Coming of Age Film Openings

 

Investigating Coming of Age Film Openings

Uptown Girls

It begins with the narration from a young girl telling a fairytale like story about a princess. The point of view begins to spin from a carnival to the inside of an apartment. The lighting is warm and the room is messy as if it were a childs. The phone begins to ring and goes to the voicemail of a woman talking about a birthday and how the birthday girl needs to wake up. The woman in the bed wakes up and get ready in a hurry while music begins to play and then "Uptown Girls" is displayed while the camera zooms out. The irony of a young girl tellng a story while and older woman sleeps makes an interesting parrallel of whats to come. The tracking shot of the apartment following a pig to the lamps lit throughout the room to a sleeping woman was done so well its as if you there. The element of the roles being reversed is so interesting and could be a fun element to incorpoate into my film opening. As well as the shot of the world spinning dissolving into the womans apartment. It was done so seamlessly that if done properly could only enhance my opening. 

Freedom Writers

You hear it before you see it. The sound of different news stations talking about all the violence and hate happening in Los Angeles. Then you see it. The sight of fires, shootings, protests, and gangs rallied together. Then the narration of a girl named Eva begins to tell us hew view of the world. The clear divide of who did or didn't have the power. A common theme in coming of age films is the family dynamics and the protagonist being relatively young and having to overcome a hard obstacle. The obstacle here is the divide of races.

 

All the Bright Places

It opens with a boy runing with gloomy weather and a neutral face. Music can be heard yet it begins to fade out once we see a girl standing on a ledge. She looks focused yet we can tell there is a battle going on un her head. She doesn't notice the boy at first and he begins to approach her. An extreme long shot of the same girl looking so small compared to the height of the 

bridge. He speaks her name catching her off gaurd and she begins to panic. He gets up with her as if to get on the same level. you can tell they arent "friends" but possibly aquaintences. He goofs off and she gets nervous becaus eof the risk of him falling. He speaks her name once more and reaches his hand out. She looks shocked and cautiously thinks about what to do next. Then the title "All The Bright Places" is shown in a yellow color and an almost handwritten font. Their relationship is undefined to us because although they may know eachothers names, the energy they give is uncertain and kind of uncomfortable. The audience is also left in the dark about why she is possibly contemplating jumping off the ledge. She spoke maybe 7 words yet her silence spoke volumes about what she was possibly feeling. The two shot towards the end when his hand is out for her to grab is touching because it forshadows what he could be feeling and thinking as well. It also helps us see hem as equals on even ground. The director was able to tell us all of that with them barely saying a few words but the shots and angle in wich they were taken in explains enough to leave us wanting more.