Just the Prologue

What is Just the Prologue?

Just the Prologue is a Media Diploma short film I did in the Helsinki Upper Secondary School of Visual Arts in 2022. I wanted to include this project because I consider it to be my first proper short film. 

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Just the Prologue follows a teenage girl named Miisa throughout her day accompanied by her narration. The focus of the story isn't so much on what specifically happens in it, as it is on how Miisa reacts to it inside her head. I consider the themes of the film to be quite complex, even if I do say so myself: among other things, it deals with maladaptive daydreaming and escapism, overly romanticizing your life and setting unrealistic expectations for the future while wasting your present.

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Creation

Although I don't consider Just the Prologue to be autobiographical, it has been largely inspired by my own experiences. I started writing the script on a scriptwriting course we had at our school, but I already had a pretty strong vision for the film at that point. ​

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I did pretty much everything besides acting myself; from writing and directing to filming and editing. A few of my friends and acquaintances agreed to act in the film, which I'm forever grateful for! 

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My biggest focus in this project was on storytelling, specifically the visual aspects of it. I'm especially proud of how I got the editing and special effects to play a direct role in the story and support its various themes. 

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What have I learned?

A lot of things I was doing in Just the Prologue I was doing for the first time, which definitely shows in some scenes. I think filming and working with actors was the hardest for me as that's what I had (and still have) the least experience with. I had a bit of experience of editing with Adobe's Premiere Pro, so I wasn't as lost with it, but I put a lot of effort into taking my editing skills to the next level with this film. 

I think the more challenging something is, the more you learn doing it! I improved a lot as a filmmaker thanks to this project, and even though I don't plan on doing that much live-action in the future, I do think a lot of the skills you develop from working on it are very much applicable when working in other mediums. ​​​