Kayleen O'Connor, Angela Gomez, and Sophia Kabir
10th Grade
La Quinta High School
Orange County
Our entry follows the mental health journey of a girl, symbolized by a plant. With each neglectful action for her health, the plant begins to wither, and with each mental health prioritizing action, the plant is nourished. When a friend reaches out, she realizes that she hasn’t put enough care into her mental health and decides to make a change.
In the beginning scene, the camera focuses on the plant and then focuses back on the girl. This shows how easy it is to fall into temptation and compromise your mental health. The camera unfocuses when the leaf falls to represent how she is not yet aware of how she is hurting herself. In the fridge scene, there is a moment of hesitation before deciding to take the cookie, again demonstrating the common compromising of our health. When she closes the fridge, the scene is dark and the plant crumbles. This demonstrates, again, how she is not yet aware of what she is doing to herself and how it is deep down inside of her. In the first staying up late scene, the plant is behind the lamp and not in her direct view. However, after she starts to take care of herself, the plant is directly under the lamp light, representing how she has shed light on the issue that she has been neglecting. The green mental health ribbon is only visible and facing her after she makes the big realization. The ribbon is now visible because she is more aware of the meaning of this plant. This goes to show how we all have the capacity to shift priority if we are able to shift our perspectives.
Our film is inspiring and shows the battles of mental health that so many of us face on a daily basis. We want to show the struggle of making those decisions to engage in healthy behaviors. With our portrayal of common unhealthy actions, we hope our film encourages others to look at their own self and realize how critical nurturing mental health is to growing as an individual.
