This long-forgotten "written report," produced in the summer of 2005, accompanied the submission of my 2nd short film Does Free Speech Matter? (you can find the short film here) to the 2nd Annual Youth Free Expression Film Contest (the subtitle and theme of the contest was "Does Free Speech Matter?"):
All entries must be accompanied by a page-long written report that explains the intent in making the film, the creative process, and technical accomplishments. All participants should be identified and their roles in the film stated.
Over the past several years, certain unprecedented events have drastically altered our political atmosphere. And over the past several decades, a major technological shift in communication has altered the way people participate as a collective nation to respond to such changes. It is through these steadfast rights-defending institutions, such as the National Coalition Against Censorship, that the long-ago ascribed rights of the people are protected and maintained through these new times. The “Does Free Speech Matter?” short film contest, hosted by the National Coalition Against Censorship allowed me to engage my creative/artistic energy to address, in a cinematic medium, this very important question.
As the sole artist and craftsperson behind the production of my short film entry, my intent for the project was to produce a short film that conveyed the sense of futility and pessimism that now seems to accompany talk of the liberal tradition that was the foundation of this nation’s structure. I aimed more for a feeling of the current environment to respond to the question instead of a more descriptive, explicit, verbal assessment of whether free speech mattered or not. Movies are better for these purposes.
The creative process for the short film consisted of a great diversity of tasks that needed to be performed. I began the process with a massive amount of brain-storming which is usually the longest part of any production process for a movie. Through this, I decided upon making a narrative film (a retrospective look at the year of the beginning of the Iraq War from the point of view of a small family headed by a democratically invigorated father) because it was easily supported by my surrounding, available resources. Once I established this, I finalized all the details such as dialogue and how I was going to construct the movie in terms of editing and sound design. Next came the casting of the main characters, Abraham Vanizetti and his son, for which I enlisted my older brother (Alonso J. Rhenals) and one of my young cousins (Samuel Valencia). The shooting of the video commenced after all this had been done. And after the video footage was collected, the second-heaviest part of the creative process followed in the editing room where I utilized the non-linear editing system on my computer. What occurs in the editing room is an amazing mixture of spontaneous improvisation and strict adherence to what was established during the brainstorming/writing phase earlier on. The film is completed in this final stage.
Finally, the technical accomplishments for this short film production are primarily due to the remarkable nature of digital video. During the actual shooting of the film, I was able to edit footage minutes after I had shot it because of the ease of transfer from my camera to my computer’s editing program. Also, the versatility of image manipulation in the editing stage of the production allowed further control over the final product. Enhanced speed and control made possible by these digital tools played a major role in this production. This is a very encouraging prospect for anyone interested in making movies.
Calling people to their cameras and instruments of cinema for the purposes of addressing the question of whether free speech matters is a stimulating event. We are not strangers to this form of communication. It surrounds us day after day in an infinite loop. It is a language we understand and prefer over the literate or print-based alternative but it is not a language that is often used to carry the message of the People. Fortunately, the growing ease and availability of digital video is making it more possible for the general population to access this powerful medium and short film contests such as these serve as invaluable encouragement.
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