BY CHLOE BROWNELL

AND MICHELLE OLIVER

MEDIA WRITING REPORTERS

The Bellicose and the Reverie tells a hopeful story of two characters who are complete opposites, meant to keep audiences thinking even after the film has ended.

Director and writer Holly Reichling described it as “a thrilling film about hope.” The film was created around an escape scene.

Reichling, who said she is a big fan of The Shawshank Redemption, wanted her film to include a similar escape scene. With this in mind Reichling developed two characters who were battling conflict with each other and within themselves. Reichling describes the characters as “conflicted.”

One of Reichling’s main goals with the project was to keep people thinking about the film after it was over.

“I knew leaving the theater I wanted the experience not to end when the credits rolled,” Reighling said. “I wanted the experience to continue.”

Reichling said she hopes that people will wonder which parts of the film are real and correct within the story.

In creating the film, the team faced issues with scheduling and shooting locations.

“We shot in some weird places, like a weird bathroom on the third floor of McKenzie, and it looked like a death trap.” said Ainsley Houghton, who was in charge of costume design and played a nurse in the film.

Team members also scrambled if a location lacked the props they needed.

Ana Mayes, a production assistant, said, “If they didn’t have anything we would just kind of like run through our dorms and get whatever we could.”

As the team worked, members realized just how much goes into creating a film.

“To see all the people that are involved with every aspect of sound design and costume and realizing that for two hours of movie, people are working maybe two or three years, maybe four, maybe even longer,” said Warren Jackson, who played the head orderly.

Going into Film Fest, Mayes said she hopes Reichling will win best director.

“Her drive made everybody want to, like, keep going and just, like, give it their best,” she said.

Other team members agreed that Reichling was gracious and helpful throughout the film-making process, helping the entire team to connect.

They described themselves as a family.

Crew/cast: Holly Reichling, producer, director, writer, editor, cinematography, graphic design, advertising; Ainsley Houghton, costume design, nurse; Adrian Martinez, camera operator; Daniel Meja, camera operator; Lettie Jane Myers, production design; Ana Mayes, production assistant; Ashley Burpee as Harriet; Emma Carter as Lily; Henry Ibane Paim Ignacio as Dr. Doolion; Warren Jackson as head orderly; Rodrigo Giron as orderly; Brandon Reeves as security guard.