“Hello and welcome back to another amazing blogpost”…is what you would expect me to say. Except this time, my story will be more judgmental and reflective than any other post before. Get ready for wild ride and expect the unexpected.

Introduction:

Have you ever wondered: Why is the world the way it is right now? Why are some people able to see things that others can’t? Well, in this project, we will learn all about it. First, diving into specific case studies of people who have shaped our perspective, such as Walt Disney, Frank Gehry, and even President Ronald Reagan. After researching and practicing our skills in essay writing, we were divided into groups of 3s and chose our topics for our final product. The final product is yet another video, a documentary that I’m super excited to show you!

DQ: “Why are some people able to see around corners in ways others are not, and by doing, shape how we see ourselves in this changing world?”

Before we get to the good part, I would like to have a big shout out to my group: Ryder and Josh

Part One (building knowledge):

During our launch phase, we were told that our theme would be about our collective West Coast identity, and many factors make up this “collective identity.” Our case studies mainly focused on the architectural (Frank Gehry), political (Ronald Reagan), and entertainment (Disney) aspects. We wrote three essays during this phase about how Frank Gehry and Walt Disney have shifted our West Coast identity and a topic of our own choice. Not only is this a great way to understand the theme of “Seeing around the corner,” but we also refined our skill in in-text citations.

After reading hours of articles and refining my thesis, I realized that there’s a commonality between the people who have seen around the corner. These people are not trying to be anyone else; they have a message to share with the world, and most importantly, they are not satisfied with their current situation. If Ronald Reagan had never said, “Are you better off than you were four years ago?” he wouldn’t have won the election. If Frank Gehry had only built industry buildings for a stable income, he wouldn’t be the innovative architect we know today. If Walt Disney had followed the Hollywood filming trend instead of 2D animations, then our childhood wouldn’t have been the same. This idea of seeing and creating opportunities really connects to one of my previous projects about change makers; feel free to check it out. (Click here)

Part Two (documentary):

After carefully analyzing the characteristics of these people who have seen around the corner, our group began looking for examples around our given topic, cultural mosaic. There are many examples of cultural mosaics on the West Coast since it’s home to many immigrant families. However, we want to find an example of how it has shaped our collective identity down to our roots, where we no longer think it’s a foreign culture. By the end of our first brainstorming session, we had pretty much settled on the topic of food. Food is a universal language, and it’s generally the first step toward accepting a new culture. Therefore, fusion restaurants reflect the adaptability and change of our culinary roots, further strengthening the idea of cultural mosaic. In conclusion, this is our Logline:

We began assigning roles after the topic and message were determined. I took the initiative of building our script to ensure that we have a strong foundation to work with. Ryder then worked on the screenplay, and Josh made the storyboard that included the time stamps. With our script approved very early on, we completed our animatics fairly quickly. We gathered shots that we would take and pretended that we had a background.

We faced some difficulties when we travelled to LA to get our planned shots. It was raining on the first day, so we lost an opportunity to do our outdoor shot for In N’ Out. When we went to Bob’s Big Boy, it was very dark outside, and their signature neon sign was not glowing. When we went to Panda Express at the airport, it was already time to board the plane, so we only managed to film some B-rolls. Fortunately, Josh and I had a great interview at Tojo’s Sushi, so we shifted our focus to California rolls.

Answer to DQ:

I have answered our Driving question through the script and our final product. People are able to see around corners by walking towards it; they seek change and opportunities while others are staying in their comfort zones. When people see their success, they blindly follow. These change maker’s individuality reminds us that we can only become successful by being ourselves, no matter how much the world changes around us. In our video, we chose to use food as supporting evidence: Sushi would never be as popular today if Tojo had never “broke the tradition” and created the California roll, and “Chinese” food would never be at an American dinner table if Panda Express never invented the orange chicken. Their innovation of fusing culinary styles set the founding stone of the cultural mosaic of the West Coast.

Final product:

Reflection:

After we recorded most of our footage, disaster struck. Because Ryder was in Puerto Rico and couldn’t be with us for the interview, so he volunteered to edit our video instead. The teachers generously gave us a week for editing when we returned from spring break. The day before the video was due, Ryder told us that he couldn’t finish it in time because of the upcoming math tests, so Josh took over for the last bit.

It wasn’t until 30 minutes before I wrote this that I realized we have eight and a half minutes of interviews. On top of that, our Panda Express section was completely cut off. I really do hope that more communication would’ve taken place when the editor made such a significant decision. The final product’s timeline was tight, and we haven’t gotten to revise it yet. I believe everyone should prioritize their group project 48 hours before it’s due so that we can have extra time to make revisions. Somehow the animatic feels more complete than the final product.

Overall, the process of making this documentary was quite enjoyable; we had good synergy and division of work. However, the edit was underwhelming; 8 and a half minutes of raw interview footage is below expectations. I wish we’d all tried our best to finish this project, but it seems we’ve let loose too early. Perhaps the seniority is kicking in.

Personal statement:

I’ve always been slightly against group projects since grade 11. Often, people see it as an opportunity to do less work instead of putting in their usual effort together to achieve something greater. I tried to maximize my efficiency when writing the script and getting our shots, but we somehow still ended up finishing right before the due date.