Sunday, January 27, 2013

Coming-Of-Age Films Research

After refining the plot for our film, we realised that it definitely had aspects of the "coming of age" genre - by the end our protagonist has changed for the better. We therefore decided that we should do some research before continuing. 

Overall Synopsis
The plot represents the moral change of an individual from a teenager to a young adult. 
In Mean Girls, Cady realises that she doesn't have to be so superficial or change herself to have friends; this will only result in problems: she can be liked for who she really is. 
We conform to this convention: Mandy develops from a very cold and calculating character to  a much warmer and friendlier person. 

Narrative Structure
The disruption is most often caused by the teenage protagonist themselves, usually on purpose. They often are unaware of the consequences of their actions, which spiral out of control. 
In Thirteen Tracy tries desperately to become popular, and it is her theft of an unsuspecting woman that attracts "popular-girl" Evie's attention. 
In our film opening, Mandy creates the disruption by committing the first revenge. She is unaware that this action will result in the rest of the school following her lead, which she then has to put an end. 

Themes
Coming-Of-Age films deal with themes and issues most relevant to their core audience (usually 16-24 year olds). Common themes are sexuality, popularity, moral values and self-worth. Other themes include makeovers, loss of virginity, relationships between characters of different backgrounds and unlikely friendships. 
10 things I hate about you has strong themes of self-worth, moral values and relationships between characters of different backgrounds. It also touches on loss of virginity, unlikely friendships and popularity. 
In our film, we will  predominantly explore themes of sexuality and moral values. A big difference in our film plot from the convention of the genre is representation. We will avoid some of these themes to ensure our representation of teenagers in modern Britain. For example, we feel relationships between characters of different backgrounds is an outdated theme because it is so common in real life that it sparks no interest. 

We have taken this research into account when refining the story-line, representation, institutions and characters. 

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