Okay Guys…

So the film festival is over and it’s a bittersweet time for me. I look back on all of the things that have happened and I love them. But I’m also really glad to be back at school, cuz it’s a lot more relaxing than the hectic schedule of the film festival. I realize now that I’ve gotten a lot more out of this than is apparent.

I think that some people outside of the school got the wrong idea, like maybe they thought that we were just doing it for the publicity, the fame, the Hollywood stars. But I assure you, that’s not what it was about, I know it wasn’t for me. For me, I was learning the importance of movies, what makes a true movie with a real plot. Not just a formulaic movie that catches people’s eyes because of unreal, unrepresentative things. No, I think a real movie is a movie with a plot that seems real, important, true. A movie that you can relate to and understand, but that also gets you thinking for days afterward.

If anything, I’ll miss the sense of responsibility I had that week: I was responsible for my computer, my mom’s phone, my film festival assignments, my homework assignments, and most of all, my good attitude. And being able to hold up my end of the deal (at least most of the time!!) was a huge thing to be proud of for me. It showed me what I could do, what my actual limits were, how to push my limits, and how to tell which limits to push and which not. The experience was a hard one, but a fulfilling one too, and one that I know will serve me later in my life, maybe even years from now.

I really liked the sense of urgency and business around me. It kept me going and reminded me of everything I had to do. My days were long and I don’t think I’ve ever slept that deeply in my life. It was fun, but extra hard. And I sure am happy to have my rest now.

I think that now, when I watch movies I think more about how rich the plot was or how cheap (and I don’t mean money-wise). Did the movie connect me so that I can really understand? Was the dialogue/commentary real and lifelike? This definitely goes for documentaries too. But then the problem with some documentaries is that they use the same things over and over and over again. They don’t use creative transitions, narration, effects, etc.

I think that overall, if there was anything that I could change about all that happened would be the way that we were presented (in the newspaper, etc.) I think that we were presented as kids who were trying to be stars or paparazzi. We weren’t presented as a group who was trying to learn, but instead a group that was trying to get to Hollywood. I think that for even for a time, we got that in our head. Maybe we talked about us and what we did, not what we learned.

In the end, though, this was a great experience, a wholesome experience. And because of how it happened, others will be able to do it in the future. And I am proud of that.

Love,

    Jackie

 

P.S. Super big thanx to all the SBIFF staff who made EVERYTHING possible. They were super amazing!!