Hi! My name is Stella and I am a Film student at Freestyle Academy and a senior at Los Altos High School. I’ve always found film to be one of the most dynamic and interesting forms of storytelling so I took the opportunity at Freestyle to approach film creatively and explore unconventional subject matters. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the first semester of senior year, we began with the “Reflections” video essay, a two-minute film answering the central question: “Who am I?”, inspired by a past film supplement prompt from Chapman University’s Dodge College. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The process began with writing a script, as a short essay was the basis of the film. From there, I worked with voiceover and B-roll to represent my message visually and aurally. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
My film explores my need for human connection through the metaphor of a pet rock. I had a lot of fun matching different video clips to my essay to both support and expand upon my writing. You can read my preliminary script below:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Why is it that I\u2019m so drawn to inanimate objects? Like oh my god it\u2019s just a rock. Not even a cool rock. I don\u2019t need a rock. It\u2019s just a rock.\nSh** \u2013\u2013 what do I do with it now?\nIt almost feels compulsive, like I was drawn to this rock. I was about to leave it behind when thoughts popped into my head like \u201cit\u2019s so sad and alone\u201d, \u201cit needs you\u201d. \nIt\u2019s a rock, shut up. \nI can understand why humans are attracted to some objects: maybe they\u2019re shiny or colorful or maybe they remind us of something or someone. Maybe they can be sold on Ebay. \nBut a rock? It\u2019s just a rock. \nMaybe there\u2019s a part of me that relates to this rock: small and alone among other rocks that are all somewhat the same. I\u2019ve felt like that \u2013\u2013 hell, we\u2019ve all felt that. I wouldn\u2019t wish that feeling upon a rock. But then again, something must stand out about this rock that made me feel the need to \u201csave\u201d it. Maybe its shape somehow reveals a distinct personality, but I doubt it.\nI think I could elicit an emotional reaction by naming a rock Steve, giving it a complex backstory, and then throwing it into the ocean. But I don\u2019t think I could live with the guilt of doing that. \nI think maybe it\u2019s part of our nature to form connections to different things: people, places, things. Or maybe it\u2019s just a childish curiosity that we never grow out of. Whatever may be the case, I think life would suck if we didn\u2019t have these sorts of connections \u2013\u2013 we kind of need them (I know I do). Of course a person would be preferable, but I\u2019d rather have a rock by my side than feel alone. I don\u2019t mind being alone \u2013\u2013 but feeling alone really sucks, like a tunnel you can\u2019t quite dig yourself out of. \nI think our tendency of forming connections to people and things adds some meaning when life feels static and overwhelming. because we really do just live on a rock. We\u2019re all just tiny specks on Earth \u2013\u2013 and Earth is just a rock, right?<\/pre>\n\n\n\nI really enjoyed taking something very random, mundane, and personal to me and generalizing it to a universal human experience. While I wish I had a wider variety of footage to work with, I’m very happy with the final film and I think it feels true to who I am. <\/p>\n\n\n\n