Character Development!!!

 Hey blog!!!

So, we are starting the last portion of the pre-production process for our opening, and one of my personal favorite parts, developing the details and visual aspects of our opening. One of the most important parts before starting on the visuals for Arantza and I's opening, is developing our characters to help us with their costumes, their props, and the set design. This will show us what kind of person each character is, what they might be interested in, and how that changes their environment. So, here are our characters:)

Jackie

Our main character is Jackie. She is a very creative 18-year-old girl who plans to study art in college. She is constantly listening to music and always has a mark of paint on her face, clothes, or arms. In her free time she does anything art related, skateboards, or hangs out with her best friend, Lily. Although she loves skateboarding, her main form of transportation is biking as neither Lily or her have a car, both use bikes, and it is simply quicker than skateboarding. She is seen as the black cat in Lily and her's friendship, being more introverted, curious, and overall laid back to the public eye; but with the people closest to her, she is a very excited person. She loves talking about her favorite bands, reading about art pieces and their backstories, and is a huge fangirl. 

Selecting this name was very difficult because we already knew that we wanted Lily to be the name of this character's best friend (the reason is explained later) and we wanted to continue following the flower theme for some reason. So, after going through a bunch of baby names popular in the 90s and 2000s, we were in between Jackie, Sam, and Victoria for this character. While we loved all of these, the flowers that were (very distantly) represented by Sam and Victoria didn't quite fit the meaning we wanted. Jackie, however, is also (again, very distantly) another name for the flower plumeria, also known as frangipani. The frangipani flower represents new beginnings, which is a theme explored in our film. After Lily dies, Jackie must learn how to live her life without one of the most important people in her life there, she must begin a new life. It also symbolizes immortality, which Arantza and I found very ironic due to its contrast with her best friend's name and (sorry) life. She is keeping both of their stories alive, never forgetting Lily's. We also just liked how it sounded compared to the other names. We want Jackie to be a sort of tomboy, and this name just fit that persona perfectly, in our opinion.

We also gave Jackie a cool tones color palette (that we will try to go with to the most of our ability). Purples represent creativity and imagination, which fits perfectly with this character. We wanted that mindful color that also symbolizes mystery as there is so much more to her, happening to her, mentally affecting her, and overall who she is than her outside appearance. We also added blue, which represents sadness, an emotion that would be well developed in this film, especially on Jackie's point of view. But blue also symbolizes peace and calmness, which not only describes her outside appearance, but also shows that everything will work out in the end, that audiences will not be left without feeling at peace with the ending of Jackie's story.

Lily

Our second main character and Jackie's best friend is Lily. Unfortunately this beloved character won't be physically present throughout the whole film, but she is very much present in our film opening and will continue to be a big part of this story and our hearts. Lily is the embodiment of sunshine. She is a very sweet, energetic, and bright 18-year-old girl who is as optimistic as someone can be. She is an extrovert, constantly making friends, very talkative, always ensuring everyone feels included, and is honestly always having a fun time enjoying life. She plans on studying elementary education in college (spoiler alert that doesn't happen) and loves playing with younger kids and animals. Lily loves everything relating to flowers and butterflies and just loves anything girly. She loves reading romance books, baking, and enjoys making jewelry in her free time. She also loves roller skating, but, for the same reason Jackie doesn't use her skateboard as often, Lily uses her cute bike instead. In Jackie and her's friendship, Lily is the golden retriever, a very kind soul who is very affectionate, playful, easygoing, and just so happy. 

Lily's name was very easy to find and agree on. While it isn't as popular of a name in the 90s and 2000s, Arantza and I immediately knew that it was the perfect name for this character and that we could use her family being just as special as her as an excuse to use this. As mentioned before, we chose to go with a flower theme after selecting this name. So, flower wise, lilies represent purity, hope, and joy. We thought of Lily being represented by the color yellow, as well (explained in the next paragraph), so, we decided to research yellow lilies specifically. Yellow lilies represent happiness, friendship, and gratitude. All of these qualities perfectly illustrate who this character is and how her situation changes her and the emotions it evokes. 

And then, we made her color palette yellows and greens because she is always optimistic, radiates joy, and brings warmth to every interaction she has, which is represented by the color yellow. The green, on the other hand, illustrates her nature loving part, the harmony she brings to people's lives, and the overall feeling of safety her and her actions leave those close to her and the audience.

Sources:

Forcella, L. (2022, June 9). Powerful symbolism of plumeria. Lauren Forcella Fine Art. https://laurenforcella.com/powerful-symbolism-of-plumeria/

Color-Meanings.com. (n.d.). Color meanings – Discover the power and symbolism behind every hue. https://www.color-meanings.com/

Clacy, S. (2022, November 15). The lily flower: Meanings, images & insights. Floraly. https://www.floraly.com.au/blogs/news/lily-flower-meanings?srsltid=AfmBOop_h1gY-SnpnMprbnOV_wyk1a-FlgeJ_5198nUDdF6hdv2062-u