"Panic!" A Documentary Treatment

The documentary I'm making, Panic!, is about disorders that cause panic, fear, and even fainting that are passed genetically, and trying to bring awareness that these are actual conditions that have to be taken seriously. 

The beginning of the documentary starts off with interviews of people who do not experience genetic Panic disorders, asking them three questions: what is panic, how often, if ever, do you experience true panic, and what do you think it would feel like to experience panic very often or all the time. The people all had very different responses that gave very interesting viewpoints on how little people know, or how much people know, about the situation of panic disorders.

I interviewed my friend Lindsey Meyers for this video, because she experiences a disorder where every time she sees or thinks avidly about blood, she faints, and after she faints she feels panicky and fears fainting again. She inherited this from her mother, who experiences the same thing as she does. I forget the scientific name of it, but it is a real disorder that people do not take seriously. In the interview, Lindsey talks about how people laugh sometimes when she faints in public instead of giving her the help she needs and taking it seriously. 

I also had Lindsey ask me the same questions that I asked her in her interview, so I guess I kind of interviewed myself for this because I have inherited Panic Disorder from my mom, which means I get panic attacks for genetic reasons rather than situational reasons. Situations definitely can bring them up, but they are not necessarily the cause of it. Sometimes, for me at least, I get panic attacks because I'm scared of having a panic attack. It always starts off with a feeling in your stomach that is similar to when you really have to pee, so you don't know what's the difference until you pee. It's strange, I know, but that's how it is. If this feeling isn't caused by the need to pee, then I get scared even more panicky because I don't want to have a panic attack. Everything feels surreal. Everything feels fake. You become scared beyond all belief. And the worst part about all this? 

It happens two to three times a month. 

For the people I interviewed, they said they experienced panic about twice a year. Think of the difference between people who experience these disorders and people who don't, then question whether this is real or made up. There are still plenty of people who think this is just made by the person. Why on Earth would I bring this upon myself? I wish I could live a normal life.

The goal of this documentary is for me to bring awareness that Panic disorders are real problems for people who experience them, and not made up. 

(A)sexual

I decided to watch this documentary titled (A)sexual because, well, I'm labeled as an asexual. I wanted to see what others had to say on the topic, and how they could make a whole movie on it, because frankly, the subject is kind of boring. You're making a movie about people who don't want to have sex... 

I thought that the filmmakers managed to do a pretty good job at keeping the film entertaining, despite the dull subject. I enjoyed how they interviewed people on all sides of the debate. I really enjoyed that one part where they were talking about the irony of asexuals at the pride parade. That made me giggle, cause it was true. Also, I didn't know that the symbol of asexualism was cake. I'm cool with that.  :)

Towards the end it started getting kind of repetitive. I suppose that was to be expected when you're talking about a subject that doesn't really have a lot to talk about. I can sum up the movie to you in one sentence: (A)sexual is about how people do not want to have sex are discriminated against for no good reason and how they have all banded together in this group called AVEN to inform others of asexuality. If it's that easy to summarize a documentary, how good is it really?

Exit Through the Gift Shop

I love Exit Through the Gift Shop so much. It is without a doubt my favorite documentary. My dad and I are really interested in Banksy's work, so I know a lot about Banksy. I actually saw this documentary in the theaters, and it really blew me away when I saw it. Not only was it well done and intriguing, but it gave me an amazing insight on the world of graffiti. If you want to talk about filmmakers taking risks, then this is the perfect example. Thierry Guetta, stupid as he may be, was incredible brave to not only go and assist these graffiti artists on tagging some very dangerous places, but he also recorded it! It's so amazing how someone can be so courageous, yet so idiotic at the same time. First time I watched this movie, I thought it was a hoax and that there was no way someone would spend their whole life with a camera in their hands. But as the film progressed, it because more and more clear that this wasn't a hoax, and that this man really was that strange. It intrigues me, too, that Banksy's original intent was to make a documentary about himself, but he decided that Thierry was more interesting. This says a lot about Banksy, doesn't it? We try and think of these unknown people as superheroes almost. But he's probably just a regular English guy, which I think makes him that much more remarkable. I've seen this movie at least 10 times, yet it never ceases to entertain me.