An issue of trust

Story Notes

After Leanna's disturbing experience with Ruth, she confides in Bill. She explains that beyond the odd behavior of Ruth, she felt a menacing presence which stirred old primal feelings of fear in her. She posits that perhaps there is something otherworldly going on.

Bill's sympathy for her obvious distress does not stretch far enough to accept this sort of assertion. He rejects it out of hand and immediately gives numerous equally valid explanations for her experience. Leanna has a moment where she must decide if she will accept this rational comfortable explanation, or not. Does she trust her own feelings?

As sublte as it is, this is a major momenf for the character of Leanna. Once she decides that Bill's pat answers do not encompass her experience she then is looking for Bill to suspend his disbelief and simply trust her. But he cannot do this, which results in Leanna feeling betrayed and misunderstood, the way she's felt many times before.

This moment drives a wedge between Leanna and Bill, and isolates Leanna, making her journey secret and solitary.

Filmmaker's Notes

The trust scene was shot in my house at the time. Indie rule number one: Shoot what you own or control. It was a simple scene with only two actors but the lighting and sound were surprisingly challenging. High windows, relfections, echo, loud ambient noise. etc. But my crew were awesome, and the scene ends up being very effective.

I also loved the shot below. Outside of Leanna's window is a wall I often pass on the way to work. When driving by it makes an interesting wave pattern. Besides being a reference to wavelengths of light it also addresses one of the key underlying philosophies of PRISM. The concept of the Holographic Universe posits that we are all part of an implicate order. Later on in the movie Leanna disovers some of this philosophy. I'll quote from her readings in the library.

"Imagine yourself as a wave on the ocean, separate and distinct but connected still to the ocean and every other wave. This is the nature of reality of which we only see the surface. "

Here the universe is givin her signals that she is coming in "tune" with something, but she is unaware of it. Like many of us, we pass right by these signs, these waveforms. Too busy to notice the messages right in front of us.

 
 

Interviews

Selected Scene Explorations

  1. Opening Montage
  2. The Intruder
  3. Opposites Attract
  4. The Hospital
  5. The Patients
  6. First Impressons
  7. An Issue of Trust
  8. First Big Clue
  9. A Door is Opened
  10. Confronting the Witness
  11. Testing a theory
  12. Enter Mason
  13. The Conversation
  14. Leanna is Lost
  15. The Entity Forms a Plan
  16. Leanna's Call, Bill's Epiphany
  17. Only one of us can stay
  18. Resolution

Thoughts and Spooky Production Stories:

HInts and Inspirations.