Senior film explores gender and sexuality
Written by Abhijit Roy
Screenshot courtesy of Tara O’Sullivan
“Take With Water” is one of the films that will be screened in the Spring Senior Showcase at SCAD. Students who major in film and television are required to create a 10-minute short film as their senior project. Tara O’Sullivan, a fourth-year film and television major from Norfolk, Virginia, is the writer and director of “Take With Water.”
“The central theme of the film is embracing one’s self and sexuality completely,” O’Sullivan said. She arrived at the idea for the movie after rejecting many ideas and scripts she had written during the preceding fall quarter. While the movie is completely fictional, it is inspired by real-life situations and, more specifically, the awkward and uncomfortable moments of life.
The awkwardness in the film comes from the very basis of the movie. The lead character has a one-night stand and the film is about her dealing with it on a physical and mental level. O’Sullivan has written comedy before but this is her first directorial venture into the humorous side of film.
“There’s a sort of trust that comes from making people laugh,” she said. “They respond to the film better and understand the message easily.”
Though the movie does not try to preach or have any specific message, it does deal with female empowerment and the double standards set regarding gender behavior.
“I tend to write a lot of female leads,” O’Sullivan said. “It helps that I am woman so I can relate to that more, but I also think that there is a big lack of female leads in Hollywood or the film industry in general.”
Though not intended to be so, all but one of the department heads in the film’s crew are female. All praise for the crew that she works with, O’Sullivan said the fact that there are so many females in the crew helps them become more passionate about the movie because they see themselves in the film.
“You can get anybody to work on your project, but if you get someone passionate about it, then you do not have to motivate them. They do it themselves,” O’Sullivan said.
The film is aimed at an audience between the ages of 18 and 35. O’Sullivan conceded that though it is difficult to make female-centric movies, audiences are becoming a lot more accepting of them and some people are attracted to the project for that reason. When asked about the other issues she has faced while making the movie, location and casting have been major red-flags.
For the only male role in the movie, O’Sullivan’s team auditioned more than 300 people for the role using 800Casting.com and Backstage.com before finally settling on their choice. Location wise, the team had difficulty finding a pharmacy that was willing to allow them to film there. They found one in Jacksonville, Florida, and have only recently returned from filming there.
