Producing A Short Film About Teenage Struggles in The Digital World

Growing up, I always love watching films. However, I faced bullying from my peers which affected my mental health. My mental health problems made it hard to open up to others and lose passion in filmmaking. To solve my issues, my parents took me to a psychologist to handle my problems. Throughout my therapy sessions, I learned a lot to control myself and to feel more positive whenever I am feeling negative. Aside from that, I learned more about myself which inspires me to become a screenwriter and a clinical psychologist when I grow up.

I found the solution of my problems through writing. I can express my struggles through my story and the characters I created. Especially when it is expressed through films, I can see my vision coming to life rather than just being expressed through words. With all of that, my goal for my personal project is to produce a short film about teenage struggles in the digital world. This is a highly challenging project for me because I have never made films before and that I always find it difficult meeting or talking to people, whether they’re new or not. Other than that, I am also a self-taught screenwriter and I have never talked to any film experts about how to properly write a screenplay.

I chose to make do this project because it would help me live my dreams to become a screenwriter, regaining my passion in filmmaking while also giving me a chance to overcome my mental struggles, also to educate the audience about mental health. This project will help me developing my creativity and my communication skills. Other than that, it will also allow me to step out of my comfort zone and to get myself used talking and meeting with new people.

Global Context

The global context of my PP will be Identities and Relationships. This global context focuses on the interaction between a person and their community around them. To be specific, the strand I will be focusing on will be physical, psychological, social development, transition, health, well-being, and lifestyle choices. Nowadays, teenagers tend to spend more time on the internet, including myself. The internet can be a positive place with many possibilities, however, too much of it can be negative or be considered as an addiction. The internet could affect their way of thinking, lifestyle, even their mental and physical health such as the increase of depression, lack of family relationships, isolation, and anxiety.

Product

The final product is a short film portraying the issues teenagers commonly face in the digital age, internet addiction. The short film Comfortably Connected responds to my goal by telling a story about a teenage boy named Tama who befriended a mysterious girl named Claudia through the internet. However, his mysterious friendship with Claudia soon became a concern to the people in his own reality. The main theme being discussed in the film centers on addiction and the dangers of it. I think my short film is able to reach a score in my criteria because every aspect of it, the structure, technique, and aesthetic comes purely from my effort.

My short film is able to portray the global context strands physical, psychological, health, well-being, and lifestyle choices, because the film discusses psychological well-being of an addict to their surroundings and their lifestyle and social development because the film also portrays the character from being in denial of his problems to become self-aware of his own actions. The film has a simple style because I want to make it natural and authentic, but I also want it to have its own complexity of the storytelling.

Watch my full film below!

Reflection

While working on this PP, I also gained a better understanding in the global context of identities and relationships. I learned about the psychology of an individual and how it affects their health, lifestyle, and the people around them. It also taught me that there are broad ways to analyze and interpret a human mind, other than just being a clinical psychologist. It made me realize that I can do both. Even through storytelling, I realized that I can also help others who are struggling by the characters I created. What related me to the identities and relationships global context is that I gain a closer bond with my family and my friends also making new friends during the casting process because they were the ones who helped me making this project coming to life. I was left satisfied when seeing the outcome of my product. Although there are some minor mistakes, I took it as a lesson and a chance for my growth in future projects.

Through this project, I gained new knowledges such as learning how to plan efficiently, being organized, breaking things down to solve my problems, my communication skills, and a few of editing knowledge. Aside from the techniques I gained, I can see myself improving in my writing skills. But out of all of it, the best part of choosing to do this project, is that I finally came to a realization that filmmaking and psychology is truly where my heart is. Knowing my place in this world, I can say that I overcome my mental health challenges and it made me hopeful about my passion and myself again. All of the skills and experience that I’ve gained through this PP is something that I will keep holding onto throughout my life and I cannot wait to make more films and help others with their struggles in the future.

IB Learner Reflection

According to IBO, IB Learner Profiles are, “…to develop internationally minded people who, recognizing their common humanity”. Throughout the development of this PP, my IB learner profiles came to light such as risk-takers, thinkers and communicators.

When I chose to make a short film for my PP, I showed that I am a risk-taker. Making a film is a risk which forced me to come out of my comfort zone as I had to constantly communicate with my supervisors, look for actors whether it’s on my inner or outer circle, sacrificing my free time, and deal with a lot of stress. Passionately, I took all the risks in order to pursue my goals and vision in which I did good, leaving with an outcome I am satisfied with.

But some risks can also be hard to handle. Throughout this project I can always get over the obstacles and with that, I learned to be a thinker. Despite the troubles I faced, I am able to solve them critically and creatively. As a critical thinker, I learned to be more rational in solving my issues and as a creative thinker, I learned to think outside the box. With the problems being solved, I became passionate and motivated in the making of the project.

As I explained before, filmmaking is naturally a collaborative project which means I had to constantly deal with communication. From there, I learned how to be communicator, verbally or artistically. According to IBO, we communicators need to “express ourselves confidently and creatively more than one language in many ways”. To achieve this profile, it is necessary to acquire any criticisms and suggestions from my supervisor, the film crews, the audience, and the cast members. Other than that, it is also necessary to know how to communicate my message and vision through a form of art.