After the first two classes, I have had a more detailed look at the “Food On Film” studio. The part I am most interested in is definitely the shooting techniques of documentaries. Before the classes, I have always thought that documentary film making is a relatively more formal way of making films. Therefore, I thought the production process will probably be quite formal as well, comparing to the experimental films I have made during the previous semesters, I thought this would be very different. However, after I saw the documentaries Kim showed us during the classes, I had a new perspective in documentaries and I realized the ideas I had on documentary film making were just stereotypes. Documentaries can also be poetry and abstract.

In this studio I would also like to focus on the relationship between food and culture. I personally think that food is a representation of culture, because foods from different cultures also requires different ways to eat, and the diversity of ingredients and tastes can also show the different cultures and personalities of countries.

At the end of this semester, I wish I can learn more professional knowledge of documentary film making and also be capable of making a decent food documentary. In order to achieve this goal, I will have to be very good at collaborating with team mates and shooting the film. However, the biggest challenge to me will be contacting participants who will be filmed in the documentary. I am not very good at talking to strangers, so it will be quite difficult for me to communicate with others and ask them to join my film, but this is something I will have to go through as a film makers. So I will have to train myself and try to find the most appropriate interviewees for my documentary.

Producing a film will require work from more than one person, so I wish that my group in the future can build up some good chemistry and be on time for meetings and shootings. I have had quite a few irresponsible team mates before and I think it really had a negative effect on the team. I wish this type of situation will not be happening in this semester.

After a week of learning, I would love to know more about the different genres of documentaries and be better at using the film cameras. Because I have gotten used to using DSLRs to shoot, changing to film cameras is a completely new thing to me, so I hope I can be fluent on it after some practices.