watching similar productions

 I asked my teacher if she recommends any productions that had similar themes to mine so I could asses how I wanted to approach representing my themes. She recommended the short World of Tomorrow, the film I’m Thinking of Ending Things, and another media project from four years ago, Minimalist. I watched all three yesterday, my favorite was World of Tomorrow, just a stellar film, so good. You can watch it free on YouTube here!

The main things I got from each production is the different ways to approach representing the themes. With World of Tomorrow delivers its themes VERY straightforwardly, and I think it really works! A character literally tells the protagonist the message of the film, "Live well and live broadly. You are alive and living now. Now is the envy of all of the dead" - Emily from World of Tomorrow. I'm Thinking of Ending Things and Minimalist are much less straightforward with their themes, giving hints throughout instead of outright stating it. The Tatami Galaxy and Mind Game, are a mix of both, giving hints throughout before outright stating their message once the character realizes it. For mine, considering the limit on its length, I think I will take the approach of little hints before the outright stating of the message. I don't want the message to come out of no where with not set up. How I will do this I'm still not sure but we'll figure that out when we get there.

When considering target audience, World of Tomorrow definitely has a target audience of an older age, especially considering the character of 4th generation Emily, which can be very relatable to the older audience who has a similar understanding of life and its experiences to her. Its themes can also be fairly heavy. This is the same case for I'm Thinking of Ending Things, although not necessarily targeting an older audience, its concepts of reflecting on a life that has already past with regret can definitely reside with an older target audience. I think I am way too young and inexperienced to target an older audience with this messaging. My target audience will be more aligned with the audience of The Tatami Galaxy. I think how that production tackles its messaging is something I can actually handle and develop/expand on. An older audience simply wouldn't work with the film I have in mind and my inexperience in life.

Overall, the main things I took away from viewing similar productions (besides enjoying them haha) was how to approach my theme, and the piece that I want to take the most away from is World of Tomorrow, especially the scene where 4th generation Emily gives advice to Emily Prime. I'll probably end up taking more from these productions throughout the way haha.