Ten Second Film Project
Donation protected
I need a little help keeping my mind on a positive track. After returning home from Iraq two years ago I was treated for a torn meniscus by having a partial meniscectomy. While the surgery did help stop the stabbing pains that occurred every time I took a step, it left the joint with a severe lack of cartridge. I now suffer from osteoarthritis. Now, staying on my feet over 40 minutes, walking up stairs, or walking distances over half a mile cause excessive pain, fatigue in the area of the joint and much swelling. This has pushed me into looking for more sedentary work positions.
When I returned from Iraq, my wife was the first to notice that I had changed. Sudden noises startled me, I would unexpectedly go to the peephole and look expecting someone to be there. I continued to get worse until I was advised that I needed to speak with a behavioral health specialist. Shortly there after I was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Depression. This in many ways has affected me more profoundly than the knee injury.
I did manage to land a job that allowed me to stay off my bad knee, for that I am thankful. But the stress of the mental disorders have pushed me onto short-term disability. I find it hard to concentrate or complete tasks that were once easy for me. Now I'm trying to face the fear that I'll never be whole again and won't be able to provide for my wife and I.
In the past couple of years I've been to so many dark places. Sometimes it's so dark you can't find your way out alone, that is why I'm currently in treatment, and this is how you can be my guiding light.
The ten second film project:
I will shoot the film using stop motion shooting 240 still images each one taken on a different day, picking up exactly where I left off. I'll have to make detailed notes as well as write down exact GPS coordinates in my hope is that by completing it over a longer period of time we can see how my daily mood fluctuates and how my treatment helps me see the world. The film will be simple with a narrative structure. There is lens I would like to purchase with these funds. A 50mm prime lens for my Nikon D3200, it retails for 199 on amazon (has now been purchaced, pics to follow), It would give the film an optical point of view that stylistically matches the film's goal of putting you into the position the person with a mental health disorder. I will also record ambient sound while shooting each shot and overlay a recorded message simulating my thought processes over the 240 days. I will use any exposure I might receive from this to bring light the issues facing today's returning soldiers and the long road ahead when they get home. This will serve as a therapeutic and creative outlet that makes me engage with the outside world rather than sit in my apartment.
I know I left Iraq a little worse off than most of the guys I personally know, but I consider myself extremely lucky , because there are still those coming home much worse, or sadly not coming home at all.
When I returned from Iraq, my wife was the first to notice that I had changed. Sudden noises startled me, I would unexpectedly go to the peephole and look expecting someone to be there. I continued to get worse until I was advised that I needed to speak with a behavioral health specialist. Shortly there after I was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Depression. This in many ways has affected me more profoundly than the knee injury.
I did manage to land a job that allowed me to stay off my bad knee, for that I am thankful. But the stress of the mental disorders have pushed me onto short-term disability. I find it hard to concentrate or complete tasks that were once easy for me. Now I'm trying to face the fear that I'll never be whole again and won't be able to provide for my wife and I.
In the past couple of years I've been to so many dark places. Sometimes it's so dark you can't find your way out alone, that is why I'm currently in treatment, and this is how you can be my guiding light.
The ten second film project:
I will shoot the film using stop motion shooting 240 still images each one taken on a different day, picking up exactly where I left off. I'll have to make detailed notes as well as write down exact GPS coordinates in my hope is that by completing it over a longer period of time we can see how my daily mood fluctuates and how my treatment helps me see the world. The film will be simple with a narrative structure. There is lens I would like to purchase with these funds. A 50mm prime lens for my Nikon D3200, it retails for 199 on amazon (has now been purchaced, pics to follow), It would give the film an optical point of view that stylistically matches the film's goal of putting you into the position the person with a mental health disorder. I will also record ambient sound while shooting each shot and overlay a recorded message simulating my thought processes over the 240 days. I will use any exposure I might receive from this to bring light the issues facing today's returning soldiers and the long road ahead when they get home. This will serve as a therapeutic and creative outlet that makes me engage with the outside world rather than sit in my apartment.
I know I left Iraq a little worse off than most of the guys I personally know, but I consider myself extremely lucky , because there are still those coming home much worse, or sadly not coming home at all.
Organizer
Curt Shaffer
Organizer
Phoenix, AZ