Through Her Eyes

THE STORY:

A bright-eyed teen girl experiences a rude awakening to womanhood after a night with her prom date goes south, triggering a self-transformative experience.

Sirena anxiously gets ready for prom as she awaits the arrival of her handsome date, Mason. Pressured under her mother’s watchful eye, Sirena fixates on the details and imperfections of her appearance. Upon Mason’s arrival, the two leave as Sirena’s mother leaves her with subtle reminders to smile and stand up straight. Mason drives the two to a park across the street from school, where he pulls out a flask of alcohol stolen from his parent's liquor cabinet. He pressures Sirena to join him, but she insists on staying out of trouble. Mason ignores her wishes and comes onto her, kissing her neck and slipping a hand underneath her dress. Sirena turns her head to look out the window, frozen in fear. She stares out the passenger window where she lays eyes on a full moon. Mason recoils after finding blood on his hand, cursing at Sirena. Her stare becomes blank, a tear rolling down her cheek as she dissociates. A special connection is made between her and the moon as she gazes into its glow. She transforms, a blood-thirsty grin replacing her silent weeping. She adjusts her posture, turns to face Mason, smiles, and kisses him. Mason struggles underneath her grasp until he stops moving. Sirena pulls away to reveal a lifeless Mason. She snaps out of her trance-like state and screams at the discovery.

WHY IT'S IMPORTANT TO ME:

This short is about the horrors of being a woman, the darker side of girls’ coming-of-age stories.

The uncomfortable changes of puberty, the newfound attention from boys, the loss of innocence, and the fear of embracing one’s sexuality or femininity are themes that I am grappling with in this project.

Underlying these themes there is a call to action for young women to challenge societal expectations of being a “nice girl.” What it means to be a "nice girl" is that by being too nice, women can send a message to those who already have a tendency to use and abuse. The message is: “My need to be seen as nice (or fair or sweet) may be more powerful than my instinct to protect myself.” This behavior is a result of society’s pressure on women to be unrealistically and unrelentlessly polite, appropriate, pleasant, and agreeable.

In this piece, I combat this norm by empowering women in their inherent strength, menstruation. Menstruation is deemed shameful or embarrassing for many, but it is pivotal in this story as a symbol of divine femininity. Menstruation perpetuates humanity and should be celebrated today and every day, rather than hidden behind shame and disgust. Period cycles are often correlated with the moon and its phase cycles, so the moon also plays a large role in the film by instigating Sirena’s transformation to a siren type of force (hence her name).

Sirena's final reaction to Mason's murder symbolizes survivor's guilt, in which victims experience feelings of self-blame. They often feel that they somehow provoked the attack through appearance or behavior, some even going so far as to not identify the action as sexual assault.

HOW FUNDS WILL BE USED:

In order to bring this story to life, we will need your support in funding our departments. The story is a largely visual one that will require significant use of SFX makeup, wardrobe, and production design to paint the picture effectively and set the tone well. Additionally, crafty will be an essential expense for our weekend shoot.

Any donation amount is greatly appreciated! Please spread the word and help us to tell this story in the best way that we can! :)