Metamorphosis

Going into this 4-month original work project, I already knew that the idea and vision I had at the beginning of the process would not be what I end up with by the time my deadline rolled around. But, I also had no idea that my project would pivot entirely about halfway through the process.

That’s right - after filming hours of interviews, creating a paper edit, and creating multiple partial edits for my film, I decided to scrap it (almost) entirely and pivot from a documentary style to a short film narrative.

I was nervous about changing my message and the story because it’s the end of March, and my project is due at the beginning of May - the last thing I wanted was to turn in a rushed, half-done project. Nonetheless, after some consultations and advice-giving from a few friends and family members, I put all my efforts into switching gears and circled back to square one: the planning phase.

My brother showed me a short film on Vimeo that greatly inspired the style that I decided to take on for my film. My first step was to define my end goal and message, then craft a script for voiceover-style narration.

I decided to showcase my mother’s story and experiences of racism that comes with immigration, so I drafted a script with the emotional beats I wanted to hit and worked with her to put her voice into the script and accurately tell her story.

After it was finalized, I sent the script to my mentor for revision and feedback. To my surprise, his feedback was extremely positive, and my next step was to create a shot list and begin shooting.

All in all, I think the biggest lesson I learned this week was to not be afraid of changing or pivoting drastically. Previously, I was clinging to the idea that I had to do a documentary-style video. Funnily enough, that was probably the exact belief that held me back from being truly excited to work on my project. I loved the idea of making a documentary, but I had no idea how - and I was far more excited about the idea of a short film comparatively.

As it turned out, my mentor felt a similar level of enthusiasm that I did when I told him I had decided to pivot to a short film style. Even though the documentary to short film transition is by far the easiest pivot to make, it previously felt like an impossible shift to make - but I’m so glad I made that decision as it renewed my enthusiasm and vision for the project.

I can’t wait to see what I can come up with in my shot list and how my footage will turn out! My next steps will be to outline the visual story I want to tell, formulate it into interesting b-roll shots, and finally, film!