Introduction
“How do you ignite your passion and elevate your skills and experiences to create your ultimate and most successful Freestyle project?”
The Zenith project challenged all Freestyle seniors to pursue something interesting to us while using all of the knowledge we’ve gained in these past two years at Freestyle. The Zenith project is supposed to be the peak of all of our skills to showcase our knowledge and talent. For my final project, I chose to do a video essay/observational documentary type video commemorating my family. Much like the experimental film unit in junior year, I wanted to try and convey a specific emotion in my film. In this case, I wanted to portray the bittersweetness of growing up and moving away from your family, an issue that I’ve been struggling with recently. I wanted to challenge myself to make this film not only for my family, but for myself too.
Process
Pre Production
In the pre production process, I made a calendar of deadlines to meet for every week. I had started with writing my script which underwent a couple revisions until it was exactly how I wanted it. I incorporated specific memories from my family as well as generalizing a lot of the script so that it was relatable for a broader audience. Then, I moved on to planning locations/things I wanted to capture in the film. I also accounted for my trip that I took in April where I went to London and Croatia. I decided to incorporate my Zenith filming into my trip.
Production
For production, I shot all of the newer videos on my phone in 4k, 30fps. I chose to use my phone because of the built in stabilizer and to also challenge myself to produce something high quality with just a phone camera. I mainly shot videos at my house, in my backyard, and at my grandparents house since that’s where I felt the most nostalgic and connected to my family. Then, I searched through all of the home videos I had to find funny and sweet videos with my family to add to my film. I edited new videos with old videos to show how even when it feels like everything’s changing, I’ll always have my family’s love and support.
Post Production
After I had shot all my videos and found clips of home videos I wanted to use, I edited them all together to fit my script. I added two songs to my film; We’re Going To Be Friends by The White Stripes and Teach Your Children by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. I added these two songs because they were the songs my dad used to play on the guitar when I was little. I thought the music fit really well with the emotion of my script and the videos.
Final Product
Reflection
I definitely struggled with this project in the sense that it was very vulnerable and it made me very emotional. Overall, I’m so happy with the way it turned out and I’m glad to have this video to look back on whenever I’m missing my family or whenever they’re missing me.