Snowy: A Short Film

    My name is Carter Vance and I am sophomore at North Central College studying economics.  I live less than ten miles from campus however, I chose to live on campus to get the "college experience".   I tend to not go home as often as one might think as I am busy with school friend, social stuff and work.  I work at a local restaurant, Traversos, waiting tables so if anyone loves homemade Italian food, I would suggest checking it out.  I chose North Central because of its business school and my mom is an alumni.  I like the idea of a smaller school where it is easier to meet people and get to know your professors.  The one reason I almost didn't choose this school is because of the weather here.  One might think I wouldn't mind the weather since I grew up here however, I really hate walking to class at 8AM when it is 10 degrees and no sun.  

This first post is really meant to be more about Snowy than me.  When the film was first introduced in class about 13 minutes basically watching a turtle's life, I wondered how I could write three paragraphs on a turtle's life.  I was pleasantly surprised after watching the film and seeing the storyline, impact of imagery and how it could potential relate to my own life. 

    First the storyline captured my attention right away when the brother said the father gave him Snowy because he needed a friend.  This made Snowy more than just a pet turtle and instead set the tone for Snowy's role in the family dynamic.  Snowy was intended to bring happiness to the son and instead became really important to Larry (the father).  Larry repeatedly expresses how much he cares about Snowy however, he doesn't really connect with what Snowy's needs are.  When he gives Snowy the worm, insisting that is what he wants, but you can see Snowy struggles to eat it and instead we later learn he has a broken beak which must make it difficult to eat. 

    The next part that is interesting is the imagery and how it shows the progression of Snowy's life. For a family member that was "loved", it was interesting to see his habitat as a small aquarium, in the basement with nothing interesting for Snowy to do or interact with.  Through the filming process, the vet provides further insight into how to care for Snowy and suggests a new living environment.  The imagery of him being outside, walking around, with his head out seemed to be the first time he is actually expressing happiness. 

    The last part I found most interesting about this short film was the lesson about even though you are living, doesn't infer you are happy.  Snowy had lived twenty four years and Larry equated this long life to happiness however, he later learned that was not the case.  This film makes a person think about what brings happiness to a being can change with time and living is more than existing.