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Theresa Le
Professor Gregory John McClure
Writing 39B
30 November 2016
A Look Into The Only Escape
The RIP, or Rhetoric in Practice, project exemplifies multiple aspects addressed this past
quarter, including rhetorical situation, genre, and purpose. The Only Escape, our short, narrative
horror film, consists of a main character who is constantly harassed and victimized by a
seemingly tangible antagonist. However, the audience later learns that the monster lays within
the protagonists mind due to schizophrenia, which eventually causes an act of suicide. The
execution of this storyline is made for not only an audience composed of our Writing 39B class,
but also a broader scholarly reception in which expects a clear message within our work,
especially for the other class in the seminar who will not be familiar with the conventions of a
horror piece of work. Filmed at an actual college campus with college students, the movie allows
for a relatability between the text and the audience. The topic of loneliness centralizes the film as
it addresses the societal necessity to pay attention to those with mental illnesses. The horror
aspect of this project is showcased through several profane scenes that display a sense of creepy
violence among an unknown situation. The short film attempts to convey a message about how
mental illness is a sensitive issue for many, and ignoring it does not make the situation any better.
The struggle to differentiate from imagination and reality highlights the biggest difficulty
involving schizophrenia, and the movie exemplifies these hardships through the later discussed
interactions between the protagonist and antagonist. Mental illness remains a worldwide matter
that millions of people deal with on a daily basis. Even at an environment like a college campus,

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it is possible for this kind of situation to occur because many are unaware of the distress that the
sickness causes. With such a diverse atmosphere, it is certain that there are several students
experiencing this kind of pain, and it is alarming to know that they may not know how to seek
help. Someone may be considered crazy for acting this way, but this ignorance embodies a
societal viewpoint about the lack of knowledge concerning this issue. Therefore, the value needs
to progress in regards to how to deal with mental illnesses because ultimately, circumstances
could result in fatal consequences if not handled correctly.
In the first scene, the brief introduction to a secondary character allows the audience to
recognize the protagonists mental illness as something that is hidden, similarly to the narrator in
The Other Place, by Mary Gaitskill. As the character appears out of nowhere and casually asks,
Who, me?, she did not expect to see the main character in a state of distress and insanity.
Therefore, up until this point, her awareness of his mental state of mind is not developed,
ultimately demonstrating the idea that anyone around you could be suffering mentally, but it is
not always easy to discern. This notion is similarly addressed in the short story, The Other Place,
by Mary Gaitskill, a highly published and awarded author of novels and short stories. Gaitskill
introduces the narrator, who suffers through alarming thoughts and desires for killing women,
but no one was scared of [him]. [He] was almost eighteen by then, but [he] was still small and
quiet-looking (Gaitskill). The incomprehension of his behavior emphasizes how easy it is to
mask something so disturbing. The shy innocent persona within him reflects how the main
character in the film also attempts to display this kind of conduct. His pills and knife are objects
in which are kept personal, without the need to display to others, despite its unnerving
associations. As an outsider, it is especially difficult to decipher a person experiencing such
pains. In such a diverse community like a college campus, it could be common to overlook signs

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of mental illnesses because everyone is caught up with their own routines and responsibilities.
Ultimately, this typical ignorance results in concerning situations where the main character
consequently experiences excessive trauma, and the surrounding characters regret not taking
more action before.
The ultimate attack from the antagonist at the end of the movie demonstrates a
suspenseful, monstrous act that satisfies the horror genre, as claimed by Noel Carroll, but later
becomes a subversion due to its reveal as a hallucination. The death of the protagonist displays a
trope of hallucination, which is a vision of something that does not exist. The film includes this
aspect to signify the repercussions of those struggling with mental illness without proper
treatment or attention. This scene symbolizes the peak of his schizophrenia, reaching a limit in
which could no longer be dealt with anymore. This emphasizes the strong threshold an illness
can have on people, one in which captivates all the energy and emotions to the point of
destruction. This remains an example of horror as Noel Carroll, an American philosopher and
professor, writes about in his essay, The Nature of Horror. He constructs the expectations of a
horror genre, claiming that monsters are not only physically threatening; they are cognitively
threatening (Carroll 56). This elaborates on how a monster, like the antagonist in this story, can
be threatening despite its only existence in the mind. The act of monstrosity from the antagonist
only stands for a representation of the inner monster of the main character, who rises above all
and defeats the protagonist. It adds a sense of fear to the human vulnerability due to the
uncertainty of the situation. Therefore, the addition of the hallucination strengthens the film by
ensuring that the audience acknowledges how unpredictable mental illnesses can be.
My main contributions toward this film have been as a visual coordinator, planning the
outfits for the characters and showcasing the most creative enhancers for the recording. It is my

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job to understand how looks are truly imperative when developing the film as appearance creates
a huge impact on what the viewers perceive of the characters and setting. My thought process as
a costume designer is to make sure the physical appearances of the characters follow through
with our story line, incorporating connections to loneliness and mental illness. In regards to the
clothing, the film does not require the characters to be dressed up in crazy, overdone outfits, but
what they wear is still key to the project itself. For both the protagonist and antagonist, I decided
that they should both wear dark colored clothing in order to represent the loneliness and
depression within the protagonist. Since the antagonist is a representation of schizophrenia and
therefore connects with the main character, the fact that they both wear similar attire showcases
their complementation. For our secondary character, she wears a typical college student outfit to
blend in with the college atmosphere within the story. Although there are only three characters in
this film, the apparel in which they embody help create their different personas. As the audience
observes them, they will be able to perceive the characters in a way that associates them toward
their respective personality.
My decisions for the visual effects within the setting play a large role because they ensure
the rhetorical reception developed within encounter of the characters. Prior to any dialogue or
action, the audience first reviews what the surroundings look like in order to make instinctive
judgments based on predefined expectations. For my role as the visual coordinator, I help with
the setting of the scenes in regards to lighting and angles. These highlight my creativity as I
develop skills that undermine the significance of physical representation in the smallest details.
To exemplify, I identify which scenes should be in daylight and nighttime because this creates an
effect on the atmosphere. When the antagonist attacks and victimizes the protagonist, I make
sure the recording of the scenes is in dim light which creates an eerie, depressing tone toward the

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situation. This ensures that the audience understands the shifts occurring, and thus realizes the
seriousness of the context. In the scene where the antagonist takes out his knife and harasses the
protagonist, I make certain that the camera was able to zoom in on the crucial details, including
the knife. The close-up of the medicine bottle in the last scene also emphasizes the importance of
the object. Therefore, the audience will recognize the significance and construct a clearer
message with those objects in mind.
As a group, we work well together, ever since the beginning of this course. However, our
biggest struggle is finding times that accommodate us because we are all busy with other
responsibilities, such as work, rehearsal, and practice. In addition, since it was Thanksgiving
break, half of us went back home, nowhere near campus. Therefore, this created a challenge as
we needed to compromise and ensure that all the members were putting in effort. Regardless of
this setback, there are no other prominent disadvantages that we faced because we respect each
others scheduling and reliabilities. After encountering this experience, I realized how our
chemistry really strengthened in spite of sudden changes or occasional rescheduling. Even during
the recording, all of us were always flexible and would switch between roles if necessary. When
it came to the films content, everyone is always open to new ideas and is willing to try different
approaches. I appreciate their consistent willingness to cooperate with me and each other,
allowing for an enjoyable experience not just for the RIP project, but also for the Writing 39B
course as a whole.

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Works Cited
Carroll, Noel. "The Nature of Horror." The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 46.1 (1987):
51-59. Web. 06 Oct. 2016.
Gaitskill, Mary. "The Other Place." The New Yorker. Conde-Nast, 14 Feb. 2011. Web. 30 Oct.
2016.
The Only Escape. Dir. Theresa Le, Eugene Pham, Yesenia Serrano, and Katherine Wong. UC
Irvine, 2016.