AICE Media Studies

 1. How do your products reflect social groups or social issues? Our short film Silent Echoes conveys the silent and often invisible struggle with mental illness in teenagers and young men in general. The 17-year-old protagonist embodies the internalized pressure many teenagers feel to be tough and strong on the outside while possibly being depressed on the inside. The representation is important because young men statistically receive less mental illness aid because they're influenced by stigma. Depicting the protagonist to be outwardly happy with his girlfriend and among his peers helps to break the myth that depression always looks like isolation or sadness. His moments of zoning out, white-knuckling the steering wheel, or quietly staring at the ceiling are subtle but effective indicators of inner struggle. These real representations force the viewer to understand that mental illness can be in plain sight.      Also, the film raises the bigger social issue of just...