Q&A: Carolyn Knapp on Her Short Film “Cherry Bomb,” Queer Representation & More
☆ By MOLLY ROSE ☆
IN TUNE WITH HER OWN ADVICE TO FELLOW CREATORS — there is no doubt that Carolyn Knapp herself is a filmmaker with a valuable story that needs to be heard. Implicit in her short film “Cherry Bomb,” Knapp merges an introspective narrative with a purposeful desire to craft a story that celebrates the complexity of queerness and the ever-changing, lifelong journey of self-discovery.
“Tell the stories you feel need to be told, because you are the only one who can tell them,” she said, advocating for creatives to explore what they want to see in art. Doing just this with “Cherry Bomb,” Knapp digs deeper into the post-coming out experience, as she beautifully encapsulates a storyline showcasing timeless life lessons which champion prevalent explorations of acceptance and fearlessness.
Having been selected for the Venice Shorts Film Festival, Knapp is an ever-evolving storyteller with a lot more to tell. Read below to learn more about the inspiration behind Knapp’s short film “Cherry Bomb” and her upcoming projects for the year ahead.
LUNA: What encouraged you to pursue film as a creator?
KNAPP: So, I was actually very lucky — at my elementary school, when I was five years old, there was a school film festival that really encouraged me to start making short films with my friends. I guess I have always been a huge reader, and I know it might sound cheesy, but storytelling has really driven my life in this way. When I was little, whenever I thought about a job I wanted to have in the future, I always said that I wanted to be an author-illustrator or an illustrator because I always knew I wanted to write stories about people and also create the visuals. At the same time, I also sensed that I wanted to do the visual part that comes with film; I was always into art and I think that film is the ultimate combination of those things. So, I have just been really lucky that I have been able to get myself into a place where I can now make movies; it’s what I’ve always loved.
LUNA: Congrats on the release of “Cherry Bomb”! Since “Cherry Bomb” was inspired by your own experiences, how did it feel addressing something so personal through film?
KNAPP: This was my first queer film that I had made, so putting it out on the Internet was kind of coming out in a substantial way. I have been out since I was 16 to a lot of people —which was four or five years ago — but this felt like coming out on the Internet in a really intense way.
But at the same time, I started working on the concept for “Cherry Bomb” in September of 2019, we shot in March of 2020, and the short didn’t come out until October of 2020, so it had been over a year since I had been working on these ideas. So I think by the time it was released, a lot of the really vulnerable issues that I had been dealing with — I had already worked through with myself. So, while it might have been super vulnerable for me to put “Cherry Bomb” out into the world when I initially started to work on it in September of 2019, by the time it was released in October of 2020, I felt a lot more confident in myself. In this way, the short film is kind of like a self-fulfilling phenomenon.
LUNA: What inspired the style of a short film specifically? Were there any difficulties in trying to showcase the storyline in such a short amount of time?
KNAPP: I am a junior in college, so short films are actually the easiest medium to produce, and other than a web series or mini-series format, it is the only medium where I can write the script, produce it, and put it out into the world on my own. I can get help for the production costs and things like that but anything with a longer form is pretty impossible at this point for me to actually create and put out there.
The things that I tend to write are very complex, and I have trouble with the generic short film progression of having a very simple beginning, middle, and end. I’m interested in filmmaking because of the characters, and so I create these very intense characters that represent myself or whoever else I want to tell the story about, and that’s always how I start. And so then — in this 10 minute medium — I have to try and somehow fit all of this in. While it’s definitely not the most logical process for creating a short film, plot is often secondary to me. Even though that’s potentially a downfall in my writing, it’s just how I work.
But I think short films are very powerful because of their brevity. Because they’re the medium that currently makes the most sense for me to work in; my goal is to briefly reflect what I am feeling or working out within myself at any particular moment in a way that is interesting and hopefully eye opening viewers.
LUNA: As you say, queer narratives often revolve around the idea of coming out in particular. Why did you feel it was important to focus on the complexity outside of this experience? And why do you think there hasn’t been much focus on it in film before?
KNAPP: I’ve talked to my roommates a lot about this actually, because I have multiple queer roommates who are also screenwriters and filmmakers, and so we are trying to make media that is more attuned to people who are actually out and queer living in the world. I think that it’s often easier or more tempting for mainstream movies to tell a coming out story because it has a clean beginning, middle, and end. It tends to be you’re struggling with and then you tell people, and then everything is good. It’s quite simple for the audience to understand.
It’s quite simple to tell the audience. I think that is why the more complex, post-coming out stories are not told as much. But I also think that at this point, we are at a real turning point where a lot more queer content is being made and where there are a lot more queer writers, directors, and filmmakers who are really entering the industry and wanting to tell their stories. I’m really hoping that we continue to tell more stories about the complexities of post-coming out.
LUNA: I love the dynamic between Georgie and Violet. Why did you decide to explore this relationship in particular?
KNAPP: It is actually really interesting — the story is not a personal narrative necessarily; I don’t have a sister, so it’s not super based on me. I saw it more as like … each sister represents a different part of myself at a different time in my life. The older sister, Georgie, represents who I was towards the end of high school: just very caught up in what my peers were thinking and really feeling the need to prove my sexuality when I came out because I felt like — as a bisexual person who was very “straight passing” — it was a big deal for me to prove to my peers that I was who I said I was. And on the other hand, there’s Violet, the younger sister, who represents me in middle school or the beginning of high school when I was a lot more confident in who I was, and I cared a lot less about what my peers thought of me. So I thought it would be interesting to put those two “selves” in a situation together where they had to interact and give a chance to tell my high school, vulnerable self that it’s all going to be okay and that you don’t have to be proving things to these people.
LUNA: Despite the plot surrounding queer narratives specifically, are there any other messages that you want viewers to take from the project that you think need to be discussed more?
KNAPP: I would say that “Cherry Bomb" is me telling anyone in high school — or at any age [of] figuring themselves out — that it’s ok not to be sure of who you are; that queerness is ever evolving, and that you’re going to continue figuring yourself out and find what works for you over time. I would like viewers to recognize that there is no one time that you need to decide who you are or what you are. even if you do want to figure it out, what you are or who you are, you don’t need to prove that to other people. That’s basically what I wish I had known when I was a senior in high school. In the beginning of college, I had a lot of major insecurities that stopped me from doing what I wanted to do. I was really depressed at the end of high school, and just returning to that childhood, early teenage self who had so many dreams and hopes — that is what I wanted to capture when talking to my younger self. If someone else can see that story and apply it to their own life, maybe it will make them feel a bit more validated.
LUNA: I love the whole aesthetic of the film, particularly the artwork! What was the inspiration behind that?
KNAPP: I have a very strong sense of visual style, so I definitely tried to incorporate that into the film. My cinematographer, Graham Byers, has been one of my best friends since the beginning of college — his work is so beautiful, and I am just so thankful that he brought his eye to that. I worked on the specific colors of the party and costumes for so long with my production designer to give each scene’s colors meaning as the characters move throughout their night. As far as the rest of the costumes and artwork and things go, I just tried to give as much colour and visuals and meaning as possible, but at the same time, I just really love bright colours!
LUNA: Do you have any advice that you would have for other artists wanting to pursue a career or interest in film?
KNAPP: My biggest advice — which I am sure people hear all the time — is just to make things constantly, and by that I mean: just start creating whatever you want to create, because that’s exactly how I got where I am today. “Cherry Bomb” is a great example of that; I didn’t make that for a class or anything, I was just like, “I really want to make this movie,” and I knew that it was going to be fulfilling for me to make this for myself, and I think as a young creative that’s really important to remember. And — this is scary — but I would say that what’s going to help you out is thinking that no one is going to achieve your vision for you: you’re the only one who has the ideas that you have. Create the work you love.
LUNA: Now that “Cherry Bomb” is out and already doing so well, do you have any other upcoming projects?
KNAPP: I’m not working on any short films at the moment. I have an idea for one that I am trying to shoot, and I’m still in the early stages of writing a script, but you’ll definitely see more about that as the months go on. In this next short film, I really want to focus on this idea of the “girl boss” and the problem with pushing yourself super hard in this capitalist misogynistic space and trying to succeed within that space. I just had an Olivia Rodrigo video that I did ideation and motion graphics that’s coming out on her channel, and that was written about in Billboard which is so exciting. Also keep your eye out for Eliza McLamb’s music video for her song Pontiac coming out this Friday March 5th, which I directed and produced!
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