Miscellaneous

Pitch Deck - I Really Hope You Made This Up

If you listened to the I Really Hope You Made This Up Podcast Trailer: Um, so this is awkward. You may have noticed that the show detailed here bears very little resemblance to that advertised in the trailer, despite its having the same title. Here’s the scoop: as I began producing the show, it evolved from its original concept (i.e. nonfiction anecdotes) into something unapologetically theatrical, undeniably absurd, and altogether unrecognizable from what I set out, initially, to create. So sit down, buckle up (or don’t. Much like the state of New Hampshire, I’ve instated a live-free-or-die policy here. This state is not a place of restraint.), and enjoy the final creative vision behind I Really Hope You Made This Up.

If you didn’t listen to the I Really Hope You Made This Up Podcast Trailer: What are you even doing here?! Quick!! Go listen to it now!

Parker Merrill Speech Competition - Rants and Raves (2021)

The prompt? Rave about something you love, rant about something you hate.

In this remix, I make use of the power of editing to present a convincing paradigm under which Bella and Nate (an antagonist in the show) are together. Admittedly, this presented a bit of a challenge, as Bella dislikes Nate in the show, and is definitely not interested in him romantically. 

(Why even do this? Good question. I’ll tell you why: Will, the love interest written into the show for Bella, is a problematic romantic partner, and quite the opposite of a positive role model: he is only interested in Bella because she is a mermaid, he blows her off, and most disturbingly, he exposes her secret when she is not comfortable telling him. As H2O is a show whose primary audience is young girls, I was upset with the trajectory the writers took in Season 3. In terms of a response, I wanted to illustrate that ANYONE would be better as a romantic partner for Bella than Will – even a character who, in the scope of the show, is painted as an antagonist. Enter Nate. He is consistently portrayed as an antagonist, but upon closer examination, his only real flaw is being a loser – he is a bit cringy and a bit socially unaware, but generally well-meaning. (it doesn’t help that every time he is on screen, “loser” music plays). After creating this edit, I have convinced myself. As Nate would say, I am on the Nate Train.)

A mosaic of moments of onscreen betrayal, each of which I consider formative. In showcasing the emotional impact of a single shot, this remix functions as an ode to cinema, but also to the individual works that have shaped me as a human being.