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SVA BFA Film
NEWS & EVENTS

January 18
2024

Student Blog: Beatriz Coelho de Soárez

Student Beatriz Coelho de Soárez in front of a sunny all dressed in bright orange shorts and a tank top set, with sunglasses on, and her hair in a bun. She smiles at the camera and has her arm raised high, pointing at the word "cinema" painted on the wall.

Beatriz Soárez came to SVA with her mind set on screenwriting, but is using her time to explore all aspects of production, including directing a short film featuring decapitated teddy bears!

 

A living room. Two girls are in the main focus, one holding a red light and the other holding boom equipment and helping to hold a big red blanket. The blanket is over two other people's heads, only parts of their legs are visible. There's another hitting on the sofa behind the one with the sound equipment, she is barely visible in the picture besides her eyes on her phone.

I have had many amazing experiences and met the most incredible people while finishing up my first semester of classes at the School of Visual Arts.

Participating in full-time creative classes, discussions, and overviews of the world and film has been everything I dreamed of when deciding where to go to college, and what major to pursue.

I came to SVA with my mind set on the screenwriting concentration, and that is the path I am pursuing. Still, this semester of foundation classes not only taught me so much about set life but also gave me new passions. Yet, my first love has always been writing.

I wrote and directed my final film, a short scene on male violence and decapitating teddy bears. It was awesome seeing my words become a reality for the first time, and it was something I strove to continue achieving for the rest of the semester.

In a dark room, an actor holds a teddy bear in one hand and a knife in the other. He looks at it aggressively. There's a window shining red light onto his face and a mirror in front of him, the photo is taken from the reflection of it.

Production was a surprise: learning the many roles in a film set, and understanding what it takes to have a picture come to life.

The crew was the key: they were the ones who took my script and got it to the screen during the final week. They also made my favorite part of the film: the red light that I wanted to appear.

My friends and colleagues allowed me to keep writing: two other short films were produced based on my scripts and directed by other people. It was another completely different, and as exciting experience. Seeing in real life someone take your work and bring it to life, with their own touches and views.

This is something I wish to explore in the future. Give other directors my scripts and see what they make of it. I came to film school so I could not only write but keep collaborating. There isn’t anything that encapsulates that dream more than these past experiences.

The same teddy bear from the second picture, now propped up alone on the same furniture. You can see a bit of his reflection in the mirror behind him. There is a piece of paper with loopy handwriting on his belly, that reads "you'll never be alone.

At SVA, I found people who are engaged and want to work on my ideas.

My next project is a whimsy collector shop that buys and sells pinky fingers – severed, of course. This makes any writer happy, and it gave me more and more inspiration to keep at it. I also discovered so many passions, especially other people’s projects. There’s nothing better than working with a director who is in love with their project.

 

Watch Beatriz’s film by clicking here!

 

Filed Under: Student Blog