Analysis of Sub-Genre Conventions

We can relate the codes and conventions of a film into two categories:

Semantic: the way the films look ~ mise en scene / camerawork / framing / editing 

and

Syntactic: the stories the films tell

In Teen Films, the most common code and convention is the the concept of the Coming Of Age, which is the idea that someone/ a group of young teenagers have grown and developed their character in some significant way. Usually, these movies will include proms/dances, alcohol, illegal substances, parties, losing one's virginity, social groups and cliques, interpersonal conflict with peers and/or the older generations, and though they are usually exaggerated slightly, for the most part, are meant to be relatable. This concept is the basis for many teen movies, such as:



what both types of Teen Films tend to focus on
IN YOUTH DRAMAS:

Social dilemmas of the main character
The more authentic approach to teen life, compared to High School dramas
Rebellion of the main characters
Difficulties of adolescent experiences
Youth as "difficult" or "a problem"

 e.g. Kids (1995)

In this movie, we see a lot of alcohol and drug use,violence, sex, profanity, and conflict between figures of authority and other characters

IN HIGH SCHOOL DRAMAS:

The socialization of teens and young adults within the education systems
Celebration of youth
POV of teen life from a girl, but might focus of a boy
Changes/makeovers
Conflicts within different social groups

 e.g. Over 21 (2013)

This movie also contains alcohol and drug use, as well as sex/nudity, violence, and profanity, and is based around Fraternity life.

Analysis of title sequences from sub-genres (Research)

When researching upon high school dramas and youth drama films I found many differences in the title sequences and the openings of the film. For both types of subgenres I analyzed the order in which the tiles appear, the type of title sequence, the font type of the tile and the action behind them.

For a high school drama I analysed the movie "10 Things I Hate About You" and these were my results:

Order of titles:                                                 

Production x3
Tile- "10 Things I Hate About You"
Cast- actors
Casting by
Music by
Executive Music Producer
Costume Designer
Associate Producer
Co-Producer
Editor
Production Designer
Executive producers
Producer
Writer
Director

Category/ type of title:

Titles over moving images

Type of font:

Handwritten animated font

Action?:


The action behind the title shows the start of the movie in which the setting of the movie is discovered- a high school in America

For a Youth Drama I watched and analysed the title sequence of the movie "Kidulthood" which had totally different results:

Order of titles:

Production x3
Film title "Kidulthood"

Category/type of title:

Titles on a blank black screen

Type of font:





Bold in the colour white

Action?

No action behind titles- Movie starts as soon as they have finished

After analysing both, i have gained an understanding that both types sub-genres have differences. The main contrast that can be made is that the high school drama includes many more title credits and the people that are involved in the film however the youth drama, "Kidulthood" only includes the production of the film and the film title. This can too be linked back to the institutions and budgets of the film. And so, it can be seen that the high school movie, "10 Things I Hate About You" has a higher budget as it can afford the use of mentioning more title credits which shows that it probably is well known popular stable film. This is also shown in the type of font used being a unique animated font to show the use of more technique and graphical skill in the title sequence. The movie has the use of titles over moving images which allows the start of the movie to play with the title credits over them which further adapts the use graphics. As well as this the key plots are conveyed as the opening scene shows the socialization of teens and young adults by school/college

Unlike high school dramas, youth dramas are shown to have a simpler title sequence and opening scene. After watching the the opening scene on "Kidulthood," I can be understood that they use a lower budget to produce the film and so have a simple title sequence. The title credits only includes the production of the film and the film title which is shown on a blank black screen. However, there is no action behind the credits as the film begins as soon as the title credits have finished. The audience will definitely know that this is a youth drama as the opening scene presents the focus of social dilemmas faced by different characters and popular teen audiences. There is also a sense of youth shown being a difficult experience and a problem as there are different social groups.

High School Drama - Analysis of camera, editing sound and mise en scene

I chose to do an analysis of the title sequence from the 2007 Disney High School musical comedy drama High School Musical 2

 

EDITING & SOUND:


We first see this in the begining of the movie, for the title. This is accompanied by the melodic music which plays quietly in the background. Soon after the first set of  titles, a pre-recorded song plays for around 2-3 minutes and is continued at the very end of the sequence when the whole student body are outside of the school, now with instruments:



MISE EN SCENE:
Mise en scene is the most important element of a film, regardless of its genre. This is important in a high school movie. If we see a narrative behind a title, it will tells the audience things like where the action takes place, and what the film will focus on:

In the very begining, we even see what this school is called:



After this is when the titles start

 *Some screenshots of the initial titles*

As we can see, the cast are the first titles in the movie. As well as showing us the Highschool itself, this tells us that they are the most important people in the movie. Since this is a Highschool film, of course, the production team have taken into consideration the younger generation would want to see them first.

Between the titles and amongst the titles we also see who does what, and what their character is like. For example:

 

The characters beside the main character here are clearly cheerleaders, because of their colour-coordinated costumes outfits and pom-poms they use as props.

 

Lead characters are positioned before other characters, which tell us who have the most power and screentime during the movie.

 

There is also a comical aspect which we see through props in mise en scene, that relate to the 'comedy' aspect of the movie. The clock gets bigger and bigger as the end of school - and the start of summer approches:

 

 

CAMERA



The camera is also very important, as it controls what we see and how we see it. The camera is positioned at a high angle for about 4 shots of the title sequence:

 First in the classroom
 Then in the cafeteria
 And finally outside as they leave for summer break.
 This lets us see the volume of students,  makeing the shot look more powerful

What are the subgenres of a teen drama film?

What are the subgenres of a teen drama film?
Teen drama films can be put into two main categories/, High school teen films and Youth Drama films, these are also known as the subgenre of a teen drama film.

Youth Drama films are more popular in the UK, Notable films include, kidulthood, and attack the block. these films tackle issues that teens in London face growing up, and concentrate less on celebrating the idea of youth, but focus more negatively of the pressures being a teen have growing up, these issues may include drug use, teen pregnancy and gang crime, which where the main themes in UK youth drama Kidulthood. They are seen as being more realistic than high school dramas, however they are quite exaggerated.

High school Dramas are predominantly based in the US. they are more positive than Youth drama and concentrate on celebrating the idea of youth and being teenagers, an example of a high school drama is High School Musical and Mean Girls. Although they acknowledge the joy of being young, they do also tackle the issues a young person may face in a high school, most high school dramas support the idea of social stereotypes, and the issues that come with it, such as cliques in high schools, and not being able to fit in, however in high school dramas this problem is always overcome with a positive solution to benefit the protagonist of the film. Whilst in Youth dramas there is rarely an ideal 'happy ending'.

  Kidulthood - popular UK youth drama. Followed up by sequel, 'Adulthood' Which follows the teens into their lifestyle when grown up.

Mean Girls- Popular US High school teen drama, followed up by sequel Mean Girls 2.

Genre & Sub- Genres! (Research)

Art of the title

Art of the title - Title sequences.

Kung Foo Panda (2008)

The beginning of this title sequence starts with an animation that links with the movie, making the audience believe that the movie has started but are sooner to realise that this animation links with the title sequence and introduces the distribution team, DreamWorks

. The sound accompanies the title sequence, and is an oriental Chinese type theme. The title sequence then moves on in a flash transition to introduce the title of the movie in big bold letters, (the music plays alongside this as it changes to a higher pitch sound to introduce the title) This all takes place as an overlay on top of a sunset type scene, and then as the title is used as an overlay above this scene, it moves into the actual setting. The title of the movie then fades away and action begins, narrative is used to tell accompanying the music and a backstory is told to give the audience an idea of what to expect in the current movie. The backstory is told in a 2d animated perspective, the title sequence then ends and moves on swiftly into the actual movie which is told in a 3D animated perspective.

Romeo + Juliet (1996)

the title sequence instantly introduces the distribution team and the production team, using animation as it is presented onto a miniature TV screen, this somewhat plays with the usual conventions of a title sequence as its not exactly on a blank screen, but yet again its not on a moving image, but its almost apart of the scene/movie. the only sound used so far is the sound of TV Static to go alongside the TV theme and so introduce each new credit. The TV screen then introduces a news reporter who uses dialogue to indirectly give information and a slight backstory of what is going on to give the audience and idea of what has happened and what to expect. the motion then zooms on & uses sound effects to take us into the next scene which shows the setting, and the words 'IN FAIR VERONA' in bold capital letters against a blank screen, followed by a police car stating 'VERONA BEACH' helping the audience establish where the movie is taking place, followed by other shots of the setting (using fast paced transitions and intense background music.) Afterwards, Narrative is used to tell the audience a backstory. With significant sections of dialogue shown as a title against a blank screen, for example 'TWO STAR CROSSED LOVERS TAKE THEIR LIFE'. this somewhat sums up the entire movie for the audience.  Followed by the introduction of the characters and their roles (but not the actors names). With the title sequence finally ending with the title of the movie against a blank screen.

What is a title sequence

What is a title sequence?


A Title sequence is seen at the beginning/ opening of a TV programme or Film. It introduces, the distribution company, the production company, the most important casts members, (lead acts.), title of the show itself, followed by the director/executive directors and producers, sometimes followed by other important crew members (e.g. music producers, stylists) It can be presented as an overlay over the opening of the film or over a blank screen, title sequenced are usually occur with music but can also play along without any.

the aim of a title sequence is to set the mood or atmosphere for a film, so the audience can establish what genre the film is, for example horror movie title sequences have different conventions to a high school movie title sequence so the audience can identify what type of film they are watching. If used as an overlay over the opening scene of the film it can help introduce the setting of where the action will take place.


Title sequences can be used as a narrative enigma, or replace a missing scene that was unable to be filmed later in the movie, as the story of that scene can be told through the title sequence.

Analysis of the order of title sequences in a High school drama vs. Youth Drama

As we can see, both films had a more or less equal amount of titles. What we need to look at is the order they appear in:

In the opening titles for High school Dramas "Slackers" and "10 Things I hate About You", there are a significantly longer titles - almost the whole crew, along with the main cast. Almost everyone who is important to the movie is credited at the beginnings of these two movies, which could possibly help the audience understand it better, as they might recognise a few people in them who have previously been praised for their work etc.

However, in the Youth Dramas titles from "Kidulthood" and "Submarine", we only actually see 2 titles in the opening sequence. For "Kidulthood", the rest of the titles (which are the cast) come at the end of the narrative, which are then followed by the ending credits. Similarly, in "Submarine", the rest of the titles come in the ending credits of the movie. This could be due to the fact that these types of films are generally more supported by Independent film company, as opposed to the High school dramas.

What are the sub genres of Teen Drama films?

There are two different types of Teen Drams. These can be recognised as:

Youth Dramas:

These tend to stay away from the typical, sometimes cheesy perceptions of teenagers, and, like an Indie movie, are more hard-hit truth. An example of a Youth Drama is "Submarine", a film starring Noah Taylor, which is about the coming of age of a Welsh teenage boy, who has "a lot of things on his mind". 

and High school Dramas

These tend to be slightly more unrealistic, and more about the entertainment element. They can sometimes over exaggerate the status, lifestyles and appearance of those who attend American high school, such as the categorising of tables and the types of people who sit at them, like in "Mean Girls", for example:

They are sometimes - not always, supported by the Majors in the film industry. Maybe, because Youth Dramas are more realistic, big companies such as Sony or Universal will be more attracted to High school Dramas as they have a better chance of gaining the most success, because, statistically, the general public find these more entertaining.

Extension - Who makes title sequences?

Sub-genre Conventions

Sub-genre Conventions

Any film, including the two sub-genres of teen drama films: Youth and High school, has macro elements. A macro element refers to the story the film tells, known as syntactic. The macro elements of a film are the plots/story-lines, characters, narrative, cast, audience and producer. Teen drama films share similar plots/story-lines, characters and social groups.

Superbad

La Haine

	Title: Superbad Sub-genre: High school	Title: La Haine Sub-genre: Youth Drama
What is the key plot idea introduced in the title sequence	Animated sequence introducing two young males dancing. Simple colours are used for the titles.	Teens Vs Police -> Conflict with authority Riots + aftermath
In what order is the storyline introduced?	It shows two friends together and their relationship. It illustrates how these two friends are about to get separated. The storyline is shown in chronological order.	Chronological order, but a few flashback sequences of the news providing background story.
What characters are introduced?	Two friends that are very close and a mother.	Said + Vinz -          Working class teens -          Said is Arab and Vinz is Jewish
What social groups are represented? How are they represented (positively, negatively, stereotypically / use of binary oppositional)?	Sex, youthful, family, education, social groups Despite being gross young male students being sex obsessed, both characters are likable. Party -> Final Party -> Starting College	Positive + negative representation Police -> negative