Blog Assignment #1: Artist Statement

Blog 1: Artist Statement

            Have you ever visualized creating a narrative and making it come alive? I can say I have. I began writing short stories since I was nine years old. They were usually between two to three pages long. As I grew older I have expanded from short story length to feature film length. The horror genre in both film and literature has heavily influenced my life. I grew up watching horror films and reading Gothic literature since I was six years old. The Gothic authors I admired growing up include: Edgar Allen Poe, Bram Stoker, and H.P. Lovecraft who later came to be known as the “Masters of Horror”. These authors explored the concept of death and the evils of society. The sub-genres that I feel influenced me the most was the slasher and supernatural genre. The films I grew up watching include: Friday the 13th (1980), A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), and Final Destination (2000). I find that these films express their creative side and re-evaluated the horror genre. What do I mean by re-evaluated you might ask? These films introduced audiences to the splatter era with its gory kills and jump scares which always sticked with me as I grew up. 

  

The horror genre was designed to invoke viewers’ fears by causing a sense of dread and gave us nightmares. The genre did the opposite for me. I never once was terrified after watching these films and found the genre so entertaining on how the stories were structured. The individuals in my life that I see as my personal motivation are my parents, my older brother, and friends from school because they have been with me since day one and helped me adapt to the world around me. I want to explore the dark places many are afraid of stepping into as well as exploring the mind’s psyche with my films. I have incorporated past memories told to me by my parents, qualities of my friends or family and the hardships they went through into my stories. I want the viewer to do the same and reflect on their personal relationships with their friends and family while putting themselves into the story. I will be pursuing a degree in Film while focusing on Screenwriting and Directing.