Critical Reflection

In the project Wake Up, the fear of growing up is explored through the lens of three teenage girls in their senior year of high school. They create a vlog series called “Wake Up” to document their last year together as an attempt to manage the fear. The project highlights the strength of friendship, the internal struggles that adolescents face, and the preciousness of time.

                                     

This project represents young adults who are at the brink of adulthood and are struggling with the idea of leaving their childhood behind. Although the target audience is females ages 16-20 who enjoy coming-of-age films and utilize social media platforms such as Instagram, this film is also relatable to older audiences who wish to reminisce on their youth. The two trailers provide a different perspective on the idea of growing up, highlighting the bittersweet nature of the process. Trailer 1 features upbeat music towards the end, romanticizing the lives of the three girls while portraying the creation of their vlog series, while Trailer 2 features more solemn music in the end, focusing on the internal struggle that the character Blake is experiencing. This juxtaposition is supposed to represent how there are feelings of excitement and fear at the same time.

                 

                 

Although the two trailers contrast each other, they are both effective at engaging with the audience. Featured in both trailers, the protagonists are the same age and gender as the target audience, making the film more relatable. The second trailer directly references the audience with phrases like “We all just want to feel secure” and “Will you embrace the fear or let it consume you? making the audience feel personally involved with the trailer. In both trailers, one can hear the internal thoughts of Blake (the main character), establishing an intimate connection between the viewer and the character. As for the print component, other coming-of-age film posters were referenced during the creation of the Wake Up thumbnails, such as 10 Things I Hate about You and The Edge of Seventeen. These were two good examples, as they were specifically thumbnails for streaming services. The four thumbnails that were created represent different aspects of the film. The first two represent the romanticized and aesthetic side of the film, attempting to attract an audience that enjoys upbeat and fun films. The third one represents the intimate part of the film that covers the internal struggles that Blake is experiencing, meant to attract audiences who enjoy intimate and slower movies. Finally, the last one represents the documentation element of the film and how the characters are determined to capture their last moments together, which is meant to intrigue audiences who enjoy creative and mysterious films, as this thumbnail does not give away a lot of information about the characters or the genre.                                                                      

              

           

                        


The social media component of the project is arguably the most engaging part of the project, as the whole point of marketing a film on social media is to engage with the target audience. The Wake Up social media page utilized tactics such as: short fictional vlogs that are supposed to be the vlogs that the girls make in the movie, a Q&A series that allows the audience to directly engage with the director and producer of the film, a “sneak peak into Blake’s diary” or a scrapbook looking graphic design meant to highlight the documentation aspect of the film while making audiences feel special, behind the scenes pictures, stop motion like videos with silly captions, a countdown (Wake up in 5…4…3.. etc.) to build anticipation and introduce the first vlog, and pictures and clips from the film, to engage with the target audience.

          

As well as engaging with the audience, all components of Wake Up feel connected in some way, creating a sense of “branding” for the project. In all parts of the components, the same coloration and font are used in all of the pictures, videos, teasers, trailers, and posters, making them feel intertwined. Additionally, the importance of the vlogs in the trailers is reflected in the social media and the print component through the social media’s fake vlogs and the thumbnail that represents filming and documentation. A big inspiration for the Wake Up account was the Instagram account for the film Lady Bird. The social media crew did an excellent job at creating a sense of unity and branding with the marketing and the film, and they have very interactive content, which inspired some of the posts. Using this account as inspiration helped the Wake Up page form and create its brand with bright colors, the same font, and vlogs. One thing that could’ve been incorporated into the branding but wasn't because of time constraints and logistic issues is more behind-the-scenes content and perhaps even an interview with the director and actors of the film. This would add to the other things in the marketing that make the audience feel special and personally included in the film.

                           

After discussing a lot of the different aspects of Wake Up, it is important to note that extensive research was done beforehand to inform production and post-production choices. For example, before creating a storyboard or plot outline, coming-of-age movies and their genre conventions were researched and analyzed, which informed the creation of the story and the plot. Then, after the plot was created, specific trailers were researched. Perks of Being a Wallflower was a production that influenced a lot of the choices made in Wake up such as the voice overs in the trailer, the text that speaks directly to the audience in the second trailer, the transition between different songs in the trailer rather than just one song, the shot where Quinn has her head out the window, and the overall message of living in the moment and looking around. Following the trailers, different print posters were researched, and the choice was made to do a streaming release, as many successful coming-of-age films did this, such as To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before and Booksmart. Streaming release was also a good option because the thumbnails would be able to be chosen based on the audience member and their preferences. Lastly, the social media component was researched, and films such as Missing and Unfriended were used as inspiration because even though they aren’t coming-of-age films, they do a good job of combining fictional online content (the vlogs in my project’s case) with marketing for the film. As mentioned before, Lady Bird was a coming-of-age film that also inspired some of the social media branding and decisions, such as the stop motion-like videos, short clips from the film that reveal small details, and having a continuous aesthetic throughout the Instagram page.

                   

Wake Up is a film about connection, awareness, scarcity, and appreciation. Overall, this project was challenging but rewarding. Making something that one feels a personal connection to is a gift and should not be taken for granted. Just like time.