Independent case study

The basics

The inbetweeners movie was directed by Ben Palmer which is about a group of four young adults going abroad to experience a different lifestyle to the ones they have at home. The characters are played by: Simon Bird who plays Will, James Buckley who plays Jay, Blake Harrison who plays Neil and Joe Thomas who plays Simon. These four characters all feature in the British television show 'The inbetweeners' which has become a great enough success to have a film. The film was released in 2011 17th of August. I think this is an ideal time to release the film because not only is it in the summer when people have more time off but it is that time when people will/want to experience what the characters were able to around the same time of year. The genre for the film is comedy and this is no surprise because the posters for the film already emits a humorous vibe about the film. For example, the characters are all posing awkwardly with a woman who seems to be revealing herself to the boys. It suggests they aren't used to this setting and because they are visiting a place where they may have more of those experiences which could result in humour. Also, their is text at the top of the poster, 'Out of school, Out of their league'. This further emphasises the boys will not be able to handle the females they will see on their holiday which the audience would imply would be comical. Their clothing isn't something people would expect to see at the holiday they are going to. Furthermore, the trailer tells the audience more about the narrative which is the final indication of its genre. We see the character's personalities being portrayed in the trailer from the beginning which adds humour because they are unusual - weird. The 'banter' they share amongst each other is something we would expect to see with 'lads'. Tessa Perkins' theory would tell us that the stereotype about young male adults would being comical and inappropriate is true. Its rating on IMDB is 6.8 out of 10 which is very average. The reviews from ordinary people is really positive as they have repeatedly mentioned the fact that the film has been 'watered down' compared to the TV show, 'Jay has been watered down for some reason' - source IMDB. Also, the film is just a copycat version of other spring break films, 'Basically just another bawdy spring break movie- with an accent'. An international audience would have experienced this sort of film in 'American Pie'. Also the British would make it hard for an international audience to keep up with the witty banter being exchanged between the characters. Many of the reviews give a negative vibe about the film and don't believe the film is any where near as good as the series. Despite this there are still some positive reviews of the film on the same websites. People have written reviews like 'if you enjoy the series, you will definitely enjoy the film'. Overall the reviews vary over a wide spectrum.

Broadcast

The trailer has the four main characters go on holiday with their same style of clothing and approach to women. The humour comes from the 'lad banter' that we see in the series as well as the trailer which would act as a positive for  the audience. Also, the sound used is parallel to the trailer because it has a high tempo which fits really well with the fast pace of transitions - non diegetic. In addition, the instituions shown in the trailer is included in the begining: 'Entertainment film distributors' and 'Film 4' 'Young bwark' and in the end there are more instituions. The genre of the film is comedy, drama and this is evident from the opening scene as we see inappropriate humour. The representation of British youth is what we would expect to see because of the jokes about women and sex. Each of the characters have their own personalities which still fits the stereotype of these young adult/teens being immature. One of the dominant ideologies of over weight women being unattractive is displayed when a character seems disappointed to be left with the her in the club.

This interview helps promote the film because the actors tell the interviewer about the film and how it differs from the TV show.

This interview gives the viewers an in site into the how other characters felt working with the characters. Also, how the boys are in real life.
The broacast promotion does use the stars mainly because their audience want to hear what the stars have to say about the film.

Print

The reviews for the film varies significantly. There are many websites that have reviews from ordinary people who watched the film that have given mixed reviews. From IMDB 'If you are like me and you love the television show, then the movie will have been much anticipated. I am pleased to report that the movie is not a disappointment'. Also, there are negative reviews 'I love the Inbetweeners series. But I feel the film failed to capture the magic of the show. In addition an international audience watch the film despite the show suggesting the film will mainly contain British culture banter 'Seeing the mixed response this movie got here in the US definitely had me lowering my expectations. But I watched the film and it does the series justice'.

This advertisement was on billboards which is an effective way of advertising. This is because they can be positioned in places where audiences of the film live or go. It promotes the film because it has the four main characters from the series which an audience familiar with the show would expect/hope to see. The background of the image suggests they will be travelling in the film and probably somewhere that is out of their league as we see 'bar' and other clubs alongside it. Therefore, an audience would be able to make an educated guess based on what occurs in the TV show that there will be awkward and embarrassing moments in the film. Also, the text 'This summer' allows the audience to generate a narrative as its a hint that the boys will be going on holiday as they are out of school. 

This poster informs the audience that the four characters will be going on holiday. An audience would be able to suggest this because of the text which says 'This summer' which implies they are going on holiday. Also, the background includes bars and clubs which most probably will be in Spain where British people enjoy visiting in the summer as a family or as friends who are going to lose their heads. The colours add to the assumption because they are vibrant and exotic but intertwine with the dark shade of purple which implies the characters will be disorientated. In addition, their clothing is unusual to a holiday setting which fits well with each of their personalities and sense of dressing as seen in the show. This would work well with the audience as they could suggest some of the humour will come from their appearance and as its their first time going on holiday without parents it could be comical. The film's brand is constructed through using the four main characters. This is done by putting them on every piece of advertisement the film has produced. Therefore, an audience would be able to associate them with the film instantly even when watching the television show. This is effective as it's easier for the distributors to build an audience for the film as there already is an audience willing to watch the film. The brand suggests the film will be a bigger success than the show as the audience will see the characters in a different environment to the one in the show. Therefore, it implies the film producers have dedicated their lives into the film as they have recorded the film in another country because of the setting.

E media 

There was a hash tag used for the audiences of the show and film to add their thoughts about the film before its release (#intbetweeners). For example, on Instagram audiences be able to view images with the hashtag which will have been related to the film which adds to the hype over the film. Also, no Twitter we get a better understanding of the film's target audience as they students luck on their GCSE results they were going to receive in the summer. Obviously this message was aimed at teenagers who would be around the same age as the characters from the film.This helps promote the film because these students especially those who are fans of the TV series would feel as if the institution cares about them and have showed their love through wishing them well on their life changing results. This creates a positive brand image for the film as it implies the people working on the film actually care about their fans and the film isn't only being made for the money. I could not find the films website so I have used Facebook as a representation of what they would/did involve on their website. There are videos and clips from television series which is synergy between the series and the film which helps promotion because fans of the show would watch the clips and enjoy them. This would lead to them wanting to watch the film as they know how much they enjoy the television series. There are pictures from the film which have a different look to the TV show so audiences can identify the difference between the show and the movie. For example, pictures from the movie have a brighter more exotic look to symbolise a summer holiday and television show would be more dull representing the characters lives.

Audiences

The audience targeted for the film would be young adults and slightly older adults (25-35 years of age) as they could be able to relate to the characters more easily and build a personal relationship. On the demographics this would be C1 and C2 because they would go public schools like the four characters do and live ordinary, legal and non luxurious lives. On the pshychographics I believe aspires and explores would watch the film as these groups of people would go on holidays to experience lifestyles like their role models which could be a similar holiday to the one the characters visited. The cross media promotion targets this audience through using technology as young people use it constantly. This means that they would be likely to see the advertisement for the trailer on YouTube and tell their friends about it. Therefore, audience and knowledge of the film would be increased through using e-media to catch youth attention. Also, the channels the movie will be advertised on would be relevant to the audience of their film. For example, the advert would most likely come on at watershed times on channels: 4,E4 ect. For a British audience the film would pleasure audiences through the characters using British 'lad banter' because audiences would be able to relate and understand. For an international audience, their pleasures from the film would be understanding the ways young British males act around each other and women (British youth culture). The target audience may enjoy a film like American Pie because it also is a television series but it is an American production. It involves excited teens flirting and trying to get a live parents want them to have.

Institutional

The distributors of the film in the UK were Channel 4 and they usually distribute/ promote similar content. This would be shows/films based on comedy like Jimmy Car ans Russel Howard Live. Also the budget for the film was £3.5 million which is significantly higher than an arthouse film. The Inbetweeners movie was financially successful as their audience was already generated through the television series. This means that many people would have watched the film mainly because of their belief in the film through the reputation of the show. Therefore, the film distributors wouldn't have to distribute the film as much which means more money is saved. In addition the target audience for the film is young people and they are all likely to use electronic devices with social networking applications on it. Therefore, the film can be promoted on the networking site which is cheaper than the usual advertisements. The film was more successful in the UK as this audience would be able to relate to the four characters from the movie. This is because they would understand the British culture and the slang used. It is rated 15 because it does include inappropriate language and fighting but not a lot of it.

Representation 

The representation of British youth was that they are reckless and immature. This is shown through the amount of drinking they consume on the holiday. Also, most (if not all) of the youngsters of holiday were British white people and this is a true stereotype of young white people going to other European countries to party. Perkins' theory tells us the stereotype could be true. The British representations in the Inbetweeners differs from Ill manors because the Inbetweeners has a more legal atmosphere than Ill manors. An example of illegal activities in Ill manors are the drugs, prostitution and weapons. Whereas The Inbetweeners includes some violence and sexual scenes but they aren't as emphasised or significant as Ill manors.

Case study comparisons

The Inbetweeners has some similarities with Ill manors and A Field in England. Inbetweeners includes young people just like Ill Manors. They both follow the ideologies Britain has associated with British youth, these are that they are sexual active, aggressive and careless. In addition, all the films involve the use of drug but they are all displayed in different ways. The inbetweeners has a youngster using the drug but it is portrayed in a more recreational than the other films. Ill manors has drug dealers of the film selling drugs and some people with distraught lives taking the drugs. Finally, A field in England has many points of view of the effect of the drug the characters are taking. They take the drug not really knowing what it is.

The differences are obvious at times between the films. The Inbetweeners movie is about the lives of modern British educated youth, Ill manors is about British youth who are menaces to society and A field in England is about British history. We see how drugs particularly differentiates in the narratives of the story. The Inbetweeners doesn't emphasise the use of drugs as the movie only shows it once. Ill manors' storyline is based around criminal activities and we would expect to see the use of drugs constantly in the film. A field in England is completely different from both because the characters discover the 'magic mushrooms' and don't know what it is.