A short summary of your project

We are raising £1000 to create our graduation film to raise awareness surrounding epilepsy with a punk theme.  We are aiming to engage our audience to see different sides of epilepsy that may not always be thought about, such as absent seizures, brain fog or motor issues. Petit Mal is a type of seizure that may not be big and extreme but can be equally as bad and severe. A young person struggling with epilepsy may begin to neglect their strict lifestyle when it comes to their medication or well rested atmosphere, when they have a new sense of freedom. This can cause trouble for their condition. 

So why did we choose Punk? 

Teens or young adult subcultures are a great vehicle to explore the 'coming of age' genre. Punk is inherently countercultural and rebellious, which mirrors our protagonist's desire to push back against the figures of authority in his life and his aims to gain independence and move away from his sheltered family dynamic. Punk offers a chance for young people to challenge the status quo- both on a personal level with adults around them and also on societal issues at large. This would tie into our protagonist's identity as their disability was stigmatised at the time by society and medical professionals (and continues to be today).

Why did we choose epilepsy? 

Authentic representations of disability on screen are few and far between- especially when focusing on teenagers and young adults. Epilepsy is far more common than the majority of people realise and can come with much more nuanced symptoms and issues when going about everyday life. For example, many just associate the condition with 'grand mal'- a type of seizure that causes loss of consciousness and violent muscle contractions, and not memory and thinking problems, mental health issues, physical problems because of seizures and premature death. 1 in 100 adults and 130,000 children and young people have epilepsy in the UK.

Who are we?

Meet our team: 

Abigail - Producer - In charge of Money, Location and Distribution.

Emilia & Noah - Co-Directing - In charge of creating the visuals and bringing the story off the paper.

Jack - Cinematography - Using the camera to create an immersive story.

Soomin - Art Director (With help from Jem and Emilia) - In charge of Props and Set Design.

Jem - Writer - In charge of create the story on paper.

Jem & Emilia - Art Direction Support - In charge of Costume and help with Set Design.

Noah - Editor - In charge of editing the footage to create the film and designing to sound to match.  

Your story

We created this idea based on the thought of raising awareness for epilepsy as while it's common and most people know what it is, as a whole, society is very under-educated about what effects it can have on people's lives. 

It was specifically close to home as Jem, our writer has immediate family members who suffer from the condition, and it became extremely important to her to create a story based on this, not only to raise awareness but to have something she can be close to. 

Where will the money go?

The money that we raise will go towards the following things:

- Venue Hire - This is the most costly part of a short film being able to choose a place to film that offers a cheap rate and liability insurance can cover - Up to £300

- Costumes - It’s a punk theme in the 1970’s we need to be able to source authentic clothes that fit in with the genre - £200-£250

- Props/Set Dressing/Makeup - Similar to the costume, we want to create an atmosphere that would be authentic to the time and theme - £200

- Catering for Actors - We want to provide our actors with food, drink and snacks at a bare minimum - £50

- Paying our Actors - We would love to be able to pay our actors daily for contributing to our project - Up to £500

- Extra Equipment - Any equipment that we may not be able to source from the university that we deem necessary for our production - Up to £100

Rewards

• If any person donates £20 or more we offer you to be named in the credits! - How cool would it be to see your name on a short film?!
• If you donate £30 or more we offer to send you a personalised thank you message from the cast and crew, and your name in the credits!!

Find us here

Our official Instagram handle is @petit.mal_gradfilm

Be sure to follow us to find out how we're doing!

Help us succeed!

• We need as many people as possible to be talking about our project. Everywhere you can think of!
• You don't need to give money to help us succeed! Please share this project with anyone you think would support us – on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, by email, telephone, in a chat over the fence or on your blog.
• In fact, share it with everyone you know as we think it's a great idea, and the more people who know about it, the more likely we are to make this work out brilliantly.
• And we know we said you don't need to give money to help us, but we'd love it if you did! Please sponsor us and help make this happen.