Writing the Story and Picking The Genre

GENRE

I've decided to go with a comedy/coming-of-age genre. I chose this genre because I feel like it would most accurately illustrate my story in the best way possible. While Trey's social struggles are important, his current disposition of not being able to fit in with either white or black people because of his unique interests is silly for all intents and purposes, so the movie should reflect that. Here's what I've learned from my research to make a good film from the respective genre.

CHARACTERISTICS OF COMEDY



(Friday - 1995)



Comedies typically have bright and vibrant colors within the mise-en-scene. Most comedy films rely on dialogue, physical gags, and cartoony sound effects to deliver the jokes. Simple storylines are a common trend in these movies to focus more on the writing itself.
WHAT MAKES A COMEDY GOOD?
A comedy film needs to have good writing above anything else. It doesn't matter if the actor is bad at their job or if they have ten Oscars under their belt, if the line they utter falls flat, it will fall flat. That said, the actor's timing and delivery a major contributing factors to whether the joke lands with the audience.

(Juno - 2007)



Juno, for instance, has a multitude of funny jokes that were written exclusively for each actor/actress who was meant to say them, leading to the jokes not only being funny, but memorable as well.

However, it's very important to note that humor is subjective. I typically look for films that have low-brow humor, while someone else would prefer innocent humor. My film has humor that only people of color or outcasts would understand. To generalize it to a broader audience, I am going to include jokes and gags that most people would commonly find amusing.



CHARACTERISTICS OF CoA

Coming of Age films are mostly character-driven. The story hinders mostly the protagonist from improving their flaws by the end of the film. The characters in the story embark on an existential journey to find their place in the world and their experiences are divided between before and after.
The mise-en-scene depends on the characters' personalities, environment, and aspirations.


(Dope - 2016)



WHAT MAKES A COA MOVIE GOOD?
Like comedy, Coming of Age films need to have good writing. However, having good actors is an absolute NEED. The actor's depiction of their character's growth is important, and if it isn't memorable or believable enough the film's narrative will fail to reach the audience.
The characters within the story need to be relatable to the viewer to garner sympathy and understanding for the characters' internal battles.