My group members and I have decided on a film genre that being coming-of-age (I guess the title spoiled the surprise haha.) We created a 'watch list' of over a dozen movies to take inspiration from and divided it among the three of us to watch and take notes on (along with any other movie we may personally want to draw inspiration from that aren't on the watch list.) Below are some of the films I will be researching.
This film is under the coming-of-age/ rom-com genre. The opening of this film emphasizes establishing setting and developing the lead, Katarina 'Kat' Stratford's, character. It does this using pans of the neighborhood and school to establish the setting. As as the camera pans from an extremely long shot of a neighborhood to a car filled with girls listening to music Kat drives by next to them muting out the sound of their music with the song
Bad Reputation by Joan Jett and the Black Hearts creating a clear contrast between Kat and the others. In these shots, especially the one at the school, you see a sea of students all in different groups or 'cliques', as Kat walks through the maze of people she doesn't interact with anyone group developing her a part of her character which is she doesn't have very many friends. I really enjoy this opener because it develops Kats personality and character straight away and the setting. From the opening of this film alone the viewer knows that the film is based in a suburban town and the school were most who live their attend and that the lead of the film does not fit in with the people around her. The credits seen during this opening are in a 'scribbled' font, adding to the edginess of Kats character in contrast to her peers.
This opening heavily focuses on lead and her two best friends clichés or how everyone sees them. For example her friend Jess is known as 'the kind one' while her other friend Casey is known as 'the tough one' while the lead character, Bianca, is known as 'the
other one,' showing a clear difference in how people view her versus her friends. The dialogue heard by the boys in the hallways, in which they compliment Bianca's friends and then say "Bianca has the hottest...
friends,' suggests that the opinion of others will also play a large role in the film.
This opening is particularly interesting because it uses dialogue as well as social media to further introduce these girls. The use social media (although a cool concept, I do not think this is plausible for my project) not only helps to develop each character by adding little notes about each of their interests and the overall idea that these are highschoolers but also suggests the idea that social media will play a large role in the plotline later on.
This opening focuses mainly on developing Mia, the lead character's, personality and inner battles. It illustrates that she is clumsy and doesn't have many friends/ is very socially awkward. This being developed early on is imperative to the rest of the film and franchise as learns how to be a princess. This is further developed when a teacher greets her as 'Lily's friend' as well as when a student sits on her at school, not noticing that she was there. This creates a contrast for when she becomes a princess and is in the spotlight of attention. Although there is not a whole lot that happens within the first few minutes of this film, it helps to establish her character/personality which are very prevalent throughout the film as she explores her adolescent experience while learning how to be a princess.
This film opening also includes the film credits in an elegant font reflecting Mia's transition to princess-hood.
(Unfortunately I could not find an online clip for opening of this film.)
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