Rosanna (An RIT Short Film)

Rosanna is a short film from the Rochester Institute of Technology's School of Film and Animation as a Senior Capstone Project.

Logline: Caught between starry-eyed daydreams and prosaic reality, a young hopeless romantic navigates love in Regency-era England.

What’s the Story?

Set in 1813, Rosanna is a whimsical take on a period piece. It revolves around an introverted young woman, Rosanna, who has shaped her entire understanding of romance around the books that she’s grown up reading. But, upon having a conflicting conversation with her mother on the nature of fairy tales and romance versus reality, Rosanna begins to question her beliefs. Over the course of her evening at a ball, she descends into a sort of alternate reality as her belief in storybook love begins to dissipate. That is, until…well, you’ll just have to see the film to find out .

Purpose?

I hope to validate the hopes and daydreams of other individuals, like myself, who have at times struggled with their own beliefs on love and romance. For a while, I really did believe that my idea of love was completely false, and to be honest–it was a depressing and consuming thought. I felt ashamed over my expectations until I realized that real or not real, I’m still allowed to dream, and I’m still allowed to want those dreams to come true. Even on a grander scale in media and pop culture, a trend that I see everywhere is a sort of counter-culture movement against romance that in ways puts down anyone who still dreams about it. Specifically, for girls and women, there is a current popular narrative that dreaming about or even having ‘unrealistic’ expectations for a romantic relationship is somehow counter to Feminist ideals of independence. I personally believe that simply having a desire for romance and to be treated well in relationships does not weaken or degrade the individual seeking them, but rather, that taking the time to daydream and reflect on one’s own desires helps to validate expectations and boost a healthy sense of self worth and value. Whether an individual wants to be in a relationship or not, both are real experiences that are worth being shared. I hope that this film will help to reduce the shame and stigma around wanting and daydreaming about relationships in a society that increasingly praises individualism and being ‘realistic’ at the expense of those who have been labeled as ‘hopeless romantics.’

About Us:

Hi! My name is Rachel Whiteley* and I’m an aspiring Writer/Director. I am currently an Undergraduate Film Production student at Rochester Institute of Technology. I was raised in Chicago and have always had a passion for storytelling and performance. Growing up, some of my favorite films were Little Women (1994), Anne of Green Gables (1985), Pride and Prejudice (1995), The Princess Diaries (2001), Singin’ in the Rain (1952), The Sound of Music (1965), and so on. Moral of the story: pretty things+music=my happy place (and you can fully expect to see this in Rosanna).

Now that I’m in Film school, the projects that I’ve been inspired to create have revolved around the values of family, relationships, and dreams. You can check out some of previous work here on my website at: https://rachelfilms24.wixsite.com/my-site

And of course, this project could not be done without my amazing crew and production team including:

Director of Photography, Sarah Mehani*: A 4th year film student specializing in cinematography.

Producer, Devin Gallant: A 4th year film student with a focus in writing.

Production Designer, Camille Kwiek*: A 4th year film student specializing in production design.

Assistant Director, Cristian Colorado: A 3rd year film student with interest in writing and directing.

Sound Designer, Jenn Ford: A 3rd year film student with a focus in sound.

*= This film's production is a part of this persons senior capstone and graduation requirements.

Funds:

Seeing as this film is a period piece, the costuming and locations will be very costly. There aren’t many accessible resources in Rochester for a film of this nature and therefore much of the production design will be very costly and time consuming.

Beyond art, the funding will also go towards production fees such as feeding the crew, equipment rental fees, as well as post production expenses.

Any funds would be greatly appreciated as this is an ambitious project, we are dependent on people like you to help support our vision! Please consider donating and sharing!