The medium of film and television has become more prevalent in society than ever before. It pushes the boundaries of what technology can do and what realities mankind can explore. However, with their rapid expansion, the bounds by which society deems this medium as ethical or unethical, simplified as real or fiction, has become a lot hazier, daresay, inconsequential. While some facets of the medium strive and continue to focus on ethical practices (such as documentary work), others base their work loosely on those real experiences (e.g. “Based on a True Story”) or are wholly exaggerated or fabricated. With this in mind, it probes the question: Does research have a place in nonfiction storytelling? This thesis explores this premise, arguing that the more a story is researched and truthful to its subject matter, the better and more entertaining it will become.

Our generation is living through a mental health crisis. 19.86% of American adults, appx. 50 million, are diagnosed with mental illness, and the risk only increases with youth, veterans, LGBTQ+, and other marginalized communities. Furthermore, those seeking treatment often depend on prescription pharmaceuticals, using these drugs for long periods of time, even for their entire lives. Fortunately, a small team of doctors has developed a non-invasive electrical stimulation technology that can promote healing processes within the body, and the potential impact of this invention could change the way we approach mental health treatment forever. This is a short film on this technology, the people involved, and the greater mission to heal a generation that needs it.

For my thesis project, I chose to create a film about a group of revolutionary technologies that utilize transcranial and transcutaneous electrostimulation to stimulate mental and physical wellbeing. The transcranial technology is called TESA-HB, and the transcutaneous technology is called MindVybe. Despite its relative novelty as a medical device, this technology has already been used for a number of different treatment purposes with a wide range of positive results, ranging from bringing light back into the life of a suicidal teenage boy to allowing an RSD stricken woman to live her lifelong dream of dancing down the aisle at her wedding. It’s an incredible innovation developed by incredible people who are driven by a healing-first philosophy that always puts patient before profit, even when the odds seem stacked against them. Knowing that such brilliant, genuine people have invested so much time, money, knowledge, and dedication into a device that has helped so many people, and can help many more moving forward, made this an easy choice as the subject for my creative project.

For my thesis project, I chose to create a film about a group of revolutionary technologies that utilize transcranial and transcutaneous electrostimulation to stimulate mental and physical wellbeing. The transcranial technology is called TESA-HB, and the transcutaneous technology is called MindVybe. Despite its relative novelty as a medical device, this technology has already been used for a number of different treatment purposes with a wide range of positive results, ranging from bringing light back into the life of a suicidal teenage boy to allowing an RSD stricken woman to live her lifelong dream of dancing down the aisle at her wedding. It’s an incredible innovation developed by incredible people who are driven by a healing-first philosophy that always puts patient before profit, even when the odds seem stacked against them. Knowing that such brilliant, genuine people have invested so much time, money, knowledge, and dedication into a device that has helped so many people, and can help many more moving forward, made this an easy choice as the subject for my creative project.