The College Student: Concentration

The idea for this short came up when I was trying to work on an essay for one of my classes. I usually listen to video game soundtracks to keep me focused on these suffocating assignments. One time, I was listening to a mix of music from various Nintendo games and soon as I heard Moo Moo Farm from Mario Kart 64, I had to take 2 minutes of my time to dance like an idiot. The child-like energy came by really suddenly and left just as quickly. 

I sat on the idea of making a zany short where you see me become euphoric when the music starts playing but I wasn’t sure if the idea had enough substance. On my desk are two toys from my childhood: A Woody doll I bought for $2 at a garage sale and a Sonic toy I bought at a comic book convention in 8th grade. I’ve brought these toys for every single semester of college but because of various life distractions and obligations, all they have ever done is stand awkwardly against a wall or on my alarm clock. They were just what I needed to make the short work. 

The original idea had the College Student(CS) character dive quickly into madness with the music playing although the space around him would reflect on his bleak lifestyle, with brief shots of an unmade bed, debris all over the room, and in hindsight, a depressing shot of someone texting him “STOP CALLING ME”. The original ending cuts from CS leaping in the air with his toys to a medium shot of the back of his head intently typing on the desk, with subsequent shots showing how isolated he is from everything else, and how the toys he interacted with are nowhere to be found. I shared this concept with one of my suite-mates who was worried about how I always injected depression in everything I work on and was troubled by how depression was the punchline of the short.

I retooled the entire idea and tried to maintain a purely comedic tone, making sure that filming the short was as loose and fun as possible. Because of how silly the idea is, I wasn’t completely sure if I was going to follow through with it, especially since the semester's almost over. It was exactly that realization that caused me to take action since, in the past, waiting guaranteed failure. I certainly felt more relaxed filming this than any other project since the focus was on having fun, and I hope that is displayed in the short. I also gave myself some technical challenges to deal with such as making sure the edits were rhythmically in tune with the song and that I was able to have all three of us (Sonic, Woody, and I) onscreen for the penultimate shot. My biggest challenge, though, was pushing down my pretentious filmmaking attitude and telling myself, “Don’t take this seriously. This is supposed to be silly.”

This is, perhaps, the most fun I’ve had working on a project in a long time.  Completing this has already got me excited to write and film more ideas, including a shelved idea that I think deserves a second chance. I won’t mention what it is since it’s better to receive surprises (and it puts less pressure on me). Although I do act like an idiot in the short, I wanted to make sure that this could make anyone in the college community, CWRU or otherwise, suffering through projects and exams take a breather for a short while. We don’t have to take everything so goddamn seriously all the time. Sometimes, we just need to play with our toys.

Music was created by YouTube user Bulby. His channel is filled with fantastic remixes of classic video game music and he even has has his own EP, Bite the Bullet, on his Bandcamp page. Check him out when you've got the chance!