Opinion | The Student Academy Awards rekindled my lost dreams
Jacky Song, entertainment management graduate student
To say I never desired a nomination from the Student Academy Awards (SAA) is a lie. In fact, ever since I started my filmmaking journey in the U.S., the SAA has been on my wish list. I must admit my last two years in college were plagued with self-doubt, wondering whether I can keep my dream of being a director alive. But my thesis film “Incognito” brought my confidence back and convinced me that I shouldn’t let my gift slip through my fingers. I literally screamed with excitement in front of my laptop when I saw my film had been accepted as a finalist this August.
It wasn’t until last year that I discovered how enthralled I am by movies and television programs based on true events. After watching entertainment like “Chernobyl,” “Zodiac” and “Mindhunter,” it dawned on me that these representations of true events, especially those featuring unsolved mysteries and crimes, thrilled me with spine-tingling moments at regular intervals. Therefore, it was obvious that when it came to directing my own thesis project, I needed to knuckle down and create a movie that could engender these same thoughts and feelings in others. I began digging into the murky depths of strange events, awakening my lifelong obsession with unexplained phenomena and time traveling.
One weekend morning, my roommate, a Chapman screenwriting major, was watching a YouTube video that recalled famous time travelers in world history. I looked further into one that took place in the early ‘90s involving a Bulgarian man. What struck me most was his claim to have teleported from the past after seeing a flying saucer. This storyline inspired the prototype version of my film, “Incognito”: In 1995, Los Angeles, when a young woman claims to have teleported from the past, her primary doctor begins to believe her story and decides to take the investigation into his own hands, unveiling the truth behind an uncanny story.
The screenwriting process serves as the most essential, and also the first step to bringing a project to life. These details could not be accomplished without timely assistance and constant support from my co-writers and longtime friends. My writing team and I even performed slight revisions on the shooting script the day we came to set in order to further refine the story. Even though there were conflicts of opinion during the development stage, it was trust that kept us headed towards our ultimate goal – creating a powerful and cross-genre story that could strike a chord with our audience.
For a short film involving vehicle stunts, intricate camera movements and more than 10 locations, the workload of handling logistics was far beyond my original expectation. I was so determined that I kept telling myself to look at it like the high point of my career, not just an assignment for a thesis film. Deep in my heart, I knew this might be just another student film if I treated it as such. I said to my team, “I can’t guarantee this will be an easy production, and there will be many uncertainties and obstacles waiting for us, but I can guarantee you will have a fantastic team backing you up for this short journey and an opportunity to work with filmmakers who are committed to creating the best quality for motion pictures.”
During the 13-day shoot, I was moved by my entire team working tirelessly for this project, despite having to overhaul a car crash scene that left months of planning in vain. Some of them stayed up all night in order to cope with various setbacks that prevented us from achieving one continuous, single shot and some minor details I wouldn’t let up. I appreciated my crew for trusting me and making efforts to get me anything I envisioned. Most importantly, this collaboration bonds all of us even closer together. I will forever cherish the memory of working with them.