Middle Child is a one-minute experimental film made for the E2: Emotion assignment in CTPR 507. It takes inspiration from Maya Deren’s Meditation on Violence along with Arlene Sierra’s ideas of rhythm and repetition. The film plays with how violence and threat can become part of the everyday atmosphere, and how standing still or looking away can be its own form of complicity. The camera is treated as another presence in the scene, pulling the performer into moments of tension, confrontation, resignation, and urgency without a single word spoken.Written and Directed by: alika mteuzi
Shoot Date: February 10, 2025, 5:30 PM Location: USC School of Cinematic Arts Campus
Starring: Hans Mauritsen (USC SDA undergraduate)
Producer: Jessica Silva
Director of Photography: Max Zhang
Spring 2025 – CTPR 507, USC SCA MFA Film & Television Production
MIDDLE CHILD
The soundtrack features Wake Up to Me by ’70s Philadelphia trio First Choice, the same track sampled in J. Cole’s song Middle Child which is about being between worlds, not fully belonging to either side, while navigating power and survival. In the film, that connects to the way the character moves, aware of danger, caught between resisting it and absorbing it. The music is part of the tension and points to how identity and position shape our response to harm.
The project follows 507 production rules and was shot on the USC SCA campus with a Sony ILME-FX30 and my assigned equipment team. The emotion comes through sound, lighting, and physical performance, with the camera acting as both witness and participant.© 2025 University of Southern California. All Rights Reserved.