PRODUCTION NOTES

    This project did not go as planned. Although, I thought my final product was decent I had a lot of challenges along the way. The most difficult part was really getting familiar with the software. And, I believe that was a problem because the time I could go to lab for long periods at once was when there was no tech. to help; so, I Googled or YouTubed tutorials on how to edit certain things. But, when the technician or teacher was there I would ask a lot of questions. Outside of the time restraint and my software skills I felt the biggest issue was the sound/ image relationship. I had this whole idea for the storyboard that fell through because my lack of know how. Plus, when I hear my peers complain about budgeting and resources I truly understand now. Thankfully we used the schools equipment and computers, but if I wanted to set up a story with actors and a certain visual setting, getting a hold of all those external materials is hard in and of itself. I worked with what I had, which is a lot of photos and videos that Thu gave me, luckily; I had a lot of options.
      When I dissected the materials I had I started to sync certain images to the beat of the first song I used. But, between the adaptations I had to make from the first critic and the way the photos flowed with the background music it just wasn’t working. So, I changed the song and made it work. After I changed that I saw certain sections in my head that I was sure I wanted to do; I did what I knew I wanted first then I filled in the gaps. And, as an artist I feel like these obstacles allowed me to break the goals, which were actually limits, I put on myself. The things I didn’t expect to put in the video like the Lilo and Stitch segments were the things that got the most laughs, which was a good thing.
     If there were things I could change about my project it would be the timing of the slides when Thu was describing her mother. And, the beginning montage when Thu has her journey to the media lab I wanted to but a Vietnam video that faded in the background, not just the photos of the war. For the end I would have had the final photo go from black and white to color as it was zooming in from the Thu and her parents to just Thu’s face. But, I was happy I got a chance to dip my feet in the editing pool; I can’t wait to do it again!

INTERVIEW WITH THU