First 9 Shots in "Mean Girls"

                                          1) Cady Heron's mum and dad close up shot of them
                                              talking to Cady before her first day of school.

                                           2)Close up of Cady. Over the shoulder shots
                                        

                                          3) Cady's taking a photo of Cady and her mum

                                         4)The photo that Cady's dad took off his camera

                                          5) Cuts to a spelling bee to show stereotypical views
                                               of "Home schooled freaks".

                                          6)Another cut to more "homeschooled freaks"

                                          7) Close up of Cady. She is homeschooled but her
                                              family is normal and she is not a freak, but she used to
                                              live in Africa.

                                          8)A snapshot, far shot of Cady's African life     

                                          9) Cut back to reality of Cady standing outside of her
                                             new school in America, saying goodbye to parents.

                                           These first 9 shots shows the storyboard of Mean Girls
                                           for the introduction. Many close ups were used which
                                          reflects typical conventions of a chick flick, so in our
                                          2 minute film, we will also use close ups.

History of Chick Flicks

The term ‘Chick Flick’ has been around for at least twenty years and is a slang reference to movies that appeal to a predominantly female audience. Usually these types of movies are heavily emotional and revolve around relationships, both romantic and platonic. This genre of film has existed since the beginning of the movie industry. The earliest examples include ‘Morocco’ released in 1930, 1936′s ‘Camille’ and of course ‘Gone with the Wind’ in 1939.

Many film critics have noted that today’s Chick Flick differs somewhat from earlier movies directed at female audiences. The earlier films were more melodramatic and tragic, like ‘Mildred Pierce’ and ‘Written on the Wind’, whereas the modern version is definitely more upbeat and optimistic in nature.

Conventions of a chick flick movie

Basic rules of a chick flick

Rule 1: There is no such thing as a sci-fi or horror chick flick. While fantasy can certainly be used in the storyline, movies that are dominated by technology and gore cannot be a chick flick.

Rule 2: A film cannot be a chick flick if the female goes to the movie to see her favourite male star, regardless of the content of the movie. Therefore female fans that went to see ‘Troy’ just to see Brad Pitt means that ‘Troy’ isn’t a chick flick.

Rule 3: A true chick flick cannot be a full-on comedy. For example "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days." It fits many of the criteria of a chick flick. The same may be said for Legally Blonde I and II.

So, what are the conventions of a chick flick?

1. The female lead must be a strong woman who faces adversity and overcomes it, usually by pure force of will.
2. There must be significant tragedy that the woman must overcome to reach her stronger self. In its simplest form, someone has to die, often the lead female, herself. Pretty Woman is the exception that does not prove this rule.
3. There must a love interest.
4. There may be no violence, war or fight scenes in a Chick Flick
5. There must be at least one moment where a character cries. The shedding of tears may be of sadness or happiness, but there must be crying.

Research on Chick Flicks

Chick Flick Genre
RESEARCHING FAMOUS CHICK FLICK DIRECTORS

Mark Stephen Waters (born June 30, 1964) is an American film director. Waters is perhaps best known for directing Just Like Heaven, Freaky Friday and Mean Girls.

He is the brother of screenwriter Daniel Waters and has been married to actress Dina Spybey since 2000. He is a graduate of the American Film Institute and as of September 2006 has a development deal with Paramount pictures. He directed The Spiderwick Chronicles, filming in Montreal in the fall of 2006. In 2008 he shot "Ghosts of Girlfriends Past" in Boston.

Mean Girls is a 2004 American teen comedy film, directed by Mark Waters. The screenplay was written by Tina Fey and based in part on the non-fiction book Queen Bees and Wannabes by Rosalind Wiseman, which describes how female high school social cliques operate, and the effect they can have on girls. The film stars Lindsay Lohan and features a supporting cast of Rachel McAdams, Amanda Seyfried, Lacey Chabert, and Lizzy Caplan.

John Tucker Must Die - John Tucker Must Die is a 2006 American high school comedy romance film, directed by Betty Thomas. The film is about a trio of girls (played by Ashanti, Sophia Bush, and Arielle Kebbel) who plot to break the heart of manipulative basketball star John Tucker (Jesse Metcalfe) after they learn he has been secretly dating all three and pledging each is "the one". They recruit cute wallflower Kate (Brittany Snow) in their scheme to publicly humiliate the cad. Released in North America on July 28, 2006. The film reached number 3 in the US and number 1 in Australia.

Born Betty Thomas Nienhauser in St. Louis, Missouri, Thomas graduated from Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. She worked as an artist and taught school in Chicago before deciding to pursue a career in show business.
Thomas joined The Second City comedy group and appeared in the films Tunnel Vision (1975), Chesty Anderson, USN (1976), Used Cars (1980) and Loose Shoes (1980) and on the TV series The Fun Factory (1976). Later, she appeared as a guest performer on the British comedy program Whose Line Is It Anyway? in 1988.
While Thomas had been building her career in comedy, her breakthrough role as an actress came when she was cast in the dramatic role of police officer (later Sergeant) Lucille Bates on the TV series Hill Street Blues (1981–1987). She was nominated for six Emmy Awards for this role and won one for Best Supporting Actress in 1985. Thomas' character was paired with Officer Joe Coffey, portrayed by Ed Marinaro.
Following the end of the series, Thomas moved into directing. She first worked in TV, directing episodes of series such as Doogie Howser, M.D., Dream On, Hooperman, Mancuso, F.B.I., Midnight Caller, On the Air, Parenthood, Shannon's Deal and Sons and Daughters, and TV movies such as Couples (1994), My Breast (1994), and The Late Shift (1996). She won Emmys for her direction of Dream On in 1990 and My Breast in 1994.
Thomas made her feature film directorial debut in 1992 with Only You. She went on to direct several films, including The Brady Bunch Movie (1995), Private Parts (1997), Dr. Dolittle (1998), 28 Days (2000), and I Spy (2002). She has also produced several films, including Can't Hardly Wait (1998), Charlie's Angels (2000), and Surviving Christmas (2004).
In 2009, Thomas directed Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel.
This information was from Wikipedia

Storyboard for main production

Production Work

Chick Flick themed film


A new girl, coming from a state school, enrolls into a private school because her previous school asked her to leave, due to reasons we would find out if the film proceeded over more than 2 minutes. Her name is Cally and she does not fit into this Independant Day school for Girls, St Mary's. The first three minutes of this film will show Cally entering the school and it will symbolise the difference of her compared to the snooty girls at the school and will show how she is different because she has moved from a state school. It will show the stereotypical differences and will introduce Cally as the main character, the head mistress and girls from St Mary's School.We will be using  the front our school premises, this would be appropriate because our school is a private school for girls. We will use a range of close ups which fits the usual conventions of a chick flick film and the music and editing will be well suited.

Music piece for my production work

This song by All American Rejects fits brilliantly with the chick flick theme of my production and follows the
usual genre of song type for chick flick films. It has been used in Mean Girls and John Tucker Must Die for example