I chose the "coming of age" genre for my final project. Coming of age films are centered around the growth from youth to adulthood of the protagonist. The first coming of age film came out in 1955, It is named "Rebel Without a Cause." This film is about emotionally confused middle-class teenagers and it explores differences and conflicts between generations. Some incredible examples of coming of age films are "Sixteen Candles," "The Breakfast Club," "Stand By Me," and "the Perks of Being a Wallflower." "Stand By Me" is an adaptation of Stephen Kings book "The Body," it follows a group of boys go on a journey to discover the dead body of a missing boy. The film is a flash back to 1959 and the boys friendship and growth in the view of older Gordie. Another incredible coming of age film that was adopted from a book is "The Outsiders," it follows the struggles of a group of 1960's greasers. One important actress in coming of age films is Molly Ringwald. She is in some coming of age films including "Sixteen Candles," "The Breakfast Club" and "Pretty in Pink." One amazing directors of this genre is John Hughes, he was the director for "Ferris Bueller's Day Off," "The Breakfast Club," and "Sixteen Candles."
The coming of age genre has to with the growth of my main character. Conventions of this genre include a plot, themes(usually explicit and controversial), and characters. My plot is important to understand the beginning piece we had to film. It follows a very independent girl that had to grow up very fast. Her mother wasn't always around and when she was she wasn't the "mother figure" that a child needs. The intro is of childhood memories that were short lived and now she's an adult and is moving out. The film, if I filmed it completely, would go back and forth from present time to childhood flash backs. The film would also include concepts of home life, relationships and death. I don't have a lot of people to act in my final project, so it was hard to find people. However, I did end up with just using my sister and my neighbors daughters as well as Cooper(my dog). If my film was big time it would be more easier to find actors to be in my film. However, I got to work with what I got.
Coming of age films do great at the box office. They do especially well with teens because they are actively going through the struggles portrayed within the films. A popular example of a coming of age film that did well in box office is "Juno." This film made $231,450,102 in worldwide box office. A lot of films for the genre do incredibly well on the nontheatrical side of releases. For example, "Lady Bird" grosses to $78,965,611 worldwide but only made $364,437 in theaters. It is really a hit or miss with these films. A lot of them are discovered by later generations and that is when the earn most of their money, like "Lady Bird."
The dilemma that my protagonist would overcome throughout the course of the film is the fact that she never really got to be a child. The flashbacks will be both good and bad. For example, good: running in a field with her sister or dog and bad: when her dog passed or when her mom would come home drunk. Throughout the movie she is trying to discover herself and live free. Within this genre there is a lot of hardships the protagonist has to discover who they are. My main character had to adult fast, so now that she's on her own and by herself its more easy for her to do that and adventure more than she could. There will be struggles, like death and lost friendships. Eventually at the end she will be a peace with herself. I want to make my film relatable, I want people to sympathize with the main character.
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