Genre conventions (coming-of-age films)
- Feature a teenage protagonist who wants to change something about their lives or do something exciting
- Plot focuses on their 'journey', both emotional and literal, as they go through this transitional period. - Often feature a companion/friend who accompanies the protagonist on their journey
- The protagonist is inspired to take this journey due to a significant change that has just taken place, which acts as a trigger to change perspective.
- The main themes of coming-of-age films including relationships, sexuality, change/moving on, maturity, life, adolescence, education, family life and independence.
Opening sequence conventions (camera, sound, editing, mise-en-scene)
- First shot is always very long in duration, because of the camera movement that is taking place during an establishing shot.- Lots of close-ups of main characters and significant props to introduce the character.
- Often start with silence to accentuate the visuals (setting/mise-en-scene)
- Diagetic sound effects, such as birds, wind and distant city noises are added to highlight the 'real-life' situation.
- Soft, not too fast-paced sound track, quite mellow and often featuring a piano.
-Usually cuts are used, with some fades to and from black and some dissolves.
-The long duration of the shots highlights the tranquility and peace of the equilibrium stage of the narrative.
-Natural, exterior lighting and landscape settings - very picturesque and beautiful that foreshadow the 'beauty' that is to come in their discoveries.
-Quirky, unique fashion sense that often seems quite 'thrown together.'
-Typical props include bikes, which are a signifier of youth, as well as backpacks, books, telescopes, posters
Character Representation
- The main character in a coming-of-age film is usually male (The Perks of Being a Wallflower, The Art of Getting By, and Submarine), who challenges the stereotypes of a typical male teen as rowdy and sex-obsessed. These males are often socially awkward and deep thinkers, who appreciate life and are imaginative.- As the protagonist's characteristics put him in quite a weak, vulnerable position, they are accompanied by one or two friends who travel with them, emotionally, or literally, on their journey to adulthood. These friends are more practical and sensible, but are still unique personalities in their own right, and support their friend, the protagonist, through their journey.
Narrative Structure
- Coming-of-age films begin in the equilibrium stage in Todorov's narrative theory. This is the stage where everything in the filmic world is in balance, as opposed to those that start with disruptions, which immediately immerse the audience in the action.
- The effect of starting with a balanced 'universe' is that it sets the mood for the rest of the film as mellow, and also saves the conflict for later in the narrative.
Audience (core and wide)-Our core audience is 16-24 year old girls. We have found that this is the segment of the market mainly targeted by distributors of coming-of-age films, because they are more inclined to see films of this genre and also make up a huge proportion of all cinemagoers. As we plan on making an independent film, we would also like to target those who have a prior interest in independent cinema and film festivals, as well as other culturual activities, such as photography.
-We have chosen to target two wider audiences. The first is 16-24 year old boys, who will be targeted through the inclusion of a relatable and desirable male, and 'nostalgic' adults, who would like to relive the days of their youth.
Institutions/ Potential Distributors- We researched a variety of independent distributors based in the UK, USA and Europe, and looked at the typical audience groups/types of films that they specialised in.
- We decided to go with Revolver, because they have expertise in targeting a young market, which corresponds to our core audience of 16-24 year old girls, and one of our wider target markets of 16-24 year old boys. They are leaders in the field of social media and online marketing, and have a significant Youtube prescence, techniques which target the present-day young segment of the whole market through their online prescence.
Titles
- Titles of independent films correspond to the simplistic style of the shots, and are usually white and capitalised. The institutions mentioned in the opening sequences of these films include all distributors and production companies involved, as well as the name of a director/producer if he/she is associated with the production of high-quality films in the past.
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