What Inspired Me
Now that I've gathered all the information that I need in order to form a solid plot idea and actually get started on the production part of this project, I'd like to share my plans for my opening. I know that I don't want my opening to be entirely like most openings in coming of age stories, since the overall tone of my plot will be more somber. However, I do want to start it off by alluding to a happy story and then having it turn into the opposite. The way that I want to build this up is by using, as I mentioned in one of my last blog posts, symbolic and semantic codes. I hope to accomplish this by using lighting techniques and props within the film.
Before I explain how I want to incorporate these media theories into my opening, I want to explain my film's actual plot. The movie would tell the story of a teenage girl who used to have a passion for art when she was younger, but as she grew, society shut down her dreams to pursue art and become an artist. Thus, forcing her to become absorbed in her studies and school, instead of her passions. This causes her to become overwhelmed and stressed with all the expectations that are thrown at her. The movie would then follow her as she relearns to love and pursue her passions, despite of what society tells her to do. In my opening, I want to start off by showing the character when she's younger, happily drawing and then presenting said drawing to her mom and the mom looking proud. Then, I want to have a sharp transition from the character's fridge when she was younger, full of drawings and color, to that same fridge but when the characters older. This older fridge would be lacking in color and new drawings.
However, since I can't fully develop this plot line within the two minutes that we're given, I'm hoping to use symbolic codes by using lighting techniques, for instance, having it begin with warm tones and then transition into darker tones, and semantic codes by utilizing props, for example, I could have a drawing that the character made fall from the fridge to symbolize the character losing herself. Furthermore, the conflict in my story would likely be character vs. self-conflict or character vs. society, more specifically, society's standards. This is because even though the driving plot of the movie is how society shuts down people's dreams and creativity, the main character is also fighting her own battle as she's torn between doing what she loves and making those who love her proud.
This idea is very dear to me since my main piece of inspiration is my own personal life as well as my first-hand experiences and connections with other people. The person that gave me this idea, though she doesn't know it, is my older sister. Who, much like my main character, loved to draw when she was younger, but stopped drawing since felt pressured to pursue a career in medicine, rather than art, because she was worried that she wouldn't be able to be successful or make enough money to live off of. The fact that she stopped drawing meant that she had lost a hobby that she could enjoy without being stressed. Thus, she went through some hard times until, she re-found her passion and found a career that she could actually enjoy. Her story inspired me to create a film opening that sets up a story that could show other people that having a creative passion isn't a bad thing and you shouldn't stop doing something you enjoy simply because people tell you to.
Furthermore, something else that inspired me to make this story line was other people's stories and other films that talk about similar topics. I've seen people relate to my sisters story all over the world and media sphere, on social media platforms, in conversation, and in films. For instance, Dead Poets Society (1989), a film that I've mentioned multiple times in my blog posts, covers themes of self-expression, living true to yourself, and standards that society pushes kids to live up to, which are all things I want to include in my opening, or film.
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