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Despina

A project by: Ariel Looper

Successful

WE RAISED £700

from 6 donors

This project received pledges on Wed 10 Jun 2020
A young daring woman from California travels to the desert to uncover its mysteries

A short summary of MY project

I’m raising money for my dissertation film for my masters degree at Kingston University. With this money we will be able to pay for a car to rent, props for the film, provide lunch and transportation for our actors. Any amount at all helps!

Who aM I?

I am a MA student finishing with dissertation film. Unfortunately due to the virus I am completing this film home in California without my fellow classmates. This presents many challenges for me as I will now have to complete this project on my own. However, I am determined to film this while meeting the challenges of social distancing. That is why the location of the desert is so important in terms of finding a space where one can be totally isolated as well as using it to push my film further.

My story

A clear image that came to me when I was first thinking about this script was a modern take on the classic femme fatale. That modern take includes having a mixed race actress in that classic Hollywood role and more than that a more accurate version of what one living in Southern California most commonly looks like. For me it is a way to take that image of the Hollywood golden age actress and make it my own in a way that doesn’t feel like a parody so much as it is a new version of an old scene. The setting of California provides so many tributes to that era of Hollywood that it becomes hard for me to ignore when looking at these settings from a writers prospective. When I drive down a dusty highway I visualize this girl in a hair wrap with sports gloves on racing away but I envision it as women who look more like me. Along with this modernization, though this femme fatale aspect of bringing about destruction and being somewhat unassuming to those that underestimate her, there will not be bigger male role that the film is centered around. Most importantly to me is to avoid the concept of women's sexuality being inherently dangerous to men and that sexy women are somehow evil. Instead I want to have what feels more like a reverse 007 dynamic in the sense that the female lead is tuff and intoxicating and even at times having more traditionally masculine qualities in terms of personality and inner desires.

Where will the money go?

£ 50 - Pay for our actors lunch and travel

£ 100 - Covers car rentals

£ 150 - Can cover the above + some props

£ 200 - The above + All props

£ 300 - The above + food and travel for pick up shots which are always necessary

Rewards

We will provide a copy of the film as well as add your name to our credits