Residential College In the Arts and Humanities senior Ariel Vida produced her own full length film, “Sleep, Wake, Forget,” which tells the story of two brothers living in a post-apocalyptic world. She plans to show her film in early 2012. Courtesy of Ariel Vida
Ariel Vida, a Residential College in the Arts and Humanities senior, started theater at a young age.
After a long run with starring in, writing and directing plays, Vida made her move to film.
Currently, Vida is wrapping up her first full-length film, “Sleep, Wake, Forget.”
The film follows two brothers who survive in a post-apocalyptic world because of their ability to look into the minds of others.
“Through collected memories of a past they never knew, they learned how to survive on their own and how to defend themselves against the creatures that mankind had become,” Vida said.
“The dangers of this world, however, cannot be avoided forever. The infected are uncontrollable (and) deadly; anyone bitten must be killed immediately. But when tragedy strikes, one brother casts aside these rules, stopping at nothing to try to save his only family.”
Vida said she wanted to depict strong family ties in her work and follow the brothers as their bond changes over time.
“I knew I wanted to write something that focused on the bonds of family under extraordinary circumstances, like ‘The Road’ and other stories I have explored,” Vida said. “I hadn’t watched many movies about ‘infected’ people, but as a Danny Boyle fan, I did love ‘28 Days Later,’ and I decided to write about someone who would stop at nothing to save a loved one who was turning into something uncontrollable.”
Vida started working on “Sleep, Wake, Forget” about two years ago as an independent study. After writing the screenplay, saving money for filming and looking at more than 2,000 auditions, shooting finally began in mid-August and continued on weekends once the school year began.
Vida’s MSU Filmmakers Club adviser and film studies professor Bill Vincent said her dedication is what makes her so successful.
“She is extraordinary,” Vincent said. “She’s certainly going to be a success in the business. She’s very focused. She knows what she wants and how to get it, and she’s very ambitious. I mean, a lot of students make short films, but very few make full-length films.”
Assistant film studies professor David Bering-Porter said making films while in school is a valuable endeavor.
“I think that school is a place for active experimentation, and it’s not necessarily constrained by the laws of the movie industry, so they can do really experimental and innovative things with it, and then you never know, it might turn into something in the movie industry,” Bering-Porter said.
Once filming is finished, Vida and her collaborators will work on completing the film.
“After we wrap filming at the end of this month, we move into all of post-production — the extensive process of editing, color correction, sound mixing and more,” Vida said.
Vida said she is aiming to get “Sleep, Wake, Forget” into the film festival circuit, but she plans to have a showing of it in the Lansing area in early 2013.
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