“Violence” By Christian Meola
Synopsis
A woman finds the last picture taken of a missing woman on the supermarket floor. Soon after, she disappears.
Directors statement
The idea for Violence came to me during a true crime phase. I was really interested in learning about unsolved mysteries, particularly if there was compelling evidence of an abduction or murder of an unsuspecting person. In many cases, photographs or memorabilia of the victim are left to be found. However, this evidence is not enough to lead to any conclusions about what happened; it's just a haunting reminder that something happened.
Violence is an exploration of how these real-life scenarios could create a "horror" film. However, rather than build terror that culminates in graphic content, I wanted to strip the film of genre conventions and place emphasis on the photographs as horror itself. I wanted to convey that even though we occupy environments under constant surveillance (like grocery stores monitored by security cameras), it's still possible for a person to exit the frame and disappear forever. No matter how safe we might feel, we can't rely on the photographic image and being recorded to protect us.
As a filmmaker, I was not just interested in playing with the idea of a horror film, but also eager to experiment with how a story could be told through many types of image-making technology (polaroid camera, security footage) to create one cohesive vision of a singular event.
Thank you for watching my film! If you see a polaroid on the supermarket floor, think twice about picking it up!
Credits
Starring: Katherine Ambrosio & Jenn Bullington
Written & Directed by Christian Meola
Produced by Ryan Martin Brown & Paula Andrea Gonzalez
Director of Photography: Melina Valdez
Editor: Jake Hammond
Production Designer: Nicole Machon
Colorist: Victor Ingles
Visual Effects: Christian Klein
“Violence” was submitted to us by Christian Meola. Have a film of your own you’d like us to check out? Click here!