Lunch in the Bathroom, Dinner in the Flames: A Junior Narrative Diptych by Arian Dehnow (2011)

In my diptych, an isolated girl is seen eating lunch in the school bathroom in the first picture and nearly setting the school on fire in the second. The internal conflict she is struggling with is her anger due to her isolation. She is bullied and alone at school and she very badly wants to lash back at the school that has tortured her. She faces a pregnant pause as she places her lighter closer and closer to the gasoline drenched ground.

My first shot shows the character's isolation by removing her eyes from the picture, preventing a connection with the viewer. There is a lock on the toilet paper that represents her feelings of entrapment due to loneliness. She is also in a very confined space, which enhances the constrains on the character. In the second shot, she has turned her back on the school, showing her rebellion and anguish. The school is well-lit compared to the space the character occupies, which is very dark, emphasizing her isolation at the school. The shot is also at the point of no return, which leaves the viewer guessing.