Living Life: No apologies

Working title: Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll.




1) WORKING HYPOTHESIS and INTERPRETATION
In life I believe that… each person has their own interpretation of what is "acceptable" in life.
My project will show this in action by exploring… someone who lives outside of conventional societal, and legal, norms.
Ultimately I want the audience to feel — and understand that — there are two sides to every opinion.

 2) TOPIC
My subject, S, is a fifth-year college student. S is involved in illegal drugs and casual sex, but it is part of her every day life. She was raised catholic and is now a religion major.
I will have S discuss herself, and how she came into the life she now lives. She was a closeted lesbian until college, and since her arrival, she has become a new person. I want her to explain the drastic change in her life.

 3) ACTION
I intend to shoot her doing various drugs as part of her daily life, trying new drugs for the thrill of it, going to clubs, picking up women and generally film her experiences.
These activities are typical in her life and I want to show that it is simply a different way of living from the "conventional" societal standards.

4) MAIN SUBJECT(S)
I will obviously focus on S and her life, but I will also try to include interviews and contact with the people she does these activities with. For example, shooting her hanging out smoking with her friends or flirting with someone at a bar. Mostly I want to show her interactions with the people around her and how her lifestyle affects her relationships with them (for example, the casual sex).

5) CAMERA INTERVIEWS
I think a lot of the video will have to be from S' point of view, simply because of the illegal activities. If I could get people to talk about the lifestyle and how S relates to them, that would be great. Otherwise, I think a lot of this will be visual, and less based on interviews with others.

6) STRUCTURE
I think a video and a photo set would be the best way to tell this story. I think a lot of this is a visual aspect, to get people to see the humanity in something they typically write off as "bad."
I will probably not go in a progression of time with this piece, rather, show a general slice-of-the-life story. However, if circumstances have it that something occurs later on which makes S' life take an unexpected turn, I would work with that, and show a before and after.

7) LOGISTICS
S is a student, so it makes it much easier to find time to shoot. During the day, I expect she will typically be busy with classes. Therefore, I expect a lot of shooting to be done evenings and nights.

8) RESOLUTION
 I really want this piece to change the mind of some of the viewers. I want people to see another side of something they consider wrong. I want to show the humanity in everyone, and how S is living life to the fullest, no apologies, no regrets, and how it works for her.

~JD