R+P Post 9: Our script

Our voice over will be inspired by John Tucker Must Die where Kate introduces the viewer to her home life.

This is the first script we created.

Mario:

Hi, I’m Guy. I’ve been single for the past 19 years, which is my whole life.

I’m so unlucky… it seems nothing ever goes my way

But… last month, I met the girl of my dreams. We met online and today I’m finally going on a date! Me! Going on a date! My first ever date!

The last time I tried talking to a girl, she completely ignored my presence.

It’s awkward because that’s the closest I’ve ever got to a girl who isn’t my mum.

For the first time in my life, I feel like my luck is changing.

I’ve got to try my hardest to get this right, that means no talking about games, science or chess.

I’m wearing my best shirt, styling my hair and putting on my best aftershave.

I’m even wearing a tie.

Anyway, got to go! Don’t wanna be late.

However we later thought that this script was unsuitable and didn't match the actions in the film sequence and so edited it. This is our second script.

We still were not satisfied with our script as it did not have enough flare and kept reinforcing the action on screen. This was rather unnecessary and could possibly be irritating so instead the concept of Guy talking about his past self from the future seemed a good idea. This inspiration came from 500 Days of Summer. We knew the voice-over was very important in keeping the audience engaged so with the help of Chris, we came up with a final improved script.

This script excited us as not only did it play around with Guy's name for humour but it makes our opening much more interesting and it anchors our genres instantly by letting the audience know that The Life of Guy would be a journey where Guy grows and changes. It describes Guy's past personality while expertly showing off his new and changed personality.

R+P Post 8: Our opening sequence idea

Our opening sequence will start off in Guy's London bedroom with his alarm going off at 7 am. We see his room full of games and posters as he gets out and turns the clock off. Going to take a shower Guy finds that the water is too cold and screams. He then tries to pick out clothes for the date and chooses between many outfits all bad but very similar in style. He ends up picking an ugly shirt and chino shorts which clash. Then he proceeds to the bathroom where he styles his hair into a middle parting. He thinks he's done well which we can see as he compliments himself.

Later he hops down his stairs getting excited and skips to the kitchen where he makes his tea. He then spills his tea down his shirt and doesn't have time to change as he realises he's almost late. Instead he puts on his shoes and grabs his parka which also clash with his outfit and hurries out the house. He runs all the way to his date who is standing outside a restaurant. Upon seeing him, she is surprised that
Guy is her date, repelled by him and rejects him with an excuse that she has to go somewhere. The opening ends with Guy being confused and slightly upset.

At the start of the opening sequence, titles such as our distribution and production titles will be shown as white font on a black background. Titles such as the name of our actors/actresses will overlay onto our main shots throughout the sequence. At the end of the sequence there will be 'The Life of Guy' title.
Our titles are inspired by the openings in She's The Man and John Tucker Must Die.

We plan to employ various continuity techniques such as eyeline matches, cross-cutting, graphic matches and shot-reverse-shots such as when Guy talks to his date in front of the restaurant.

There will be a voice over by Guy which will anchor the narrative and his actions and upbeat pop music to emphasise his happy excited mood and happy-go-lucky personality.

R+P Post 7: Our film's title and plot outline

Our film's title is inspired by The Life of Pi and so will be called 'The Life of Guy' as it sounds catchy and has connotations of comedy as well.

We felt this title suited our blockbuster rom com as it is light-hearted and rolls off the tongue well.

We had brainstormed a few ideas which are shown on this piece of paper.



The Life of Guy will be about a male high school student who is not only a gaming geek with hardly any friends but also no luck in his love life. The beginning will start off with his home life but on a special day. Guy has his first blind date with a girl he met and got on with online. He is looking forward to it and so prepares for it enthusiastically, eager for it to go well. We see his clumsy mishaps and general bad luck as he picks a horrible outfit and a bad hairstyle along with experiencing a cold shower and getting too carried away with his game. He ends up meeting his date late who then, after looking him up and down, rejects him. Being so inexperienced, he doesn't understand why.
The next part of the film will be about his school life and how he meets a unique girl who becomes his best friend. She pushes him out of his comfort zone and shows him new experiences. At the end of the film, Guy becomes a changed man who has good friends and his best friend becomes his girlfriend. He is no longer a geek though he still does love his games.

Our film follows two main narrative theories.
1. TODOROV THEORY

Equilibrium: Gamer geek uni student with unsocial lifestyle and no luck in love life.

Climax: Meets a girl who becomes his best friend.

Event: Best friend shows him what friendship is like with different people and what social events are like.

Problem solved: Guy makes a few good friends.

Restoration: Guy is still a gamer geek but now has a girlfriend and a happier, more exciting lifestyle.

2. LEVI STRAUSS BINARY OPPOSITE THEORY

This theory explores the way people understand certain words depending not on their meaning but rather more on our understanding of the difference between the word and its opposite.

Opposites in our film: 

Loner vs. Popular

Inexperienced vs experienced

Past vs. future

Scruffy geek vs. good looking lad

R+P Post 6: Our chosen genre and how we plan to connote this

Our chosen genres are romance and comedy. We plan to connote this through every aspect of our film opening including Guy's physical actions, expressions, voice over and the music.
Comedy will be implemented at moments such as when Guy does his hair badly, skips happily around his house and gets rejected.
Romance will be implemented by the voice over which will anchor the fact that Guy is going on his first date - a blind one. It will also be connoted through Guy meeting his date and then getting rejected.



Our inspirations were John Tucker Must Die, Bridget Jones and The Inbetweeners 2

In the Inbetweeners 2, the group get rejected by the host of a house party as they are dressed in fancy dress - considered ridiculous while the party people were stylishly dressed in casual wear. They were laughed at and then denied entry however the group did not know why they were rejected, and tried to gain entry which made the moment funnier.

R+P Post 5: How we plan to attract/address our target audience

Our film opening sequence is a blockbuster rom com starring a uni geek's romance (or lack of). It will attract various audiences in the following ways.

Firstly, our opening will attract just as many guys as girls because of the male lead and his identifiable and like-able character. Being a gamer geek who is also socially awkward, Guy's personality will appeal to a lot of nerds, gamers, quiet and awkward people.The Life of Guy will also appeal to other guys who will most likely enjoy seeing Guy's bad judgements and unlucky moments. Our film would also appeal to anyone who has ever been on a date, especially a failed date as they would have felt the same anticipation, nervousness and sadness as Guy does.













Secondly our film opening will attract teenagers/youth as he is a uni student, couples as there is romance as well as middle-aged adults as the narrative is classic, relatable and light hearted. A guy's failure in getting ready for his very first date is very conventional and suitable for a wide age range of audiences.


Thirdly our film opening will attract people who simply love watching rom coms for a good laugh and light-hearted entertainment, including family and the elderly as our genre is very slapstick comedy.

R+P Post 4: Representation of social groups in our opening sequence

We have chosen to represent a stereotypical high school geek in our film opening sequence.
19 year old Guy is not just socially awkward but unlucky in life. He has never had many friends let alone a girlfriend. Yet finally he is going on his first date - with a girl he met online. Our film opening follows his routine full of mess ups that will make our audience cringe as well as laugh. Of course, he isn't just a negative portrayal of a high school geek. The audience will also be able to relate to Guy.Things such as the shower being too cold, choosing a bad
outfit and styling your hair badly are all unfortunate events that
many in the audience will have experienced themselves.


The bad choices he makes doesn't completely define Guy as a person; the audience will gradually see his lovable character through his happy-go-lucky attitude and take warmly to him and the fact that he runs to try and not delay his date any longer. We also did not blow his geeky side out of proportion and alienate that part of the audience. Guy is mainly seen as a geek because of the various game posters up in his bedroom.


Excellent examples of characters such as Guy are Seth and Evan from Superbad. Both are geeks who rarely go to social events, lament their virginity and poor social standing. They are finally invited to a party in exchange for bringing alcohol and we laugh at their mess ups but can relate when they are bullied and used. Geeks are generally shown both negatively and positively, as are many social groups in the student age group such as the jocks, the hippies, the preppy people, the music and arty cliques and so on.

R+P Post 3: Our production and distribution insitutions

For our production company we've decided to name it RC Productions, RC being short for Rom Com. As for the distribution company, we chose 20th century fox as they have distributed a few rom coms including John Tucker must die, a high school film we took inspiration from.

John Tucker Must Die is about a trio of girls who plot to break the heart of manipulative basketball star john tucker after they learn he has been secretly dating all three and pledging each is "the one". They recruit wallflower Kate in their plans to publicly humiliate the player.

This is the perfect rom com to base ours off of as the opening of "The Life of Guy" (our film title) is a funny take on a sad, unlucky situation much like the situation in john Tucker must die where girls having been cheated on and played is quite sad but they have teamed up together and come up with hilarious plans to 'get even' with him. We do not cry but laugh and want to keep watching till the end for the happy ending.

R+P Post 2: Our Target Audience

For our rom com film opening sequence we've decided, as a group, to target a wide audience of all ages and genders. With only mild swearing and nudity almost everyone can watch our film so it will be certified a 12A. The storyline of our rom com is of a nerdy guy called Guy who, having never had any luck in his love life, is preparing for his first date...which goes wrong.  Being the average university student the film will be quite typical of high school films such as Easy A, Superbad, and the Inbetweeners where the leads are all nerdy and unlucky in their love lives. Those films all target youth, couples, students and general rom com fans as will our film.

Our core audience is rom com fans who can be of any age or gender. They are the type of people who love to watch rom coms at anytime.








Our secondary audience is young adults, teenagers and couples who can relate to the film but also love watching them. We've decided to beak the general stereotype that rom coms are more relatable to girls and target both genders equally with our male lead.

Excellent examples of rom coms that are more relatable to guys are 21 and 22 Jump Street. They have two male leads who are portrayed hilariously and go on wild action-packed journeys but at the same time show that they make mistakes and have emotions and insecurities too.