My work

I sold my dreams as advertisement space.

Capstone Reflection

During my final semester of college, I created a short film titled “Dream Advertising,” which was inspired by a group of Sleep Scientists’ open letter against companies’ use of dream incubation for advertising, especially regarding addictive or unhealthy products such as alcohol, video games, or fast food. There are very few known cases of these ads but the gimmick has been utilized by a few companies, such as Coors, Burger King, and Xbox. This topic has a lot of nuance and debate among researchers, with some in support, such as a Harvard psychologist and Dream Expert, Dr. Deirdre Barrett, who worked with Coors on a campaign that utilized Dream Incubation as a novelty advertisement requiring viewers to go on their website and watch a specialized video before sleeping. I wanted to explore this nuance in my sci-fi short and have learned a lot from the process.

I think the biggest indicators of a project’s quality happen during pre-production. A film, even if only a few minutes in length, requires several moving parts and a lot of planning. I always enjoyed storyboards and shot lists, but had not written many creative scripts, which was a fun challenge for me. I was fortunate enough to have a wonderful mentor for this project, Ashley Kauschinger, who provided me with great resources for writing stories that fit the format and inspire connection, as well as more visual inspiration for the project. I have a large respect for how much work goes into the planning, from equipment to production. Everything on set and screen had to be planned and work in coordination with one another, which has given me more love for the medium. It is amazing to work with others and see a project form from everyone’s creativity.