Who am I? A question asked by many people at many points in their life. Right now, I am have been asking myself that question for months. With this Reflection Unit, I had a lot of time to think about who I was, and what I wanted to do. It was hard at first, I still am unsure of how I want to continue my life after school. I am unsure of whether I want to make my passion into a full time Career. It’s hard to make those decisions. But that wasn’t what I reflected on. I reflected on my beliefs and ideals, and thought about the things that I did. It was weird, but helpful. I was able to learn more about myself through this process. In my projects, I’ve learned I value dedication, passion, and humor, among other things. I hope you enjoy my projects!

Personal Essay

My first piece is my Personal Essay. This is one of the many essays that I’ve written for College Applications. It shows how I view film as an Art form, and my process into film. It shows my dedication and passion to film, as I have been following the path of a filmmaker for 6 years now.

Personal Essay Transcript

Lights, Camera, Action. These simple words describe how to make a movie. Except, not really. Huge technological innovations have advanced movie-making far beyond this iconic phrase. It now encompasses a wide variety of jobs that require vastly different skills. Maybe that’s why I enjoy it so much. There are three important steps that I follow in order to make a good film.

The first step is pre production. This is where my creative process shines. I create worlds, I create people with distinct personalities and motives, I create scenarios that test my character and world’s limits. On the more technical side, I have to plan everything that happens in the film. From what the characters say to what type of shot I need for every single scene. If I organize correctly, then the next two steps are far less stressful.

Production is the next step, and it is where the actual filming gets done. Production
requires the most important skill in filmmaking, teamwork. It took me a while to understand this. However, I can’t record with a camera, hold a light, and record audio all at the same time. I learned that two creative minds are far better than one. You have people who challenge you and your ideas, in order to make something better. The best film that I ever made, a prize winning documentary, was created only due to the combined efforts of myself and my teammate.

The final, and longest, step is post production. Post production is where all the clips you have taken are stitched together. Out of all the steps, post production is my favorite. I love editing. It requires a lot of patience and effort, but when the film is finished, there is no better feeling. I remember scrupulously editing my film until 11pm, just because I was enjoying myself.

Movie-making has allowed me to make friends, build real life skills such as organization and teamwork, and create something that I can show to anyone and be proud of.

Perspective Piece

This Piece is a short little rant on my beliefs of Hollywood Sequels. Sit back and enjoy a pretentious teenager ranting about children’s movies for 2 minutes. In this project, I took my first real dive into after effects. Looking at it now, it’s quite pitiful when I compare it to what I’m capable of, but it was still a good first step in learning the program.

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Perspective Transcript:

Finding Dory, Incredibles 2, Monsters University. Just three examples of movies that didn’t need to exist. I hate that they exist. They were made for the sole purpose of money. They took the brand names of the original movies and hid under them, hoping that the mere nostalgia of the beloved classics would be enough to rake in the viewers. And guess what. It worked. People of all ages went to see the movies. Each of the three sequels had all surpassed their predecessors in terms of money. And that’s all they care about. As someone who is an avid movie goer, I find that movies without passion are the worst to watch. And without a doubt, there is nothing interesting in any of these movies. For instance, Monsters University is a complete contradiction of the original movie. In Monsters Inc. It is implied that Mike and Sully had been friends since the fourth grade. However, Monsters University shows us that the creative team didn’t even watch the original movie, and instead read the review by IMDB. They turned all the lovable characters into cardboard cutouts of their former selves. Allow me to explain how to make a sequel with passion. An example is Terminator 2 judgement day. Now, both the terminator and the Pixar sequels are all sequels that didn’t need to happen. Some movies, like the original Star Wars Trilogy, needed sequels in order to expand the narrative. The original Terminator had a perfectly good ending, which closed up the story nicely. However, Terminator 2 expanded on the Narrative of Terminator 1 by introducing new concepts, characters, and Ideas. Monsters University, however, had no new ideas, or concepts, just a new setting. The new “Characters” are barely characters, and instead are stereotyped versions of “college people”. Overall, I just think, that anyone who makes movies should put some passion, rather than do it for money. I know money is important, but so is integrity.

FILM CLASS

Finally, my last project is my Senior Film Reflection. In this piece, I have decided to put on the tinfoil hat and become a theorist. I attempt to make an introspective comment on human behavior by comparing us to Puppets. It was a very interesting time to say the least. I experimented with various types of imagery, I practiced puppetry. It was a journey, but it was definitely a fun one!

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Finalizing this took a bit longer than I thought. But I did relearn a lot of film techniques and editing styles after I finished. I’m not 100% sure that this shows you who I am, but in the end, I think it at least gives you an insight as to how I think. I want you to ask yourself, and think about my puppet theory. Is it as silly as you initially thought? Or are we puppets in the sense that there are aliens controlling our minds. Either way, I think it’s just interesting to think about.