Fonts!

    After considering titles for our film, I started playing around with some fonts that would look like something that came out of a teenage girl's mind. We really want our film to show that this is through the eyes of Malia, who is only seventeen and really going through it. I never really thought fonts were that important but they really do tell a story of their own and we want our font to contribute to this specific story. 

    Here are some fonts I might consider:

    All of these remind me of contemporary coming-of-age shows and films that I have seen or heard of. They give the vibe of a high school setting and I think they would fit how our film would progress. 

Our Title (Maybe): Unwritten

 A Possible Title

     After a few suggestions of what we wanted to name our film, we thought ‘Unwritten’ would be a pretty good idea. Our plot consists of a teenager who has no idea what her future holds and therefore, she literally has an unwritten future. The title also goes with the idea of our character having a story she wants to tell but doesn’t know how to get it out there. 

The Thirty Seconds After an Opening

      One thing that we had trouble figuring out was what our thirty seconds of the film would be after the opening. We wanted to do something that clearly went with the plot while also not making it too long that we have to cut it at an awkward place. Our teacher suggested that we could possibly create a scene where our character is getting advice from a teacher. We could either have the teacher suggest to Malia on turning in her pieces to a short story contest or possibly contacting different companies that publish new authors. I liked the idea of having a teacher suggest this especially because Malia’s story is going to be centered on her struggle as a person in a high school setting and how she overcomes her conflicts. The aspect of adding an authority figure who really believes in her work is a great way to show somewhat of a solution to the conflict that will be building up later. 

      

Props because we're aesthetic like that

 Why Props?

    For our film, different props and specific details are very important to build up our character. A film is unlike a book where characters are described in detail, everything is about the visual. Props can serve as motivation towards a character or contributes to the characters personality. They give the audience subconscious hints towards a scene, character or setting overall. The point of our use of props is for us the immerse the audience in our story. Malia is someone who her personality shines through her hobbies and tangible things that she holds to heart. For our opening, we want to focus most of it on different shots and angles of Malia's room and just her own belongings that develop her character gradually. 

Props and small details we will use

Disclaimer: These are not completely set in stone but our vision involves these details in order to create our story.

    College acceptance letters

        Our use for this detail is to show Malia's inevitable fate towards moving into another stage of her life. We are exposed to these letters that are scattered around her room messily to show a certain distress and carelessness over the idea of college. 

    Book manuscript

        As stated before, Malia is dreaming about becoming an aspiring writer and therefore, this small detail is extremely important to her character. Just by the film opening, the audience will not be exactly sure how this film will progress but they will know that the shots of this book manuscript will be important for later reference. 

    A plot board

        The reason that we could include this is because our main character is developing her own book to which she clearly needs to plan out on her free time. We want to show this because it develops not only her character but the plot as well. We get an idea of where it is going to lead later on. 

    Guitar and vinyls

        The audience will be exposed to different aspects of music, creating more of Malia's artistic identity through the visual. 

    Collection of books

        This might be my favorite detail that we could include in our opening especially because these books are ones that I personally own and am not afraid to share with an audience. I love talking about books and recommending them, so the concept of being able to use them as something as small as a prop is fulfilling. Malia will be seen as a bookworm which makes sense as she wants to be a writer. Without her love for reading books she wouldn't have developed her love for writing them.    

    Skateboard

        While Malia is at the age of being able to drive and she has her license, she does not have a car and will not have one for a while. The skateboard will be used as a representation of her transportation, showing that she doesn't have it as easy as most teenagers who already are driving to school at her age and grade.

    

    

Our Main Character Moment

    In a coming-of-age film, the main character is always built in a way that contributes to the narrative because they are the main focus of the plot. They are built in a way that from the very beginning, you know they have some internal conflict going on. Conflicts character's go through in a coming-of-age film are usually in realm of either character vs. society or character vs. self. And now, we will be introducing our main character for our film:

Malia Accardi

    Malia is a seventeen-year-old teenage girl who has an aspiration for reading and writing books. Her physical attributes include long raven black hair and chocolate colored eyes. She is closed off yet has a strong personality if you know her well enough. She comes off rude at times and tends to speak before she thinks. Her remarks are somewhat of a defense mechanism towards society. She closes herself off to people and avoids getting too close because she is used to being let down. Her way of escaping reality is entering a fictional world that she creates in her head. Yes, she reads a lot but she is also on the way to writing her own book that takes her away from actual school work. She is very smart but hasn't had the correct outlet to demonstrate that. The only way she knows where she can be herself is through her fictional book. Her character vs. self conflict is in relation to her future plans and what she sees herself doing versus what she really wants to achieve. Her plans of focusing on majoring in psychology (more specifically child development) gets interrupted with her subconscious thoughts of achieving her dreams of becoming an author. After applying to colleges and getting accepted for her prior major, she begins to think she made a mistake in not pursuing creative writing from the beginning. Now almost graduating, she is stuck between going along with her original plan-gain a stable job as a psychology- or toss that entire idea aside and do what makes her happy. Our film will be centered around this angsty teen and her not-so-easy journey towards her future. 

Mood Board

    Our original mood board for Malia consisted of the following images. We thought this would fit her personality more for some reason but kind of forgot we do not hold neither green eyes or auburn hair. 

Ignoring the green eyes and hair, we wanted to show the aspect of her writing and different hobbies like skateboarding as well as other details like jewelry that would seem important through the film. 

    
    As we decided that one of us would be the actress for our film, we included our respective physical attributes (black hair and brown eyes). We also wanted to add the concept of the love of music that Malia will have as it contributes to her hidden artist side of her personality. 

More Coming-of-Age Film Opening Examples

 Lady Bird (2017)

      Lady Bird is a coming-of-age drama film revolving around the story of a mother and her daughter. The director—Greta Gerwig—describes how the opening scene shows a type of tranquility and a sense of togetherness between the two characters. This bond between the characters really is to use a reference for later in the film when the characters are put through some hardships. This opening showed a loving atmosphere right before the ugly moments. 

Booksmart (2019) 

         Directed by Olivia Wilde, Booksmart is about two girl in their senior year who are just getting bye and trying to plane their life before and after college. The opening of this movie starts off with one of the characters listening to a memo of manifestations. As we hear this, we get s glimpse of her room and how it is set up, giving the audience the chance to create the character’s personality from visuals. We are then introduced to another character who is important to the story line. We create the message that the two characters are very close friends and therefore, understand that this story will be about them. 

Sources

The Art of the Scene: Greta Gerwig Discusses The Opening of Lady Bird. (2018, January 7). Awardsdaily. https://www.awardsdaily.com/2018/01/06/art-scene-greta-gerwig-discusses-opening-lady-bird/

 

Coming-of-Age Genre Conventions!!

 Conventions of Coming-of-Age

    With extensive research throughout this week, we have outlined the important conventions that a coming-of-age film would include. 

    Plot

        The plot of coming-of-age films tends to include a conflict vs. self or society. This along with a relationship between the main protagonist and another character is a basis of these types of films. Many subplots that might be incorporated might be bullying, sexuality, rebellion, society norms and how the character(s) overcome those expectations, acculturation (a way of adapting into a society both physically and mentally), and a type of loss of innocence. 

    Characters

        Characters of this genre are usually in the ages between 15-18 and in high school. They generally have a sort of transformation between the beginning and ending of the film, but not always. In this transformation they become much more mentally mature and have an understanding of things that they did not before. Absent parents or strained relationships with parents is also a common attribute in coming-of-age films. Some common main character types include: the boy/girl next door, innocent, rebels, jocks, misfits, etc. These are very stereotypical high school labels and tend to be incorporated in coming-of-age films.

    Target Audience

        The target audience is around the ages 16 and 21. This is because the audience can easily relate to the film and its general content. 

    Setting/Props

        In a coming-of-age film, the character's home environment and school are many times a main setting for the narrative. A character's home life and bedroom allows for their unspoken of personality show through visual details. Places like shopping malls and bowling institutions are often associated with normal teenage activities that one would go with friends. 

    Sources

        Constructs of the Media. (n.d.). Retrieved February 18, 2022, from https://jessspeakemedia.blogspot.com/search/label/genre%20analysis

        8 Common Cliches of Coming-of-Age Stories | Kingdom Pen. (n.d.). https://kingdompen.org/8-common-cliches-of-coming-of-age-stories/

        Gemmagosdeng321. (2016, October 4). Gemma Gosden G321: Coming of Age Genre: Codes, Conventions and Target Audience. Gemma Gosden G321. https://gemmagosdeng321mediastudies.blogspot.com/2016/10/coming-of-age-genre-codes-conventions.html

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A Brief Idea but an Idea Nonetheless

      My partner Carolina and I have decided that we really want to incorporate the concept of books and reading. We fell in love with reading over the pandemic and have a strong connection to different works. We want to focus on what we know and what we can invest ourselves in, so we came up with the concept of books and writing. Our idea came quite literally out of nowhere. We conversed back and forth about how we can incorporate anything related to reading, so we came up with this: A teenage protagonist who has a passion for writing. We are still debating on what the plot is and how we want to develop it, but we have a base idea. 

      We believe that this concept will go well with the coming-of-age genre because we want to convey the message that the protagonist is mentally running away from her problems, creating an evident character vs. self situation. Coming-of-age has to be strategic enough that the audience can automatically have the inference of what the rest of the film will consist of. 

      The planning is a work in progress but it is getting there. Next step is grasping a genuine understanding of the coming-of-age genre and figuring out how we want to reveal our message through our film opening. 

Portfolio Genre Research Featuring: [*Dramatic Music*] Coming-of-Age

 What is coming-of-age?

    Choosing a genre for this film opening was not as difficult as we had thought it might be. As we were advised to do, we decided to go with something we knew well, and I believe we know the struggles of growing up pretty well. The coming-of-age genre is one that many teenagers and young adult audiences can find themselves relating heavily on when it comes to many different types of media. This genre includes plots that involve the protagonist having a sense of growth both psychologically and morally. It is a demonstration of a transition from childhood to adulthood. Because it depicts a passage from childhood to adulthood, this genre encourages self-discovery and growth. Coming-of-age stories rely on language, character development, and social commentary to convey their stories. Because the characters are sharing their feelings, the conversation allows the audience to obtain a better understanding of their emotions. Man vs self, which is a more familiar form of conflict to write, is a common problem that the youths in this generation experience and we are familiar with the concept. The viewers will be taken on an emotional or spiritual journey with the main characters as they mature as a result of difficulties and feelings in the coming-of-age genre.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012)

    Many coming-of-age films include the concept of cliques and how the influence the protagonist on their personality and decisions. This is seen in mostly a high school environment where teenagers are seen as mostly influenced. An example of this is demonstrated throughout both the novel and film of The Perks of Being a Wallflower (Written and directed by Stephen Chbosky). We see a significant progression of the main character, Charlie, as he begins experimenting with drugs, alcohol and his sexuality. We begin to see how he becomes a participating subject in society rather than just a bystander. In this film opening, we clearly see an introduction to a rather socially awkward teenage boy as he writes detailed letters to someone who we do not know yet about. Right away we are acknowledging how Charlie is the narrator of this opening and that is enough information to assume that he will be the narrator all throughout the film. The way we are exposed to multiple sounds all at once, especially in the transition from a voiceover to both asynchronous and synchronous sounds of the school bell the visual of students going wild in the hallway. With the voiceover narration and visual context, we get an idea that this film will be all viewed through the eyes of Charlie. In this opening, we are stimulated to an abundance of visuals and sounds that create the beginning of Charlie's story, having us want to know more about not just about his character, but about all the other character's mentioned. 

    Sources

Eghosa, E. (2021, November 13). What is the coming-of-age genre? Retrieved February 17, 2022, from https://www.filmdistrictdubai.com/blogs/what-is-the-coming-of-age-genre

Pinksy, S.M. (2016, April 26). Perks of Being a Wallflower Analysis. Retrieved February 17, 2022, from https://sites.psu.edu/pinsky/2016/04/25/perks-of-being-a-wallflower-analysis/

 

Film Opening Initial Planning

            Approaching the portfolio project, my partner and I decided to really dive into what and how we want to begin our film opening. Laying out our schedule according to the one our teacher gave us, we decided we would go about the similar route. 

           Between our first and second week, we will brainstorm ideas and the genre we want to demonstrate throughout our film opening. Our idea is quite brief but we do want to demonstrate the coming-of-age genre. We plan on researching examples and how those films demonstrate the genre (elements, colors, plots, etc). 

        As we have had a bit of trouble with time management and this is our first long term project, we really want to schedule ourselves accordingly and make sure that we will not have any issues in not being able to finish on time and having to rush. The third and fourth week of this project, we want to already develop our script and begin all the filming. We want to get most of the filming done by the fifth week so we can really focus on editing the production well. 

      Between the sixth and seventh week, we will have our editing done or at least most of it and by then, we would begin our route towards our Creative Critique Reflection.

       Finally, the eighth week is where everything should be done and finalized. We will reflect on our overall project as well as post it on our blog. 

      All our progress and steps will be posted here on my blog. We intend on explaining in detail each step we take and why we do so. 

Music Marketing Reflection

          Creating a music marketing campaign along with components that involved in creating a music video, it definitely required a lot of thought and effort put into it. My group wanted to incorporate how indie rock makes an audience feel through our music video and also base our marketing campaign solely on that. 

          Gathering the research of popular artists whose music surrounds a similar genre had helped immensely with this project. We decided to go the route of basing our information mostly on bands or groups as our marketing campaign was surrounding a band with the song ‘Mountain At My Gates’. Having this research in the back of our minds, we could have a better idea of what we want to market our band as and how we would do so successfully. A main subject we wanted to put focus on was the band Imagine Dragons. They appeal to their target audience by singing about relevant subjects that their target audience may be experiencing such as their song “Radioactive” which has been said to be about a sort of awakening and a decision to complete a task and see life in a new way. This appeals to a target audience because they are at the age where they start new chapters in life, whether it be high school or a job or even college. By singing about these relevant subjects, it allows for a band or artist to relate to their audience and for the audience to view the band as relatable and one that understands trivial problems where any other adult would brush off. This causes the audience to feel connected and closer to an artist and their music. 

          Our music video was one concept that we decided we wanted to focus on specifically. We wanted the video to represent what the song was trying to convey. We had the idea of showing the uncertainties of life and death through the editing and filming of our video. We created a storyboard essentially explaining how a good half of the video would be memories of the subject and the other half would consist of possible events the future holds for them. We held onto this idea and tried to convey it as much as possible. Editing was a simple part of this project  We use low exposure and darker coloring for memories that the subject is visibly reminiscing before their fate. We then used high exposure and brighter colors to allow for a futuristic look as it was meant to seem like the subject is dreaming about what their life could be. 

        For our marketing campaign, we really wanted to have a focus on social media, more specifically TikTok. TikTok is a musically based social media platform in which multiple artists, big or small, can distribute their music and content among other people. Many sings make it on the popular side of the app, also known as the ‘For You Page’ where users are exposed to content that they enjoy. Boosting a profile and collaborating with verified users on TikTok allows for artists to gain extra exposure and that is essentially what we wanted our artist to be able to get to.

        Our plan had consisted of growing social media accounts on multiple platforms to which we can boost the profile to gain more views and recognition. Our content would consist of daily activities and progress posts on music making and producing. This would allow for the audience to gain a better look into our artist’s lives and more into their music. A band website would be established for fans to have an outlet to interact with the band indirectly. Social media and ways of contact would allow for the audience to feel connected to the band. We wanted to entertain the idea of a Spotify AD campaign through Rising Artist Initiative. This allows for new artists to have the necessary resources to reach a wider audience and earn money while also having the skills to go further with their music. 

        This project allowed me to keep an open mind on ideas and how things are constructed in the media and for consumers. I was aware that we are almost test subjects fir influencers and artists, but this project made me notice how marketing  can really impact how a product is viewed by an audience and how it is manipulated in a way to contribute to certain taste.