Plot Ideas

In one of my most recent posts, I had watched trailers for coming-of-age and teen drama films. This included Mean Girls, The Princess Diaries, and 13 Going on 30. 

By viewing these trailers, I had gotten lots of inspiration for my own film! They'd taught me the codes and conventions of the genre, leaving it up to me to brainstorm the ways I can weave them in into my own story. After some thinking, I've developed some plots I may pursue in my movie introduction. Here they are!

• A bubbly highschooler makes it her mission to get the school's notoriously gloomy loner to crack a smile. After 4 years of nonstop persistence, though, she accepts her fate: the loner doesn't value her company or her efforts. It was never worth trying in the first place. However, just when she's about to give up, the loner opens the door to her heart.

I like this plotline because I really want my protagonist to be one whose spirited and lively, similar to Jenna from 13 Going on 30. It carries that "Grumpy & Sunshine" trope that I'm a fan of. To develop this plot, I want to flesh out both characters in a way that touches people whilst being relatable. Over the course of this story, I plan for the main character's lighthearted challenge of trying to "break the loner" to evolve into something more complex. This could include the protagonist unlocking of the personal reason behind the loner's melancholy, influencing a deep emotional connection as she also opens up about her own struggles. However, another idea I'm thinking of includes a big event in the main character's personal life--one that melts her warm and loving exterior. This causes the roles to swap, the loner to trying and win back the side of the main character everyone knows and loves. Both stories tell of tale of not shunning your sparkle, rolling with the punches, and the unexpected friendships that may emerge along highschool. Overall, I like both variations of this plotline, but am slightly leaning torward the second one more!

• The school's designated popular girl, band nerd, valevictorian, and school rebel all have four extremely different personalities. After years of highschool and barely interacting, nobody would've ever believed these cliques would ever cross paths. Yet, somehow... they did. When all of them get locked inside the school, they have no choice but to work together to escape. However, this out-of-the-blue teamwork may just be what each of them need. In the end, maybe they aren't all as different as they thought.

Unfortunately, this is another plot I adore. I think the whole "breaking-out-of-school" scheme would be one that's funny and entertaining to watch. But, I also want each character to resonate with viewers emotionally. I want to give each character a personality that's more than their title. For example, the popular girl may struggle with loneliness and depression. The "goody-two-shoes" valevictorian finds it hard to seperate her worth as a person from her academic life--a grade on a paper being the sole indicator of how much she matters. The school rebel can be someone who has a bad homelife or doesn't recieve enough attention. An issue with this storyline, though, could be casting. I don't have an idea of who I'd want to dedicate to each role, while for the other plot I did. Although, I do really like the premise of this idea. It's a story about being more than your designated clique and individuality. Everyone is fighting their own personal battles, which is what makes us all human.