Since my last blog post on Sunday, I've had a bit of a change of heart. I reflected upon my most recent AICE Media class last week. We had a whole discussion on how to come up with a perfect film opening, all of its parts. The most important thing that she mentioned was how we should create our opening based on something that we've experienced ourselves, our own story. Now, not to say I'm bland... but I actually had absolutely no idea what to do. So, I came up with the idea that would surround some sort of morning routine of polar opposite twins. But, the process of executing that would suck, and I didn't really know how to develop that into a real story. She told us we can't do anything about kidnappings and stalkers, because who has really been through that? Well, fun fact I was almost kidnapped once! It was absolutely terrifying. I'm not going to discuss it that much here, but I thought that it was a pretty comical thought once she said that.
My new idea will develop around something that I know much about, stress on schoolwork. I want this film opening to surround all things "stupid teenage problems." I think a huge part of any film is the setting, the mise-en-scene. I went through plenty of websites such as this one, which showed a bunch of different types of rooms that teenagers and kids would have. There were rooms with bright happy tones, all the way to dark, sadder tones. I want to go with the average teenage girl's room. Lots of patterns, paintings, and photos. I want this person to have things sitting around everywhere; she will be very messy. The whole point of the film is to make the statement that lots of teenagers feel stressed because they simply don't have time for everything they're told to do. This messy room will symbolize the feeling of scatteredness that occurs in this young girl's brain.
This feeling of "scatteredness" is a feeling I go through every day. This year I'm taking 3 AP/AICE classes and the rest honors; next year I'll be in 6 AP/AICE classes as a junior, crazy right! I want that to be completely conveyed in this opening. I want the room to have clothes everywhere. I want papers to be on the floor, on the bed, on the dresser, etc. Hopefully, I will find a fast-paced song that will rhythmically allow me to place thought-out cuts throughout. In between the cuts of the girl doing this assignment that's due at 11:59, we will see different parts of this messy setting from numerous different angles.
Set design isn't just about aesthetics?
We always talked about setting in class, but I never really understood why it was so important. It's just there to look pretty right? WRONG. While I was researching to design my setting I came across
this website. The setting isn't just about having a pretty house or a cool backyard; the setting actually does just as much work as the characters to convey a message or tell the story.
What does a setting communicate?
Settings can communicate a variety of different stories or messages, it's the main goal should be to communicate certain themes that pertain to your story; what it represents. For example, a student comes home from school to their parents sitting on the couch waiting for them. These people are clearly sad. How do we know this? Well, it's not just because they're crying with a tissue box next to them. The setting can act as a metaphor for this sad situation. Let's say a family member died and the news is about to be broken to the child; the house can have dead plants that we see. These dead plants symbolize the death of the person, without actually saying to the viewer that the family member died.
What else does the setting communicate?
If you are producing a movie in the 2000s, homes and buildings don't look the same as they would in the 1960s. However, the set design is able to adapt to different time periods which lets the viewer know what time period the film takes place in. Films occurring around the 60s and 70s would have homes with many patterns on the walls, and bright carpets, while homes in the 2000s are more modern with whites and greys, along with tiled or marbled flooring.
Of course, aesthetics do matter; however, representation does too. The visual aspect of the setting does tie into these metaphors. It's not like the set of a movie about saying a slow and depressing death will be filled with neon pinks and bright yellows. Just like how a movie about winning the lottery won't be filled with blues and blacks.
Sources
BBC. “The Purpose of Set Design - Set Design - Edexcel - GCSE Drama Revision - Edexcel - BBC Bitesize.” BBC News, BBC, 2023, https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zjp4vk7/revision/1.
Happy Valentines Day, I'll talk to you guys later! Signing off
- Amanda Margulies :)
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