Student Television and Me

 Question: What are we going to do?

That logo up there is the logo for Student Television Network, or STN. It is a place for high schoolers (and middle schoolers) to compete against one another with their TV production skills. Why is this important? Because Madison and Safia, two of my teammates, are away on a trip to this competition for a week! We are down half a team for a whole week, I fear. That's fine because Kenna and I can go film on our own together, right? Wrong! STN is huge for our school's television production club/class so most of its members go on this trip, and because of that, they take most of the equipment and don't allow the leftover students to check out any of the equipment after school. We need a T8 Cannon camera to film our scenes, but now have no way of getting it! Having our whole group allows for us to achieve our ambition, as well as the right equipment. This is rough, so the question is what are we going to do?

Answer: What are we going to do?

This STN trip is really testing my collaboration skills and resourcefulness. If we can't film, might as well continue preparing the stage for our opening. I've begun looking for costumes around my house for my character, Aurora.

I believe this outfit is perfect for Aurora, to fit that dulled grungy vibe we're searching for her. I don't care much about the shirt so I can follow this helpful guide to make it even duller if we want! Alongside that, I found good wizard costumes and hats we imagine Sam/Atticus on Amazon that I can try to buy by the time our teammates (and the actor, funny enough) come back from STN. Finally, a huge contribution to this project of mine, other than editing, is my art. I can make some background pieces that'll be claimed to be Sam's as well as use some of my past art and set it up in the office we will be filming in.

Concluding

There will always be a complication in a project. Some big, some small. Unfortunately, we did get the big complication of a week of stand-by. But there is always something I can do. There is something you can always do. There is something we all can do, even if small. So if all I can do is gather all of my old art and draw new art, that's what I'll do. If I work on costuming, I'll work on costuming. For now, I'll be scrolling through my old blog posts and writing ideas I have brought up and searching for a way to make them happen by the time we actually film. 

First Steps of Filming

Time to Get Filming

As the title and heading imply, we have started to film! Exciting right? Yes and no... we didn't have the time nor supplies to come together and film a full-fledged out scene within our opening, so what we did was find a short period of time where team members could film non-character shots and/or close ups that don't show the character and their costuming. Soon we landed on the plan of meeting together after school to do some quick close-ups of Madison's car and their hand. Initially, it would be all four of us meeting and filming together, but due to the tight filming space and tight schedules, Sofia and Madison thought it better for it to be just them to film and have me and Kenna work on costuming and props.

  

Sofia and Madison checked out a T8 Cannon camera from our school's TV production class and filmed their shots using it! This is the camera we plan on using for all of our shots to make the opening look amazing and feel consistent. It is a great camera that Madison, Sofia, and I have lots of experience using!

These shots were all of Madison's car and some bits of Madison that we planned on having within our opening! These shots are great! Madison is planning on sending them to me so I can start editing as soon as possible to make up for some of the lost time we believe this entire week will bring.

To Be Frank

I'm very nervous about how few shots we have if I'm being honest. It's great to have these shots of course, but our group seems to be very busy with a variety of things and half of our team is about to leave for a TV production competition. I'm just nervous about the timing of it all and hope that things will work out in the end with scheduling. We went a little ambitious with our project and as it turns out ambitious people come up with ambitious ideas, but these ambitious people also have busy lives. I'm sure I'm overthinking and we can indeed succeed, but for now I'll sit worrying.

Luckily, I'm not at a loss. A majority of filming will be done at my house. If I start setting up now, the less time it takes to actually start filming. To keep my worries at bay, I will do what I can to make everything happen as smooth as possible.

Casting Calls!

 Casting

To make a movie, one has to get a cast. Our opening will have 4 characters, therefore we need three actors! Simple math right there! So who have we cast? Why have we cast them? How did you cast them? All will be revealed in the next few paragraphs! So keep reading!

Our Process

I wish I could tell you guys that we held a large-scale audition and went through multiple rounds of line reading before we found the perfect actors to play our characters.... but we didn't. We chose an easier path and cast some of our group members and a friend of the group that we knew for sure we could count on being in the opening. Time for the cast list!

Cast List

Kai........................... Madison!

Aurora................... Kaylee!

Sam/Atticus....... Sam!

Headshots and Characters and How they Fit!

Sam/Atticus

Sam was actually the character we as a group put the most thought into. We agreed that Sam needed to be played by someone who looks or can be made to look nerdy/geeky/dorky. Sofia and Madison thought, who better than their friend Sam! I've worked on a video with him before and believe him to be a great actor and can very easily fit the vibe we are trying to achieve. So I agreed to him very quickly. Although Kenna has never met him before, she trusted our judgment and we went on to recruit him and he kindly agreed. It would be cool for any social media marketing for our film if we joked around with the fact that he has the same name as the character he's playing. Just a thought that crossed my genius and ever moving mind.

Kai

Madison always wanted this role. From the very beginning when he was first made (Kai was the first character proposed). In truth, I think Madison built this role for themselves. Either way, there was absolutely no one to take the role away from Madison. Kai is a Mister tough guy that wants nothing but control. Madison may not look like a mean brute, but with the right costuming, we can make them look like that description and I know Madison has the ability to portray that personality. I know Madison will be awesome!

Aurora

Oh hey! That's me! Crazy! I'm a huge theater kid, so I definitely wanted to contribute some acting to this opening, so when Aurora's character was first brought up we all agreed she should be played by me! Her character, I think, fits me a lot with the grungey look she starts the story with and the interest in the arts and nerd culture. If only she was a Sonic fan, her character would be perfect for me! Who knows... there's still time to add to her character :)

Concluding Notes

Although none of us fully fit our characters, we each have the acting skill to adapt into the character as well as enough similarities, so it works out! I'm confident the characters we have will be portrayed properly. 

I love scripts!!

 Why A Script?

You're always asking me so many questions, aren't you? That's alright, I love to answer them! A script is where all the action and dialogue or a play, movie, or other media pieces is written out. They help keep the entirety of production on task and in an understatement of what is taking place within their pieces. It's a way to stay organized, on task, and in agreement. Not to mention tells the performers exactly what they are performing. 

Our Script:

CLICK HERE TO READ

This is our script! It's helpful to know exactly what the characters are going to be doing, the shots we need, and how they'll be edited together! With this script put together it looks very likely that we will be able to start production soon and what an amazing production this is beginning to look like! 

Some Focus on Sound!

 Audio!

It still amazes me how important audio is to a film or other media productions as well as the amount needed to make that audio. Finding the right sound effects, choosing the right music, and creating the foley is all hard work and takes a lot of time and thought. But that outcome is always awesome! There's a lot to talk about so let's not waste time and get right into it!

Music

Something cool about our opening is that Kai and Sam/Atticus are listening to the same song, which would play during the opening. The struggle was to find a copyright-free song that Kai and Sam/Atticus would realistically listen to. So it had to be a whimsical rock song that wasn't copyrighted. Easy, right? Surprisingly right! 

We used Bulletproof Bear which gives film creators like us easy access to well-made copyright-free music. And since Madison, Sofia, and I are in a class that already pays for using it, it's free! Madison must've used some special keyword in her search because she was able to find the perfect song within five minutes of searching. It's definitely rock enough for Kai, but has that whimsical element that fits Sam/Atticus. On top of that, it feels right to put it into a coming-of-age film!

The Song: Another Naive Generation

I'm very glad how easy that was. Now onto the harder parts!

Sound Effects!

As the main editor of this opening, I will be the main person to work on adding these sound effects, and boy are there a lot...

I have to think of the tiniest of sounds from the click of the volume button of a phone to the rolling sound a car makes. The music doesn't take away the sound effects, but just muffles it! I have to think about all of this and when it is right to put a sound effect of something and where to put it. I have to line up the sound just right to make it hit just right!

Naturally, I feel like we need to film first before I can gather my sound effects but the major sounds are a car engine if we don't get the foley of that, the sound of a pencil drawing, and the mailbox opening all feel like important sounds to have. I think a good idea for me to do is to write down sounds I hear while filming that I think are important to add back in during post-production.

Alongside Bulletproof Bear, I plan on using Pixabay which houses so many amazing sound effects all for free! I use Pixabay all the time so I trust it and know what to look for while using it!

Foley

Sometimes, the internet just doesn't have the sound I'm looking for so I got to make it! I have some previous experience with foley for my sound project and another foley project I did for my TV production class. Because of these prior experiences, I feel secure in creating some foley, especially with the help of my awesome team. It may be easy to get these exact sounds, or difficult depending on what we need, but I'm hoping it's relatively easy!

If it becomes difficult, it will be worth it for if we create the perfect sound we enhance the quality of our film!

Conclusion

Sound is already in the process of turning out well, but we all need to take time to focus on it and find the right sounds for the right actions. And if we can't find it, we're going to have to create it! But that's what's needed to create something we're proud of so that hard work and the rest of the hard work we're putting into this will all be worth it!

Onto Set Design!

 Remember My Foreshadowing? Time to Design Some Sets!

Set design is the environment created for actors to perform in character. Set design, like costume design, tends to represent the characters or their world, but this time leaning closer to representing the world. Creating a set isn't just building 3-4 walls, calling it a room, and being done. It's the props, the colors, the decor. Everything on that set is significant in both symbolism and representation. That's what we will definitely keep in mind when creating the 3-4 sets required for our opening!

I'm Sorry, 3-4 Sets???

You read me right! Our opening is a bit ambitious, but there are plans already set in place to achieve this goal. We will be filming in my house, my teammate Sofia's house, and our teammate Madison's car. Why? We will be showing off Atticus's room, which will be in my house. The mailbox part will also be in front of my house as well. Aurora's room will be in Sofia's house and inside of Kai's car (outside too) will be Madison's car! Now time to go into detail about these sets!

Sam/Atticus's Room

When Sam enters his room, he isn't Sam. He's Atticus. His room is where he can fully be himself and fully immerse himself in his fantasy and his art. It is his safe place and what truly brings him joy. Therefore every aspect of his room needs to be representative of his character. 

Here's a mood board of some inspiration from his room. Some whimsical elements layered on top of his drawings and art:

Sam's room is going to be filled to the brim with art supplies and objects that give off a fantasy feel. It will be a very maximalist room to help Atticus escape into his mind. I have a few DnD books and objects and some renaissance fair props that I could definitely put into the room. I also have a lot of art supplies that'll be easy to transfer from my office to the guest bedroom. My teammates also have some objects they believe help represent his character to bring in to show off who he is. For his drawings, I've already started a few drawings were able to put throughout the room, and we can even use some old drawings of mine. I have a few artist friends who would be willing to lend me their art as well!

Aurora's Room

Aurora's room is like Atticus's in the sense that it is her one safe place where you can see who she really is. I think it would be cool to show her dulled-out self in contrast to a colorful and light room, with photos of her old self being just as colorful. That'll show there is something currently not right with her and she isn't who she used to be. Her room needs to feel lively just as she used to be and will grow into being again. Alongside that, it needs to have some representation of her old passion for photography. Such as the mentioned old photos of herself and her friends as well as just random cute pictures. Some old cameras would be cool to have as well!

Here is a moldboard with pictures that helped give me an image of how I think her room should be designed:

 

To create this look I think my full team should combine all the easily accessible colorful room decor that we have which creates the vibe of a lively outgoing girl that can contrast the costume that we eventually give Aurora!

Kai's Car

Madison's car is a Mustang which we think will fit Kai a lot! Unfortunately, it is white, but none of us have the black or red car that we think would fit Kai, so a white Mustang it is! The interior is a little difficult to fully make so it represents who he is, but having a punk bobblehead on the dashboard and/or some kind of prop hanging from the rearview mirror could help represent who Kai is. Mainly, however, the car is to represent mostly Kai's recklessness as he drives the car like a madman.

Outside Sam's (my) Home

The opening ends with Sam on the ground in front of his home after an altercation with Kai. This is outside of his fantasy. Therefore everything seen here will be "normal". A normal home at a normal mailbox in front of a normal driveway. This is not meant to represent Sam, but his actual world. The real world he lives in. Not his fantasy.

Is there a Takeaway?

Sometimes, a set can represent who a character is. It shows their development or foreshadows a conflict. It is used to develop the story or as an important piece within the story. Other times it is used to establish the setting. Nothing more. Sometimes sets don't have any meaning passed, a house or a car. But inside that house and inside that car there could be something special. Something that really means something to the characters and maybe to the audience.

The Importance of a Costume

 Costumes and Why It Matters!

Costumes are the clothes a character wears throughout the narrative they are in. That is basic common sense, but what may not be as basic common sense is why costuming matters so much. Costumes represent either who the character is, what they are going through, or the world that character is in. What a character is wearing on screen is vital for it to fit the character and their circumstance. If it feels out of place then the story gets lost. There are many interesting story creators can do with costumes as well. They can make the clothing foreshadow something major or have some symbolic meaning. Overall, clothing within any narrative is very important and holds the power to do something important! Now, how am I (and my team) going to make our clothing important? Let's talk about it.

How Would We Use Costumes?

If we were creating the entirety of our film we would've had the costuming grow and change with the characters to represent their character development. For example, Aruroa would start the film in dull colors, with a very grungey look as if trying to replicate Kai's grunge look. As Aruroa finds herself again, she brings brighter colors into her fashion and begins to wear less grungey clothes and more cottage-core fashion. Meanwhile, Kai feels as though he is losing control as she begins to stray away from his own fashion so his clothing becomes more hardcore and aggressive looking. Meanwhile, Sam starts the film without having a sense of fashion and wears a lot of geeky clothing that represents the fantasy he is living in. As the movie goes on, however, his sense of fashion grows too and he begins to dress outside of that fantasy, at least for the situations that call for it. 

How About For Our Opening?

We are broke high school students, so although we will try our best to represent the characters we have created properly, we might not be able to. So please note that this is dream costuming and what we plan are preparing but not a guarantee!

Sam/Atticus:

Atticus imagines himself as a wizard! What better way to push that idea than having him dressed as a wizard while he works on his fantasy comic? 

THIS in my opinion is perfect for what Atticus should be wearing in the opening. Something kind of silly and clearly meant to be a wizard! It would fit him and what he imagines himself to be like perfectly!

The entire scene has him in this cloak as he draws his comic, then as he leaves to get the mail, he takes off the hat to enter some of reality, but still keeps his cloak on to feel more himself. Too bad this cloak makes him an easy target for jerks like Kai who notices it and nearly hits Sam with his car.

Aurora:

Aurora, in my opinion, will have the most interesting costume direction because of the growth of her clothing. Naturally, Atticus's interesting apparel may outshine hers, but she will be given the most symbolism through her clothing.

                       

Aurora's personality and self-identity are being suffocated by her bad relationship with Kai, therefore she wears dulled clothing that leans into more of a grungy feel. This look isn't bad, but it's just not who she fully is. But this look is somewhat what we're aiming for to styling her. 

This is how I imagine her to actually dress, with maybe some even brighter colors. This can be shown in pictures of her with her friends and family throughout her room. For now, though, she is in dulled-out clothing to try and match her boyfriend.

Kai:

Speaking of terrible boyfriends, Kai tries to dress hardcore in his clothing despite being a in my opinion poser. He wants control so he tries to control the way people view him, so he tries to be viewed as this hardcore punk so people fear him and do as he says.

This is like dark "hardcore" clothing I feel like Kai would aim to wear to try to be all punk-like. He wants to show off his mean-spiritedness not just act that way. In the opening we see him rocking out to an indie-rock song, but treating it as some heavy metal rock song. Situations like this go to show he is a poser and only acts this way to give the impression that he is some mean punk when he is just a wanna-be punk who is a complete jerk.

Foreshadowing Next Post!

It's great to have these plans in the working to create the cool looks of our opening. Clothing is very important, but I think equally important is the design of the environment the characters are in. If only I had some kind of blog to discuss what kind of set mise-en-scene elements in set design I want. Oh too bad so sad... ;)

Developing Characters

 Character Development!

Character development is an important aspect of any story, especially a Coming-of-Age story. Yes, we are only producing an opening, but knowing both the plot of our film and how the characters grow throughout that story is vital in creating an opening that reflects both aspects. 

"So... what is character development?" is what you may be saying. And to respond I'd say "You seriously don't know?". Later on, I'd regain my manners and explain that character development is the development of a character! Alright, let me be more specific.

To make characters interesting, story creators give them growth throughout a story which may change some of their traits or behaviors for better or for worse. The growth takes place over the entire story and a character endures this change due to the events of the story and the challenges they or others have faced. Character development creates dynamic characters and therefore a dynamic story. Without GOOD character development, a story tends to fall flat and no one wants to engage in a boring flat story. 

Our Character Development!

With this knowledge of how important character development is, me and my group have come together to talk in-depth about how we plan for our characters to develop and came up with solid ideas and have a strong plan to foreshadow that growth in our opening. We plan on having all three of the main characters within our opening and therefore have planned out all three of their developments. So, let me break it down for you.

Sam/Atticus:

Sam, aka "Atticus", is our main character. He is an artistic 16-year-old high school student whose passion is creating fantasy comics. He loves everything about the fantasy world and even sees himself in the fantasy world. He relates everyone he meets to a type of fantasy character and he copes through hard times by imagining himself going through an action-packed adventure in the fantasy genre caused by these events. His main inspiration for his comic is his across-the-street neighbor Aurora, who he's been in love with for most of his life.

Escapism can be a great coping mechanism for many! It isn't necessarily a bad thing as long as it doesn't take over one's life. Unfortunately, that is what is happening to our main character. He is letting this fantasy take over his life. It starts as something innocent but then it begins to hurt the people he cares about. In the end, he grows to understand when it is time to leave this fantasy behind, but since it is part of who he is, he still enjoys going into it time for time. But he grows into knowing when it is time to leave the fantasy for his comic and behave properly in the real world. Properly being his normal self and not forcing any cliches or archetypes from the fantasy genres onto others.

What causes this change in his mindset is mostly seeing the way he hurts the girl he is in love with, Aurora. She and him become friends through their enjoyment of the arts. Her with photography and him with traditional drawings. However, he sees her as a princess in need of saving from a monster (her boyfriend) and begins to treat her as so. He forces her into a box when he once allowed her to fully express herself. Sam/Atticus begins tampering with her life because of all of this and in turn, she stops being his friend after a big fight. This makes Sam take a step back and realize how he affects others through these fantasies, including his own mother. He reflects on himself and through the therapy that art provides him Sam realizes who he really is and who he wants to be. 

Aurora:

Aurora is also a 16-year-old high school student. She used to be a very outgoing and popular girl at her high school, being the president of the photography club. However, she became a lot less social and less herself after getting a boyfriend. Now her outgoing nature has been subdued and her passions have been lost to her. Her personality has been dulled out to everyone, but her across-the-street neighbor Atticus.

Aurora's storyline tackles the very important topic of toxic relationships. Her boyfriend, Kai, is a complete jerk to her and to everyone around her. But, he will then go on to make very big and romantic gestures to essentially love-bomb her. He also guilts her a lot of the time to make her stay with him which of course is a clear sign of a toxic relationship. He makes her feel dependent on him and that she can't leave him. Alongside that, she adopts some of his interests and styles due to the suffocating nature of the relationship. The end of her story has her finding the support and resources she needs to stand up for herself, leave her toxic relationship, and leave the boxes everyone has been putting her in.

This change would happen slowly and be caused by several things like her giving back her passion for photography thanks to Atticus, gaining back friends old and new, and finding the strength needed to stand up for herself. At the beginning of the film, she's very passive and very suffocated within the relationship she has with Kai. She may give him sass, but it is all bark and no bite. However, as the story develops she grows back into who she once was, letting her own personality and own interest shine back through. She now won't let anyone put her back in that box.

Kai:

We have another 16-year-old high schooler but his name is Kai. He has a very large ego and is just a jerk. He does seem to have some interest in music and cars, but it is nowhere near his love for himself. He doesn't truly care about anyone but himself. He likes the idea of having a girlfriend, but does he like his girlfriend? He enjoys tormenting Atticus because he finds him very odd and thinks that things and people he doesn't understand deserve the treatment he gives them. He is very destructive almost to cover up something vulnerable inside of him.

Kai has a smaller character arc than the other too, because although he goes through some change, he's too stubborn in his ways to completely change. Kai likes control. Not just likes it, but needs it. So while losing control over his own girlfriend he becomes very irritated. He was always a jerk but now he becomes a straight-up bully especially to Atticus because he views that as his only way to get control back. But when he ends up finally losing everything he did have control over, even his girlfriend, he begins to understand that his behavior isn't right. He started a jerk, got worse, and then got better. But he won't ever be a "good" person. At least not in the film. He would just let loose a little and leave behind some of the control he once had. But his mean-spirited nature won't ever go away.

Tying it into our Opening!

The main use for creating these storylines for our characters and understanding how they are going to develop throughout the entire movie is to make our entire opening feel full. What do I mean by that? What I mean is that I want to fill the opening full of mise-en-scene elements to represent who the characters are (soon to be fully discussed in upcoming blogs) and for them to behave appropriately according to their narrative. Fully understanding our characters lets us set up the scene perfectly! 

Showing Sam/Atticus's fantastical side but leaving some of it behind as he leaves his room, showing old pictures of Aurora being bright and outgoing next to her dulled out side, and Kai having full control over his car is just the surface of representation we aim at doing in our opening. I'll be doing a further dive through of the mise-en-scene elements and their tye into the character development, so stay tuned!

I LOVE storyboarding

 Storyboards! What are they?

Storyboards are my favorite part of the planning process of creating a video! A storyboard is usually a drawn out sequence of events within the scene you are planning. In our case, the opening scene. This means that for us our storyboard needs to show the drawn out shots we had in mind for our film opening!

Storyboards are never the set idea or design for different shots but are instead the rough outline for what we want to do. It is our guideline so we aren't stumbling like buffoons trying to film something without having any ideas on how we want to shoot it. Like sure, we have our story, but figuring out how we want to shoot is right then and there is rather difficult.

Our Storyboard!

I was very honored to be the to draw up our storyboard. I think a reason I love storyboarding so much is because I get to draw my ideas. I'm not going to say I'm the next Picasso, but I don't think I'm too shabby with a pencil! And plus, I enjoy it so it was without a question that this task would be placed on me. Me and my team discussed the shots we wanted, I drew them and then tweaked them as we saw fit! It was so nice to see our ideas laid out in front of us so we can fully grasp what we want to create. 

Some shots drawn out looked... poor. But that is why we have the storyboard! To easily erase and fix where we see fit! That way when it comes time to actually shoot these shots we already have good placements in mind! All right, without further ado... here is our storyboard:

After Thoughts, with Lee

I will say my drawings began to get lazy towards the end. If I had less of a time crunch I'd love to perfect the drawings. Luckily, it isn't the drawing that matters but the content and shots. Ideas change, so our shots might as well, but I think this is a strong foundation and will definitely guide us in the right direction when getting shots for our soon to be amazing film opening!

Theorizing our Characters

What is the Character Theory?

For our project, my group has concluded that Character Theory fits our story the best! We created a character that is a princess in the protagonist's eyes even before realizing she fits the princess archetype in Propp's Character Theory perfectly! Hold on, I'm getting ahead of myself! Let me backtrack and explain to you just what the character theory is.

Through studying over 100 fairytales, Vladimir Propp created this theory in 1928, saying that every character in a story fits into one of seven different archetypes. The helper, the villain, the donor, the princess, the dispatcher, the false hero, and the hero all work together to create one of the 31 narratives. In creating this theory, he was able to set up the foundation for future narratology. Let's dive into these archetypes!

The Hero

Propp believes there are two types of heroes within this archetype. There is the seeker who wishes to save others from the villain and then the victim who suffers directly from the villain and wishes to save themself. These heroes then go on a hero's journey to defeat their villain and to achieve their personal growth they need to be segmented as a hero.

Both the movie and game Sonic fit this Hero archetype, but interestingly enough they are the opposite types. Sonic in the movies (2020-present) is a victim, being hunted down by Dr. Robotnik as he tries to destroy Sonic and his home. Sonic decides to fight back to protect his power and the people he has grown to love and cherish. On the other hand, Sonic in the games (1991-present) is a seeker, who chases after Dr. Eggman after seeing him capture and hurt innocent animals to power his robots. Alongside that, Eggman terrorizes many different organisms throughout Sonic's world, and because Sonic is such an amazing guy (hedgehog) he takes Eggman on constantly to save those who can't protect themself. 

The Hero archetype is meant to inspire. Inspire their audiences to stand up for others or for themselves to do the right thing! To achieve their goal and fight against evil. It is supposed to be a reflection of their audience and show them who they can grow to be.

How Does this Apply?

The main character for my film opening wants nothing more than to be a Hero. To do that, however, he needs to have more inner reflection and grow through the Hero's journey to defeat his bully (villain) who is blocking his way from love with his crush (princess). This would in turn make him a victim hero making him need to stand up for himself and save himself, and in turn, save the girl he cares about as well.

The Helper

The helper has a role explained in the name! They are the type of characters to help the protagonist succeed and grow by helping them achieve a goal or fix a misfortune. The helper tends to also give the hero a form of transportation or help them get from point A to point B. One might say that this helper is the sidekick of the hero. 

A film character that fits this archetype is Tails originally adapted from the Sonic video game franchise. Throughout 'Sonic 2' (2022) Tails assists Sonic through his initiative gadgets and gizmos which help the pair progress through the movie and defeat their villain. If it weren't for Tails, Sonic would've failed within the first 20 minutes of the movie, possibly being dead! Tails may not have done all of the heroic stuff, but he was the one to help Sonic do his heroic stuff. Tails is important to both this movie and to the hero, Sonic, because he helps the story progress and teaches Sonic how to depend on others and grow into the hero he wants to be. 

This in turn shows that helpers within the narrative world are needed for character and story progression. They assist the hero in being heroic and they are what's needed to get the goal achieved. The helper might not be a main role but is a vital role.

How Does this Apply?

The main character doesn't have many friends since he is seen as a loser, but we could follow the cliche of giving him an equally lame best friend who helps him figure out how to get his bully to stop being so nasty as well as to woo the girl of his dreams and to get her to leave the toxic relationship that she is in. This best friend could find out information for our main character and could encourage the main character to do things he wouldn't normally do!

The Villian

The villain's role is that of the antagonist. They cause misfortune and harm to others for their own gain or pleasure. These evil deeds, whether on the hero or not, will cause a fight between the villain and the hero. The villain is what causes the hero to become a hero by giving them a reason to fight and to grow. A narrative story needs a villain just as much as it needs its hero. 

Giving the Sonic Franchise a break, let's look at one of my favorite villains, the Joker from one of my favorite Batman movies, 'The Dark Night' (2008). In this film the Joker does nothing but cause chaos and destruction throughout the entire movie, leading many to wonder why Batman doesn't end his reign of terror once and for all. The Joker pushes Batman to be better than he is. No matter what the Joker does, Batman must strive to never kill him which would make him a kin to the Joker. Instead, he works hard to give hope to the world that the Joker works to take away. His Hero's journey is motivated by being better than the Joker and never allowing his plans to follow through. The Joker works to destroy not only the city but all of Batman's morals and who Batman is. 

The villain causes the conflict and only when they or their actions or defeated will the resolution occur. It is the villain that creates the hero and it is the villain that creates the story.

How Does this Apply?

Our main character starts off wimpy with no heroic bone in his body, despite striving to be one. He has no true motivation until he is met with the villain of our story. Our villain is the main character's bully and will keep trying to get the main character to believe that he is lame, that he won't amount to anything, and that his dreams are stupid. The villain of our story doesn't destroy cities, but other's self-esteem. Not just the main character's but the girlfriend too! This will motivate our main character's hero journey as he learns that those are all false and that is when he learns to stand up for himself and others against this bully.

The Princess

The princess is a character a sought-after person who the hero must "save" to complete their quest. Sometimes they are a lover that the hero is after, and other times a family member the hero must save. Although these characters can be passive, especially when they are women, modern-day has allowed room for more kick-buttery from these princess characters.

'Taken' (2008) is a movie about a man, Bryan Mills, saving his daughter Kim who got kidnapped by human traffickers in France. This movie's plot centers around the princess, Kim. Bryan does everything in his power with his "very specific set of skills" to rescue her before it is too late. She is the only thing that matters to him throughout the entire movie. He doesn't care about his or anyone else lives. He just wants his daughter back. She helps his hero journey by being his determination not to give up, despite his hard and violent challenge. He won't stop until she is saved.

This character archetype is what keeps the hero determined. What keeps them on their path. It would be so much easier to fall into the hands of the villain, but they must continue to work hard for the princess they have to save. The princess keeps the hero on their journey.

How Does this Apply?

Our main character actually imagines his crush as a princess, which is very fitting since she is our princess archetype! She is stuck in a very toxic relationship with her no-good jerk of a boyfriend who continues to bully the protagonist. Sure he could endure the endless bullying until he finally graduates and is free from it, but that would mean that he never gets the girl of his dreams and that she would still have to endure the wrath of her boyfriend for who-knows-how-long. This is what keeps the main character determined to grow into who wants to be and to fight for justice against the bully.

The Donor, The Dispatcher, and The False Hero

The Donor is an archetype described as someone who gives the hero a special item for the hero to succeed in their heroic duties. The Dispatcher is the one to shout the call to action towards the hero. The false hero can be either be seen as one to take credit for the good deeds of others despite being evil or a twist villain. All of these roles have been seen throughout varies media but aren't as common as the other roles, especially for a coming-of-age movie.

Cinna from the 'Hunger Games'(2012) films represents the Donor by providing Katnis and Peeta their costumes that got them noticed by the game sponsors who would then also become donors by giving the pair supplies they need within the games. Cinna also gives them clothing for the games and Cinna sneaks Katnis her pin from home within her outfit. This makes him important because he doesn't just provide supplies but hope for the hero.

The Mayor in 'Powerpuff Girls' (1998-2005) would always contact (via the phone) the Powerpuff Girls, who were the heroes of the entire show, to alert them of an attack and plead for them to save their city of townsville of evil doers. This makes him the Dispatcher becausing he is quite literally calling the girls to action. This makes him important because he is informing the girls of the problem/conflict and sending them out to solve it.

In 'Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal' (2011-2014) had a major plot twist with the character Ray actually being the villain Vector that the hero Yuma was fighting all along. Ray tricked Yuma into becoming best friends and grew a false bond with not just Yuma but with all of Yuma's friends. Little did the group know that Ray was Vector, one of the beings they vowed to destroy! This makes Ray a false hero because of his desecption of the hero to thinking he too is a hero only to turn around and be another villain, if not the villain. Not only that, but he took the credit of good deeds of others and denied any evil-doing accusations to further his deception to not just the other characters but to the audience as well.

How Does this Apply?

While reading about these roles, I've come to the conclusion that for my film these roles aren't as important as the previously mentioned roles. In fact, these archetypes can be merged in with other roles if they are used at all! I feel as though our story does not need a twist villain, but maybe the bully taking credit for something the nerd did. I don't see the need for a dispatcher at all. The Donor can be any character that gives a special item to the hero, even the villain himself.

However... now that I am thinking about it, the main character is obsessed with the fantasy world and writes a comic that is his life but within a fairytell narrative. All seven archetypes are seen within the fantasy genre, so perhaps, to represent that side of our main character we should then indeed have a fully story that has aspects representing each archetype, including these. Either way, these roles will not be placed within our opening, but I am beginning to lean into the idea that they should all be present for the entire story.

I Love My Sources

Media Studies. “Vladamir Propp’s 7 Character Types and Narrative Theory.” Media Studies, 25 Oct. 2020,     

    media-studies.com/propp/.

“Vladimir Propp | Literary Theory and Criticism Class Notes | Fiveable.” Fiveable.me, 2024,

     library.fiveable.me/literary-theory-criticism/unit-2/vladimir-propp/study-guide/5YLLqKWkXDIvbxtl.

“Vladimir Propp’s Character Archetypes | Media and Film Theory.” Www.youtube.com,

    www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3spdyqxvnU.

Reedsyblog. “Hero’s Journey 101: Definition and Step-By-Step Guide (with Checklist!).” Reedsy, 20 July 2018, 

    blog.reedsy.com/guide/story-structure/heros-journey/.

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SONICSTA. “Understanding Movie Tails.” YouTube, 11 May 2022, 

    www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dd7WLVfCFVA.

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The Fully Fleshed-Out Idea!! (finally)

 We Did It!

Guess what!! (read the heading) That's right, we did it! My awesome and creative team has finally developed our idea/story for our Coming-of-Age film! For a while, we were throwing around small details we wished to include that fit the genre, but we never had anything really...clear. That is until now! You wanna hear about it? Or well, read about it? Great! Cause I wanna talk about it! Well, type about it!

The Story

The basic synopsis of our story is a young teenage boy, 16 or so, is obsessed with the fantasy world and dreams of making a popular best-selling fantasy comic series that nerds like him can relate to. His main inspiration is his across-the-street neighbor, whom he is in love with. She is unfortunately in a very toxic relationship with her jerk boyfriend who enjoys tormenting our main character. So the main character's comic revolves around a wizard saving the princess from a wicked monster.

Our story focuses on the main character struggling with being seen as a loser by the school and still trying to fit in. He works to be heroic to fit those who he admires in the fantasy world as well as help the girl of his dreams leave her terrible relationship. It will also see her perspective and relate to other teens stuck in toxic relationships that are hard for them to leave. It'll teach teens that they aren't alone in their issues and show how they can improve themselves and the circumstances that they find themselves in.

Obviously, the entire plot for our film is yet to be figured out. But we definitely have enough to create an (dare I say) outstanding film opening! And that film opening is about to be gleefully explained to you now!

The Opening

It starts, with a blank screen and the sound of an engine and sketching, both battling to overtake each other. The engine wins and we see the source is the jerk boyfriend's (Madison's) Mustang. We then show him speeding down the road like a madman while increasing the sound of his music then switch to our nerdy main character increasing the sound of the same song on his phone. We get different shots of the main character drawing in his room, working on his comic. This comic will then contain the title of our film! His room will be decorated with posters focusing on his fantasy side, figures with the fandoms he may be in, art supplies everywhere, DnD dice and books (provided by yours truly), and the regular teenage boy mess. 

After establishing pieces of the two's personality will we have alternating shots between the two in similar positions doing their thing. The jerk drives aggressively and wildly while the nerd draws in a similarly aggressive and wild manner. As these switches between the two happen, boxes will appear similar to comic book narration boxes that'll give credit to the directors, writers, producers, and maybe the main editor. 

Then we stop this alteration by having our main character look up out of his window, which gives time for the actor's name to appear in a speech bubble, as he sees his crush through her window getting ready. There's a shot of her with a thought bubble containing her actor's name. Then a shot of her boyfriend driving angrily with a spikey speech bubble with his actor's name inside.

Then we plan on having our main character's mother yell "[Main Character] go get the mail!" Where our main character will correct her by giving her his preferred fantasy name, saying "It's [preferred name]!" He then leaves downstairs to get the mail and as he does he is nearly hit by the previously mentioned jerk boyfriend's car! He yells at our main character before the girl runs out, quickly apologizes to the main character, saying his preferred fantasy name, and then runs into her boyfriend's car while yelling at him. And that's how we'll end it!

The Film Plan

The shots with the main character will be filmed at my house since I have the art supplies and a good placement of my bedroom. We plan on moving out everything in my room but my dresser and bed (but moving both pieces) and moving my art desk out of my office and into my room. We'll scatter my room with what I have mentioned before represents our main character and continue on.  The shots of the girl will be done at my teammate Sofia's house since she 1) lives in the same neighborhood and 2) also has a good bedroom placement. We'll film the main character getting hit in front of my house and do it slowly but fast forward in editing. We'll be using Madison's car to film the scenes she's in and she'll be driving up and down my block.

I will be playing the girl, Madison will be playing the jerk boyfriend, and one of our friends will be playing the nerd. Sofia will be filming and credits, Mackenna will be mainly on props and costumes, Madison is set and also filming, and I will be editing everything together. Together we make a super team!

Concerns

Names are a bit of an issue. Feels like picking a baby name honestly. I'd like to research the meaning of certain names that would fit each of the characters to then bestow it upon them. Then when it comes to the title... we have to think of something that would encompass not just the opening, but our entire story itself. We really have to think of the characters and what they mean to the story and what the story would mean to an audience. This would help us find character names and a title.

Then comes the other, bigger concerns. Time. I'm scared we have too much content and too little time. We have 2 minutes and 2 minutes only. We want to fit a lot into that 2 minutes. With my experience editing and making videos, despite seeming like a lot of time, 2 minutes is barely anything to a creative mind. Especially to all the creative minds of my group. We should get the DREAM shots that we would absolutely want in the opening. Then get filler shots that would definitely enhance our opening but aren't needed if we are over the limit. That way we have buffer room and can feel a little easier with time.

We need a lot of props and good costuming! We luckily already have the locations picked out, but we lack the needed costuming and need more props. We do have some props... but just not enough for what we want. We may have to settle if anything because we're broke teenagers. We ain't going to buy everything we need. Luckily, I am a bit of an artist and have the art supplies. I also have some DnD items to lay around. Madison has good costume pieces for her character as the jerk boyfriend. I have some outfits in mind for my character the girlfriend. But for the fantasy geek? We are.. still working on that. We want a wizard hat and cloak. That would be awesome. But if not obtained we'll have to figure something else out. Overall, if we don't have what we want, we might have to settle. 

Although I am concerned about our actual ability to achieve some of our wants, I know our determination, passion, and creativity will drive us far! Can't wait to see what we'll create!

Us When We Finally Figured Out Our Story