then see the buy slowly begin to cry, beginning to understand what has just happened.
The next scene is him arriving home. in this scene, the boys breaks the news to his parents, only to find that they are to sick with disappointment for them to even tell him off. Instead they just ask him to remove himself from their presence for the near future. This is not what the boy was expecting, however makes him feel even worse than if they were to tell him off.
The last scene is the boy sitting in his room, trying to think of some kind of positive, but instead just becoming more upset, and again he begins to cry. He decides that the only thing he has left are his friends, and so he opens his laptop with the intent of going onto facebook, for an annoying pop up to come up. However, this pop up is unlike most. Its says 'congratulations, you are a winner. click here to begin your new life.' In the circumstances, the boy clicks on the pop up, with a more hopeful look on his face. The film ends here, leaving the audience with a more joyful feeling of everything turning out alright.
A classic layout of how a trailer works is to tease the viewer into wanting to know more about the film, consequently resulting in the viewer going to watch the film. All trailers start with an equilibrium. This is where it introduces you to the main characters, and in most cases the major stars in the film. In this trailer of Due Date, this is Robert Downer Jr, and Zach Galifianakis (a famous comic actor).
The trailers then usually follow on with clips of the main content of the film. This is where the viewer will find out what Genre the film is from. These clips will be taken from significant events in the film. In this case, the film is a comedy, and so the main majority of the trailer will be funny moments in the film, and a these are to give the viewer a small taste of what the film will be like.
In the film, the disequilibrium would usually follow the significant events. In trailers they will show bits of this disequilibrium, just to get the viewer anxious to know what the next stage of the film will be about. However, in trailers, they only show small amounts of the disequilibrium.
The last part of a film is the new equilibrium. In trailers, they deliberately don't show any of this stage. The reason for this is because it leaves the viewer hanging, not knowing what the outcome of the film is, and consequently wanting to find out. If in a trailer they did show this, there would be no reason for the viewer to want to watch the film.
The trailer for 'The Last Exorcism' is a typical trailer in the way that it is starts off with the equilibrium. In this trailer, it starts of with the father and the daughter having no issues, being happy together, and seemingly moving house. However, the trailer then seems to descend into darkness. IT introduces the characters to the audience, and gives you a brief understanding to the characters background.
The trailer then continues to go into the significant events. This is also typical of a trailer. So in the case of this trailer, you begin to see that the girl is actually possessed by the devil, or a demon of some sort, and that the film is going to be about how they are going to use exorcism to get rid of this possession. You see some major points in the film, where anything could happen. For example, you see one point where the father may kill the possessed daughter, but the trailer doesn't show the outcome. This section also introduces the audience to the genre, in this case a horror.
The trailer then finishes with small parts of the disequilibrium, where you hear the priest trying to attach the demon, however much like every other trailer, it finishes hear, leaving the audience hanging without knowing what will happen next.
This trailer of Tron is another classic example of how trailers are made. For example, again the trailer starts with the equlibrium, of the boy speaking with his father in bed, and the viewer then being told that his father had gone missing. You then get the son twenty od years later, being told that there is suspicion that his father is still alive.
You then have the significant events. These come thick and fast in this trailer, refusing to give to much information away, except for that in the TRON world, the key is surviving. This carries on, introducing the viewer to a possible love prospect, what looks like diffeent teams and also the person who could be the boys father.
The trailer is then wrapped up with the disequlibrium, of the boy saying, 'dad, is that you? .... long time!', however the trailer ends hear, leaving the audience wondering if it was his father or not. This is the suspence that makes the viewer want to see the film.
