Pretty Big Day

Research Day 1

Today was our first day working together in class to begin planning our project!!! We began by finalizing our broad ideas regarding the idea, time, and setting. Since our final genre is (as I mentioned in the previous post), coming-of-age, we researched two well-known coming-of-age films as well as the genre on its own. The films we chose were Clueless and Ferris Bueller's Day Off. 

Clueless

An iconic 90’s film, known for its bright colors and of course, Cher (the main character), Dionne (her best friend), and Tai’s (the new girl)  relationship throughout the movie. Cher and Dionne are very materialistic and focus heavily on the physical characteristics of those around them so when they see the new, “awkward” girl, they are determined to make her “socially acceptable”. The movie has a bright and happy color scheme, mainly focusing on tones of pink, red, and yellow. Their target audience was teenage to young adult girls marketing towards them once again with the “relatable” characters and bright color schemes.

Ferris Bueller's Day Off

The outfits in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off may not have begun a new fashion craze, however, from superfans to regular movie-goers, it is notable nonetheless. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off is about Ferris Bueller (main character) who does not want to go to school and he will go to extreme lengths just to reach this goal. He ends up causing more trouble for himself, his friends, family, and peers by doing so and learns the importance of school, however, he still does end up overcoming the principal and not attending school with the whole school backing him.  The movie, from 1986, depicts the time period through larger features like the wardrobe as well as through less noticeable details like wire telephones and the language (i.e. saying ‘righteous dude’). The colors of Ferris’ surroundings (school, his parents, his peers) are all dreary and neutral while Ferris is shown wearing brighter and happier colors, representing his rebellion from what is expected of him based on his surroundings. His rebellion is also represented by the bright red car he borrows/steals from his best friend Cameron’s parents The target audience of this film is young teens, which is a similarity commonly found in the coming-of-age film genre.

What now?

Now that we have researched these two movies as well as common characteristics of coming of age films and films made/released in the early 2000s, we plan to incorporate this into our film as well. We will show limited technology (only what was used and popular back then), a vivid color scheme, relatable characters, and features to be decided on later. Get ready for the opening and overall film plots fully elaborated on, an in-depth description of our color scheme, and so much more. Talk later!!