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Veronica Joy Espineda

Greg McClure
Writing 39B
30 November 2016
RIP Final Essay
In class, we focused on the horror genre therefore, my group created a short horror film.
The rhetorical situation involves the rhetor, the text and the audience. The rhetor is my group and
the produced short horror movie serves as our text. As stated before, our medium will be through
a short horror film that will be focusing on mental health issues, more particularly in depression
and isolation. Our film will revolve around the true to life circumstances faced by someone
suffering from depression. It also exhibits the after effect of depression which is isolation. The
intended audience for our short horror film is our class, the other class that we presented to and
other scholarly audience. We created our short horror film to target students, professors, and
other staff in a university setting. Our film still contains horror film elements and tropes
specifically a character which serves as a monster. Based on Nol Carroll, a well-known
philosopher and distinguished professor of philosophy at Wesleyan University, in his essay
entitled The Nature of Horror, an art horror genre monster is an extraordinary character in an
ordinary world, a character which is impure and is categorically interstitial (Carroll The Nature
of Horror). We developed our monster character based on these criteria. Our monster is a black
shadowed figure which is a depiction of depression. The black shadowed figure follows our
protagonist and eventually started accompanying her in performing her day to day activities and
errands which then lead to her isolation from her friends and family. The trope of the appearance

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of the black shadowed figure is associated with paranoia, delusion, and even physical illness. We
used this trope as a representation of a mental illness specifically the result of depression which
is feeling lonely and isolation.
We entitled our short horror film I Am Not Alone. When you think about depression
and isolation, you imagine someone being alone and lonely but that is not the case. The reason
we utilized a black shadowed figure acting as the depression is because most people suffering
from it does feel like depression is a person or a figure that is constantly following them. In the
earlier phase, depression is just looming around just like the scene when our black figure can be
seen in a distant not far away from our protagonist. Depression creeps up on a person quietly. In
this stage, you struggle with simple things but you are still able to ignore it. The sadness seems
like a temporary thing that will go away soon. However, it stays and youll feel stuck. As our
film progresses, our black figure becomes visibly closer to our protagonist. This is a
representation of the stage where a person is beginning to feel comfortable living with the
depression. A person begins creating a social mask, attempting to isolate themselves from the
people around them, from the people that love and care for them. They continue to struggle and
get stuck in this unfair state of mind. Until they fall deeper and deeper, until they shut everyone
out. All satisfaction is lost and the lack of motivation continues. Simple tasks become dreadful
and overall, life becomes pointless and meaningless. Constant thoughts of why keep trying?
and getting a response of because nothing makes you feel happy anymore. The scene when the
shadow was seen sleeping with our protagonist is an indication that there is no escaping this
whirlpool of emotions, youre stuck. You continue living without a purpose and the sadness just
gets worst. A person continues to run away and burn bridges with family and friends. You can
attempt to get out of the slump but then realize that it just wont work which eventually becomes

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a cycle of a sudden surge of positivity and just ending up going back to feeling alone. The ending
of our film is with the black figure standing in the middle of road which is ambiguous. Several
outcomes can occur when the depression becomes too unbearable. Either they acknowledge their
situation and decide to obtain help or attempt suicide.
Our purpose in creating a short horror film that focuses on the mental health issue of
depression specifically in a college setting is to spread awareness of this topic which is often
overlooked. We are trying to shine a light in a significant yet seemingly invisible issue most
especially among college students. It is also apparent that mental illness is a universal issue that
is accompanied with stigma. Fueled by this stigma, we are determined to help spread awareness
about this relevant issue and hopefully provide information that can reduce this stigma. Based on
the National Alliance on Mental Illness definition, a mental illness is a condition that affects a
persons thinking, feeling or mood A stressful job or home life makes some people more
susceptible, as do traumatic life events like being the victim of a crime. Biochemical processes
and circuits and basic brain structure may play a role, too (National Alliance on Mental Illness).
There are a lot of stress and pressure that come along with being a college student. It is a crucial
time for young adults, for some it is their first time moving away from home and living on their
own. Due to this, they are left with more responsibilities and it can get overwhelming. On top of
that, there is more overwhelming stress coming from school and from overthinking about
possible outcomes when school is not going well. These factors are constant in college students
which can then lead to mental illnesses such as depression and anxiety among others. These
conditions can also cause a lack of motivation to perform daily activities and to even continue in
their pursuit of higher education. It affects a persons ability to interact with others and it can also

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hinder their everyday life and function. As stated, this is a universal issue that can affect anyone
from every social class depending on the hardships or stress that they are experiencing.
One of my main contribution is that I suggested tackling the theme of depression and
isolation especially among college students. As a college student myself, I also feel the pressure
from school. I feel the need to do well in school which seems impossible without sacrificing time
with family and friends. These factors are potential catalysts to feeling depress and can lead to
depression. I provided my camera equipment and was responsible in filming the different scenes
for the film. I prepared the camera equipment and set up for our scene locations taking in
consideration the lighting that is necessary to set up the scary and creepy tone for our short
horror film. I was also responsible for maintaining the composition of the camera and the camera
angles that is appropriate for the scenes that were filmed. I managed the camera angles to elicit
the sense of horror and suspense for the viewers. I used the camera and made sure that all the
elements such as the lighting of the room is suitable for the frame and the scene. I made sure that
the lighting, composition, and camera movements are coherent in creating the cinematic
production of the scenes that we want for our film. I was responsible in taking care of
choreographing the camera and framing the shots to portray the scary or creepy theme of our
short horror film. Aside from preparing and operating the camera equipment, I worked along
Ethan, Dominique, and Ashlan in the post production of the film. We collaborated and shared our
creative ideas in the editing and sequencing of the scenes that I filmed. It was an ease working
with my group because all of us did our part and performed the tasks that are expected of us
punctually and efficiently. I enjoyed working with my group because we successfully
collaborated which resulted to a project that were all proud of.

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Works Cited
"Best Colleges." n.d. bestcolleges.com. Website. 20 November 2016.
Carroll, Noel. The Philosophy of Horror. New York: Routledge, Chapman and Hall, Inc., 1990. Print.
"National Alliance on Mental Illness." n.d. www.nami.org. Website. 20 November 2016.