The trailer for the 2008 teen comedy Wild Child demonstrates many generic conventions of the genre. It follows the typical "fish out of water" story of Poppy, a pampered girl from Malibu, who is sent to a strict boarding school in England. Visual and audio cues establish Poppy's spoiled lifestyle and foreshadow her transformation as she discovers herself away from home. The trailer introduces several stock characters, like the rebellious protagonist and her love interest, and teases Poppy's journey of self-discovery through adversity, which audiences will recognize as a common theme. While some may see the trailer as overly predictable, it effectively sets expectations for the target teenage audience.

1. 1. The sequence is from the 2008 teen comedy Wild Child.
Analyse the sequence commenting on:
· visual codes
· audio codes
· genre
The trailer for Wild Child demonstrates many of the generic conventions an audience would expect from a
typical teen comedy.
The trailer is structured in such a way that it indulges an audience with much of the narrative of the film,
which is a typical ‘fish out of water’ story. The main character, Poppy, is taken from her comfortable and
pampered Malibu existence and dropped into a boarding school in rural England which is both nationally
and metaphorically well outside of her comfort zone. It is obvious that this conflict of character and setting
will be the basis of much of the film’s humour.
Poppy’s character is typical of the spoilt rich girl, the glimpses of the narrative demonstrate her extravagant
lifestyle. Visual signifiers such as her sports car, designer shopping and hand bags and oversized movie star
sunglasses are reinforced by audio codes - such as the opening sound effect of the cellular phone, which
connotes her hectic lifestyle and lines of dialogue when she arrives in England: “How am I going to call my
therapist?” which signifies the amount of people Poppy has to tend to her every whim.
The iconography of the comedic elements is represented visually by various codes such as the slapstick
humour of mud being flung into her face which Poppy immediately deals with by removing the mud and
reapplying her make-up which is always on hand. The sequence is edited in fast motion to emphasise the
comic set piece but also to reinforce her characteristic vanity.
As with any teen comedy we see the protagonist work through a character arc. This is exaggerated
through the visual code of her hair changing as well as the narrative revealing Poppy’s changing attitude
through dialogue: “Isn’t it ironic that my ticket out of here might just be the reason I want to stay?”, and
also the non-diegetic voice over: “...a story about leaving home and finding yourself.” Both of which are
clear connotations of Poppy’s transformation from spoilt brat to introspective young woman, and
symbolises the theme of self discovery which the audience will recognise as conventional of many teen
comedies.
This journey of self discovery also contains many conventional characters which can be easily equated with
Propp’s character types; Poppy as the Princess, the prefect as Villain, the headmistress as mentor and
Freddy as the Hero character - however an alternate reading may suggest that as Poppy is central to the
film that she is the Hero who must complete her quest and Freddy is the Princess character, whereby
Poppy must win the approval of the headmistress in the Princess’ Father role - according to Propp’s
functions. The blosoming relationship between the two inevitably leading to the iconic ‘kiss’ which is yet
another expectation of the genre.
Other iconography can be found in further analysis of the setting. The visual differences between Poppy’s
Malibu life and the English boarding school juxtapose through the use of lighting. Malibu’s bright sun
drenched parties representing Poppy’s wild carefree days contrast with the bleak low key lighting and dull
earthy colours of the English countryside and weather, itself signifying Poppy’s calming and maturing
character. All the iconic elements of a stuffy boarding school are visible, the traditional looking uniform, the
prison like dormitories and muddy games field all add to the feeling that Poppy has been imprisoned in her
new home.
Yet more expectations of the teen comedy film are met from looking at the cast, Emma Roberts is a young
up and coming actress known for starring in teen films such as Nancy Drew and romantic comedies such as

2. Valentine’s Day. Not only is Roberts a draw to the box office for an audience but she is a guarantee to the
audience as to the type of film they are about to watch.
The music throughout the trailer is loud, fast paced and energetic which entirely reflects the energetic and
somewhat chaotic opening of the trailer mirrored by Poppy’s ‘Wild Child’ character and then reflects the
liberating effect she has on the other students as engage in cheer-leading and get caught up in her
adventure. All of which introduces the theme that Poppy’s own journey will also change the lives of others.
The ideologies behind many teen comedies are those present in the Wild Child trailer, those of adolescent
self discovery, inner reflection and finding meaning in your life through tough challenges not through
material goods. Some audiences may find the Wild Child trailer predictable and unimaginative in its strict
adherence to certain narrative and generic conventions. On the other hand this would not necessarily be
the view of the target audience who would appreciate having their expectations met by the film and would
enjoy every convention as it arrives in the course of the narrative.