Click here to watch the Creative Critical Reflection for Skateboards and Monsters!
Tuesday, April 6, 2021
Skateboards and Monsters Reflection
Not to be corny as shit, but its been a long ride.
I knew my project would end up being good, but I couldn't help but contemplate the thought "Okay, would it really be that bad if I didn't turn it in?" I really didn't know where to start. Being in a solo group really affected my ability to stay focused. It was literally until around two days before I started filming my project that I even came up with a more detailed plot than "skaters go to spooky place and fight monsters." Like I said, I knew I would end up making something good, even if it was last second, but having to take the initiative to overcome my stress as the deadline came closer was a lot more intimidating than I thought it would be. In the end of course, my prediction ended up being right (at least I hope) and I am very satisfied with the project I have come up with. How did I get here?
At first, I wanted to make a psychological horror piece detailing the horrors of dementia as I was obsessed with an album at the time called "Everywhere at the End of Time," an album which sonically represents losing one's memory to this disease. I was hyped when I originally though about doing this, but then as the days passed by I realized I really did not like the idea. I guess it just settled in over time how negative of a piece I would be creating, and I honestly wanted to make something I could look at and smile instead of disgust and fear. That's when I scrapped my old idea and decided to take on my cool-kid indie coming-of-age film, "Skateboards, Cars, and Monsters," later shortened to just "Skateboards and Monsters" as recommended by my friend Nicolas Rivera.
The filming process of Skateboards and Monsters was honestly a lot easier than expected. Although mostly last second, the screenplay that me and my writer Virginia Monasterio wrote the day before really helped paint a picture of the opening in my head. I actually had a storyboard to help me with the film opening, but I ended up not using it as me and my crew were kicked out of every convenience store we tried filming in. In the end, we basically improvised the entire thing and honestly I think it turned out really good even with the last-second arrangements. The filming only took four hours which was shorter than expected, and we overall had a really good time skating around and drinking Monster energy drinks as we recorded skate clips on the VHS camcorder.
After finishing filming, I went home and digitized the footage into a singular 40-minute video file and edited it in Adobe After Affects within a day. I wasn't sure if I was allowed to post it on YouTube yet, so I ended debuting the film opening on my Instagram, yielding many positive reactions and messages talking about how they liked the positive vibes of my film which really made me happy to hear.
Skateboards and Monsters honestly was a projection of everything that I love: skateboarding, retro-aesthetics, romanticizing adolescence, and Monster energy drinks (the zero calorie one, at least). I'm very satisfied with the final product and I definitely enjoy the feeling I get from watching the piece and seeing my friends watch it with a smiling face. I feel as if this project has helped me take a step in the direction of solo-filmmaking, and I hope to finally produce some personal projects in the future which I never have the mental discipline to actually finish.
Thank you Cambridge and Ms. Stoklosa for the opportunity to produce this portfolio project.
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