Bound by the pressure of a concluding semester, eight TCC students put together an onscreen love story riddled with suspense and unpredictability in just three days.
Written and directed by NE student Matthew Paget, “My Love” follows the main character, Sam, as he works up the courage to ask out his crush and classmate, Veronica.
However, what presents as a school boylikes- girl cliche alludes to something more sinister with writing and post-production magic.
This ulterior plot was something Paget said he wanted to introduce from the beginning.,
“I had the idea of starting in a dark room where the audience isn’t really able to know what’s going on,” he said. “It’s creating this starting image with just a little bit of confusion, and then leaving it up to interpretation.”
No stranger to the directing scene, Paget said the script set this film apart from his previous projects.
“Nowadays, a lot of the tech can be glamorized, and anybody can become a filmmaker or content creator,” he said. “Making a film is about telling a story. After I finished my screenwriting class last year, I wanted to implement all of that knowledge … And so the script felt like a huge improvement.”
According to Paget, the success of the film’s writing was not accomplished alone, but came after the review and support of fellow filmmakers.
“I’ve had some friends challenge the end, and how the film moves along and how the audience starts to care for the characters in it,” he said. “Now, the viewer has this sense of wanting the character to succeed.”
Among those friends was Bronwyn Beasley, a Radio, Television and Film alum, who played Veronica and worked as an assistant director.
Beasley said there were several shifts in the storyline between its introduction and execution, including enhancing her character and adding details that furthered Paget’s goal of continued suspense.
“We took it to more of a fantastical and magical place,” she said. “That hopefully kept that theme of suspense so everyone’s on the edge of their seat while watching it.”
However, playing a more complex character came a greater responsibility to the portrayal, which Beasley said put a strain on balancing her on- and off-camera roles.
“I was hoping I wouldn’t let one or the other suffer,” she said. “My acting persona is quite different than an assistant director’s persona. With Veronica, there was a level of unseriousness and carefree energy that I wanted to give her. As assistant director, that is the opposite of what I’m trying to portray.”
While most short films are shot over an extended period of time, Beasley said the decision to shoot over 72 hours allowed the crew to more efficiently work around student scheduling.
“If we had it spread out over months, it wouldn’t have been consistent,” she said. “The continuity would’ve been off, people get different haircuts, people get their nails done, people get tan as the sun is out more. Things like that people who aren’t in film don’t necessarily think about.”
Beasley said she hopes the audience connects with Sam, who Paget describes as an awkward lead, inspired by 19 to 25-year-olds
unsure of what they want.
“There are plenty of guys out there that don’t realize that girls are into them,” Paget said. “It’s like an ‘Oh s**t’ moment.”
RTVF student Nathan Vasquez said that while being the most challenging role he’s played, incorporating his own trials helped build his character, Sam.
“I had to dig deep into past experiences to bring out [Sam’s] insecurities and show them through my mannerisms, my actions and my facial expressions,” he said. “This character helped me look back and see how I’ve changed from being such an insecure, closed person to more outgoing. The things I do now, I would have never done in the past.”
Despite the continuous hints at something lurking between the plot lines, Vasquez said he wants the audience to still pay attention to each character’s complexities and what they represent.
“I don’t want the romance and insecurity to be overlooked when you’re looking at the relationship between Sam and Veronica,” he said. “This film is also about the mental challenges and the courage in wanting something like a relationship and making the first move.”
