Evaluation Question#1In what ways does your media

product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of existing

media products?

The genre of my film is romantic comedy or chick flick. Since they are highly budgeted films so I chose Hollywood as my institution because it has produced more chick flicks than any other institution. Whereas Paramount Pictures is my media institution since it has produced a few top grossing romantic comedies or chick flicks. Some of the romantic comedies produced by Paramount Pictures include : Runaway bride (1999), What women want (2000), How to lose a guy in 10 days (2003), The prince and me (2004), Mean Girls (2004), Elizabeth town (2005), She’s out of my league (2010), No Strings attached (2011). Runaway bride is one of the highest grossing romantic comedy film of all time, the film had grossed $309,457,509 worldwide.

Where as chick flicks produced by other media institutions include ‘A Cinderella Story’, ‘Wild Child’, ‘The Prince & Me’, ‘The Sisterhood of the travelling pants’ , ‘Mean Girls’ etc. Mean Girls grossed over $129 million worldwide. It talks about the kind of teenage drama that a teenage girl goes through. “From Prada to Nada” is also another popular chick flick in which a comparison is shown between a nerd and chick. Hence, my film shares similarities with it.

The genre Chick flick mainly dealing with love and romance and designed to appeal to a largely female target audience. Although many types of films may be directed toward the female gender, "chick flick" is typically used only in reference to films that are heavy with emotion or contain themes that are relationship-based (although not necessarily romantic as many other themes may be present).They are typically perky, upbeat, modern, and post-feminist in tone, although some movies do have sad and dramatic elements as well. Generally, A chick flick is a film designed to appeal to women, typically young women and teenage girls. Some frequent elements of chick flicks include having a female protagonist, thematic use of the color pink , and romance and/or dating based storylines. The female characters in a chick flick are usually strong women who overcome adversity to reach their goals.

My film “Inversely proportional” also targets female audience by showing a comparison between two completely opposite friends who share a strong bond of friendship. My film follows a set of codes and conventions which every chick flick does. I made use of all the elements of the mis en scene e.g. Settings, Props, Costume, Lighting, Sound and Editing techniques to help my audience recognize the genre of my film and differentiate between the characters.

The mis en scene used in the film will depict everything as very fresh, bubbly and girly. Every object in the film will be very cute, pretty and glamorous. For Instance, in the film “From Prada to Nada” some of the scenes of the chick (Mary) are shot in shops whereas the scenes of the nerd (Nora) are shot in a library. Even the main location of the film “Mean Girls” is a high school which shows that the film is aimed at teenagers. Similarly in my film, “Inversely Proportional”, the location of scene 2 is a shopping mall which signifies that the genre of my film is chick flick because chicks love shopping. And, since scene 1 shows a nerd, it is shot in a study room.

The Props used in chick flicks also represents the interests of the character. These props may include photographs, magazines, smart phones, make up etc. A good example of this is “Mean Girls”.

The chicks in such films are usually shown trying out clothes, sunglasses or other stuff e.g. Mary in “From Prada to Nada”.

Even in my film, Flora (chick) is seen using her make up in the mall. She even has a smart phone.My character Flora (chick) is also shown trying clothes in a shop.

Other than that, Nora (nerd) in “From Prada to Nada” is shown surrounded by books always even when is outside.

Just like that, Bella (nerd) in my film is working on her book in the first scene. There are a lot of books, novels, papers and files on her study table. Bella is even reading the novel in the mall.

This will help the audience to understand the nature and interests of the character.

In a chick flick, the kind of clothes worn by the chick will always be branded, bright, very trendy and up-to-date with all the latest fashion trends. She must be seen wearing a lot of makeup.For instance, the clothes of the girls in “Mean Girls” and Mary in “From Prada to Nada” suggest that they are chicks. But the nerd would be wearing casual clothes and must be simple. Like Nora in “From Prada to Nada” wears casual clothes and glasses.

The chick (Flora) in my film is seen wearing a funky sleeveless top with a jacket over it. She is wearing heels, jewelry, a lot of makeup and is carrying a branded bag as well which clearly suggests that she is a chick. She is even fixing her lipgloss in one of the scenes; hence she cares a lot about her looks.On the other hand, the nerd (Bella) is seen in a simple and casual dress with no makeup and jewelry. She seems to be least bothered about her looks. The glasses she is wearing is a symbol of her being a nerd as well.

The Characters shown in the film will always be young girls, mostly teenagers. This is so because the target audience of the chick flick genre is the teenaged age group of the female audience. The characters can only be relatable to the female audience if they are female as well. Therefore, the characters will have stories that the audience will enjoy. Usually, the characters go to school and have all female friends. The relationship between these friends is given a lot of attention, showing scenes, in which the friends do each other’s make-over’s, go shopping together and discuss each other’s problems, as any ordinary group of friends would. The film “Sisterhood of the travelling pants” also highlights the bond of friendship where all the girls share a strong bond of friendship and goes for shopping together.

Even in “Mean Girls”, Cady’s friends are shown doing her makeover.

The two sisters in “From Prada to Nada” also discuss their problems with each other despite being completely different.

This is what my film exactly highlights.

The editing used in chick flicks is usually very fast, and hence this is what I’ve done in my film as well.

The background music used is very cheerful, fast-paced and fun, mostly using the pop-rock genre of music as that is preferred by the majority of teenagers. Such music is used to create a sense of youth and excitement, also creating a fresh and bubbly atmosphere. It would be the kind of music that the audience would want to listen to regularly. The music used in my film “California Gurls (Instrumental) by Katy Perry” is an upbeat, happy and modern tune with pop influences.Such music is also used in “From Prada to Nada” and “Mean Girls”.

The Title of my film has also been made according the female audience. Once again, depicting the image of fun, bubbly, and bright youth, but, being very girly at the same time (as the color pink and is always associated with females).

CHALLENGES

Usually in a chick, there is a guy . And one of the girls fall in love with him , be it a chick or a nerd. The plot then revolves around their love story and the problem they encounter in their relationship. Examples of such chick flicks include, “Mean Girls”, “From Prada to Nada” and “Sisterhood of the travelling pants”.

My film challenges this convention by not having a guy in it. The plot solely revolves around two girls and their friendship instead of a guy and girl’s love story and the problems in their relationship. This proves that a chick flick can be made without a guy and this will appeal the audience since there are hardly any chick flicks which doesn’t have a guy in it so this will be a completely different and new thing for the audience.

Apart from that my film challenges another convention in the editing process i.e. through the use of jump cuts. Usually chick flicks doesn’t use jump cuts and have a normal pace but I’ve used jump cuts in my film to increase its pace and it actually goes with my film, especially the fast music.

Made by :Hamna Iqbal Baig AS