The time is here: It is Bully Awareness Month
Anri Olivier Style
Bullying is very close to my heart. I was hit with it all. It is unbelievable what people come up with, especially at such a young age!
Where do I start? I was called pregnant because I was considered bigger than the cheerleaders, but keep in mind I was proportionally big! I was called a racist because I was born in South Africa, which landed my in the principal's office for months at a time, receiving lectures and unnecessary counseling. I got taunted for my house burning down in South Africa, because there was more than one house on that farm and it was considered humorous and deserving how the house count lowered. I don;t even know how this became a reason for something to pick on me about. On top of that, I also got the 'typical' crap because I wore the same pants or shirt two days in a row.
Children are viscous. This all happened in middle school alone! It is unbelievable how easy it is to just throw something at someone without a care in the world. The one thing I disrespected the most out of all this, is that all these bullies did not even consider what anyone was/is going through on top of the noise they are throwing at kids.
YOU DON'T KNOW THE SITUATION!!!! What if I was bigger because I was born with diabetes, or my house burnt down because it was intentionally started? Everything happens for a reason, and for reasons we cannot explain or control. Reminding someone over and over about an internal issue that you can't even begin to explain causes suicide, that is like secondhand homicide. It is remarkable that so many people make it out of grade school alive and sane.
For these reasons, my concept/direction is, "You Don't Know the Situation/Circumstances."
I have one concept but I have two ways I am thinking about tackling it. One is with a specific victim, and the other one is to exclude the person and have the audience place themselves in the story. I think the second one is more powerful. I don't want them to associate my story with the one girl I would have chosen. Bullying is universal and happens to every gender, every race, just every living soul in general. I want people to associate themselves with the video and recognize their struggles.I want this to open up eyes, especially the self-righteous ones.
So the story I created, I grabbed from not only generic bully stories, but personal experiences. This is meant to connect to a wider audience. My story is about a girl whose house burned down, with this went all her clothes and all her belongings. She now wears clothes from Goodwill and hand-me-downs from the family. She is picked on for wearing old clothes, being poor, and her 'emo' demeanor. With all the pressure of the school on top of losing everything in the fire, it gets too much to handle, and she commits suicide.
Storyboard Roughs
Concept 1
Concept 2
