Today I had an amazing experience of acting in one of my classmate film openings for this same project. While discussing both of our films and concepts with each other, he opened up to me. I learned today that he has PTSD and an anxiety disorder caused by a traumatic incident, and he offered me the amazing opportunity to interview him about his experiences in PTSD in regards to his triggers and his episodes and how they affect him physically (in other words what changes others can see in his mannerism and body language and physicality).
I was honored that he offered, and accepted so that I can compare the thoughts of someone actually suffering with the disorder to the representation of people who suffer in film. Hopefully this will give me more insight and help me make more educated decisions on how to direct the actor playing Michael.
We have not conducted the interview yet, but during this conversation he revealed to me that his personal triggers are most commonly thoughts and conversations, not images or sounds. When he begins to feel panicked, his episodes (for lack of a better term) are seen by others as only lasting for a few moments, but in his mind they appear to last for much longer. This made me think of the way you dream, how scientifically dreams are meant to only be seconds long but they can sometimes feel like hours. This inspired me in the mapping out of the aftermath portion if the opening (the second realist scene), and how Teresa should react to Michael's trance-like state.
I would like the "abuse" to escelate throughout the movie because of this. This inspired me to make the decision that Michael's episodes will start off comparatively small and grow to out of proportion and longer and more intense. This will be one of the first times that he hurts her during his episodes, and his emergence from his episode will be almost in confusiong. This will provide the perfect ground for the conflict to grow and for the complexity of thier relationship to unfold.
Try to add more muti media elements or photos to make your content more engaging and appealing to readers, since it can be difficult to hold interest with little to no visuals. The lengths of your posts are nice and long, so there is no shortage of information, which is great. I also love how someone reading your blog can clearly see the progression of your thought while developing your film. You do a great job of allowing readers to follow you along on your journey of creating this movie.
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