End of an Era

As the curtains close on my junior year of high school, I’ve had the opportunity to reflect on my growth over the past year through my final presentation for ISM.

All of my successes, failures, struggles, and progress needed to be documented and formulated into a story for the ultimate test: a presentation that shows what I’ve learned in the past year. This 20-25 minute recorded final presentation would be accessible by anyone on the internet and would certainly be seen by classmates, family members, friends, and teachers.

I definitely felt the pressure and stress of my expectations to produce something that I’d be proud to show the world (beyond my original work), but after presenting a shortened and live version of the presentation during class, I was granted a little confidence boost.

The rehearsal presentation was to be 13-15 minutes long and had to be presented live during our Zoom class. The slot I had signed up for was Friday, May 7, and I was the last out of 3 presentations. Therefore, my presentation would probably be the one most people would remember from that day - I had to make sure my presentation would make a good impression and positively remain in people’s memory. I had the perfect opportunity to create a massive impact with this time slot, so I had to think of the perfect way to leave my audience speechless - or at least impressed.

A week before my presentation on April 30th, I had decided to complete my initial idea for my original work, which was a short film telling the story of a Japanese immigrant who found her home in the US. I was already crunched for time since my original work was due on May 3, but I figured that as long I completed the film in time for my presentation, it would work out just fine. This way, I could use the film (that I said I wouldn’t complete previously in the year to Mr. Pirtle) to conclude my presentation. The effectiveness of this kind of outro would depend on the quality of the film I produced, which I worked tirelessly throughout the week between EOC and AP tests to improve.

Luckily, I managed to complete everything in time. I finished the final edits of my film on Thursday, May 6, and finalized my presentation that night. I was a bit wary of how my delivery would be or if I could remember everything I’d need to say, but when the time came for me to present on Friday, almost everything went according to plan. Plus, the reaction I received from both Mr. Pirtle and my classmates was better than I ever could have imagined.

Everyone was to give feedback in Zoom and send out a rubric via email after each presentation finished. Both the feedback and the rubrics I received were extremely complimentary, and frankly, it astonished me. A lot of people said they were speechless and impressed, and some said it was the best presentation and film they’d ever seen. “It looks like something on TV” was another piece of feedback given. I was so happy. And best of all, Mr. Pirtle seemed very impressed was well - I even heard from my friends in the 4th period ISM class that my presentation was being spoken of highly. I usually try not to be a crowd-pleaser or seek others’ approval, but in this case, it boosted my confidence and made me feel great about myself. All I had to do now was fill in about 5-10 more minutes and record my presentation. Easy, right?

Well - yes and no. I’m trying not to be a perfectionist with this, but as I said earlier, this presentation is like the ultimate test to show everything I’ve learned in the past year. Especially because the presentation is recorded, I needed to show what I’ve learned through my presentation and through the way I recorded my presentation.

Ok, fine. Technically, I didn’t NEED to, but I wanted to - so I spent a solid hour and a half creating my set, setting up lights, and framing the scene to emulate the many film tutorials I’d watched throughout the year on YouTube. They all had such a nice setup that seemed the same across the board: a generally dark area with good depth of field to create interest, a colored light and a few other objects in the background that was out of focus, a strong and neutral light in front of the person, and a relatively simple deadpan shot of the person speaking. After a lot of minor adjustments and walking back and forth between my camera and the lights, I had created a set that I liked and finally recorded my presentation. I spent the majority of my weekend editing the video, only to realize that I would probably have to reshoot it after getting some feedback from others.

Not only was I struggling to get good quality audio from the way I had set up my microphones, but the camera moved every time I did and made it appear as though the camera was stabilized to my face. To say the least, this was far less than ideal, and I realized I would need to rerecord the presentation entirely.

However, beyond my struggles with my presentation, I’m very happy with my delivery and how I was able to convey my growth and progress this year. It was a great way for me to draw this year to a close and reflect on how much I’ve learned. Perhaps it’s a touch dramatic to say it’s the end of an era, but it truly is. The days of not knowing how to create films, edit, or score them are over. From here on out, I will be constantly working on making films and expanding my knowledge of film and cinematography. Hopefully, one day, I can also get onto a set and experience the filming process right before my eyes. The road ahead seems clear, and I can’t wait to see where it takes me next year.

While I don’t have my full recorded final presentation available as of now, my second original work project and first short film, Home, is complete and ready for the world to see. Enjoy!