Abstract:
The normalization, glamorization, and stigmatization of mental illness has been a problem in
film for years. Today the popular television show; 13 Reasons Why (2017) and films such as
Pixar’s Inside Out (2015) have brought mental health awareness into the mainstream media for
the good and the bad. More recently, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has magnified the
outcry for mental health awareness due to the increase in mental illness. In this paper, I discuss
the process of creating a short film that depicts generalized anxiety disorder and social anxiety
during the pandemic, and how anxiety can impact a person on a daily basis. I discuss my
research, pre-production, filming, post-production process, and rationale behind my filming
decisions.
Here is a link to the short film, The Autonomy of Alex Jones: https://youtu.be/JP-1KS-6vg0
