Revealing my (general) idea

Welcome Back

Last I posted I talking to you guys I was between two ideas for my "full length film", after discussing both ideas with colleagues and teachers, along with some basic research I finally made a decision. Without a further adieu, here it is:

I have decided to do a teen film (still stuck between doing a drama or comedy) on a deaf teenager who is mainstreamed (in education mainstreaming means when a student with specific needs is placed in a general education classroom)

Here is the research I came across that helped me make my decision:

Last year I had found out that the most popular movie theater age group in 2016 based off of Theatrical Marketing Statistics was 18 - 24 years old. Along with that, in 2016 females were the majority in box office sales based off of the largest gross films of that year. Going off of those statistics it seemed most logical to do a teen film to appeal to the majority of the audiences, with that being said I hope to find a deaf female as my main lead to also appeal to the majority of female viewers. I do want to point out that I do say hope for a reason, I plan in delving into deaf representation and culture in a future post but, as a high school hearing student I do understand that it is going to be hard to find a deaf actor, therefore I am leaving to gender of the character open and continuing to develop a rough draft of the film.

Basing most of my ideas on the basics of the subgenre teen films, I started to dive more into understanding the genre. The genre seemed to only emerge full in about the past 40 years (although their is debate on its true start in the 1950s). Along with that the genre more than anything seems to be about challenging the "average teenage lifestyle" usually films being a comedy about a wide variety of teen stereotypes (whether they be about general teen struggles or teen individual characteristics). Having previously watched well known/exemplified  American teen films such as  The Breakfast Club , Ferris Buellers' Day Off , Grease (also having seen the play) I was able to also make my own general analysis and assumptions on top of my research. I decided to also watch  Not Another Teen Movie  do to the exaggerations of the stereotypes and overly done conventions of the teen film genre as it is a comedy mocking the entire genre. Seeing how the  sheer focus of the film was making fun of the general conventions of the genre I was able to study and gain a better understanding of the typical views on teen films and general techniques used in the film exemplifying said views. I am still torn between whether developing my story as a drama or as a comedy. Considered the popular choice for the subgenre and whats popular among the demographic I am worried that may effect the general idea or view of representation therefore I want to give it more thought.

That's a Rapp on this post, till next time!

Sources:

isabella_milne Follow. “Codes and Conventions of the Teen Genre.” LinkedIn SlideShare, 11 Aug. 2013, www.slideshare.net/isabella_milne/codes-and-conventions-of-the-teen-genre. 

Most Influential, Significant and Important Films in American Cinema - The 1960s, www.filmsite.org/comedyfilms.html. 

Most Influential, Significant and Important Films in American Cinema - The 1960s, www.filmsite.org/dramafilms.html.

“Favorite Movie Genres in the U.S. by Gender 2018 | Statistic.” Statista, Statista, www.statista.com/statistics/254115/favorite-movie-genres-in-the-us/. 

“Movie Genres by Box Office Revenue in North America 2019 | Statistic.” Statista, Statista, www.statista.com/statistics/188658/movie-genres-in-north-america-by-box-office-revenue-since-1995/. 

“After 500,000 Votes, 'Mean Girls' Was Only Ranked The 3rd Greatest Teen Movie Of All Time.” Ranker, www.ranker.com/list/best-teen-movies-of-all-time/all-genre-movies-lists. 

“Teen Movie Madness: A Statistical Analysis.” Forever Young Adult, foreveryoungadult.com/2013/04/10/teen-movie-madness-a-statistical-analysis/. 

  http://www.screeningthepast.com/2011/11/modernism-cinema-adolescence-another-history-for-teen-film/Teen_Films_The_Cinematic_Image_of_Youth_2012_in_Film_Genre_Reader_IV_ed._by_Barry_Keith_Grant

      Pictures:

      “The Breakfast Club.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 22 Feb. 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Breakfast_Club.

      “Grease (Film).” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 21 Feb. 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grease_(film).

      “Not Another Teen Movie.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 28 Jan. 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Not_Another_Teen_Movie.