Deconstruction of Location in 'My Mad Fat Diary'

Location in My Mad Fat Diary 

My Mad Fat Diary is a English TV series about a girl, Rae Earl, who struggles with anxiety, depression and an easting disorder and her journey through college. It is set in 1996, so some of the muse-en-scene is out dated in comparison to the miss-en-scene we will be using in our trailer, due to it being set in modern day.

My Mad Fat Diary is a teen drama, which is the same genre as our trailer. This means that we can use inspiration from a number of different thing within the series.

I deconstructed the mise-en-scene, specifically the location from a few scenes of two episodes. 

Season 2 Episode 3

• This scene is set in Rae's college. She is walking down the corridor while everyone else passes her by. 
• The other students are blurred, which also blurs the background of the shot, making the mise-en-scene of the location unidentifiable.
• Rae is wearing a leather jacket and band t-shirt, these are normal clothes for teenagers and therefore shows that Rae is just like any normal teenager.

• Part of this episode is set in the common room of Rae's college.
• The common room has bright walls with tables and chairs scattered around the room, this is just like a normal common room at other schools, allowing the target audience to relate to the programme and Rae.
• To get the best results if we were to want to film in a common room, would be to film while the room is being used, due to actually being able to film teenagers acting normally. The only issue with this would be the sound. Although we are most likely to put non-diegetic music over the clips and not use diegetic sound.  

• Another scene in this episode is set in a restaurant, similar to the coffee shop we are planning to film in.
• The girls in the scene are wearing clothes from 1996, which are quite dated nowadays. We won't use outfit inspiration from this TV programme.
• I like the framing of this shot as all characters can be seen and conversation is easy to track. Although this clip may be difficult to film in a coffee shop due to the size difference, and we might not be able to film with a tri-pod.

Season 2 Episode 5

• The beginning of the episode starts with a summary of what has happened during the season so far. There is a montage of 'The Gang'. The location of the montage is the characters walk back from college.
• The location is in a council estate. This again, targets the correct audience as it shows that the characters are 'normal' and from a typical working class background, rather than having inaccessible stories i.e. extreme wealth or extreme poverty.
• Again, their clothes are outdated, so we will not use the clothing as inspiration.

• This clip is set in one of the characters cars.
• As we are planning on using a car in our trailer, we can use this as inspiration. The car is one from 1996, so is older than one we would use in our trailer.
• As we will be using my car, a 2008 VW Polo, it is a realistic first car (as it is my first car). Therefore it will be relatable for our target audience.

• This scene is set in Rae's bedroom.
• The walls are covered with bands that she listens to, due to the time it is set in her favourite band is Oasis. There is also The Beatles poster on her wall.
• This décor may be a bit outdated for our trailer, but we could use the inspiration of including current bands, as this is a relatable topic for our target audience.
• Music can also be a big influence in attitude, especially in teenagers i.e. grunge.