Costume Ideas for Main Female

Initial costume ideas for the main female protagonist: Kate

Kate is aged 17 so her age should be represented slightly through her costume. I've decided that Kate's character will have a "grunge" style costume. I want the character to be perceived as quite rebellious and individual by the audience and I think her costume should show this.

The photo to the left shows the hair style I want the character to have. The actress playing Kate has very curly hair naturally anyway so it shouldn't be too hard to achieve. The length of the hair emphasises the characters femininity because long hair gives conventions of beauty and it is always stereotyped with girls more than boys therefore my character will tie in with the stereotype in order to be seen as "girly." However the fact that the hair is big and curly and out of control symbolises the characters wild and rebellious side, both of these are conventions of teenagers as much of the time teenagers are stereotyped as being reckless and 'off the rails' so this might appeal to the target audience as many may be able to relate to the character. This hair style ties in with the 'grunge' look as it isn't too styled and neat instead it has just been scraped back at the front and left.

In terms of the protagonists costume, she will obviously have numerous costumes throughout the trailer, however they will all follow a 'grunge' theme with a hint of femininity. The white laced dress is very feminine and girly to represent that side of the characters personality. It shows that the character does care how she looks and often does make an effort, but she doesn't care too much. Often females in romance films wear pretty dresses to give codes and conventions of beauty and attractiveness, this ties in with the 'princess' type character or the 'popular girl' who is seen to be very fashionable and attractive to many boys. My character will wear a dress to fit in with the type of costume relevant to the genre, however she will wear leather jackets or denim jackets to make the costume more casual and to divert from the typical girly costume type. Leather jackets give connotations of being rebellious and cool so this is why I will include this as part of my characters costume in some parts. This combined with the dress will fit in very well with the grunge fashion type that I want the character to conform to.

I want my character to wear big boots like this because in the past and still nowadays these boots were seen as rebellious and fashionable. These give the character the 'rock and roll' look and they represent her personality of not caring what people think. I would want the character to wear knee high socks or potentially ripped tights with these boots to continue the idea that the character is rebellious and isn't a typical girly girl with a very neat/precise fashion. The dress or skirt combined with these boots and tights will allow the character to look independent and non conforming to the ideas that society perceive to be normal/appropriate, but still show a degree of femininity and reliance when she is with the male love interest. The idea that she will be wearing a dress or skirt in shots with the male love interest will show that she is trying to make an effort to dress nicely for him, however the boots and jacket will show that she is still following her own unique fashion sense. The dress/skirt will be fairly short because this is conventional of teenage fashion sense as they are the age range that are most likely to go out and party wearing short clothes, also many of them won't have full time jobs and therefore can continue to dress how they like. I feel dressing Kate's character in this way will be appealing to the target audience as many of the accessories I have described are in fashion now so a number of teenage girls could potentially relate to Kate, also many of them may have similar opinions and lifestyles to the character and will therefore be attracted to the film.

Location Scouting 6

Park Location

Parks are also locations that are included in romance films quite a lot, they aren't included as regularly as some other locations such as beaches, however they are still used. Parks are used as places where teenagers sometimes 'hang out', for older teenagers they might sit and drink alcohol or do drugs in parks as some parks are quite secluded and therefore they are less likely to get caught. However, parks are often locations stereotyped with children as they are the people that go and play there, so if I used a park in my trailer I'd have to be careful in making sure the location didn't give too many conventions of childhood and playing, because this wouldn't appeal to a teenage/young adult target audience. In order to do this I would potentially only use a park location when it is the evening or the night time because children wouldn't usually be out at this time where as some teenagers might. Parks at night give completely different conventions to parks in the middle of the day. At night they are seen as a 'cool' places to hang out for teenagers, sometimes even gangs, so this would be where the drug element would come into the narrative. In terms of logistics, I live near quite a few different parks so it would be fairly easy to find a park to film in, as long as I pick a good time of the day.

Location Scouting 5

Beach Location

Beaches are locations that are commonly used in romance films. This is because they give codes and conventions of peace and calmness and also beauty which are all things that can be associated with the romance genre. Often romance films include long shots of the two main characters (love interests) strolling up a beach holding hands, this is seen as romantic as they are alone in a nice location and they are happy. Whilst I would very much like to include a beach location in my trailer, I don't know if this will be possible for practical reasons. Neither me or the actors live close to a beach location and therefore in terms of travel and cost I don't know if it would be possible to film there. However it is still useful to look at the beaches as a location and see if they have any similarities to other locations that are perhaps more convenient to get to. 

Grease: 1978 

Mamma Mia: 2008

Here are two examples of romance films that have used beach locations. 'Grease' is a 1978 film featuring high school teens as it's stock characters, 'Mamma Mia' is a 2008 film featuring young adults and adults as it's stock characters. So here we see that beach locations have proven successful throughout the years in terms of romance films, and because of this people have begun to associate the location with the genre.

Location Scouting 4

City Location

 These are examples of some of the pictures I took whilst I was in London for the day. City locations are often very good for romance films as the stock characters are usually young adults, sometimes businessmen and women and therefore they would be likely to live in a city and would also be likely to enjoy the nightlife there e.g. clubs and bars. Also city locations give connotations of higher crime rates and often teenagers are the stock characters of romance films and teenagers and crime are stereotyped together as some people perceive teenagers to be anti-social and dangerous/rebellious. Whilst city locations have proven to be successful in films of the romance genre, so have rural locations. I live in a rural area so in terms of convenience and logistics I think I might stick to more rural/countryside locations. These locations are often quieter and therefore sometimes more romantic and secluded. However they have less going on and give less opportunity to display the conventional 'party lifestyle' associated with teens and young adults. So I will have to think of a way round this to ensure that I still appeal to my target audience and that they can still relate to much of the narrative. Although I will most likely not film in any big city locations, it is useful to see what these include and how they differ from the countryside/village locations I plan to use. I may not be able to use a busy city location however I live fairly close to a busy town so I could consider filming there in order to capture some shots, potentially the nightlife/partying shots.

Another factor I need to consider is the weather, in many of these shots the weather is sunny and it adds natural lighting to the location. However, I will be filming during the winter and therefore the weather will most likely be bad. Wind and rain can effect filming so I will have to plan around this. Also, much of the time it will be cloudy and in some locations this will mean that the shots could possibly be very dark, which may give them the wrong tone for the genre of the film, therefore I will have to consider this carefully and plan precise times during the day that I know the light will be good enough to film in.

Soundtrack/Camera Angle Analysis

This is a video for the song 'High Hopes by Kodaline'. I really like the way this video is filmed and how it ties in with the soundtrack. Although I'm creating a trailer and not a music video, I still think that it is useful for me to look at this video and analyse some of the techniques used in it. The video isn't too complex as it only involves to main characters and the other people included are just backing characters. The video focuses on the two main characters and aims to show their relationship and the love they feel for each other, the lighting and camera angles allow the audience to see how happy the two love interests are when they are together and the audience are immediately attached to their relationship and want them to stay together. The main male character is alone and going to kill himself at the start and the soundtrack is far more dark and sinister. The lighting is fairly dim and the location is foggy which gives conventions of sadness and fear. However in later shots when the two love interests are together again, the lighting is far brighter and the location is more cheerful e.g. the beach location. Slow motion is used at the start to emphasise the drama of the two characters being apart and then soon being reunited, and it fits in with the tone and tempo of the non diegetic soundtrack. In a few of the shots the sunlight shining through the window is used to lighten the room, this lightens the tone of the shot and makes the location look more calm and joyful, this represents that the two characters are happier when they're together. In the pub location the lights are fairly dim but not in a gloomy and depressing way, in more of a romantic way. The combination of this lighting and the two characters dancing together immediately makes this shot very romantic and appealing to the audience. The angles used in this music video are successful in showing the relationship between the love interests. The close up shot of the two kissing on the beach is very effective as it emphasises the kiss to the audience and kisses are seen as romantic. The slightly low angled two shot at the end is effective as we first see the male character sat alone and then the female character emerges from behind and hugs him, this shows the audience that they have been reunited and emphasises the 'happily ever after' ending.

Soundtrack for Party/Drug Taking Scene

Oliver Heldens- Gecko (Overdrive)
This is a good soundtrack for a rave or a nightclub scene because it has conventions that are stereotypical of house or dance music. The soundtrack has a very catchy/consistent beat and would be easy to dance to, it could be used very well to represent people (especially teenagers) having fun and partying. Some of the instruments and effects used in this song give it a 'trippy' and almost hypnotic tune and this is why I feel it would be appropriate to use in a scene where the characters are taking drugs as drugs warp reality and can sometimes put people in a trance like state.

Soundtrack for Party/Drug Taking Scene

Disclosure- F for You
This soundtrack would be good for a scene where the protagonists/stock characters are taking drugs as the soundtrack includes some weird, funky beats and odd sounds and these give connotations of the characters having hallucinations which is one of the effects drugs can have on people, also towards the end of the song the singing sounds like an echo and keeps fading in and out, this also represents the idea of the characters being effected by the drugs and not really seeing/hearing things clearly because they are confused so therefore I feel the soundtrack would be appropriate in emphasising the effects of the characters taking these drugs. The soundtrack is upbeat and exciting and therefore makes people want to dance which is why the soundtrack would be appropriate for a party/rave scene in my trailer.