"Sleeping Deeply": More than a Summer Project

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Story by Abbey Stoetzel

As many Titans spent their summer swimming in pools and working on their tan, Senior Candace Bruce and former Titan Logan Triplett filmed a short film: “Sleeping Deeply.”

“Sleeping Deeply is about a couple who are trying to make it in the world of science by publishing research about dream sharing. Adam [Senior Ethan Dorning] is sort of stubborn and tries to rush the experiments, and Amy [Senior Allison Wunder] can sense that something is wrong,” said Triplett. “Meanwhile, Adam is having dreams of a particular symbol and an ominous figure. In a turn of events, the experiment fails and Adam becomes trapped outside of his body, in the ‘astral plane.’ Amy must work to communicate with Adam and find the courage to fix what went wrong. Overall the story can be seen as an example of the difficulties a couple can have with communication, and it emphasizes the importance of being on the same page and helping one another gain courage.”

Triplett and Bruce said they began dating a year ago, and ever since, the two said they have always talked about producing a short film together.

“We had no idea what to do. One day, we were just having a conversation that was unrelated to film ideas and it was about dreams. We both thought that dreams had so much more of a meaning than we think. We had also talked about movies that had to do with dreaming like Inception and Insidious. In the middle of that conversation, we both realized that we had to create our own film about something that meant a lot to us,” Bruce said.

Working together as a couple and as a creative partners may seem like a challenge for some couples, but Triplett and Bruce said they took control of the opportunity to let their relationship thrive.

“Logan and I had worked together before and of those times, we made a great team. Going into this project, we didn’t really expect to have any problem,” said Bruce. “There were times when we would get stressed out and we would take it out on each other. But we would always talk it out and we’d keep on writing or filming. Logan is my best friend, so no matter what happened, I knew that we could both just sit down and say what was on our mind without becoming angry at each other. Working with each other, overall, was great because we both understood where the other person was coming from.”

Dorning, who plays Adam in the film, said he was chosen by Triplett and Bruce because the character seemed to fit him perfectly.

“When we started writing, Logan told me that he wanted me to find people that would fit these characters,” said Bruce. “As we kept writing, I was visualizing different people. I wanted to create a character around someone’s personality. One day, we were writing a specific scene and all I could think was, ‘Ethan.’ I looked back at the previous scenes to make sure that Ethan would fit those parts, too. So I texted him right after that and asked him if he wanted to act in a short film.”

Dorning said that working with Triplett and Bruce was an awesome experience.

“I was already friends with Candace and it was great to become friends with Logan. They are a super talented power couple,” Dorning said.

“Sleeping Deeply” was one of Dorning’s first acting experiences.

“It was one of my first times acting,” said Dorning. “I just like to try new things, so I was like ‘why not?’”

In the future, Triplett and Bruce said they plan to work together creatively again.

“I think there’s a pretty good possibility of that happening, but we don’t have anything planned. Maybe another summer project,” said Triplett.

Check out the film here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awgr84xF0Oc

Photo by Hannah Barlow

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