My name is Kristina Shidlovska, I go by Tina, but people choose to call me Tintin, Tuna, or Tinashi. I’m 17 years old and I’m currently a senior at Los Altos High School. I moved to the US when I was 14, almost three years ago, from Kyiv, Ukraine. Before that, I lived in Poland for four months and attended school there (let’s ignore the fact that I was there for only three days). I know three languages: Ukrainian, Russian, English, and am currently learning Spanish and kind of understand Polish. I have always been fascinated by art and by how people create to show what’s going on in their minds.
As I grew up, I noticed that living without an adventurous spirit and appreciation for things and people that surround me, takes away my energy and character in general. These two things create branches to so many other things, for example, adventure builds confidence, and curiosity, while appreciation creates community, empathy, and gratitude which are crucial for teamwork.
Currently, I am passionate about photography, editing clips into short videos that I then post on my Instagram and watching movies. My whole life, I was and I am surrounded by people in the art industry. Tattoo artists, producers, photographers, singers, fashion designers, all of these creators somehow shaped my creativity and desire to create. Movies and their directors inspire me to take my notebook and sit there for hours brainstorming ideas for future films. I see every single scene I want to shoot, I see the facial expressions of actors, how the light enhances their features, and movement of the camera.
For me, Freestyle is a perfect opportunity to learn about the process of creating movies and express my creativity and vision of the world. It’s important for me to get a true review and to get help. I want to learn how to fix mistakes and errors during filming or after, when I’m editing my work. I know that all the knowledge that I will get from Freestyle will help me in college where I plan to study cinematography and directing. And who knows, maybe in the next ten years I’ll be directing my own movie.