Character development/ planning the characters

    I've been thinking about who I want my characters to be for a while now. I feel like its important to touch on who the characters are individually, but also draw attention to their relationship and how they've changed because of it. I wanted to create two mood boards showcasing the interests of the character, but as I was making them I realized that I could show the contrast between the two sisters by making one and having the differences clearly displayed. There is primarily one main character in the opening but there is another character who is also very important. When I thought of the characters names I immediately had an idea for one of them.

Names:

    Makayla is in reality just the female version of the name Michael which means gift from God. When I was younger I was always disappointed in what my name meant, its the female version of the name Matthew, or son of Matthew which means gift from God. When looking for names I wanted one that mirrored my own in a way, and added to the character. Makayla likes her name, she just wished it meant something more meaningful. 

    

    Kimberley's name was a little more difficult to find. I wanted something that went well with Makayla almost because she is the younger sister and their parents would want names that sounded good together. The name Kimberley also means royal fortress meadow and I can picture Makayla searching up both their names and getting upset that her sister's name has a deeper meaning than hers. It was also number 101 in popularity in 2013 when Kimberley would have been born so its reasonable that her parents would have heard it and liked it. The meaning of the name itself is also a reason I choose it. The character Kimberley is strong and stubborn but also elegant and cares a lot about her appearance. I feel like this name reflects her personality well.

Relationship:

    Makayla and Kimberley are sisters who have grown apart, yes they're very different but its not just that. They never got into a huge fight, they just stopped understanding what the other one was feeling. Makayla is older and grew up first, leaving her little sister behind. The problem is that when Kimberley finally caught up, she resented her sister for getting older. After the girls stopped talking they both tried their best to be nothing like the other. Makayla is very smart but unorganized, so Kimberley was the most organized person in the family. Kimberley was sporty and loved exercise, so Makayla hatted anything to do with running. Makayla had a tight group of friends, so Kimberley became popular. Kimberley was mean but honest, so Makayla was kind and learned to lie. This need to be the complete opposite infected every part of their lives, so much so that one would give up something they loved if the other one made it part of their personality first.

    When the girls were younger they were really close. Not just because they were sisters, but they were also each other's best friend. They used to make their rooms one big playground and would run between both rooms playing pretend. This is where the idea of the setting being the bathroom comes in. It used to be a place that connected Makayla and Kimberley, in a literal way. It was the quickest way to get to one room from another. I will go into this more in a future post, but I just wanted to touch on it here.

Mood board: 

Personalities:

 

    Makayla- she is older and is tired. All she does is homework and hang out with her friends, she doesn’t really talk to her sister and she feels guilty about it but most of the time she’s too tired to care. She only cares about school and her small friend group who mean the world to her. Makayla is smart but doesn’t get the best grades anymore and she always wants things to go back to how they were before. Makayla is a kind person who cares about everyone and everything. Her friends love her for it and the other people that she talks to usually warm up to her quickly. She enjoys school, not necessarily because of her friends, but because she likes the process of learning and understanding something. Basically she's the type of person who will do all the work, get made fun of for caring too much, and then still help those same people understand the lesson.

    Kimberley- She is an athlete and an amazing student, not because she’s necessarily a genius, but because she’s very organized. She hangs out with her best friend every second that she can get and she honestly annoyed by her over dramatic older sister who only cares about school. She misses the relationship she had with her sister, but it’s not her fault, Makayla stopped caring first. She really tried for those first few years, but then she just gave up, and she’s better because of it. Kimberley is popular at school and would do anything to have as many people know her as possible. She keeps up with school because of her insanely detailed planners and binders, but she relies on others to help her understand things. She is stubborn and can be rude to people, but she stands by the idea that she will not be made into a doormat. Kimberley is the type of person to be on a call with a friend but then hang up because she needs to start her homework at a certain time.

Final thoughts:

    I think my characters are interesting and I can showcase their personalities though the mise-en-scene of the opening. I also think that these characters will be the perfect way to deliver the message I'm trying to send, while also feeling real and like they could still surprise the audience. Overall, I'm happy with the Kimberley and Makayla.

Momcozy. (n.d.). Makaylah name meaning. https://momcozy.com/blogs/baby-names/makaylah 

The Bump. (n.d.). Madison baby name meaning, origin, and popularity. https://www.thebump.com/b/madison-baby-name  

The Bump. (n.d.). Kimberly baby name meaning, origin, and popularity. https://www.thebump.com/b/kimberly-baby-name