Kelly

Ah! I've been meaning to share my treatment for my short film final project for my TV/Film Production class. ;v; The first draft script is due Thursday and I've modified the ending (which in turn affects a lot of the overall meaning actually) since writing this. But even though it's a school project, this film is something I'm excited to work on because 1) it gives me a chance to develop some cinematography skills after familiarizing myself with the school's fancy camera, 2) there's lots of audio editing! and 3) it tackles things that I want to express well: anxiety, paranoia, being self-blaming and self-withdrawn. And all without making my protagonist crazy in any way. After all, social anxiety haunts absolutely normal people; it doesn't mean that they have mental issues--just that they're overwhelmed by their fears, which are often self-inflicted. I hope I can produce something meaningful and artful. ;u; I have less than two months to do it, but I want to end up with something that I'll be proud of.

Now Playing:
"SLEEP DUST"
(composed and sung by Kazou)
Apparently, this song was inspired by Kelly. ;u; It's actually thanks to Kazou that I started thinking about how I wanted to depict social anxiety, so it's nice that the inspiration came around full circle.

My treatment:

     In a short film that explores the perceptual baggage carried by social anxiety, Kelly (18) has a tea party with a circle of stuffed animals. Alone in this quaint bedroom, Kelly shows signs of nervousness as if surrounded by a room full of outspoken peers. Initially, she is awkward but does respond passably to the conversation held by these stuffed animals, whose words are provided in voiceover. Throughout the tea party, the conversation is pleasant and of nothing spectacular.
     However, alongside the exchanges, an extra set of voices begins to appear, voicing the stuffed animals’ hidden thoughts—or rather, fabricated thoughts imposed onto them, written directly by Kelly’s fears. These thoughts serve to attack all of Kelly’s insecurities as the stuffed animals criticize and judge her, carefully notice even the slightest details, and make every one of Kelly’s actions and decisions out to be a mistake no matter what she does or attempts to fix them. One points out the dirt under Kelly’s fingernail, another berates her for wearing a certain color, one laughs at her choice of wording, and another doesn’t like the way she avoids eye contact. Clearly, they never wanted her there and find her to be awkward and a bother. 
     Eventually, these thoughts full of negativity drown out the actual conversation, which never drops from its pleasantly ordinary state. The film ends as Kelly gives in to the self-inflicted pressure in withdrawal—all that can be heard is a cacophony of criticisms, and she closes her eyes and drops her cup of imaginary tea to the sound of broken porcelain.