A  Film by Jiayao (Cherry) Lin

With the rise of social media, unattainable beauty standards have become prevalent in today’s society. Our protagonist Carlie suffers from regular panic attacks due to the permanent scar on her face and needs medication for her anxiety. Every time she opens her social media, the feed is filled with beautiful faces that she knows she could never compare to. Until she discovered the website that could erase her scar and give her a whole new identity. Carlie’s life began to change, her online persona quickly grew a fan base which gave her the confidence she never had. But when her true self was accidentally revealed to the public, she finally realized that she was already the best version of herself. 

For this short film, I wanted to use colours as a medium for conveying moods, and I was able to achieve this through the use of LED lights. The five most predominant colours I chose are red, green, purple, pink and blue, each representing Carlie’s different state of mind. Red is commonly perceived as a sign of danger, therefore when Carlie is experiencing panic attacks, red lights were pulsing in the back along with the sound of an increased heartbeat. The colour green used at the beginning of the video establishes a sense of mystery, it leaves an unsettling feeling in the audience, as if evil is just lurking around the corner. Purple lights indicate the protagonist’s sense of curiosity as she first discovers the A.I. generating website. The colour pink was then used throughout the scenes of Carlie’s live stream, creating this perfect yet unattainable fantasy. Lastly, when Carlie’s fake identity fell apart, I used the colour blue to wash the room, in an attempt to convey a sense of sadness and shame. 

Although I had the opportunity to be in a group, I ended up completing the assignment individually. It was quite a challenge taking on all the roles in a production, it made me appreciate every department of a film crew and allowed me to develop practical skills in each of these areas. In future projects, I am ready to collaborate with others and share my knowledge gained from this assignment with my fellow peers.