As our project has progressed and I’ve gotten to know the girls a little better I’ve begun to feel that the direction of the film has changed. Going into the documentary I knew that the overall message of the film would depend on the content that we filmed with the girls. I knew that I wanted the focus to be on expectations of perfection and self esteem issues contrasted with their art. We are not going completely away from these topics entirely; instead I plan to still touch on them somewhat but they will not be the main focus. The direction of the film will now be looking at identity, through artwork vs the girl's personal lives. How they express themselves through art vs how they express themselves around their family and peers. The documentary will take on a more observational approach. We will document the girls in their daily lives while also exploring their art and having them consider themselves as people and as artists. The overall message of identity will be expressed through the contrasts between reality and art.
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
Sunday, January 26, 2014
Bios/Questions
Sara Hucks is currently an 18 year old senior attending Coastal Christian High School. She lives in Wilmington, NC and when she's not drawing she enjoys participating in activities such as: sleeping, listening to David Bowie, and reading Vietnam-era American literature. Her favorite prehistoric animal is the Kronosaurus, a pliosaur named after the merciless titan Kronos, who ate his own children. After high school her aspirations are to continue striking fear into the hearts of skinny white boys and getting so fit that she might plausibly be the protagonist in a Tarantino film. Her art focuses on line quality and drawing in pencil, pen and ink. Her concentration for her AP Art portfolio is literal interpretations of biblical imagery. She plans on studying to be a librarian.
Morgan Campbell, 17, is a Varsity and competitive cheerleader at New Hanover High School. In the Fall, she will be attending the University of Alabama, where she will be a Pre-Med student and majoring in Biology. In the future, she aspires to become a surgeon, possibly a Cardiologist. She has lived in Wilmington her entire life and loves the beach. She likes to surf, play sports, workout, paint, eat, and sleep. When she is not doing those activities she is probably at work (Sweetfrog Frozen Yogurt). Some things she hates are working at Sweetfrog, bugs, Winter, ignorant people, and olives.
Although I listed 10 questions for each girl I feel that all 20 could be asked of each girl given the nature of the documentary. As the filming process progresses I imagine that I will be able to ask and phrase questions to each girl that fits them individually.
1.Where have you lived over the course of your life and for how long?
2. Where do you attend school and why did your parents choose to send you there?
3. How would you describe yourself in terms of personality and identity?
4. How would you describe your artistic style?
5. How would you describe your personal style?
6. What are the most important relationships in your life?
7. How much emphasis do you put on your appearance and the material aspects of your life?
8. What do you hope for yourself in the present and future?
9. How often do you consider the opinions of others?
10. How do you think others view you?
1. What inspires you?
2. When is the last time you did something without the expectation of a result?
3. How do you deal with stress?
4. How would you describe your outlook on life?
5. What would you liked to be remembered as/for?
6. What is the most important aspect of your life to you?
7. What is your greatest accomplishment?
8. What is your biggest regret?
9. How would you describe your daily life?
10. What does your morning routine consist of?
Tuesday, January 21, 2014
Documentary Treatment
The initial treatment of this documentary is a rough draft. As filming begins changes may be made depending on the direction in which the film takes and events that arise and are filmed. With each change I will update the treatment through the filming process.
Overview:
This documentary is about the life of the modern American teenage girl; her life inside and outside of school, extracurriculars, relationships and concerns with identity, the materialistic and other social concerns faced during this period of a young girl’s life.
Purpose of the Film:
The goal of the documentary is to document the period of a girl’s life just before she enters young adulthood and to shine a light on the concerns and pressures faced by the modern girl. It is my hope that the documentary will create an honest portrait of the present generation of teenage girls and open up a new consideration of this girl by those who perhaps have not considered her fully before.
Outline:
This documentary will begin with an introduction to each of the four girls that we will be following. Personal interviews used to introduce themselves will be intercut with footage of their lives at home and school. Filming at their home will showcase their room (personal style/materialistic aspects) and their relationships with their family members. The footage of their school life will document their interactions with their peers (relationships with friends) as well as their academic standing (focus/interests). The artistic elements of their lives will be documented extensively as the base for which everything else will surround.
As filming progresses and comfortability and trust has grown the personal interview will place a more prominent role. Individual consideration of every aspect of their lives will be discussed. An expert interview with a psychiatrist/counselor will compliment/contrast the girl’s musings. The connection between their artistic identity and personal identity will begin to take form with the coupling of the footage we have compiled to this point. Their social lives will also be documented with the girls together as a group as well as with other friends.
The base of their artistic lives will help to conclude the documentary with the filming of an art show where each girl’s work will be featured. All elements of the girl’s lives will commence as they give their final consideration of themselves and their hopes/desires for the future.
Saturday, January 18, 2014
Doc Research
The research for my documentary began by looking into studies that have been conducted about teenage girl’s self esteem and body issues. I found facts that spoke to why I wanted to pursue this subject further in a documentary. Low self-esteem, depression and eating disorders are the leading mental health problems facing girls while 54% of girls are worried about their appearance and 37% about their weight. Advertising is a large part of why girls are concerned with their appearance (which I will discuss further in the following paragraph) but scripted television also poses a problem. Women make up half of society but only 32% of the main characters on television are female while 1/3 of speaking roles in children’s movies are given to women. Even in the creative, fictional world of television women are restricted.
Set in daily life, advertising is perhaps the most blatantly negative area for women in media. A series of short documentaries by Jean Kilbourne titled Killing Us Softly (1 through 4) have been made in an attempt to bring attention to the ways in which women are portrayed in advertising. Below is a link to the trailer of Killing Us Softly and multiple short clips of the four films can be found on youtube. The structure of the series consists of Kilbourne giving lectures to a group of an unseen audience. Intercut with Kilbourne’s speech are images from advertisements that she speaks about specifically to make her points about the ways in which women are represented in media.
Kilbourne’s observations about the ads she discusses are detailed and go beyond the obvious messages of weight and beauty. One point she made that I found interesting were her observations about ads that on the surface discussed weight loss but underlying the straight-forward was the implication that women should not throw their weight around, as in their power as a person not just their physical body. The way in which advertisers push certain body images to girls while also encouraging them to take a docile behavior as compared to men stood out to me. I hope to present the material and physical concerns that the subjects in my documentary face while also going deeper into what underlies these concerns, having the girls examine why they make the choices they do in regards to their appearance.
Sources:
Saturday, January 11, 2014
FST 495 Project Description
Documentary following four teenage girls through their daily lives; revealing the pressures faced by the modern American girl. An emphasis will be placed on societal expectations, relationships with family and friends and individual consideration about their role in the present day. The inside look at their daily lives will consist of their education (in and outside of school), extracurricular activities, work, lifestyle, etc. An attempt will be made to contrast the expectations of perfection faced by girls with reality and the four girls vantage point of these expectations. Self esteem issues, material concerns and other societal concerns will be explored as well. Discussions will take place about the most significant events of their lives, mistakes, regrets, and triumphs. Although only documenting the lives of four specific girls, the film will approach concerns that appear to be more broad in their reach on present day American teenage culture. The setting will vary depending on their daily activities as well as any significant event that may take place during the period of time in which they are filmed. The documentary is an opportunity to look at the period of a girl’s life that greatly influences the person they will develop into just before becoming a young adult.
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