History Of Chick Flicks

Chick flicks have existed since the early days of cinema and since the dawn of Hollywood it has been recognized by many other colloquial terms, but mainly "women's pictures". It has always been known as any film that is directed mainly to the female audiences.

It is known the earlier motion pictures where more dramatic and tragic such as ‘Gone With The Wind’ compared to the more upbeat and optimistic in nature films like ‘Wildchild’. The 1961 film Breakfast at Tiffany's, is commonly known as one of the 'classic' films from the golden age of cinema, and is sometimes considered as an early chick flick due to common elements such as dealing with loneliness, romance, and happy endings.

Recognising the advantages of attracting female viewers to the films, Hollywood began to produce tragic love stories based on a formula of ‘boy meets girl, boy and girl fall in love, boy loses girl and finds her again in time for the credits to roll’. Despite being extremely predictable and not very original these movies tended to do very well at the box office. I think chick flicks have now evolved into more materialistic and lifelike but with a hint of fairy-tale such as ‘The Cinderella Story’ which still plays the boy meet girl structure but with more real-life bases to it.

Chick flicks used to be identified as films targeted at mainly women but I think they have become specific in there genre to now a more complex view. Romantic comedies may have been perceived as a chick flick back in the day. As I have said before Hollywood began to produce tragic love stories and they were though as chick flicks, but now they could be known as romantic comedies. More recently there are some specific differences between romantic comedies and chick flicks. For example romantic comedies are more to do with a storyline about love and romance with a hint of humour, and chick flicks are more to do with an easy storyline to follow with more materialism less about the romantic plot for example ‘The Devil Wears Prada’.

Many people may have noticed that today’s chick flick differs from earlier movies aimed at a female audience. The formulaic romances gave way to more intelligent romantic comedies, and the chick flicks explored difficult and complex subjects - ranging from a simple analysis of why the leading lady is with her current partner, to more difficult existential questions of the meaning of life, and the characters’ place in it.

Chick flicks have been around since films came to light and they’re here to stay because women and girls such as ME love to cry, to laugh and to be thrilled with the antics and adventures of other women and plots on the big screen.

Conventions and trends of the chick flick genre

All genre films stick to a recognisable formula, there are many send to be rules when it come to genre's but I think they are more conventions and trends. Here are some of the conventions and trends in my chosen genre chick flick I found and know:

- They are designed to appeal to a female audience, and the characterization and storylines appeal to manly women.


- Chick flicks are typically used only in reference to films that are heavy with emotion or contain themes that are relationship based, so there is nearly always a love interest within a chick flick.


- There is nearly always one or more moments or scenes in which a main character cries, even if it is tears of happiness or sadness!


- There must be a strong female leading women or group of women in chick flicks.


- There is always happy or relaxing endings to chick flicks sometimes most unrealistic ending to the film.


- I have found in most chick flicks there is a fairy tale based story attached to the storyline, expressing fantasy or wish-fufilment.


- They tend to use upbeat happy music that is popular with the audience at the time.


- Technology is up to date in chick flicks such as blackberrys, iphones ect. This is to try and relate more to the teenage audience.


-  The fashion and designer labels in chick flicks is iconic as they are trying to set apart the difference between some characters e.g the rich to the less privileged.


-  This difference is also shown in the accessories of the wealthier characters such as there cars, bags and houses.

Directors of Chick flicks

Oliver Parker :

Oliver Parker was the director of the chick flick St.Trinians. St.Trinians is a great film and one I will look deeply into for my Foundation Portfolio. Oliver Parker is generally a director and screenwriter  and has worked extensively as an actor. 
As he has had past experiences of theatre acting it seems this has influenced his approach to the actors. He has also directed other great films such as:
 1. Johnny English Reborn 
 2.  Othello 
 3. Also An Ideal Husband, which was nominated for two Golden Globes and three BAFTAs.




Michael Patrick King:

Michael Patrick King was the director of Sex And The City, which has a great opening has has inspired me for my Foundation Portfolio. He is an American director, writer and producer for television shows such as the popular 'Will And Grace'. 
Sex And The City was an offshoot of a t.v series, it was hugely successful film. The film recorded the biggest opening ever of an R-rated comedy and for a romantic comedy, and also for a film staring a women. Its the highest-grossing romantic comedy of 2008, and as of March 2010 the film has grossed $414,252,786 worldwide.  


Mark Waters:

Mark waters is a director and producer mostly of chick flicks and romantic comedy's. I have seen many films directed by mark waters. I like way Waters shows the first few minutes of his films, and I look for inspiration in them. He portrays teenagers he a few of his film, I think he has done this very well and is something I would like to use in my Foundation Portfolio. Some of the films Mark water has directed are - 


1. Mean Girls - is the film I'm mostly looking at for ideas and inspiration for my Foundation Portfolio  
2. Freaky Friday    
3. The Spiderwick Chronicles
4. Ghosts Of Girlfriends Past 

My collage/mood board for a chick flick genre

Chick Flick is the genre I am interested in for doing my coursework. So I have created a collage/ mood board of girly things and things I liked from chick flicks to help me decide which genre to go for. After doing this I realised I do want to film a chick flick film.

What I like about film openings that have inspired me.

Having watched a number of film openings, I've decided i would like to make the beginning of a chick flick.
These are the things I liked about my favourite chick flicks:



Mean girls

* I like the still picture shots
* I like the voiceover explaining the story
* I like the idea of someone changing schools to a different environment


Breakfast at tiffany’s

* I like the music leading into the film
* I like the establishing shot of the scene before you see the character
* I like the titles playing whilst the movie has started
* I like the reflection shot in the tiffany window
* I like the shot that filmed the character from inside the shop window almost as if she is                           trapped out
* I like how there’s no words in the first two minutes but still get the drift of the story


The notebook

* I like how the film starts with the scenery like breakfast at tiffany’s
* I like how it’s got the right music for the sad genre
* I like how it shows the character though a window again almost as if she is trapped
* I like hoe the close up really showed the venerability of the character


Love actually

* I love the shots of people meeting at the airport, it sets a tone for the film
* I like the voiceover explaining the relevance of the airport scene


Bride wars

* I like the uplifting music to start
* I like how they do close ups on things e.g bride and groom cake figures, drawings , putting a ring on all relevant thing to do with weddings and emma and liv
* I like the voiceover of one of the characters explaining the story similar to 'The Holiday'
* I like the picture shots of the explanation during parts of voiceover


Sex and the city

* I love the mix of voiceover (done by SJP the main character) with shots of what she’s talking about
* I like how SJP introduces the main characters in the voiceover
* I like that she introduces herself in voiceover


Sex and the city 2

* I the music to the intro of the film, thing it very effective
* I like the voiceover again telling and explaining the story
* I like the close ups of the scenery
* I like how they've use reflection of the sky in big new york buildings
* I like how SJP walking though double door, sets an importance of her
* I like how it goes back in time, to help you understand


Overall the aspect that stood out most to me, and that I would like to have in my film opening are the voiceover techniques used in Mean girls, Sex and the city one and two, Bride Wars and Love Actually. I also like the still picture shots that was in Mean Girls I think it helped with the understanding of the opening. 

What I Have Learnt From My Preliminary Task.

What I have learnt from my preliminary task.

By doing my preliminary task I have learn many things. My preliminary task included me making a short film of a person walking into a room, sitting down, exchanging lines of dialog and walking out of the room again.  There were many mistakes I made while filming and have now learnt from, and I am now more confident with using the camera.

One of the first things I learnt and had to draw before filming was my storyboard.  I learnt that a storyboard is the different shots that will piece together the final preliminary task. It helps enormously when filming because you know what exactly to film next, who should be in the shot, where the shot is and if they are speaking in the shot. My storyboard also helped with editing my film and I learnt it was very useful when I was placing my shots in the right order.

I learn a lot about how operate the camera and the rules of filming. There are many simple actions, which I learnt for example how to charge a camera. Also how to attach a camera to a tripod, as the first tripod I used didn’t attach correctly. One important rule that I learnt when filming was the 180˚ rule.  This rule only allowed me to stand one side of my actors at all time. If I didn’t do this it would confuse the audience and make them think the actors have swooped places.

I was able to include over the shoulder shot in my preliminary task, increasing my knowledge on different types of shot. I also learnt about continuity and panning. I learnt that when I was panning I had to keep steady and follow the actor across the room using the tripod. I learnt that you have to film the space in front of them so you’re not chasing them across the room.

While filming Annabelle walking though the door, also with shot/reverse shot I learnt about continuity. It made my film look professional.  I had to be aware of errors occurring in continuity such as changes in speech, dress and if the actors had moved in different ways. Especially when I was filming shot/reverse shot, which is another important camera rule I learnt.

        I learnt a lot about shot/reverse shot, I had two people sitting opposite each other exchanging dialog. I had my two people directly opposite to each other, and I learnt that it would have been easier to film them if I where to place them slightly diagonal to each other.  It would have been easier because you had to make sure the back of one person’s head was not blocking the other person. That brings me to the technicalities I have learnt about filming. I learnt that you have to film the actors right on the eye level so you’re not longing down or up to the actors. Also I learnt went I do the close up of Annabelle’s hand to try and get them to the eye level of the other actor’s so it is as if she is watching them and it flow more easily.

I learnt that when filming shot/reverse shot you have to get the angles right. So you have to try and get the exact angle as the person your filming is seeing it as. I also learnt you have to get more or less opposite the same place when filming the other side of shot/reverse shot. I learnt that shot/reverse shot is one of the longest shots I had to film because I had to film them more than once. I did this because so I could have the different angles and lines of dialog in the right places when it came to editing the final piece.

     When I was panning Annabelle walking out and into the room, also when she was standing up, I learnt about unwanted headroom. I learnt it’s important to move the camera with the person. This is so you film the whole movement and body not just extra, unwanted headspace. It is useless for extra space so it is important to get the whole body in.

I also learnt there are always some practical issue’s when filming. For example I started filming one day, and the next day the actors had different hair and clothes, so I had to start all over again. Something you don’t notice practical issues till you what your task back; for example reflections, background noises and small movements.

Finally I also learnt how to use Final Cut. I used Final Cut when editing my preliminary task; I learnt the standard operations like cutting and the joining of clips. I had a problem with the audio at first when unwanted sounds where in the background. I learnt how to tame the background sounds and focusing on the speaking.

 Overall I learnt al lot from my Preliminary Task from camera’s to editing. There were lots of different shots and rules to film and I learnt a lot from them to.  I have picked up many new techniques and learnt from where I have gone wrong and hopefully will help me in my next filming task. 

My Preliminary Task

For part of Year 12's coursework we had to devise a preliminary task. It had to be of someone walking into a room, then walking across the room to sit down and exchange a couple of lines of dialogue. This is my preliminary task.