24 Frames – Nadia Kaissi

Originally, I was struggling to realize how much of a story could be told in as little as 24 frames. I kept overthinking what plot line my story was going to have and which direction I could go in, when finally, it hit me. It did not need to be this super overdramatic story that would take hours to analyze and comprehend. It just needed a message, I decided to go with a subject matter that was a little more sensitive than others because I felt like it needed to be seen to an audience that would embrace it and take in the message I wanted to convey.

My 24 frames consisted of images telling the story of a girl struggling with an eating disorder. Over time, it gets harder for the girl to come face to face with not only her plate of food, but also herself. As each frame goes on, the plate loses more and more food on it and the girl struggles more and more to look at herself and recognize herself and who she has become. I also decided to include exterior factors that contribute to an eating disorder. The girl in the frames would look at fashion magazines, comparing herself to models and others around her. It also would show her pushing herself to workout in hopes of achieving her “ideal” body.

Showing the multiple factors of what goes into an eating disorder and how difficult it becomes over time was my goal for this piece, and I hope my audience took at is in as much as they could. An eating disorder does not magically disappear over time and it is a struggle that some people deal with forever, and as my piece continues, the girls condition worsens. It is not a happy ending but it’s a realistic one that needs more awareness towards and I’m glad I had the opportunity to create a piece like this for an audience.