Searching was a really interesting project that I never really thought I would have to make in my lifetime. This project was assigned to me during my freshman year. It was for my first film and video production course, the basics of the basics. I don't have this film on my main project page because quite frankly it's not very good and I don't like it that much. But I tell its story because this entire film was made during the peak of the pandemic.
Remember when people were scared to go out on a walk? Yeah me too. I was also in my first year of college trying to pass my classes. For my final project, I was tasked with creating a short film of whatever I wanted. The catch was that I couldn't use any equipment from the department since I was home and I had nobody to help me. That makes it hard to create a 3-5 minute film.
So, with nothing to lose, I started brainstorming and after a week I had absolutely no idea what I was going to do it. I'm not the best when it comes to scriptwriting. So leave me in my own home for 2 months with no creative juices flowing and I become pretty stagnant. I was getting nowhere and had a very limited time. Eventually, I started looking into the other large outlet in my life where I find creativity. That being music. I found this song by the Australian artist Bjéar titled "Hymn". This song is considered a psalm, at least that was the intention of the artist when he wrote it. He told an interviewer from Genius Lyrics, "It’s a hymn. It’s a psalm. It’s admitting that life doesn’t go as you plan it to and that acknowledging that and letting go of control can be really helpful."
With that inspiration, I started to write a script, personally on where I was in life and also what this song says about vulnerability. When I was finished I had a story about a high-school senior confused about where he should go in life and struggling to cope with the death of his mother. While not a light topic, it felt good and good enough to start filming.
Filming took about 3 days to complete. I "hired" my brother as the main actor and proceed to make this film with a tripod and a pretty old Canon DSLR. In the end, it turned out as good as I could have imagined it would turn out. The thing I want people to take away from this story is that inspiration can come from any outlet. Whether that's a song or some food that you sport from inside a restaurant as you walk down the sidewalk. Don't knock it just because it could be dumb. You won't know that until you start.