Mia Weathers-Fowler Capstone

Since the end of junior year I have been really intrigued by the way that high school and teenagers are portrayed in media, especially in movies with teens as the target audience. Last year when I saw DUFF, a teen movie about the Designated Ugly Fat Friend, I decided to make my capstone about the realities of high school, specifically for senior year. In the beginning I set out to make a documentary style film. That idea has since changed to a scripted short film, but the core ideas are still the same. I wanted to explore the key themes of senior year that never get talked about in the movies; stress, relationships, friendships, and saying goodbye. Senior year is hard. In real life friendships sometimes fall apart, relationships have to come to an end as we all part for college, and the immense stress to get into college and start living your own life is almost crippling. I have attached a collection of the videos and interviews I originally collected for the documentary as they will still appear in the final product. I also attached the screenplay of the short film (I'm still putting the final editing touches on it). This year I had the pleasure of working with Philly filmmakers and actors to try to make my vision come true. Hopefully my film can paint a brief picture of some of the real hurdles and joys students will face during senior year!