Current film - The Duff

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The DUFF is a American teen comedy film made in 2015 based on the novel 'The DUFF' by Kody Keplinger. It is about a girl named Bianca who is a regular American high school girl who isn't the most popular girl in the school, but has two best friends Jess and Casey, who everyone knows/wants to know/is attracted to. Its not until her neighbour Wesley, a fellow student at school, a popular, good looking jock tells her that she is a duff. Duff stands for 'designated, ugly, fat friend'. Bianca is furious, upset and embarrassed that she is the duff so asks Wesley to help change her so that she can attract the attention of her crush Toby, Wesley agrees on the condition that she helps him pass science class. Aswell as trying to transform the way she looks Wesley also tries to build confidence with talking to boys. Bianca finally finds the courage to ask Toby out and he invites her round to his for a date, when she turns up all dressed up and excited she realises when listening to Toby that she might actually be falling for Wesley, then to her dismay and outrage she finds out that the only reason Toby asked her round was to find out more about her two best friends and if they have dates to the prom. She runs to Wesley to tell him she likes him but spots him kissing queen bee ex girlfriend Madison which upsets her even more. Jess and Casey agree to ditch their prom dates to go with Bianca and both help her make her own prom dress that is unique and suits her personality. At the prom Wesleys stunned when he see's how great Bianca looks and tells her how he feels and leaves Madison to be with Bianca.

http://www.northantstelegraph.co.uk/webimage/1.6677958.1428490505!/image/276064930.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_620/276064930.jpg

http://movies.inquirer.net/files/2015/04/bianca-santos-mae-whitman-and-skyler-samuels-THE-DUFF.jpg

 Motifs:
I have written a lot about fashion motifs throughout my other film reviews so for the most recent one I decided to focus more on the idea of transformation throughout this film as the motif. In all the other films I reviewed transformation occured in more than one character but in The DUFF the idea is present from beginning till end. Bianca started out as a rather casually dressed character who didn't make much effort at all with her appearance, when she was told that in society she was the duff she became shattered by this realisation and horribly self conscious, she decided she wanted to stop being the duff and change but by doing this she realised she wasn't being herself and that when she tried to be someone else on her 'date' with Toby, wearing the dress Wesley bought her that it just didn't work out for her. Her friendship with Wesley taught her a lot about herself during her journey to transformation and at the end when her and Wesley became an item she realised she didn't care what anyone else thought of her. She attended prom wearing a dress made for her by her best friend Jess, created with her favourite old chequered shirt and looked great but still wearing a part of herself. She accepted her title as The DUFF and no longer let the label define who she was. At the end of her journey her and Wesley leave the prom together and she writes an article about being a duff, and the conclusion is that everyone is always going to be someones duff. This was her ticket to popularity as the article was celebrated by all of the students and the term could no longer do anyone any harm.

90's film (1999) - Shes All That

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Shes All That is your typical teen rom com where the schools popular hot guy gets dumped by the schools popular hot girl before prom, and he ends up falling in love with the lonely geeky girl! Despite being quite cut up and embarrassed about being dumped by his ex Taylor, Zach Siler (Freddie Prinze Jr) starts bragging about how he could have any date he wanted to the prom and make her become prom queen simply for being with him, and slating his ex girlfriend by claiming that she isn't as attractive as him and that her good looks are just down to make-up and a push up bra!  This backfires on him straight away when his friend Dean challenges him to a bet that he has to make an ordinary/ugly girl his date to the prom and picks of Laney Boggs (Rachael Leigh Cook), the lonely, geeky looking, clumsy art student. After initially being weirded out by Zach, and Zach initially finding Laney unattractive they start to fall in love. Laney goes through a physical transformation to attend a party and everyone see's how beautiful she really is for the first time, this makes Taylor jealous who then humiliates Laney in public, and to add insult to injury Zachs friend Dean tells her about the bet to ruin Zachs chances with her. Obviously feeling completely betrayed  Laney never wants to see Zach again. As its our typical American teen rom com we all know how the film ends...Laney finds out Dean only wanted to sleep with her, Taylor doesn't become prom queen and Laney leaves prom to find Zach at her home waiting for her to confess his love and apologise for what he did. The happy ending we all love in a good rom com!

http://www.eurowoman.dk/Upload/EUROWOMAN.dk/2014/Lucia/all.jpg

 

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One of my favourite things about this film is Laney's transformation in this film from the clumsy, unpopular, dorky looking art geek who works in a fast food store into an elegant beauty at the end. It fascinates me how depending on what an actor/actress wears and how their hair is styled or what kind of make-up they are wearing does to what kind of character they portray. 

Motifs: 

Just like with Grease, I think the fashion is a motif in itself. The style of the clothes the characters are wearing in this film from the beginning scene makes it clear that this was in the 90's which sets the scene straight away for the time period its in. 

The way Laney dresses at the beginning makes it obvious that she isn't one of the cool kids with all the friends and that she is quite a loser. 12 minutes 51 seconds into the film we see her rushing to a class holding loads of backs, stumbling up some stairs and falling over knocking her books and bags onto the floor, she then struggles to pick them all back up. 

From the first scene we see Zach in he is sauntering around the high school corridors looking smug, greeting girls who are swooning over him. His style is a motif for his character and personality as he is looking cool wearing a baseball jacket. Baseball jackets were very fashionable in the late 90's in America, just like in the 50's the greasers wore leather jackets. Zachs clothes represent his place in the school.

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Pre 90's film (1978) - Grease

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Grease started out as a musical in 1971 that was made into a musical rom-com movie in 1978. It is based in late 50's California about falling in love, friendships, teenage life and becoming an adult. The movie opens with main male and female characters, Danny Zuko (John Travolta) and Sandra Olsen (Olivia Newton-John) having fun and enjoying the summer romance on the beach just before Sandy is due to go back home to Australia marking the end of the summer. Sandy ended up living in California full time with her parents rather than returning home and ends up attending the same high school as her summer love, Danny. Danny Zuko is the schools cool guy, he is head of his gang of greasers called the T-birds and enjoys his bad boy reputation. Sandy is pure and innocent, the opposite of Danny which she is angry to find out when she meets him again at school after he was dismissive towards her trying to act cool and nonchalant in front of his fellow T-birds. She befriends a group of girls called the Pink Ladies on her first day, run by Rizzo who is sarcastic by character with a tough reputation and doesn't like Sandy because she isn't tough like her. The movie follows with the trials and tribulations that take place before Sandy and Danny realise they are in love and end up together just like how they began.

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The character I decided to focus on was Sandy, because she is my favourite character and also because she develops and transforms most dramatically throughout the film. She begins as the sensibly dressed, natural make-up, pretty, pastel coloured clothing, innocent young woman and ends as a sassy, fierce looking Pink Lady with huge and curly hair, sultry dark eyes, red lips and nails, heeled mules, black disco pants and a tiny leather jacket. The new Sandy was completely unrecognizable from the girl we first met. 

Motifs:  

One of the main motifs I noticed in Grease was the fashion worn by all of the characters, for example you can tell straight away from Danny Zuko and the T-birds outfits that they are 50's greasers. This sets the time period the film is set in from the go. 'Greasers' used to wear a leather biker jacket, tight jeans, a white tight tshirt and hair greased back into a quiff. This style also is a motif for Danny's tough, bad boy reputation he likes to have as greasers used to be portrayed as also, deviant social behaviour often took place among greasers as this is how they were portrayed by society. 

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http://wardrobeadvice.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/Grease-John-Travolta-370x330.jpg

"It is important to note the slight military/police look that greasers went for. Although they tried to dress as anti-authority as possible for the times, it is ironic that they chose clothing that was worn by authority figures to express their defiance." - http://www.retrowaste.com/1950s/fashion-in-the-1950s/1950s-greasers-styles-trends-history-pictures/

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Introduction to film - genre's and motifs

For our summer brief I have been set the task of watching three movies, one that is currently in the cinema or recently released on DVD, one from the 90's and the third is to be a pre-90's film. These films can be any of our choice. I am going to write about Grease (1978), She's All That (1999) and The DUFF (2015). With each film I am going to take note of the general plot, the genres, motifs I notice and also concentrate on a particular character and follow them and their journey throughout the movie.

Genre's:

Basic definition: Category/type of film.
Film genres came about in the 70's when movies were being made quicker and people noticed similarity between the most successful and popular storylines, these similar storylines were made into genres and thats how they knew what type of plots and themes and characters the audience enjoyed most. Films can belong to a number of genres, not necessarily just one and there are loads of different genres existing, broken down into sub genres too.

Examples of genres:
- Action - Exciting, fast paced, higher budget, stunts, special effects, bad guys and the heroes/heroines, fights, battles, missions etc. The audience can completely escape real life with these movies.  E.g. The Dark Knight
- Comedies - Light hearted storylines written to amuse and make the audience laugh and feel good. (Romantic comedies, black comedies, slapstick etc.)
- Dramas - Serious storylines with realistic and believable  situations and characters. More involvement with the characters and their lives rather than concentrating on special effects, stunts, action and comedy vibes.
- Crime/Gangster  -  Based around dangerous, ruthless criminals/gang members/mobsters who operate outside the law. These films feature violence, robbery, fear, torture, murder etc.
- Horror - Designed to frighten, horrify and make our inner most deepest fears take place and happen to the characters in the film. There are many different types of horrors, e.g Slasher, serial killers, zombies, vampires etc.
- Musical - Concentrating heavily on music and dance to help tell the story. Musicals are often combined with comedy, one of the largest sub genres. 
- Sci-fi - Include creatures like aliens and robots in different worlds and places that could be years and years in the future or on another planet altogether. Humans aren't always the dominant species and the plots often play with the idea that technology could destroy humans alltogether. These are combined with action and horror. 
- Historical - Historical dramas, war films, medieval battle periods, kings and queens etc. Elaborate costumes, sets, props and backdrops to make it as realistic as possible. Often based around a historically accurate or made up event, legends, heroes, religious themes and often is a ruler present.
- War - Combined with the historical, action, drama, black comedy, epic and romance genres. These films show the horror and disruption caused by war. They include stories of military operations, training etc. 
- Westerns - Early day America. Include the classic old American plots and characters, e.g. Cowboys and Indians, horses, guns, large, dry open and dusty settings. 

Stock characters:
Stock characters are recurring characters that feature in specific genres. 

Motifs:

Basic definition: A repeated idea, pattern, image throughout the film. The point of motifs is to help reveal and make the themes explored during the film clear.
To help notice motifs you need to start paying attention to anything that seems to recur over and over throughout the film, this could be something like a colour palette, a phrase, a piece of music etc. Once you have noticed a pattern and you have indentified it as a motif you can go on to think about why this has been used and what they want you to think/feel and know about why this is there. What does it mean?

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aS7EHDwIzPc
http://www.filmsite.org/genres.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RRnHgYpSBk&list=PL_tdNe4QkPjEWIyJzGBwtnZcwP9FACT5h&index=19