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Film in the Fields
As an on-campus film festival approached, I pitched the idea of producing a project on a whim to one of my newfound friends. After an immediate "yes" and some brainstorming later, we landed on a concept based around our shared experiences – feelings of displacement and struggling with identity after coming to college.
Our first shot of the day was 7 a.m. in a flower field. What I did not account for was the field was on a steep hill that we had to hike up with a cart of crafty and a Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro 4.6K. With the sun still high, we headed to the park where we needed inserts of people looking confused and our DP approached this set of older men, asking them if they would like to help us out; this ended up being the favorite shot of the entire project. A crew of eight, three location changes, and only one day to film, we accomplished what should've been impossible and we wrapped early. After a week of editing and figuring out how to do stop motion, the film was finished and festival-ready. Out of over 30 submissions, this little project was selected to be shown. The amount of creativity and passion imbued in each film screened was prevalent. So, when we won the "Best Directing" award, I was completely floored.
What marked this experience as one of my favorites out of many, however, was the ability to work with my friends who trusted my vision and believed in me as a filmmaker. The amount of support combined with laughter they've given me is insurmountable and is the reason why I continue to work in film. Every set, any role, as long as they're there I feel as though anything is possible.
Story written by Vivian D, future director. Vivian is currently a junior at UC Irvine in California.
You can watch Vivian's film, Flightless Bird, here.
