The Coppolas strike again!

   As I have now solidified my idea of having two characters in my opening, I think the next best step is to figure out who they are and go from there. In another post on my blog, I mentioned how the two characters in my opening with being named Rose and Eden. Recently I rewatched Palo Alto (2013 dir. Gia Coppola) and got very inspired by some of the characters in the film (and cinematography). In my opinion, Palo Alto is one of those movies that depicts teenage life in a more accurate perspective than some of the others (I'm looking at you Mean Girls). Its slow pace, minimal plot, and interesting characters make for a very entertaining hour and forty minutes. The characters are all so different from one another, yet so the same. It's a tale, if you will, of misunderstood youth and mundane life. After viewing the film for the second time, I took note at some of the characters a bit more, particularly the two main female characters: April and Emily.

April (still from Palo Alto dir. Gia Coppola)

April (still from Palo Alto dir. Gia Coppola)

   April is the more subdued of the two, she's on the soccer team, smart, shy with a little bit of a dark attitude, but innocent (and engaging in an affair with her coach outside of school). But besides that, I'm hoping to use some of these qualities for one of my characters, Rose. There's a scene in Palo Alto that is one of my favorites, where April,  alone in her bedroom tries to embody this tough, cool girl exterior and talking into the mirror saying things like “Well I don't wanna talk to you either, because I don't give a …” I think you can fill in the dots from there. I imagine that if I were to create a full feature film, I would have a similar scene involving rose. The reason being is that I think like April, rose has tried to embody someone who she is not, Eden. And if I were to create the whole movie I would have her figure out along the way that she is the person she was always meant to be.

Emily (Palo Alto dir. Gia Coppola)

  As for Eden, she's the one in the film who ends up dying. She's impulsive, confident, and a little manipulative. I guess in some ways Emily from Palo Alto could be compared to Eden. I think Emily was supposed to be a more realistic version of a mean girl of sorts in Palo Alto, the one that's always all over guys and smoking cigarettes. Just a bunch of angst and more angst. Although Eden is a lot more wild than rose, she's not the type to go out and party whenever she has a chance, she is still reserved in her own manner. In one scene from Palo Alto, there's a great montage of close-up shots of Emily, with a monologue from a male character in the background. Also, the cinematography in the shot is so beautiful. I love the dull tone and lighting, combined with the close ups of this reserved, yet seductive character. This small part of the movie really embodies and established Emily as a character. These are some of the characteristics I would like to incorporate into my opening.

Emily (still from Palo Alto dir. Gia Coppola)

Tribecafilm. "PALO ALTO -- April in Bedroom (Tribeca Film)." YouTube. YouTube, 29 May 2014. Web. 13 Mar. 2017.

Filmlincdotcom. "Palo Alto | Clip: "Emily Didn't Have Any Friends" | New Release." YouTube. YouTube, 05 May 2014. Web. 13 Mar. 2017.