GENRE + MORE PLOT DETAILS - 2/16/23

What even is "coming of age"

Coming of age is a genre that gives the viewer a sort of sentimental value and nostalgia. These films have an underlying tone of maturation either physically or mentally for the teenager or child involved. As I've been researching different movies that relate to mine, I found that my film opening will fall under the genre of coming of age. I came across 2 films that I think to relate to my film nicely. 

      The Edge of Seventeen is a coming-of-age movie that surrounds Nadine Franklin whos played by Hailee Steinfeld. Nadine is another one of those teenagers who just haven't found their place yet, she can't figure herself out or her friends. Nadine's brother, best friends, and mother all fall under the same category: popular and egotistical. Nadine is quite the opposite; however, she tries to fit in. She catches her best friend "stabbing her in the back" with her own brother. This strains their friendship and causes Nadine to want revenge and she turns to someone for help. This someone is the boy who has a crush on her in class. I'm not going to spoil the movie for you guys but the message I'm trying to tell here is that Nadine is one of those messy awkward teenagers, just like Taylor in my film opening. She goes through the highs and lows of teenage life just like Taylor will. Although Taylor is only dealing with stress, while Nadine deals with friends stabbing her in the back and the loss of her father, the same message is there.

      Once I found The Edge Of Seventeen, I didn't know which other movies to research that would relate to mine; however, this website helped me with that. While reading through the 12 different films listed, I didn't think any of the related to my film closely enough. But, I surprisingly found certain elements from Ferris Buellers Day Off that did.

      Ferris Buellers Day Off is much older than The Edge of Seventeen, so of course the films are much different stylistically; however, being in the same genre, they convey similar messages. Ferris is a teenager whose main purpose in the movie is to show the lengths he'll go to not go to school. He convinced his friend Cameron to help him skip school which then led to him faking an illness and then stealing his friend's father's Ferrari. In what world is that a good plan? No world, none. Ferris continues his day going through the town, going on floats, going to restaurants and baseball games, basically anything he could fit into one day, he did. However, everything he did was executed poorly and he wasn't great at covering up his tracks. Oh, and did I mention they totaled the Ferrari?! This movie relates to my film opening because of the "last-minute behavior" presented in both. As clumsy as Ferris is, that's how much Taylor waits until the last minute. This isn't because Taylor is lazy, it's because she has too much on her plate. Although Taylor and Ferris' work ethics might be nothing but opposite, they still relate to each other.

I also researched different movies in the coming-of-age genre on YouTube. Here's the link to my favorite video!

https://youtu.be/UTrZXfQgnXo

Target Audience

I referenced back to my notes that I took in class on "genre theory," and I found lots of information that will help me throughout this process:

      What I found most interesting about these notes was the need for a specific target audience; so, I dove a little deeper and did some research. While I scrolled through this website, I found that target audiences are a bit more complex than they seem on the outside. target audiences aren't just "the people who watch your film" or the "people who read your book." They are the specific people you advertise and market to. For example, if you market your film to teenagers, you won't post the trailer only on Facebook. You instead should post it on YouTube or Instagram. Similar to how you shouldn't market a knitting kit on Snapchat. I learned that films should be created around target audiences; the audience shouldn't have to "adapt" to you. You adapt to them. Although this may create what seems like fewer opportunities for the filmmaker's creative mind, it has many more benefits. With the target audience, you can be completely sure that what you produce will be accepted and viewed by specific people. This makes marketing and production much easier because you aren't trying to please everyone, technically only one kind of person. This led me to figure out what I will be using as my target audience. Since the plot surrounds a teenage girl, of course, my target audience should be teenagers. It doesn’t necessarily have to be gender-based but it only makes sense to have teenagers. The whole point of the film is to be relatable and it relates to them. This will relate the most to teenagers who feel that they’re overlooked and should be noticed for all that they do. In this case, a teenager burning themself out over school. In my opening, I can include things in Taylor's room that people in the target audience would appreciate seeing. I can have electronics, video games, and other things teenagers know and love. I'm not going to leave a knitting kit out if my target audience isn't grandmothers.

Plot Update

      I've been researching more and more about this genre, and I've decided I need to make the film opening less dramatic, and a bit more comical. I'm not sure yet how I will do so but I do know there will definitely be a slamming of laptops or throwing of papers. I also decided that at the end of my opening, the music will go quieter and we will see the click and submission of the assignment and hear the huff and puff Taylor gives as a sign of relief once she's done. I definitely want the opening to be fast-paced with fast music, with many different shots and angles. It will be tedious, but I think It'll be worth it. My goal for the plot is to convey the message that Taylor is a good student, but at what cost? Her stress? Her mental health? The viewer should feel a bit stressed watching the fast and "chaotic" video, they should feel what Taylor feels. But, I also need the viewer to understand that she's a good student too, she's not just lazy and doing all of her work late; she just has a lot of work and that takes time. I'm going to include some short clips of honor roll papers on her wall and her good grades which will help convey that. The title in works right now is "11:59," which is meant realistically and metaphorically. She is submitting this assignment right up to the due date, 11:59, but there's also an underlying meaning to it. The messiness of her surroundings should show the viewer that she's so consumed with her work that she has no time to do anything else, it's all done at the last minute. Hence the name "11:59" which is the last minute to submit the assignment.

More Coming-of-Age Films

Perks of Being A Wildflower

Sixteen Candles (1984)

The Breakfast Club (1985)

Sources:

Kench, Sam. “Coming of Age Movies Explained - Examples and Characteristics.” StudioBinder, 5 Dec. 2022, https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/what-is-a-coming-of-age-movie-definition/#:~:text=Coming%20of%20age%20films%20always%20include%20dramatic%20elements,%E2%80%94%20often%20the%20protagonist%20%E2%80%99s%20first%20romantic%20experience. 

Lake, Laura. “What Is a Target Audience?” The Balance, The Balance, 31 Dec. 2022, https://www.thebalancemoney.com/what-is-a-target-audience-2295567#:~:text=Key%20Takeaways%201%20A%20target%20audience%20is%20a,target%20audience%20can%20leave%20other%20potential%20customers%20ignored.

I'll talk to you guys later! Signing off

- Amanda Margulies :)