jrowe

In this PSA, I wanted to take the audience down to the perspective of someone with substance use issues, to validate those who believe they are alone in this particular battle, and also give perspective to those who want to understand and help their young ones. I wanted to emphasize also that change is not as easy as it may appear, especially when behaviors are driven by mental health conditions, but in order to heal, reaching deep inside to find those underlying issues is a hope and future in itself, which is the symbolism I wanted to visually display. I hope to give room for a feeling of recognition particularly to those who may relate to this PSA, or have seen their loved ones in this position, because they tend to be the ones who want to feel free the most, and are looked upon as the opposite, due to their current definition of freedom being different. I wanted to show that it is possible to change, and change is finding the freedom within yourself and from the substance, and to remember that where you came from does not define you, instead it could build your potential.

We wanted to bring in a wide variety of students to help viewers to lead a healthy substance free life and understanding the importance of having a reason for it. Our main goal was to demonstrate the impact of positive peer influence on teenagers lives.

My submission is a short film about substance use and the power of personal choice. It follows a young man who receives an invitation to go out, and while he initially considers it, he begins imagining what could happen if he makes the wrong decision. The film shows the possible physical and emotional consequences he might face, allowing viewers to step inside his fear. In the end, he chooses not to go and instead chooses himself, his health, his future, and his well-being.

Ethan is attending a high school party at a big house. He meets up with a dealer in a bedroom, hoping to catch a narcotic high or social boost for $10. After the implicit consumption of the entire bag (not shown on camera), his vision begins to blur and become pinpointed while he slumps on a bed. Unbeknownst to him, laced within the substance is fentanyl. In one scenario, the partygoers don’t notice. In another, an alert friend sees Ethan’s fall in his peripheral vision and rushes over to check his pulse—it’s slowing. He shouts for someone to call 911, and he is handed the phone. The first responder asks a series of questions, and the friend is inferred to have performed CPR to sustain Ethan. Finally, he is asked “do you have naloxone?” With the guidance of the dispatcher, the friend administers naloxone through thigh injection. Minutes later, sirens swell in volume as Ethan asks “what happened?” and his friend fills him in.

A Light in the Dark tells the story of a teenage boy who appears happy on the outside to his family and friends but is quietly struggling with substance abuse and feels disconnected to not only himself, but to the people around him. His repeated use of substances dig him deeper into a state of low motivation and isolation, continuing to make him feel stuck. However, when the world seemed too dark, he realized he could break the cycle with talking to the people around him, like his friends and family, and he is able to be vulnerable and talk about his experiences, which was the real light in the dark.