When people ask me why I want to make films I often tell them to go watch the Wim Wenders documentary Room 666 and get back to me, partially because I find myself plagued by the ambiguity of the question or why people expect such an uncomplicated answer. My mind wonders.
As someone who has been making her own short films since age thirteen, watching others' work is both staggering and disheartening. Maybe I feel limited because I’ve never had a big enough budget to make a film the exact way I envision it in my head, or maybe I feel despondent because I fear I could never make anything as organic or special as what I’m already seeing. As I sit watching The Squid and the Whale on my burning hot laptop, all of these questions wither into oblivion,…show more content… As I evaluated the footage of finicky teenagers kissing and holding hands in the halls, staring vacantly into the blue and white walls, getting into mischief, inanely gossiping with friends and the overall barbarity, I quickly discovered a new methodology and approach to film. I couldn’t help but feel somewhat gratified for capturing such an authentic angst at a time when emotions are so exceedingly heightened. The footage was raw, erratic, heartwarming and heartbreaking, just like adolescence, and it was beautiful.
It didn’t take me long to fathom that film is about evoking emotion, especially the emotions we try to suppress. Despite a filmmaker having his or her own singular vision, capturing an intriguing image takes experience to know what angles and techniques to use to illustrate it seamlessly. To learn film is to learn storytelling, and there is so much more knowledge out there waiting to be gained. Once the script is translated through the camera lens and portrayed on screen, a new story unfolds; thus the amount of stories waiting to be told is seemingly
