Ideas In.. Partial Bloom

 After a couple days of rummaging through my brain's ideas for my film opening storyline, I didn't get very far with any of them. The first idea was to introduce some sort of familial bond or conflict. An emotionally unavailable parent and how it may affect a child's way of expressing affection or loyalty. But, I was really attracted to the idea of portraying some sort of familial relationship. Hence how I decided to choose drama as my genre. Today, I watched "AFTERSUN", a drama from A24 Productions, that follows a relationship between a father, Calum, and his 11-year-old daughter, Sophie. The story takes place in a holiday vacation resort where Sophie spends time with her father, who attempts to hide the weight of fatherhood and 

adolescence gradually creeps up on Sophie's life. I kept seeing this particular film all over my social media and it seemed like it could prompt some inspiration for my storyline ideas. Although this film portrays the beginning of adolescence through Sophie, which wasn't what I was going for, I did like the authenticity of the film's plot and the production techniques that I could possibly implement into my opening. The way Sophie began to lose that childhood vibrance as adolescence hit her is something I feel like most young adults have experienced in one way or another. Something about the world around us seems less colorful, less vibrant, and increasingly more problematic. In terms of AFTERSUN's production techniques, my favorite parts had to be the lighting and costume design. I really liked the warmth of most shots throughout the film and how they conveyed a deeper meaning with the character's emotions.

Sophie and Calum in their hotel room

On one side is the vitality and comfort Sophie feels 

around her father, but Calum's distress is depicted

through cooler tones and separated by a wall, to further emphasize the way he tries to hide his

emotions. I especially enjoyed their costumes in the film because it subtly hinted at the 90s era of fashion: tucked-in shirts, shorts with belts, lots of patterns, and socks going over shoes. I don't think I'm looking to showcase a certain era for my drama, not yet, at least.

I'll need to decide on my storyline first and then consider telling the story in a different decade than currently. 

My only concern with my familial relationship idea for my film opening is getting an actor to realistically look like a parent. I don't think they need to look super old with wrinkles, but getting the right actors for my opening matters and there may be some issues with that area. It seems like I'm getting a little bit ahead of myself, but the point of the matter is that I'm pretty set on doing the genre of drama! Lately, I've started to notice the fact that I'm a bigger-picture person. I tend to focus on the end goal of things or think about a bigger message before working out details. Which begs the question to myself: What message do I want to relay in my story? I feel like the reason I'm so attracted to the concept of displaying a familial relationship is that I, fortunately, grew up around a large family, and I've always been emotionally attached to them. I had a loving relationship with both my parents and siblings and they've all shaped who I am today. 

Dilemma number two is if my conventionally acceptable childhood would be challenging any constructs in the media world and if it was, how I would go about doing so. More often than not, young adults have a negative presence on the big screen along with having a dysfunctional family dynamic, so maybe portraying something similar that I experienced could be challenging that stereotype, but I'm not entirely set on it yet. I want to make this opening personal, but relatable for my target audience, so there's much left to do. I'll be continuing my research throughout this week and hopefully solidifying my storyline as well.