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Title: Bubble Gum
Runtime: 9 min
Country: USA
Director: Ella Fields
Placement: Award of Merit
Competition: June, 2018
Synopsis: After meeting Blossom, Indigo falls completely head over heels for this girl. There is only one problem, though. She’s straight.
OR: What was the inspiration for your film?
EF: “Bubble Gum” was inspired by the painful realization that every LGBTQ+ person must go through. I wanted it to be as authentic as possible, and I wanted to represent the feelings of falling in love and heartbreak. I was very inspired by some specific films such as “500 Days of Summer,” “Submarine,” and “Requiem for a Dream.” The artwork of others has always been super encouraging for me, and they all helped me out when bringing “Bubble Gum” to life!
OR: When did you conceive the idea for your film and how long did it take before it was realized?
EF: Coming up with the concept for “Bubble Gum” was a bit of a process. I knew that I wanted to make an LGBTQ+ film for pride month, but I didn’t know what. Eventually, I came up with a concept, and after many revisions of a screenplay, I had a good idea of the film that I wanted to make.
OR: What was the most challenging aspect of working in a short film format?
EF: I have only ever worked in a short film format, but there are definitely many aspects that are challenging when trying to tell a story in such a short amount of time. One thing is that you don’t have a lot of screen time to get your point across. Your scenes must move at a fast pace, and you must make sure that every second is necessary.
OR: What was the most challenging aspect of your production?
EF: The most challenging aspect of production was the amount of time we had to shoot. My lead actress flew from London to Los Angeles in order to shoot, so we only had three days, but we also had 17 locations. We definitely had to rush quite a bit, and there were some locations in which we had to cut. It was extremely stressful, but we got the job done!
OR: Do you have any advice for first-time filmmakers?
EF: My advice to anyone wanting to pick up the passion of filmmaking is to accept the fact that you won’t be amazing at first, but the only way to get better is just to keep making films. You will grow with every project you work on, and you will learn something even if you fall flat on your face. If you love to do it, don’t let anything to anyone stop you!