CCR: Question #1

Question #1

    Now that I'm almost finished with my film opening, I can get started on my creative critical reflection. In class, we had a lesson where we were discussing CCR's: how to do them, what not to do, and ideas for them. In another blog post, I'll discuss my ideas for my CCR, but until then, most of my blog posts will be about the four questions that we need to answer.

QUESTION

    How does your product use or challenge conventions and how does it represent social groups or issues?

ANSWER

    My film opening uses a lot of the typical conventions that you'll find in a coming of age story. Mainly because coming of age films tend to have a specific format for how their movie plays out, and typically, this format ends up drawing in a lot of audiences because people, from ages 12 to 25, enjoy watching the same type of movie. The effect is similar to that of romance or holiday movies, where many of the films will reuse the same old movie structure, plot lines, and characters that they know people will love and cherish.

    Much like other coming of age movies, I rely heavily on set and lighting to depict my characters emotions and build up their personality. For instance, in the first set, you can see a bunch of drawings scattered all over the floor and Emily's desk, a spray of colored pencils and crayons, and other art materials. Not only does this give more background to Emily's character, showing us that she's a messy kid and loves art, but it also serves as a comparison to older Emily's room. Her room is still messy, except that the main difference is that the arrange of art supplies has been replaced with school books, homework, pencil cases, and her computer. This contrast is meant to show how Emily hasn't truly changed all that much: she's still disorganized and full of personality, the only thing is that now she's suppressing her true self and her passions. Meaning that the audience will still see some of Emily's old art supplies, they'll just be obscured by the arrange of school materials. I did this to show how her life has been overcome by school.

    However, I still wanted to challenge some of these conventions that my film wouldn't be the same copy of any other coming of age film. Typically, in coming of age movies, there's a lot of dialogue that helps build up the characters. In my film, and, most notably my opening, you can see that I don't use a lot of dialogue. Instead, I have chosen to develop character by using visuals: the photograph of little Emily on the fridge, the props in Emily's room, as well as the lighting and atmosphere of the scenes.

    I do all of this because, like I previously mentioned, people love to watch stuff that they already know. They love all the classic films that follow similar formats and they love their happy endings. And despite wanting to make a classic movie that I know people will enjoy, I do still want to convey a real, true, and heartfelt story that teens can relate to. My film is supposed to represent and reveal the struggles that teenagers face when deciding what career they should do and it's meant to reflect the stress of having to pick between their passion and a "real" or stable career path.

    My script for my creative critical reflection is linked here. Be aware that minor changes may be made during filming.