Editor’s Note: What grade are you in?
I am in 10th grade, so my sophomore year in high school.
What inspired you to make this film “Departed”?
I needed a short film for my T.V. Production class, and one day I was home alone and thought, well what if I was the only person alive? What would I do? So, I sort of built off that idea and developed it into a story.
When did you first discover your love of filmmaking?
I was always into acting, and throughout elementary school I was in all the plays. But after a while, I got burnt out and wanted to try something different while still entertaining people. That’s when I got an iPad for christmas. I found an app called iMovie and started messing around with it, and before I knew it I was making movies.
Who do you look up to in the film industry?
There are so many talented people in the film industry, so it’s hard to choose just one. Some of the most influential to me are Steven Spielberg, Peter Jackson, J.J. Abrams, and Kathryn Bigelow to name a few. Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park is a movie that never gets old, and every time I watch it I still having a feeling of awe.
This year Peter Jackson has been making The Hobbit and I absolutely love the special effects of the dragon. I loved J.J. Abrams new Star Trek movies and like him I also share an infinity of lens flares ;). I loved Kathryn Bigelow’s movie Zero Dark Thirty, because she was able to capture the raw emotion of the events and make it feel as though you were there. She is inspiring to me as well because she’s a female director who has made it so far in the industry.
This short is incredibly well done, how have you learned the skills that you have acquired?
I took a Digital Media Academy over the summer once, and one year of T.V. production, but a majority of my learning was through YouTube. I watched tutorial after tutorial watching people like FinalCutKing, FilmRiot, and VideoCopilot. Picking out those tips and tricks really helped me fine tune my skills.
What are your goals for the future?
I plan to go to a film college, enter (and hopefully win) some film contests, and maybe help out on the sets of some movies! But my larger goal is to become an Oscar winning movie director. I’m really looking forward to the day when my first feature film is in theaters!