Johanna Carter

So, I guess I'm a scholar now 😏
Stay tuned for more academic insights into films

South Gate grad Johanna Carter's paper “Translating a Monster: Motherhood and Horror Criteria in Ringu and The Ring” was published in the academic journal Film Matters!

Through close analysis, Johanna explores the cultural differences between the Japanese and American versions of the film and how they affect the portrayal of motherhood, and the way we appropriate and translate cultural monsters from East to Western cinema.

Johanna's publication in Film Matters showcases her dedication and expertise in the field of cinema studies. We can’t wait to see all the other academic papers on horror she’ll publish!

Find her paper here: https://intellectdiscover.com/content/journals/10.1386/fm_00283_1?fbclid=IwAR1on3XQJFU55B5uw90bmTnYxxKPspJppDKkdSmgL9Tmqtc9JJBpT1IA108

I just received some news: my short film "Photo of Us" was just selected by SIFF! Let's pop the champagne 🎉

As my debut, this short will always stick close to my heart, even though now--a good year after I filmed it with my fellow classmates--I know I could've done some things differently in each stage of its making. But that's the learning curve, isn't it?

I learned so much from this experience as a whole and I can't wait to shoot more films and evolve as a filmmaker alongside each and every one of them. Stay tuned for that.

🎊WE HIT 100 AWESOME PEEPS🎊

I was so happy hearing the news that we hit 100 followers that I had to celebrate with one last pool day. Thank you for hitting that follow button, for choosing to go along with me on this amazing journey, and I know this is just the beginning for the great milestones to come--just wait and see what exciting things I have in store for you.

Thank you, thank you, and let's party 💯🎂

** definitely feeling myself in that last photo

Four years ago I embarked on one of my biggest adventures: I followed my dream. It was scary, the not knowing of whether I've done the right thing or not, whether I'd succeed at all, and, most of all, knowing I'd do it alone, away from everything I've known so far at that point. Four years have passed since then, and I am happy to say it was worth it.

As artists, we have to feel so much of life; it takes immense courage to wake up every day and keep doing it while also sharing it with the world. In a way, artists feel so that the world enjoys. I like the poetry of it, but I've also discovered first-hand how important it is to have genuine guidance for this act of shared 'feeling'. You can't lose yourself in it. SGS taught me that, for four years becoming my new home, source of guidance, and place of shared emotions.

Of course, I graduated. Yay! 🥳During that beautiful, amazing day I took my diploma in front of all the people I hold dear to my heart, this second home of mine told me how much I brightened their days, how I shone like the sun. What I couldn't tell them then is that I got to be that because of them. Every day I went to school was a day that brought immense joy. So, actually, they were brightening my days just as much as I did theirs.

All these four years have been more than filled with smiles, laughter, inside jokes, insightful discussions, impromptu karaoke sessions, exhilarating filming sessions, and much much more. Which is why I want to thank all you beautiful, creative, fantastic people for sharing with me all of that--and you know who you are. Thank you for all those days and moments, for striving to create that perfect last day for me (it's become a memory I'll treasure forever). So keep being awesome, SGSers, and I know we'll meet again 💖

***Side-note: look at that amazing and quirky and gorgeous caricature of your one and only. Oh, I love it so much, next to my director's chair, film slate filled with lovely messages, engraved pen, book with dedication, sweets, and all the flowers I've received (and actually flew back with me). One last time, a thousand times thank you to everyone making the effort to be there for me, in person or online, and for showering me with these fantastic gifts

Oh, yeah, I'm graduating 😂
But on a more serious note, I loved every second of my journey at SGS and am so so proud of everything I've accomplished--and will soon accomplishe--thanks to this place and these phenomenal peeps.

As Johanna Carter's four years at South Gate slowly come to an end, it was our privilege to listen to her Senior Presentation— or, as she insisted on renaming it, Senior Talk— about all the lessons, mistakes, and tips she’s learned.

Even though her dream of becoming an interior designer ended in fifth grade, her fantasy of becoming a filmmaker has already become a reality. In October of 2022, Johanna’s short film "Photo of Us" had its premiere and received laurels from two movie festivals. However, this hasn’t stopped her from writing! Johanna’s bachelor's project is a young adult paranormal romance titled Forbidden Love, and she not only finished it, but outlined the whole trilogy.

SGS couldn’t be prouder of her!

P.S . Johanna will go in the books as an exceptionally dedicated student, having read everything that makes up SGS’s four-year syllabus! That’s 97 novels, short stories, scripts, and 185 academic articles!

Amalie is a great instructor at SGS (also, partly, my awesome instructor as a senior now), and I'm so happy to see more of her work in major publications. It makes me proud as a fellow author and her student. Go Amalie! 🥳

Transport yourself back to the mystery of the Roaring Twenties with a captivating tale by our instructor A. R. Frederiksen.

With just a sprinkle of hope, this gothic story follows a determined journalist on a mission to uncover the secrets of a retired vaudevillian singer. She must navigate icy conditions, a deceitful host, and strange supernatural happenings in order to secure herself the story of the year and a booming career.

Will she succeed? You'll have to read the Bleak Midwinter anthology series by Quill & Crow Publishing House to find out!

You heard it right: you can vote for my short film and support me, all while having 162 other international films from all genres at your fingertips 🤗

Johanna Carter’s short film “Photo of Us” was recently selected by Lift-Off Network!

Lift-Off Network is an online festival dedicated to reaching the public with the indie work of contemporary and first-time filmmakers!

SGS couldn’t be prouder and more excited to have the world see Johanna’s family drama with a bloody twist.

You can now vote for “Photo of Us” after renting the program and receiving a terrific vault of 163 short films! The winning films will be screened live at Lift-Off Network’s home, Pinewood Studios, in the UK.

Congrats Johanna! We can’t wait to see the places you and your short film go! 🎉🎬

You can see the short films via this link: https://checkout.liftoff.network/p4-ft-filmmaker-sessions-december-2022/

Johanna Carter

Photos from the premiere🥰. I can't tell how much these people's support helps and amazes me every day

I will forever stand by what I said here

🦈 Why do you love sharks?

Johanna: Sharks are deadly and predatorial, but also highly misunderstood and demonized by the media. I would say they fascinate me because of this contrast.

🦈 What advice do you have about writing sharks?

Johanna: To have a great ‘humans vs. sharks’ story, research the animal’s behavior and then go about it innovatively. Also, develop both parties equally because the thrill of these movies is seeing what people do to survive.

🦈 What shark-media would you recommend?

Johanna: In specific: Jaws (the OG), The Shallow, 47 Meters Down, and Bait. In general: Movies! And there’s at least a quadrillion to choose from. Not all of them are masterpieces—most aren’t—but their slock is what’s endearing about them. My recommendation is to watch them in the summer; keeps things interesting at the beach.

Johanna Carter

~Have you always loved cool journals and notebooks?
~Do you hoard them just for the covers?
~Do you like themed illustrations or are interested in astrology?
~Have you discovered a passion for journaling, sticking notes to pages or doodling?
--Well, look no further than my creations on Amazon because I have it all 😁

There are currently 17 items that you can choose from on my page, ranging from notebooks to themed bullet journals and daily and weekly planners, in all shapes and sizes, big or small, lined or dotted. I know there is something there for everyone, and I am proud to announce that I've revamped some of the older covers so that everything is fresh and double amazing.

So, please, go right ahead and browse for the thing/s you need (or would like to own).

*Pst! They are also of incredible quality, just so you know ☺️ If you don't believe me, check the photos and rest assured that the technical aspects (colors, illustrations, page material, binding, etc.) are also on par with everything else

CLICK THE LINK for my page: https://www.amazon.com/~/e/B09KV9TS77

We did it!! The last couple of posts were all about a social media game my school SGS conceived (way before the Squid Game Reality Show announcement) and with your help and complete amazingness, I won 🥳🥳 I can proudly say I got 1st place and got to own the latest version of Final Draft with which I'll write my scripts and you'll some day get to watch them come to life.

I'm so incredibly happy and amazed by y'alls participation, and so now I'm chilling at a 5 star hotel in Bulgaria. Will see you all soon enough with new updates on videos, short films, scripts and everything else. Love you all ❤️

My absolute favorite read from my now favorite author.

"Middlesex" and any other novel by Jeffrey Eugenides is an elite work where all those questions and thoughts that we are too afraid to say out loud are put down on paper in a simply exquisite manner. Nothing short of extraordinary, speaking from the heart to the heart. A must read.

In today's class, we reviewed the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Middlesex published by Jeffrey Eugenides in 2002. The story is a Bildungsroman, family saga, and a gender novel that tells a story of an intersex man and the effect of a mutated gene (5-alpha-reductase deficiency) on three generations of a Greek family.

This semester on Literary Realism I had to present "The Sun Also Rises" by Hemingway. It was my introduction to Hemingway's prose and I sure enjoyed it; minimalist, to the point where anything that could be deemed a detail was removed, but a prose rich in symbolism and the tumultuous human condition. A sure recommended read for anyone.

More behind-the-scenes!! 🥰🥰

This is back in the Pre-(pre)production, when we first got the Aputure lighting setup with 20-plus gels, tripods, the camera slider and dolly (which were all used during the 2 movie productions). The gimbal came later.

Technical terms incoming: the lights were Amaran HR672S Daylight LED Spot Light, with coverings for White Balance of 5500 K Daylight and 2500 K Tungsten, and the gimbal was Zhiyun Weebill S.

Honestly, this day felt like Christmas, and I confess that I almost got blinded by the lights (quite literally, not a The Weeknd reference).

Why SGS rocks, part 2:

For those interested in any type of writing, feast your eyes and maybe I'll see you in the fall.

Thanks to my lovely school SGS, I was once again able to take part in the biggest, most awesome, and inspiring writing conference, AWP.

It was beyond fantastic, even through the Wi-Fi powers of my trusty laptop, and I definitely learned new ways of approaching writing, expanding it, thinking about it, doing it, and trying new things to make it meaningful to readers. Truly a great experience!

Remember SGS Film Club? Well, let your eyes enjoy this behind-the-scenes from the Production "What Once Was"; your one and only is operating the camera, making sure that the cinematography is on point. 🥰

What a blast it was, a beautiful chaos that I'm already prepared to get back into for a different story. The awesome team of people you see in this photo (some behind behind the scenes/photo) made the work fun and worthwhile.

Today on set, the South Gate film club tried out their new lighting gels. From black to pink and orange, the lights shed new inspiration on every scene. This scene, in particular, was very fun to film!

Every time I'm talking to someone about SGS and how it's structured, the people I'm talking to are in equal parts amazed and incredulous because it sounds too good to be true; news, it's true.

So I wanted to show everyone how semesters at South Gate work and how utterly genius they are so that, essentially, you get to learn everything about writing, no matter the genre. It's insanely amazing and I'm just in awe at how well each semester delves into its assigned genre. Look, read, and be amazed yourself!😁

*UNAPOLOGETIC SELF-PROMOTING*
These past couple of weeks, I have worked on designing a bunch of bullet journals, planners, and notebooks; some have illustrations, others are themed (eg. all the zodiac signs), but they are all quality products.

My whole deal with this journey was to create something that I would definitely use or something that I needed at the time of me coming up with them. Something to jot down ideas or for daily organization was ideal. But then I also wanted them to have personality, to have cool designs and be visually pleasing, so I put in the time to finalize them.

If you are so interested in what I've created, give them a look; there are currently 17 designs to choose from, sizes both big and small, and they can be purchased on Amazon by accessing the link below.

SURPRISE TIME! I've directed and written a short movie. Wait, what?!😆

Yeah, the other surprise I promised you yesterday is this: I've been working on developing, from concept to production (and now slowly moving to editing and post-production) my very own short film/proof of concept about a, dare I say, interesting family dynamic. Can you guess the genre of it? One hint: it definitely aims to surprise.😉

But the thing is that I'm proud of what I've achieved so far with this and I'm even prouder of working with everyone on this project, from the ones you see in this photo, to those behind the cameras, my crew and amazing classmates. Now I'm just excited to work some more on it and have it ready for all of you to see it, so stay tuned for that.

And with this, my surprises are over...for now.

The second short film South Gate is shooting is titled “Photo of Us.”

What initially seems like the best night for Bianca—sneaking away from her overbearing Mom and having her first kiss with a guy she met at the bar—turns horrifyingly wrong when she ventures to her older sister’s abandoned hangout and discovers Maria’s secret meat diet.

Written and directed by: Ioana Ionascu



Johanna Carter

The fun begins🥰... or, more specifically, it has ended in terms of production, but I'm more than thrilled to now let you all in on what we've been doing at SGS during these past 2 weeks.

First surprise: my very first time as Director of Photography and Camera Operator for "What Once Was". Next one, well, it's a surprise for later 😈

Also, that teddy bear became our own version of Annabelle, the doll. Didn't help that it always followed you around.

Are you curious what happens in my Practicum classes? What I learn from it and what I love most about it? Maybe some writing advice and insight into my future project?

Read along, then, and you'll find all the answers😁

▪︎DOUBLE REVIEWS▪︎
This weekend, I ended up watching 2 horror requels of 2 classic slashers. I had to compare them.

𝗧𝗲𝘅𝗮𝘀 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗮𝘄 𝗠𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗰𝗿𝗲:
This was bad. The story beats felt contrived, and even that didn't convey control over the plot because so many things got forgotten: characters had working phones, but never used them; characters had a working Tesla, but never used it to escape until the end; characters choose to hide in a toilet bus instead of going out the windows, etc.

The whole movie is made up of inexplicably stupid decisions. How could you show a working gun in the 1st act and then just dismiss it in the 3rd? Still, the kills were somewhat fun. Pretty gory, splattery, with better SFX than its predecessors. Everything else? Infuriatingly bad to the point that it's laughable.

--------‐-------------------------------------------------------

𝗦𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺:
I liked how they continued with the meta-hyperconscious-narrative that is the core of this series. I'm also glad to see that the filmmakers thought to explore other ideas, while also showing a clear passion and love for the original and its cast. It felt genuine. Unlike TCM, the original cast helped the story, being more than just props for audience nostalgia. The kills were more explicit, and there were some incredibly cool and elaborate scenes that conveyed a keen knowledge of horror (shower scene). I also like the LOGAN angle for Dewey, but they did him dirty in the end.

Sometimes the dialogue was too on the nose with the agenda of "elevated horror" is better than "slocky". The twist was somewhat predictable, which is a given since the series already used most possible twists, but what I can't forgive is having a red-herring shot to surprise the audience with the final twist when it's clear that scene wouldn't happen with what the character knew. Also, while I loved the double murder (totally unexpected from this series), after pummeling the "elevated horror" discourse, you can't really use the 'low-brow' tricks and expect them to work; you've already dismissed them.

Yay, back to movie reviews. This one was truly something else, and I'm torn between being a tad bit angry I paid to see it in cinema and in a state of peaceful numbness from the outlandish action of it all.

But, I saw it in August and remembered some things and forgot many others besides the popularity of the family meme. Still, i remember my reaction after it was finished, so now it's put into coherent words.

But what did you think of this movie?

▪︎as we get closer to the Oscars, I'll try to catch up on some of the movies I missed the past year. What was one of your favorites? I would love to see some good movies.

May the Dark Fairy sprinkle some magic facts into your mundane lives... also, prepare for the dread that is to come this weekend🎃

"Everyone needs a dark fairy to tell them the truth: the light that shines most has the darkest of shadows. Beware the light..."

Twisted Fairy Tales DAY 1 featuring Johanna as a Dark Fairy!

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