From the time I started classes at The institute, I was a little reluctant in getting into the ever changing world of music. I knew that I wanted to continue my education in film production, but college just wasn’t for me. I had completed almost all of my courses at KBCC for Media Production but after trying my hand at several tutoring courses, I was fed up with trying to pass my math credentials. I didn’t want to waste anymore of my time on academics so I decided to get into a school that would teach me the technical aspects of sound and film production, without the headache of having to sit in a classroom and learn an academic course that would continue to irritate my learning inabilities.
As far along as I was with my associate’s degree, I decided to attend a school that would challenge the knowledge that I had already acquired at KBCC. I knew I wanted to continue to pursue film, but had no idea that my creative approach would expand to music. For several months I began taking several music courses at The Institute of Audio Research, and noticed that my passion for creativity quickly shifted from film and creative writing, to film, creative writing, song writing and rap. From the age of eight, I had always used words as a way to express and channel my internal feelings to myself and others. As a young child, and growing up with parents that were in and out of each other’s lives from time to time made it even more difficult for me to speak up. Words were like therapy to me. From the time when I learned how to read and write at the age of five, I had grown completely obsessed with written literature and storybook endings. I grew a fond fascination with fictional characters in both books and movies. Music however was something that was always expressed at home by my parents. My dad would play songs from any given genre, and as time went on I started stealing each one of my dad’s disco cd’s. Middle School was complete torture for me, because I never quite understood why I wasn’t able to fit in with those kids. Almost everyday at lunch time, I preferred to sit at the lunch table alone while listening to my dad’s cd’s. All of these thoughts slipped into my head, as I was getting ready to start my classes at The Institute of Audio Research. I was unsure of whether or not a music school was really something appropriate for my career path. I had a good feeling about the school, and the courses that were given to me connected well with what I wanted to independently pursue in film. I decided to give it a try, and as time went by, I started to gain more confidence in myself. Every student at the school had a story to tell, and while music wasn’t my number one goal, it was something that almost everyone at the school excelled at. It seemed like everyone I met connected well with my story, and most had tried conventional institutions but either weren’t able to complete it, or just simply didn’t fit in well with the academic community. As similar as our experiences were, we all had our own independent mix of personalities which made it easier for us to mesh in well with one another. It was almost as if we were all meant to meet each other, to discuss one another’s stories and experiences. Most of us had our personal struggles and triumphs, and expressed it through our personalities. This experience gave me a last minute idea to secretly and publicly film most of these students. Halfway through the beginning of third quarter, I decided to purchase a portable film camera. This would turn into the beginning of an independent film project shot and edited by me, but made by each student that brought fourth a piece of themselves. A year later, my documentary project is almost completed and ready to showcase to the rest of the world. My goal is to submit to various independent film festivals, including This year’s Bushwick Film Festival. My goal and objective is to show today’s youth how important it is to embrace your unique talents and/or natural abilities. With today’s constant shift in technology, and the many pressures that today’s youth is faced with, I think it’s important for our growing generation to know that it’s okay to embrace who you are as an individual. There will always be those who may or may not agree with who you are as a person, but what this documentary shows is that as different as we may seem to one another, we will always have something hidden inside of us that has the capacity to either change the world in a positive way, or bring us together. |
Writer. Storyteller. Documentary Filmmaker.
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