Tension is a short film describing the stress a medical student can feel when studying at home during the pandemic. The pandemic means that students can often study for a whole day in one room without social interaction with others. Exercise is often touted as a great way to reduce stress, but it can also be ineffective for some.
In this film, the student cannot seem to escape his stress. No matter how much he tries to run away from it, the respite is only temporary, and he feels the tension follows him. As the film progresses, the sounds of the lectures crescendo, reaching a peak as the student resolves to just accept the burden and gives up.
The medium of film was chosen to display this building pressure as a metaphor for the inescapable feeling stress can have during the pandemic. The importance of knowing when to take a break has become even more essential during the pandemic, but sometimes the fear of being unproductive can make it extremely difficult to relax and clear one’s mind. Without other students to compare oneself to, it can be hard for a student to know how much work they should be doing, and this uncertainty can increase anxiety and pressure. This all contributes to a feeling of guilt when taking a break, which can be hard to manage.

I really enjoyed creating this piece, although I had no experience of filming or editing beforehand, it was exciting to be able to experiment with a new creative medium.
Film was a great way for me to be able to put across the ideas I wanted to show in the assignment and the emotions I was trying to portray. Being able to choose a medium that involved sound was important to me as music is hugely effective in transmitting emotion. The work was based mostly on my own experience of studying at the university during a turbulent first year due to the pandemic situation. However, I know many other medical students have had similar experiences of working from home during this time.
Although I do not consider myself a naturally creative individual, working on this project has shown me that creativity is more of a muscle. It surprised me how easy it was to get started after the admittedly difficult brainstorming process and I feel far more confident in undertaking future creative work.