A Price For Everything

Plot summary – My movie, A Price For Everything, will tell the story of a young African American boy named Hakeem Booker. He grew up in a rough neighborhood in Baltimore, surrounded by drugs and crime. Despite this, Hakeem is a quiet, self-kept kid. He also has a love for music, particularly singing. He sings everywhere he goes because it’s the only thing that can distract him from his shitty surroundings. His friends lead lives as juveniles and gang affiliations, because that’s what everyone around them does…right? However, Hakeem’s friends never let him participate in their criminal activities or gang relations. They know Hakeem. Young, talented, clean slate. They know that if anyone could make it out, it’s Hakeem. He finally records his first music video with his friends, singing about his life and the hardships he’s been through. The video starts gaining some traction on YouTube. Eventually, he gets signed and starts getting big money. This was what he dreamed of. Cars, money, girls, parties, paparazzi. But he realizes that in order to maintain his lifestyle, he needs to cut ties with his childhood friends. He can’t be associated with a life of crime or it’ll ruin him. He chooses to cut ties with them and continue living his now glamorous lifestyle. But after a few years, he starts missing them. All he knows now is big parties, interviews, shows, concerts, flashing lights all around him. He realizes that he can’t even hang out with a girl without having the media all over him with headlines saying “Hakeem’s new girlfriend?” Not only did he lose his privacy, but he starts to lose his identity. He can’t say certain things anymore, he can’t wear certain clothes anymore, he can’t do this, he can’t do that, everything becomes limiting because it all comes down to his reputation. He misses having a quiet lifestyle. He misses his friends. But most of all, he misses his music. He comes to his breaking point and goes against all the rules his manager gave him and begins to reconnect with his roots. However, this leads him to tarnishing his reputation as a star. But Hakeem doesn’t mind, he is just happy he can be himself without any restrictions.

Research elements- This movie will be similar to how people become stars in modern day. Nowadays, actors and artists try to become famous through YouTube and social media. Becoming viral will draw attention to yourself from talent scouts and agents. For example, Nick Cannon’s Wild N’ Out is a popular TV show amongst younger audiences as it is a freestyle hip-hop comedy show where two teams use freestyle rap to make jokes. Nick Cannon casts members of his shows who are popular on YouTube such as Emmanuel Hudson and Timothy Delaghetto. The movie will also draw light to the personalities of these celebrities as well, and how they differ from their true selves. In my core assignment 2, I wrote about Geri Halliwell of the Spice Girls. Oftentimes in her press conferences, you can tell that she was not being herself because she had to give off a certain persona for the companies that she represented. In addition, expectations are always high from the public that actors are forced to live a plastic life (Driessens 5). 

Creative style- The closest comparison to this movie will be “A Star Is Born.” It will tell a realistic story of the behind-the-scenes life of a famous artist. It will show the changes a person goes through in their path to stardom, for better or worse. However, I want the movie to be filmed like The Office, where it seems like a reality TV show (excluding the interview scenes). This will include the shaky camera work and “hidden” camera angles. By doing so, it will add a sense of realism to the movie where it seems like it is real people rather than actors. This will add more dramatic effect to the serious scenes in the movie, making the movie feel more “raw” and uncut. Having the movie seem “raw” and uncut will make the movie more effective in portraying what really goes on behind the scenes in a famous person’s life, allowing the viewer to be more engaged in the film. Yes, someone may say that a documentary will do the same thing. However, documentaries are not necessarily accurate because the subject of the documentary knows that there are cameras following them, so they will try to portray the best version of themselves. Despite how negative the movie sounds towards fame, it will also show the life that famous people always imagined as well. Fast cars, pretty girls, loads of cash, expensive mansions, etc. 

Target audience- The target audience is for teenagers and young adults, specifically high schoolers and college students. During this age frame, many of these kids have dreams about becoming big stars. I personally know a handful of people who believed they were going to be a professional athlete or a famous artist. This movie will shine a light on the things that you don’t normally see with celebrities. It is not meant to deter kids from chasing their dreams of becoming stars, but more of an eye opener to see if these kids are ready for what’s ahead if they were to be superstars. As a result of targeting a younger audience, the characters will speak with more slang and terminology that teenagers are more familiar with. This is where the movie will differ the most from “A Star Is Born” where it was an adult female singer who makes it big. In “A Star Is Born,” the movie was more raw and seemed to target a more mature audience.