Film Proposal

Title: The List

Tagline: The ultimate chick-flick

Outline: Charlie and Emma are having a sleepover at Charlie's house. Emma has just experienced another break-up so the two decide to watch 'Clueless' together to cheer Emma up. Emma is ranting about her break-up when she notices Charlie keeps going on her phone. Annoyed, Emma demands Charlie to tell her who she is texting. Charlie begins to get embarrassed and tells Emma that she may have found someone she is interested in. Charlie explains that she didn't tell Emma because she feels awkward telling her when Emma has just went through a break-up. Surprised (as this is the first time Charlie has ever told Emma she is interested in someone), Emma tells Charlie that she wants to give her different make-overs and 'transform' Charlie into the type of girl that would be appealing to the guys Emma is envisioning. Emma thinks it is a good idea despite Charlie's protest, telling Charlie that it will help her take her mind off the break-up, but also that this is something girls usually do at a sleepover. Charlie reluctantly agrees. As Emma believes all men are the same, she begins to rant to Charlie by listing the three types of guys that she has dated in the past and broken up with:

1. The 'Golden' Boy

2. The 'Bad' Boy

3. The 'Hipster' Boy

As Emma rants, she imagines her heart being broken all over again by those guys. As Charlie listens to Emma, she imagines her dates with these men going really well, while texting the mysterious person at the same time. Emma realises Charlie is not listening to her talk and gets annoyed again. They have an argument where Emma says Charlie never listens to her, and Charlie tells Emma that Emma is too superficial, judgemental, and controlling. They stare at each other in silence when the doorbell rings. Emma opens the door, and rudely asks the stranger what she wants. Charlie comes and tells Emma that this is her girlfriend.

Enigma

Charlie is actually a lesbian, but her best friend Emma doesn't know. Majority of the film will be spent on making the audience believe Charlie likes boys and is interested in what Emma is saying. Only in the end it will be revealed that Charlie likes girls.

Binary Opposition

Emma and Charlie's difference in character. Emma likes to dominate. She is superficial and shallow, often likes to dictate and impose her ideas on Charlie. Charlie is usually laid-back and lets Emma talks, but she gets annoyed at the end of the film when Emma is always so controlling.

Plot Inspiration

The Last by Wong Fu Productions

This is a short film about a boy explaining to his current girlfriend the 5 girls he used to love and how it didn't work. I was inspired by the 'listing' structure of the narrative.

Main Characters

Emma:

• views the world in black and white

• good-natured but arrogant, superficial and controlling

• raised in a wealthy family, causing her to be judgemental

Charlie:

• usually relaxed and laid-back; a listener

• not a girly girl

• keeps things to herself, doesn't like to share things about herself

• ocassionally insecure

The 3 Types of Guys

• The ‘Golden’ Boy

• seemingly perfect - good looks, good grades, wealthy, plays every sport etc.

• self-absorbed, arrogant, dogmatic

• shallow, superficial

• cares more about his hair and socks than other people’s feelings

• The ‘Bad’ Boy

• tattoos, piercings

• prone to violent outbursts and speaks fluent sarcasm

• has daddy issues and is insecure

• The ‘Hipster’ Boy

• reads vintage classic books (i.e. Jane Austen)

• hopeless romantic

• likes to be classy – wears vintage sweaters and glasses

Moral of the Story

• Instead of blaming others (i.e. stereotyping guys and thinking that they are all the same as a result of many failed relationships), Emma should reflect on herself, as her controlling and superficial behaviour may actually be the root of all problems

• It is easy for Emma to assume that she and Charlie are extremely close since they are best friends, however Emma doesn't even know Charlie is a lesbian due to her self-centeredness – where she doesn't listen to Charlie, and judgementalness – where Charlie fears she will be judged by her own best friend

Intertexuality

• Watches ‘Clueless’ during sleepover

• Possible rearrangement of quotes from ‘Mean Girls’ (an attempt at postmodernism)

• “Ex-boyfriends are off-limits to friends. That’s just, like, the rules of feminism.”

• “We gotta crack Gretchen Wieners.”

• “I guess it’s probably because I’ve got a big lesbian crush on you! Suck on that.”

Contextual Points

• Film movement: Institutional Mode of Representation

• Genre: chick-flick, teen comedy

• Director influence: Mark Waters (Mean Girls), John Hughes (The Breakfast Club)

• Postmodernism influence (i.e. Scream)

Research Texts

• Mean Girls - conventions of a chick-flick e.g. mise-en-scene, locations, colours, cinematography, editing

• Clueless - conventions of a chick-flick e.g. dialogue, characters, props, clothes

• Scream - postmodernism i.e. irony, self-reference, wry social commentary, in-jokes, self-aware characters, mocking other films of same genre

Editing

• The Answers by Michael Goode

• Dissolve editing - gradual scene transition, overlaps the end of one shot with the beginning of the next one

• Camera seemingly moves across from one scene to another - the ‘one take’ effect (2:00)

• Used as a transition in the story from one guy to another

• Love, Rosie by Christian Ditter

• Invisible editing of most IMR films

• The Truth About Meeting Women by Paul Gale

• Camera zooms into character’s face and cuts to another scene as it zooms in when the character is ‘thinking’ (0:06)