So! During the course of the holidays, I was given some feedback by my peers. One concerned that my narrative doesn’t stray too far into the message of ‘people are too sensitive’ because it will likely cause backlash. They also added that the underling message appears to lean on the idea of ‘freedom of speech’. To that, I say “I n co r r e c t.”
As much as I appreciate the worry, the message remains ‘acceptance’. Nobody is damning those who call out Orion and judge him- they all have a point. The thing to consider however is that, he doesn’t judge them at all. He accepts that they have their views and doesn’t point a finger back. And to his friends/classmates, he merely feels isolated because this idea of ‘acceptance’ isn’t reciprocated in the slightest. Besides, they don’t have to judge him. If the people around him bothered to get to know him and realise that his habit doesn’t define him, then they could help him. Sometimes habits are too hard to break. Try to stop yourself from blinking. Or sneezing. It’s not natural. Orion’s habit is, in a sense, natural. His brain will process a happening as funny and so he automatically laughs at it. isn’t that how laughter works?
Anyway, moving on, another asked me about the weaving loop and expressed how Orion’s story reminds them of the movie ‘Joker’. And yes, his story does bare a lot of resemblance to that film. The difference is only that Orion doesn’t have a mental condition. He does however suffer depressive episodes from his living environment so laughter is basically something to really hold onto next to dressing up. It makes him feel good.
I won’t delve too far into the that but essentially that is the crux of it. About the weaving loop, I spoke about all to do with that concept in ‘behind the smile p2’.
Finally, feedback from the tutors. One thing that stuck out the most is the worry “Careful the character doesn’t look like a maniac.” I 100% agree with that, because considering I’m constantly developing Orion in my head and elsewhere, no one else can really see that he’s as innocent and pleasant as he looks if he can be caught laughing at: A paraplegic falling out of their wheelchair, child getting hit with a basketball, man saying that he was molested by a midget, etc. I need the balance, which was one of my main themes from the beginning of the Testing Testing unit.
Also, what can I do to show the audience that he can’t help it. I can’t have him explaining why he finds something funny all throughout my film. And even if he did explain it, it’s not something everyone would understand.
It’s something I’ll really look into because, thus far I have his humour and his struggles but not proof of his good nature that gets overlooked.
Next, the ending. The journey to the ending. I typically want there to be 3 story arc that can act as a sort of template for whatever story I choose to go with. 1)Orion laughing at a socially unacceptable moment, 2) The disdain from the public and 3)Orion escaping to eventually find acceptance (whether through the loop or new individual or even himself.)
Audience is for sure not going to be children. The jokes I may or may not use might end up being offensive and the meaning may well fly over their heads. As for what response I want, I’d say that I want them to see Orion introduced as a cute, bubbly character. Then I want to ruin their expectations and have them question if they really like Orion after all or think he might be a villain. And finally, I want them to empathise with him at the end. Understand him and feel glad that he finally found peace in acceptance.
Next was: what I want from this. I explained prior about the audience, but thinking outside the box a little, I want to bring the lack of acceptance in the world to light. For some reason, as long as you aren’t mentally ill, or struggling with identification, all your problems become invalid. People are made to feel like they’re complaining unless something is gravely wrong with them and that sentiment can end up sending said struggling individual into that same space. It isn’t JUST one thing. It isn’t black and white. People who are surrounded by people can still be alone, people who look like they have the hang of things can actually not have the hang of anything, people who are loud and talkative can still be introverted- you don’t know. Nobody knows. So mind your business and just accept that they are who they are. You are an outsider- you shouldn’t force labels to suit your own understanding.
That ended as a rant but I’m very passionate about it. If I can make the audience feel the way I wanted them to, then I’ll have gotten my message across.
Moving on, I was given crystal advice to ‘not overexplain’. I’m going to take that with a bag of salt because that’s what I need in order to leave some parts of my film open to interpretation. I will heed that through all other stages of my development.
In conclusion, I’m very pleased with all of the feedback. All of the good feedback too (^w^) I’m glad that people like my character and my idea and I’m all the more hyped to continue…
but not now because I’m exhausted. I need to focus on my thesis.
Ciao for now~