Know the Ends Before Using the Means

You know how scary and awful it is to drive in extreme weather when you can’t see more than a few feet ahead of you (what am I talking about, y’all are British, it’s rarer NOT to have extreme fog)? Well, as it turns out, I can’t keep doing that with this project.

I hit a little bit of a roadblock with planning, so I’m zooming out and trying to get the rest of the plot sorted. Here’s where I am so far:

• Whole film takes place over the course of a few months (May to August)
• Rough progression of plot = rough progression of relationship
• Tension between growing up/away/apart and growing closer/playing a larger role in each other’s lives
• Character context: Audrey and Veda Jade are both in the summer before their freshman year of college
• Expos: passing crush as Veda Jade comes to Audrey’s workplace, mutual → Veda visits regularly → they start hanging out
• Source of conflict in relationship: Veda Jade thinks there’s an unstated agreement that their relationship will end once summer does (because they’re going to different schools*), Audrey did not assume this (was maybe even hoping to stay together long-distance)
• Veda Jade is right, they will both benefit from setting up quasi-new lives in college and that would be much harder if they stay in a hometown relationship
• It’s a weird little ode to “doomed” relationships (this is a pretty unexplored experience within the genre, despite not being a particularly rare experience irl)
• Audrey globs onto Veda Jade’s friend group, they make art together, Audrey shows Veda how to make all the drinks she likes at the cafe
• I imagine during the fight about their intentions/timeline/trajectory, Veda Jade regresses back to drinking terrible, stale, convenience store drip coffee, so when they get back together, there’s a confession that goes something like “And I don’t miss you. And I don’t want to hear your laugh again. And I don’t stay up all night wishing you were back, and I haven’t used that shirt you left in my room as a pillowcase because I’m totally okay forgetting the way you smell. I just want a goddamn latte.”
• This film isn’t shy to the “all that ever happens in these movies is people talking about their feelings” critique, it just asks “and what about it?” 

*Veda Jade got into SCAD and will move to Georgia, Audrey is going to a state school

Also, I found in my planning notes that I’ve apparently changed my mind about the name, she’s now “Veda Jade”-- I just kept getting pictures of jade pendants when I was putting together her Pinterest board, and thought, “huh, Jade is a cool name,” and it stuck.

This obviously isn't the whole plot of the film, but it's what I've got so far. I do think I now have a better understanding of Matcha's themes of potential, precedented motifs of summer love, and time as a symbol, which will definitely help in planning this opening.

I'm excited :)