BRONX HISTORY MONTH

When I originally started writing DEEP REST, it was intended to be a simple slice of life piece about the dramas affecting the household I grew up in. A personal page from my history, viewed in my own mental format. My intended purpose was to perhaps better understand the situation I was brought up in, interactions in DEEP REST were meant to be refracted culminations of repeated discussions and circumstances from the point of view of a child. The original dialogue, lead me to the idea of making this short film script into an animation. Proving to be a vague endeavor, I found some difficulty in how I was to portray the visuals. Eventually, I came to the conclusion that in order to make this piece truly personal, I had to incorporate my actual family members into this piece. I decided that the best way to develop this screenplay was to think more critically about the times, places and people in the events of this story. For inspiration, I started to pour over my mother's collection of family photos. Finally the photos then became the actual piece, when I discussed with my mother what I planned to do with my animation; the issue of identity came up as a serious concern.

I was expected to keep the dignity of my family by limiting what I revealed to the public. This obstacle sparked inspiration; I decided to employ the use of masks, the only challenge now was how to keep the personal feel of my character's masks. I decided that the best way to do this was to use a style of mask that illustrated their faces, but also kept their identities discreet. I immediately came up with the idea to use a style of mask I had been experimenting with for a few years previously. The masks represented to me a cage, and this cage was to me what everyone seemed to possess' unwanted responsibility. As the piece unfolded, I thought that the best way to communicate our position to my audience was to start learning about how the world viewed my place and its situation.

My research revealed wide-ranging negative opinions of the Bronx. More often than not, the Bronx was associated with poor education and shoddy family structure. And while my place is quite unique, sadly my story isn't; this reinforced the desire to tell my story. In the name of perspective DEEP REST deals with the topic of the objective view. As a child, I am sure that I didn't get the whole story straight, naove in the emotional knowledge of adults, the dialogue is portrayed as segmented and emotionally skewed. To further underpin this perspective, I use my own voice for all the dialogue between the characters; this choice suggests me as the narrator.

Now that I am no longer a physical member of the Bronx social scene, it can be said that I have made it away from this land shrouded in social rivalry. In a larger way, I created this body of work to help the people from my brand of civilization. Hopefully, my work can bring to light the psychic prisons formed as a result of commercial influences. Once this is attained, we can work towards peace and financial stabilization in my areas.