My Filmmaking Journey

Ever since when I was in high school, it has always been my dream to become a film director. Throughout this journey of trying things out, I learnt so many things that I won't be able to get anywhere else. Therefore, I decided to write them down, in case it can inspire anybody else, or to help anyone avoid the mistakes I made.

Where it all started - 1998

Funny enough, I feel I am destined to have something to do with movies. When I was born, in the late nineties of southern China, my dad owned a DVD business - with a tiny twist that the DVDs were all pirated. So technically, I participated in an illegal organization as well. In fact, when I was a tiny kid I just lived with piles of DVDs in my room. Naturally all I did back then was to chip in the DVDs in the machine and watched so many movies.

As I grew up I always felt so deeply connected with films. Every time when I went to the cinema it has always been the best time - that's when I could escape to a different world. But it wasn't until high school when I realized this is something I want to do as a profession.

High School - My first short film

I have to thank my high school for my first short film. 

I went to a pretty awesome high school in Beijing, and we had a short film festival every year (that is very rare). In high school, everybody wanted to be special. So was I. I thought I watched so many films, why not make one myself? 

I quickly wrote a script without any idea of the correct format. The story was a parody of The Fight Club, to express my frustration with the highly competitive education system in China. I was more fearless back then, which is something very precious. There were fewer distractions during that time. If I want to do something, I’ll do it.

I had completely zero filmmaking experience back then. Once I started, I realized I was a little too ambitious. I had 21 days to figure out a film that was about 20 minutes long. I read basic theories, learned to set up a camera, tried editing with Premiere, and started fumbling my way there.

The most challenging part was how I heard so many voices of questioning - almost everyone told me that I would fail. I heard things like “The story was not good”, and “You have no experience. Why do it?” all the time.

My cameraman quit in the middle because he thought I was too stubborn with my opinions. It quickly became just me by myself with a camera and some actors. But I never easily give up. I still had my lead actor who always trusted me and backed me up. 

Of course, just like any film project, I was also distressed during the process. I remember I was holding tears when editing the film past midnight alone while my dad was shouting at me saying that ‘I was wasting my time’.

One day before the festival submission, I finished the film and had the film screened in my classroom. To my utmost surprise, everyone loved it so much - I remembered laughter coming from everywhere in the classroom as they were watching. It is still a memory that I remember till now. 

Later on, the film was sent to a film festival for high school students in Beijing and it won the Best Film.

Lessons Learnt:

• Voices of questioning will always come. Sometimes you just need the gut to fight till the end.

• Filmmaking is a very practical craft. The best way to learn is just by doing it. Even if it's just a camera and some actors it's still a good practice. I wished I had done more of these low cost short films back then.

• The best story is something that only you can tell - something coming from your heart.