I know what genre I’m doing. Shockingly enough, it’s the one with the themes closest to my real experience: coming-of-age! A quirky little subset of realistic fiction, usually dramedies, often with romantic/interpersonal subplots, where most of the action is in the characters’ inner world(s). I just want to play with pretty lights and colors and funky composition and not have to inject anxiety into the hearts my viewers (and self) by attempting to set up a gory murder mystery.
Genre Research
Teenage/adolescent ensemble, especially as protagonist
Often a girl/woman, as coming-of-age plots are defined by internal transformations/growth/emotional development-- themes generally assigned to women in the broader social order
Staple conflicts:
Loss/gain/change of platonic relationship(s)
Parent-child friction/misunderstanding/miscommunication
Challenges of coming into one’s own while becoming a part of broader society
The Half of It (2020)
Awkwardness of frequent “firsts” (often related to sexual/emotional exploration/experiences)
Booksmart (2019)
- Other/general
- Often retrospective framing
- This Masterclass article I read had a ton of really well-put explanations on what exactly this genre is. Here's a few snippets:
- Production techniques
- Focus on script as catalyst for plot development
- Vibrant color palettes to reflect intense feelings/inner worlds
- Casting is generally more representative of the population than other genres (i.e., Saoirse Ronan and Elsie Fisher's visibly/accurately imperfect skin in Ladybird and Eighth Grade, respectively)
- Often film/TV adaptations of written media
- The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012)
- Paper Towns (2015)
- Little Women (2019)
- Institutional conventions (marketing)
- Framing each film as an untold underdog narrative
- Focus on relatability
- opposite of Action genre selling a power fantasy
- Targeting teens/young adults
- and/or whomever the film centers (e.g., marketed to high school aged girls)
- Nostalgia-baiting
- Licorice Pizza (2021) trailer strongly evoking the feel of a John Hughes movie to entice Gen Xers along with their Gen Z children, who coming-of-age films are now about
Coming-of-age films cover “critical junctures between childhood and adulthood, such as first romantic relationships, graduating from middle school or high school, and moving away from home.”
“Influence of John Hughes: Teen dramas became a common genre of film in the 1980s due in part to director/writer John Hughes releasing a series of coming-of-age films throughout the decade, including Sixteen Candles (1984), The Breakfast Club (1985), Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986), and Pretty in Pink (1986). These films were hits, critically and commercially.”
“These films usually follow a character realizing their future, which propels their development from an innocent child to a perceptive young adult. The films focus on the characters’ mental, emotional, and personal growth.
“Coming-of-age films address issues that teens face today, like coming out in Moonlight (2016), teen pregnancy in Juno (2007), or race and violence in Boyz n the Hood (1991).”
There appear to be some go-to mise-en-scene decisions within this genre (e.g., idealized, boiled-down portrayals of a given setting, like the sun-soaked version of Sacramento, California in Ladybird), but because I’d end up writing ten pages if I tried to analyze how themes of the genre are expressed through mise-en-scene, I’m going to focus on a recurring finding in my research: the relationship between color and character.
Character dynamics are often externalized through color-coding, especially in films marketed to a younger audience. In the coming-of-age/rom-com Candy Jar (2018), the MCs are poised as rivals, and are respectively costumed in red and blue (understood to represent opposing qualities in the broader cultural canon, if not literally opposite in the color wheel; Heather Chandler vs. Veronica in Heathers, Bender vs. Andrew in The Breakfast Club, the Montagues vs. Capulets in most productions/adaptations of Romeo and Juliet, etc). It also seems to be a staple of coming-of-age films for tension to rise between characters’ internal and external world, and the color coding of Candy Jar nails that: not only do red and blue signify Lona and Bennet’s opposing qualities, but they align with their main material goal, getting into a prestigious university (Lona set on Yale, Bennet set on Harvard, the official school colors matching the characters respectively). It also set up a clear visual representation of the resolution of that subplot-- neither Lona nor Bennet got into their dream school, but through the personal development experienced over the course of the film, they come to learn more about who they are and what’s right for them, culminating in “switching colors” (literally trading costume elements, as Lona ends up at Harvard and Bennet ends up at Yale). It’s also a not-so-subtle signal that their love story is a matter of “opposites attract.”
I can’t help but point out the significance of the MC’s name: Lona is a loner. They’re basically oronyms. I’m still not sure what the love interest in my film will be called, but ideally it’ll carry some level of metaphorical resonance.
I plan on establishing tone and character more heavy-handedly than specific plot details, so I’ll have to rely on mise-en-scene factors like color/costume/setting (as my plan stands, I'll be omitting dialogue altogether). I’m considering the significance behind Candy Jar’s character design as “what kind of themes in my film can I use color as shorthand for?” and “Okay, I understand the genre characteristics of coming-of-age; how much of that I get across in 2 minutes? How can my art direction get me there?” Thinking many thoughts.
Candy Jar (2018), university emblems
No comments:
Post a Comment