A Look Into Malia's Room

      One of the main staples of our film opening will be our protagonist's room. The first few shots will focus on specific details in Malia's room to help build her character and personality through setting. Personal belongings can tell a lot about a person and can help the audience establish an idea of Malia's character before she even begins speaking. Since the setting will be part of Malia's character, we will make sure to focus on the different props we want to include in the room, and the story we want them to tell. Examples of props we will include are:

College Acceptance Letters

  We want to make it clear that Malia is a senior and the next chapter of her life is beginning soon. The college acceptance letters will make her age a bit clearer as the audience can conclude she is a teenager. The acceptance letters also give a sense that Malia's future and track in life have already been determined. The acceptance letters will all have one thing in common, they are all Psychology programs. The acceptance letters being drastically different to what Malia's room reflects, her love for books and writing, will foreshadow her emotional journey and self-discovery of what she wants to do with the rest of her life.

Writing Program Packets

      Flyers and brochures of different writing programs will show that Malia is not satisfied by her college acceptance letters and start developing that internal conflict over what she should pick to study in college: the realistic choice which has a set career path, or the more unrealistic choice which is a harder field to succeed in. Malia's interest and longing to be a writer will be emphasized by the writing program packets.

Books, Books, & Books

     We have already established that Malia wants to be a writer and to reinforce that, we will be including numerous books scattered all around her room. The quantity of books will show that Malia does not just see writing as a job opportunity, but as a hobby as well since she voluntarily reads so many stories. Malia's love for reading books is what manifested her desire to become a writer so we want to show the appreciation and relationship she has with reading.

    
A Plot Board

     The prop we will focus on the most in the scene will be the plot board. Malia will have a wall filled with numerous sticky notes and flash cards with writing all over the place. These flash cards will contain different ideas for the novel she is trying to write. To Malia, ideas come naturally and she wants to make sure she writes everything down which is why the plot board will take up so much room.In everything else in her room, the plot board will be neatly kept since Malia dedicated most of her time to writing and finishing her novel.

A Messy Room

     Overall, everything in Malia’s room will be messy and cluttered to mimic the bedroom of a teenage girl. Besides her love for writing, her room will contain records, posters, etc. to establish her age and being a teenager. The messiness will reflect the chaos of her life and the journey to self-discovery she is about to go on. The plot board being the only neat thing will make it clear that writing is her priority and that she is dedicated to perfecting her novel.