Finally a Genre!
Herye Herye!! The decision for the genre has been made! I bet you wanna know it, don't you? I'll give you a little hint. It's a surprise genre that I have yet to discuss this genre in my previous blog posts... Have you figured it out yet? No? Okay, let me give you the biggest hint I can. This genre involves personal growth, especially of someone from their adolescence into adulthood. That's right, Coming of Age, baby!
Coming of Age is a genre, as mentioned before, is a genre that focuses on typically younger characters' personal growth as they get older. In order to help me and my group create a great Coming of Age opening, let's take a look of the openings of my favorite Coming of Age films.
'Bring it On'- Directed by Peyton Reed (2000)
'Bring it On' has interesting themes on race, jealousy, and friendship. It's about a girl, Torrance Shipman, who became cheer captain of a powerful cheer team, Rancho Crane High, but then learns that the reason they were so good was because the previous captain had been stealing routines from an inner-city school's team, the Clovers. As they go into competition Torrance has to work to create a new cheer dance, but it is a lot of work, especially with the captain of the Clovers, Iris, working twice as hard to defeat her.
The opening shows off a a cheer, lead by Torrance, that isn't exactly school appropriate. It is well choregraphed and everyone puts a lot of work into it. The cheer itself praises the team and shows how they feel about themselves. There is a lot of fun and interesting dances done and overall very fun to watch and listen to. When the dance is done, Torrance jumps down and pops back up without clothes. The entire school watching the cheer starts pointing and laugh at her and she freaks out and starts screaming. That scream transitions into her clothed self screaming as she wakes up from this dream. This sequence of events show that she and her team are a high level cheer team and think very highly of themselves, but it also shows that Torrance has a lot of anxiety regarding the team.
'Clueless'- Directed by Amy Heckerling (1995)
The opening scene follows Cher as she gives the audience an overview of her life. She gives a voice over saying she's a typical, normal teenager all the while flaunting her wealth. She starts by buying a lot of expensive clothing then shows off a machine that chooses her fancy clothes, her mansion, and her prized jeep. She talks to her father and that's where the audience learn that he spoils her and wants her to have everything she wants. As she drives around in her jeep she picks up a lot of her friends and goes to school where everyone waves and greets her. It shows her character of being ignorant of her wealth and being extremely popular.
'My Girl'- Directed by Howard Zieff (1991)
'My Girl' is such an amazing and dare I say heartbreaking movie. It was made in 1991 is a mix of coming of age, romance, and family. It follows a young, 11-year-old girl named Vada Sultenfuss whos mother died when giving birth to Vada and father runs a funeral service. She is typically teased by other girls her age because of her being a tomboy, which is escalated by her best friend being a boy (who is in love with her).
This opening sequence is of Vada showing off her fathers coffins to a group of boys who were earlier teasing her. It shows off the Vada's personality, her living environment, and her relationship with the boys in her neighborhoods. He being friends with boys rather than girls gives an insight on how she relates more with boys than girls, showing that she's a tomboy from the very start. It helps the audience grow attached to her and see her personality as she is currently.
What Have We Learned?
When it comes to Coming of Age movies, the opening typically gives the audience insight on the main character and who they are, their relationships, and what the do in the world around them. It clues us on what the character would need to improve on and how the story is going to progress. My main take away from this is that for my opening I need to show off the characteristics of my main character and give them room to grow as a better person. This will be fully through their actions with their world and the people in that world. We need to have a strong character with obvious and flawed characteristics to allow the film to change that character into someone better.
No comments:
Post a Comment