more learning

Hello! So in my last blog post, we explored the genre of "coming of age" and I learned a lot throughout my research. Today I want to dive deeper into my learning and focus on two examples of "coming of age" films I mentioned in my last blog post: Lady Bird and Perks of Being A Wallflower. Before we begin, I want to preface that I have seen these two films entirely and hope to use them as inspiration for my upcoming trailer creation.

Lady Bird

Lady Bird follows a young girl Christine "Lady Bird" McPherson's journey to discover herself during her senior year of high school. Christine is loving, strong-willed, and deeply opinionated. After her mom makes her get a job, Christine starts working at a coffee shop where she meets an edgy musician named Kyle Scheible. He and Lady Bird begin a romantic relationship, and she begins to drift away from her best friend Julie in favor of a friendship with a popular girl named Jenna Walton. The movie emphasizes the complex relationship between a mother and daughter during this age and highlights themes of class struggle as Lady Bird's parents were struggling financially. 

Genre Conventions It follows:

-Romantic relationship involved in the movie

-Utilizes comedy and music throughout the film

-Highlights the uncertainty of a teenage girl

-Emphasizes the relationships and internal struggles of the character

Things I liked about the film:

-I liked how strong the protagonist was as a character. In my opinion, some protagonists can be quite boring but she really stood out to me and she made the movie very relatable

-Doesn't romanticize teenage years as much, it highlights the struggles and is realistic

-The film didn't revolve around a romantic relationship. Although it was involved in the plot, it was centered around it

-Does a great job of portraying relationships

-Visually aesthetic and nice to watch

What I might take inspiration from:

-Lady bird uses a grain filter over most of its shots to convey the complex relationship between Christine and her mother. I like this a lot.

-Strong characters (like Ladybird)

-I don't want to make my film revolve around a romantic relationship

-I want my work to be visually aesthetic

Perks of Being a Wallflower

Perks of being a Wallflower follows Charlie, an introverted teenage boy as he starts high school, falls in love, and faces his traumatic past. Charlie struggles with mental illness and has trouble discovering who he is and how he fits into the world. Charlie makes two friends Patrick and Sam who are step siblings. Patrick who is a closeted introduces Charlie to his step sister, Sam and Charlie develops a massive crush on her. This film follows the Charlie's romantic relationships and friendships as he experiences high school.

Genre Conventions is follows:

-Romantic relationships involved in film

-Revolves around teenagers

-Utilizes music and comedy

-Highlights the uncertainty of a teenage boy

-Emphasizes the relationships and internal struggles of the character

Things I liked about the film:

-I liked how the film contrasted Charlie's internal struggles with his lively social life and friends

-The scene with the tunnel UGH 

-It captures the feeling of being a teenager and being around people who make you feel alive

-Emphasis on friendship and the importance of it

-I like how the film shows how Charlie suppresses his emotions and how they all come rushing out at the end of the movie, it illustrates the real life consequences of burying emotions.

What I might take inspiration from:

-Three person (mainly) friend group 

-Shots like the tunnel scene 

-Emphasis on personal struggles/obstacles

-This film, in my opinion, is the definition of a coming of age film, it captures all of the things that I would want to achieve in my trailers

This concludes my research session on these two films, I really enjoyed watching these and I am excited to take the things that I like about these movies and turn it into something that is mine. Until next time.