The Fight Inside
Aurora, Illinois | Film Short
Drama
"The Fight Inside" is a short film drama that follows Christian, a teenager addicted to drugs after losing a loved one. The drugs offer Christian a way to momentarily forget his problems; however, after taking a larger-than-normal dose, he is forced to confront the deep scars of his past.
The Fight Inside
Aurora, Illinois | Film Short
Drama
2 Campaigns | Illinois, United States
Green Light
This campaign raised $3,500 for production. Follow the filmmaker to receive future updates on this project.
46 supporters | followers
Enter the amount you would like to pledge
"The Fight Inside" is a short film drama that follows Christian, a teenager addicted to drugs after losing a loved one. The drugs offer Christian a way to momentarily forget his problems; however, after taking a larger-than-normal dose, he is forced to confront the deep scars of his past.
About The Project
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
Why Now?
It's been a challenging year. Just a day before writing this, the United States officially passed 500,000 deaths due to COVID-19. We've all gone through the motions, but especially those who have lost love ones. Although hope is on the horizon with vaccines finally being delivered, the grief many are feeling is still very strong. That empty chair at your kitchen table will never fill again. Your once successful career now has to be rebuilt. Your social circle has gotten smaller from social distancing. These are unprecedented times and the emotions we've all felt are too. The Fight Inside attempts to address the type of challenges that we're enduring now.
Our film will look and feel real because of our devoted cast and crew. We'll demand the absolute best from our team to move you, our viewers. The Fight Inside, at its core, is about the decisions we make during the grieving process. Sometimes they're not always positive. For many of us, it can involve lashing out at the ones we love most; for others, it can involve the use of substances to temporarily relieve the pain. However, what is common in all of us is that one way or another, everyone has to accept reality. Whether it's through rehab, counseling, or a simple conversation with someone you love, and whether you want to or not, we all have to realize you can't outrun reality. The Fight Inside comments on this obstacle and demonstrates how difficult that realization can be. It's a story crafted around its characters and wants to examine what exactly the grieving process is.
However, this all comes with COVID-19 in the background. Although we will continue to put our maximum effort into the project and expect outstanding results, we understand that we will have to take into account the risks our production brings. On our set, we will have COVID coordinators to make sure everyone is following social distancing guidelines. Everyone will double-mask and wear face shields. We will sanitize all the materials we will use. To make sure we achieve our vision, we'll strictly follow the guidelines given out by both the CDC and the Illinois Film Office to create a safe and productive production where creativity can continue to thrive.
Why Us?
We are students at the College of DuPage, a local community college in the suburbs of Chicago, Illinois. Although our motion-picture department is small, our passion for films is strong. For many of us, this is our first time crowdfunding and producing a film from scratch. This whole process has a learning curve; however, our goal to create an authentic and impactful film has remained constant. We want to add our own voice to what the grieving process is like. It's common for anyone to feel intensely negative thoughts. What makes our crew unique is that we've all endured loss. We want to respectfully portray the grieving process in our film and demonstrate that anyone can rise above the dark feelings they're experiencing. We understand how frustrating a tone-deaf crew can be when tackling such a strong topic, which is why we are taking extra care as we develop our story.
College of DuPage, Glen Ellyn, Illinois
Let us emphasize that we want this project to turn out perfect! We'll work extremely hard to create something that satisfies our creative hunger and moves our audience (which is you!) by providing an authentic view on the grieving process and drug abuse. With this film, we hope to build our careers and portfolio - your support is critical towards that.
What to Expect?
Since our film deals a lot with the human struggle during the grieving process and the common desire to return to a simpler time, our team decided this film should have a very gritty but vibrant feeling. The Fight Inside is going to have a very colorful pallet in the backdrop of the suburban environment that we're all familiar with. We're taking inspiration from films such as Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) and Coraline (2009). Both films use vibrant colors in the backdrop of people attempting to escape their unsatisfying reality.
The look of the film comes from the hallucinogenic subject matter The Fight Inside has. After enduring a tragedy, our protagonist, Christian, has become addicted to drugs. The drugs offer him a way to run from his reality, a reality where everyone seems to be miserable. However, on one fateful night, Christian takes a larger dose than he is instructed and falls asleep. He experiences a vivid dream of his past: a place where everyone is happy and all is well. However, as the dream progresses, he realizes that this may be his only time to get closure and is forced into a pivotal confrontation.
Since the dreams reflect a distorted and false reality, we wanted to make a strong distinction with our various sets. The dreams Christian experiences aren't quite right and the strong visual language they will have will communicate this feeling to the audience. Our film will offer a realistic view of how a tragedy can affect a family and the decisions that commonly follow. Although the visuals of our film will be important to us, our theme holds equal weight.
The Plan?
With your help, we hope to begin shooting towards the end of April 2021. We understand how unpredictable the times are, and our project is still in the development phase, so production dates may be subject to change. We take COVID-19 very seriously and plan to have COVID coordinators on set to maintain safe operations. We'll also take extra care towards following the social and sanitation guidelines given to us by the CDC and Illinois Film Office. Since our vision of the film takes place in the suburbs, we will be shooting and hiring positions for our film in the suburbs of Chicago, IL.
This is a very personal project with a passionate team behind it. We hope that potential pledgers (you!) and our eventual audience (you!) will be able to sense that. We understand how tough of a time it is and understand if reading our project is the only thing you can do right now. That's okay! We just ask that you share our project so that our campaign can be seen by as many people as possible. If you are able to contribute, thank you very much! No matter how big or small, we're so grateful that you want to see our project take form and necessary safety precautions be taken. We understand the support you're giving us and want to create a project that will satisfy everyone, but especially you!
Thank you for your support!
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Camera Lenses
Costs $500
We need the right equipment to get the look of our film! We'll need help with that!
Lense Mount & Indie Filter
Costs $400
A lens mount will give our film a vibrant and gritty look our film needs for certain scenes.
Communications
Costs $100
Communication between department heads is necessary for productions! We'll need help there!
Cash Pledge
Costs $0
Wardrobe, Hair, and Makeup
Costs $200
You always want your talent to look the part, right? Reaching our goal would allow us to do that!
Props
Costs $150
The right props will be essential to our film! We can't get those resources without help, you know!
Food
Costs $850
Having food on set = happy crew = a great film!
Legal Stuff
Costs $100
Legal fees like copyright and registration add up quickly! We'll need support here too!
Marketing and Distribution
Costs $700
You want our film to be seen, right?! Having a strong budget for that is key!
Travel
Costs $200
Company moves and travel costs have to be covered for any production. They add up fast!
Insurance
Costs $300
It's always good to have "oops" money. This'll let us handle the issues that come with productions!
Direct link:
Share this update!
About This Team
Our team makes up a very talented group of students from the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, Illinois. We are all film production majors and hope to join the film industry upon graduation. All of us have made our own films in the past; however, we have combined forces to create a film we are all passionate about.
Who We Are
Dorcas Brou
Director & Screenwriter
Dorcas Brou is an African-American filmmaker trying to break into the space of traditional filmmaking dominated by those who look different than her. As a current film student in the Chicago area, she just recently produced and directed her first narrative short at 19 years old, Lost and Found, a silent film about an African-American boy struggling with his faith and sexuality. She will be transferring into SIU's Cinema program (Southern Illinois University Carbondale) to complete her bachelor's degree in hopes of becoming a director and creating narrative feature-length films full-time.
Luke Buchanan
Producer
Luke is a Chicago-based producer whose most recent projects are awaiting submission to the film festival circuit. At 20 years old, he hopes to transfer to a university in Los Angeles, California to build up his network and continue to produce films in the fall of 2021. Some of his favorite films and TV shows include Jojo Rabbit (2019), Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood (2019), Euphoria (2019-), and The Stand (2020-2021). He's passionate about social justice and works to create institutional change. While on set and in the class, he is determined to create a diverse and welcoming environment where everyone's thoughts are valued.
Marina Cavalleiro
Screenwriter & Assistant Director
Marina is a Brazilian filmmaker who moved to Chicago, IL to pursue her lifetime dream of working with film in the U.S. She originally grew up in Rio de Janeiro, and in 2016 she started her journey to become a filmmaker. Her goal as a creator is to raise awareness of different realities and to address societal issues that are often forgotten about. Her passion is visualizing these moral topics and being able to change people's views to allow them to be more empathetic and culturally aware.
Ellis Noel
Director of Photography & Screenwriter
Ellis is a film student in the Chicagoland area who has aspirations in becoming a full-time Cinematographer once he graduates. He has experience as the Director of Photography in his most recent film, Close Encounters; an intricate film that follows a heartbroken college student who cannot shake the monsters of his reality while he is in a deep sleep. Outside of school, Ellis has experience as a Personal Assistant for the camera crew who filmed Bret Eldredge's music video, Gabrielle. Along with this, he also was the cinematographer for promotional videos for a small security guard licensing group. Some of his favorite films include Saving Private Ryan (1998), Do the Right Thing (1989), 1917 (2019), and Sherlock Jr (1924).
Lam Thai
Production Designer
Lam is a student filmmaker located in Chicago, Illinois. He finds creativity and authenticity to be the most valuable qualities for success in his path. His strength is creativity in editing. At this moment, he is taking the role of a production designer. As a Vietnamese, he is studying and cultivating foreign cinema. Lam hopes to bring a new wave and make a difference to his homeland.
Ben Phillips
Editor
Ben has been at COD on and off since 2012. He has been interested in movies since he was a little kid when his mom managed a Cineplex Odeon in the late '90s. His inspirations are filmmakers like James Cameron, John Carpenter, Quinton Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez, and the Scotts (both Tony and Ridley). His ultimate goal is to be a director and is a self-described tech geek.
Lucas Troncoso
Sound Designer
Lucas is a filmmaker and audio producer working with music and sound design for over six years. He loves science fiction, romance, and drama, and hopes to produce his own feature films down the line. In his free time, he enjoys music and audio production for game development, reading and writing, photography, and the study of architecture.
Current Team
Incentives
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
Why Now?
It's been a challenging year. Just a day before writing this, the United States officially passed 500,000 deaths due to COVID-19. We've all gone through the motions, but especially those who have lost love ones. Although hope is on the horizon with vaccines finally being delivered, the grief many are feeling is still very strong. That empty chair at your kitchen table will never fill again. Your once successful career now has to be rebuilt. Your social circle has gotten smaller from social distancing. These are unprecedented times and the emotions we've all felt are too. The Fight Inside attempts to address the type of challenges that we're enduring now.
Our film will look and feel real because of our devoted cast and crew. We'll demand the absolute best from our team to move you, our viewers. The Fight Inside, at its core, is about the decisions we make during the grieving process. Sometimes they're not always positive. For many of us, it can involve lashing out at the ones we love most; for others, it can involve the use of substances to temporarily relieve the pain. However, what is common in all of us is that one way or another, everyone has to accept reality. Whether it's through rehab, counseling, or a simple conversation with someone you love, and whether you want to or not, we all have to realize you can't outrun reality. The Fight Inside comments on this obstacle and demonstrates how difficult that realization can be. It's a story crafted around its characters and wants to examine what exactly the grieving process is.
However, this all comes with COVID-19 in the background. Although we will continue to put our maximum effort into the project and expect outstanding results, we understand that we will have to take into account the risks our production brings. On our set, we will have COVID coordinators to make sure everyone is following social distancing guidelines. Everyone will double-mask and wear face shields. We will sanitize all the materials we will use. To make sure we achieve our vision, we'll strictly follow the guidelines given out by both the CDC and the Illinois Film Office to create a safe and productive production where creativity can continue to thrive.
Why Us?
We are students at the College of DuPage, a local community college in the suburbs of Chicago, Illinois. Although our motion-picture department is small, our passion for films is strong. For many of us, this is our first time crowdfunding and producing a film from scratch. This whole process has a learning curve; however, our goal to create an authentic and impactful film has remained constant. We want to add our own voice to what the grieving process is like. It's common for anyone to feel intensely negative thoughts. What makes our crew unique is that we've all endured loss. We want to respectfully portray the grieving process in our film and demonstrate that anyone can rise above the dark feelings they're experiencing. We understand how frustrating a tone-deaf crew can be when tackling such a strong topic, which is why we are taking extra care as we develop our story.
College of DuPage, Glen Ellyn, Illinois
Let us emphasize that we want this project to turn out perfect! We'll work extremely hard to create something that satisfies our creative hunger and moves our audience (which is you!) by providing an authentic view on the grieving process and drug abuse. With this film, we hope to build our careers and portfolio - your support is critical towards that.
What to Expect?
Since our film deals a lot with the human struggle during the grieving process and the common desire to return to a simpler time, our team decided this film should have a very gritty but vibrant feeling. The Fight Inside is going to have a very colorful pallet in the backdrop of the suburban environment that we're all familiar with. We're taking inspiration from films such as Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) and Coraline (2009). Both films use vibrant colors in the backdrop of people attempting to escape their unsatisfying reality.
The look of the film comes from the hallucinogenic subject matter The Fight Inside has. After enduring a tragedy, our protagonist, Christian, has become addicted to drugs. The drugs offer him a way to run from his reality, a reality where everyone seems to be miserable. However, on one fateful night, Christian takes a larger dose than he is instructed and falls asleep. He experiences a vivid dream of his past: a place where everyone is happy and all is well. However, as the dream progresses, he realizes that this may be his only time to get closure and is forced into a pivotal confrontation.
Since the dreams reflect a distorted and false reality, we wanted to make a strong distinction with our various sets. The dreams Christian experiences aren't quite right and the strong visual language they will have will communicate this feeling to the audience. Our film will offer a realistic view of how a tragedy can affect a family and the decisions that commonly follow. Although the visuals of our film will be important to us, our theme holds equal weight.
The Plan?
With your help, we hope to begin shooting towards the end of April 2021. We understand how unpredictable the times are, and our project is still in the development phase, so production dates may be subject to change. We take COVID-19 very seriously and plan to have COVID coordinators on set to maintain safe operations. We'll also take extra care towards following the social and sanitation guidelines given to us by the CDC and Illinois Film Office. Since our vision of the film takes place in the suburbs, we will be shooting and hiring positions for our film in the suburbs of Chicago, IL.
This is a very personal project with a passionate team behind it. We hope that potential pledgers (you!) and our eventual audience (you!) will be able to sense that. We understand how tough of a time it is and understand if reading our project is the only thing you can do right now. That's okay! We just ask that you share our project so that our campaign can be seen by as many people as possible. If you are able to contribute, thank you very much! No matter how big or small, we're so grateful that you want to see our project take form and necessary safety precautions be taken. We understand the support you're giving us and want to create a project that will satisfy everyone, but especially you!
Thank you for your support!
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Camera Lenses
Costs $500
We need the right equipment to get the look of our film! We'll need help with that!
Lense Mount & Indie Filter
Costs $400
A lens mount will give our film a vibrant and gritty look our film needs for certain scenes.
Communications
Costs $100
Communication between department heads is necessary for productions! We'll need help there!
Cash Pledge
Costs $0
Wardrobe, Hair, and Makeup
Costs $200
You always want your talent to look the part, right? Reaching our goal would allow us to do that!
Props
Costs $150
The right props will be essential to our film! We can't get those resources without help, you know!
Food
Costs $850
Having food on set = happy crew = a great film!
Legal Stuff
Costs $100
Legal fees like copyright and registration add up quickly! We'll need support here too!
Marketing and Distribution
Costs $700
You want our film to be seen, right?! Having a strong budget for that is key!
Travel
Costs $200
Company moves and travel costs have to be covered for any production. They add up fast!
Insurance
Costs $300
It's always good to have "oops" money. This'll let us handle the issues that come with productions!
Direct link:
Share this update!
About This Team
Our team makes up a very talented group of students from the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, Illinois. We are all film production majors and hope to join the film industry upon graduation. All of us have made our own films in the past; however, we have combined forces to create a film we are all passionate about.
Who We Are
Dorcas Brou
Director & Screenwriter
Dorcas Brou is an African-American filmmaker trying to break into the space of traditional filmmaking dominated by those who look different than her. As a current film student in the Chicago area, she just recently produced and directed her first narrative short at 19 years old, Lost and Found, a silent film about an African-American boy struggling with his faith and sexuality. She will be transferring into SIU's Cinema program (Southern Illinois University Carbondale) to complete her bachelor's degree in hopes of becoming a director and creating narrative feature-length films full-time.
Luke Buchanan
Producer
Luke is a Chicago-based producer whose most recent projects are awaiting submission to the film festival circuit. At 20 years old, he hopes to transfer to a university in Los Angeles, California to build up his network and continue to produce films in the fall of 2021. Some of his favorite films and TV shows include Jojo Rabbit (2019), Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood (2019), Euphoria (2019-), and The Stand (2020-2021). He's passionate about social justice and works to create institutional change. While on set and in the class, he is determined to create a diverse and welcoming environment where everyone's thoughts are valued.
Marina Cavalleiro
Screenwriter & Assistant Director
Marina is a Brazilian filmmaker who moved to Chicago, IL to pursue her lifetime dream of working with film in the U.S. She originally grew up in Rio de Janeiro, and in 2016 she started her journey to become a filmmaker. Her goal as a creator is to raise awareness of different realities and to address societal issues that are often forgotten about. Her passion is visualizing these moral topics and being able to change people's views to allow them to be more empathetic and culturally aware.
Ellis Noel
Director of Photography & Screenwriter
Ellis is a film student in the Chicagoland area who has aspirations in becoming a full-time Cinematographer once he graduates. He has experience as the Director of Photography in his most recent film, Close Encounters; an intricate film that follows a heartbroken college student who cannot shake the monsters of his reality while he is in a deep sleep. Outside of school, Ellis has experience as a Personal Assistant for the camera crew who filmed Bret Eldredge's music video, Gabrielle. Along with this, he also was the cinematographer for promotional videos for a small security guard licensing group. Some of his favorite films include Saving Private Ryan (1998), Do the Right Thing (1989), 1917 (2019), and Sherlock Jr (1924).
Lam Thai
Production Designer
Lam is a student filmmaker located in Chicago, Illinois. He finds creativity and authenticity to be the most valuable qualities for success in his path. His strength is creativity in editing. At this moment, he is taking the role of a production designer. As a Vietnamese, he is studying and cultivating foreign cinema. Lam hopes to bring a new wave and make a difference to his homeland.
Ben Phillips
Editor
Ben has been at COD on and off since 2012. He has been interested in movies since he was a little kid when his mom managed a Cineplex Odeon in the late '90s. His inspirations are filmmakers like James Cameron, John Carpenter, Quinton Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez, and the Scotts (both Tony and Ridley). His ultimate goal is to be a director and is a self-described tech geek.
Lucas Troncoso
Sound Designer
Lucas is a filmmaker and audio producer working with music and sound design for over six years. He loves science fiction, romance, and drama, and hopes to produce his own feature films down the line. In his free time, he enjoys music and audio production for game development, reading and writing, photography, and the study of architecture.