John Hughes was an American director, producer, and screenwriter noted for his contribution to teen movies.. He directed, wrote, and produced many successful films in the mid to late 80’s, which include the coming of age films such as The Breakfast Club (1985), Sixteen Candles, (1984), Pretty in Pink (1986), Weird Science (1985), and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986).
He allegedly wrote Ferris Bueller's Day Off in four days, and The Breakfast Club in two. He never went to film school, nor did he study cinema. Unlike other directors, he spent the majority of his career based in the midwest - far from the bright lights of the Hollywood Hills. One of the most prolific and iconic filmmakers in cinematic history, Hughes helped launch the careers…show more content… One of the major similarities in all of Hughes’ films was their setting: the mythical town of Shermer, located in the suburbs of Chicago. A reminiscence of the suburb he grew up in, Hughes developed a personal and authentic location combined with his own experiences as a teenger, experiences of which would would be the offshoot for the meaning in his films.He accurately represented the socio-economic class issues in America, and this was particularly reflected in the public school teenagers growing up in the suburbs. Many of the wealthier children were neglected by their parents in favour of material goods. Aesthetically, his films recall middle class America in the fifties and sixties, with white picket fences and red brick houses and where middle class life was simpler.
“When I first started making movies, I thought I would just invent a town where everything happened. Everybody in all my movies is from Shermer, Illinois. Del Griffiths from Planes, Trains and Automobiles lives two doors down from Samantha Baker. Ferris Bueller knew Samantha Baker from Sixteen Candles. For fifteen years I’ve written my Shermer stories in prose, collecting its…show more content… Obscure new-wave and synthy pop tracks were used as cues for scenes and made them more memorable. Both the ending scenes of Sixteen Candles and the Breakfast Club owe their iconic status not only to the visual content but to the soundtrack as well - both of which had significant knock-on sales as a result of their use by Hughes. Simple Minds “Don’t You Forget About Me” and the Thompson Twins “If You Were Here” amongst many other tracks influenced the mood of each scene and created what we now see as a time capsule effect: it helped capture a point and time for eighties