Conventions of teen comedy films

The teen comedy genre was seemingly adapted from the popular 'Coming of Age' films such as George Lucas' light hearted comedy American Graffiti (1973). This film brought new, previously taboo subjects to the screen, such as sex and drugs. Films such as Risky Business (1983) a film about an ordinary, well behaved school boy (Tom Cruise) and his sexual experience, seemed to transform the expectations of comedies, as teen comedies revitalised the genre through its sexual references.

The emergence of teen comedies at the turn of the 21st Century seemed to focus on humiliation, bodily functions and toilet humour. Films such as ' There's Something About Mary (1998) and the sexually explicit ( American Pie) focused on losing one's virginity.The film, Not Another Teen Movie (2001) utilised the raw portrayals of teenage stereotypes such as the Popular Jock, The Bitchy cheerleader, confused Foreign Exchange Student and other portrayals.

Little Miss Sunshine



This particluar clip from Little Miss Sunshine (2006) features sarcasm and irony. The clip begins with Frank Ginsberg (Steve Carell) is stating how Dwayne (Paul Duno) is not talking, as evident through the prop of the notepad, which serves as a visual gag. We could use visual gags in our film to convey humour, as the gags create humour themselves, for example, a pie in the face. The clip uses sarcasm , when the family are in the mini van, we could use sarcasm, as rivalry is shown amongst characters which could generate comedy for the audience. Our film trailer could include slapstick, as it relies on the audience's instinctive nature to predict the protagonist in various settings, for example when Jenny gets sent to a year seven class, Jenny's confrontation with her family and other scenes.

Not Another Teen Movie (2001)



This film trailer is from the film Not Another Teen Movie, which is a spoof of various comedy films such as American Pie, Scary Movie and other related films. Within this trailer, there is use of slapstick and gags such as bras which seem to appeal to the audience, as the film as teen comedies include sexual themes and innuendo and evidently uses the iconic stereotypes such as the Popular Jock. Interestingly, the use of puns and repetition in the clip, when the student is answering back could generate humour amongst the audience, as the student's facial expressions show he is being intimidated and pressurised by the teacher who is clearly trying to divert from the discussion, however not with much effect.