Just A Drill | A Suspenseful Drama Short by Julianne Donelle
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Publicado 2020-03-02
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Just A Drill by Julianne Donelle
www.juliannedonelle.com/
IG: @JulianneDonelle
Making a film about the topic of school shootings is an inherently difficult task. For one, it’s something that’s been done a lot. But, beyond the ubiquity of the topic, when dealing with such a hot-button and emotionally charged issue, it’s so easy to drift into moralizing or finger-wagging. I don’t think many logical folks in the United States would contest the fact that we have a huge problem with guns in this country. But, as audiences, we also don’t like to be lectured to. And therein likes the innate difficulty of making a “school shooting film.”
So, it’s with some surprise that I can say that writer/director Julianne Donelle’s Just A Drill is a taut and engrossing mini-thriller. It’s engaging the topic of school shootings head-on. But, there’s a twist here: it’s actually not about a school shooting at all, at least not directly. Rather, the film is dealing with the culture of preparation that has arisen as a result of a society that has collectively chosen to “tolerate” the problem rather than actually fix it. As the title suggests, it’s just a drill. And, yet…is it?
That central question becomes a powerful driver of suspense. Just A Drill is successful because it manages to slowly build on this sense of tension…this creeping feeling of unease as the “normal” transforms into something both foreign and sinister. The drill is supposed to be preparation to prevent the horrific, and so, the very act of “practicing” becomes, ironically, horrific in and of itself. As you might expect, the disturbing mood comes directly from director Julianne Donelle’s personal experience.
As she relates to Short of the Week:
“As a former educator, my inspiration came for this project when I was working at a school and participated in active shooter drills with my fellow employees. Suddenly the happy halls that were typically full of noisy students were now empty while my walkie talkie echoed through the classroom with cries of fear; untrained actors pretending to be as realistic as possible to prepare the teachers for anything. It was a disturbing day where educators faced difficult questions, the most unsettling being the concept of locking children out of your classroom and not opening the door no matter what happens.”
The ending of the film will probably be a point of contention for some. Just as the film reaches peak tension, it basically just cuts away. It’s hard not to feel a bit disappointed by the lack of resolution. But, after stewing on this bit, I’m not sure it’s even possible to bring this sort of film to a “satisfying” conclusion. It’s essentially an exercise in tension and unease. And, so, if the film were to undercut that with a sense of a relief—the confirmation that it all was part of the plan—it, ultimately, would diminish its power. It’s essentially proof that short films can often get away with structural issues that would be detrimental to longer form work.
The film obviously has larger issues on its mind, mainly the efficacy of active shooter drills in general, and the inherent logical fallacy of finding comfort in rules and guidelines when preparing for a situation that defies logic.
As Donelle succinctly puts it:
“This film is not a grand political statement. It is not intended to lecture, preach, or give false answers. It simply asks the difficult question, what would you do?”
Donelle has several other completed short films in her persona canon. She’s also focusing on two feature screenplays that she plans to direct, both of which live in the horror/psychological thriller realm. Be sure to visit Donelle’s website at the link below to keep up with her work.
www.juliannedonelle.com/
CREDITS
Directed By: Julianne Donelle
Produced By: Sabrina Stoll,
Co-Produced By: Megan Jordan
Starring: Sally Pressman, DJ Blickenstaff, and Jackson Pace
DP: Carole McClintock
Production Designer: Sara Kugelmass
Editor: Arianna Tomasettig
Music By: Emer Kinsella
Costume Design: Elena Flores
Casting Director: Anna Mayworm
Assistant Director: Arielle Zadok
Reproduced on this channel with the permission of the filmmaker.
Todos los comentarios (21)
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Love how quickly it ramps up the tension from "normal" to terrifying. An interesting commentary on how even just the preparation for school shootings can be traumatizing in their own way.
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To all the "smart" people that point out the orange tip on the gun: the idea is that immediately after the coms tell that the shooter is at the cafeteria, and the teacher looks puzzled. Why? Because she knows he couldn't be there is she just saw him. So who's at the cafeteria at that time? SPOILER: there's a fake shooter and a real one.
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Very well done. I think there was a missed opportunity at the end to solidify the fear. After the kid is banging on the door and the screen goes black, a gunshot or two interrupting complete silence would have been very powerful before the credits start.
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Just let the kid retake the damn test
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This film really got my stomach all knotted up. The fact that authorities can't be called and have already been notified not to, and the intense feeling of danger at the end of the film. This really shows the amount of danger in a school shooting, and the awareness we need to have towards it. Each day 12 children die from gun violence in America. Well done with the representation, really got my heart racing.
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Cliffhanger with so many questions: Is Simon the shooter? Are there multiple shooters? Was this the plan of someone from the Drama Club? What happened with the new teacher? Did she open the door? So suspenseful—we need an ending!
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The way the teacher was so obnoxiously loud really irritated me!
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So they basically put the whole school in harms way by telling the police not to show up? Wow! This was good..❤
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This actually started to scare me. This video was a good demonstration on why drills shouldn't be announced days/hours before it happens.
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Moral of the story, never take a drill to lightly. Great film!
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Oh my god. Suspenseful indeed . Hearing that kid yell “open the door” over and over got my heart racing
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Wow!! SPOILER ALERT. I knew it was a film but, my stomach knotted up as the planned drill started to unravel and appeared to become real. An amazing film. Two thumbs up to all the filmmakers, cast and crew.
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Simon is either as good an actor as the real life actor (Jackson Pace) playing his character, or there really is a real active shooter situation. The shooter may even be Simon, himself, and he is trying to trick Ms. Walker into opening the door so he can kill her – we don’t know. The viewer is left guessing on purpose because the point of this film is to say that it doesn’t matter whether it was just a drill, or “just a drill”: when we as a society have decided to accept this as our reality to the point where we must simulate the trauma on ourselves it doesn’t matter whether it’s real or not. The whole of society is victimized by mass shootings; each of us is affected by this whether we are aware of it or not.
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This gave me chills. I was shaking and I almost cried. I’m still in school so this is my biggest fear.
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Broo what a cliff hanger. We need part 2
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I honestly think that Simon is the shooter, because of the gunshots down the hall it's likely he did the same thing to the classrooms down the hall and he was let into 1 or 2 of them. If he was not the shooter and wanted to get away, he should've gone down the stairs RIGHT NEXT to miss walker's room. Plus, it looks to be a bathroom to the right of the hallway facing through Ms. Walker's room. I personally think those gunshots were the new teacher and his actor students being shot after he violated the drill and got them killed. Also, the voice that was heard earlier before the gunshot seemed to be close by, and the gunshots stopped when Simon went up to the door.
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Holy smokes, that was intense and thrilling. Even though I guessed there would be a real shooting in place of the drill. Very engaging overall. Keep going 👏👏
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Sad reality, but really intense and well done
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she’s so loud and turn your phone on silent
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I really like how even at the end you don’t know the ending you don’t know weather that kid Simon was the shooter if there was another shooter or if it was all just a drill.
