"I have been thinking about how to make my life more meaningful. I hope to be able to see things from the perspective
of different people, which will allow me to learn more over a short amount of time. That's how I see this thing we call 'life.' "
—— Jeffery Y11
Recently, Pao School student Jeffery, year 11, received an invitation to showcase his film Wandering in the Wilderness at the 73rd Cannes Film Festival Short Film Corner. Impressively, Jeffery wrote, shot and edited the film himself before securing a place at Cannes - one of the world's most important film festivals. Cannes attracts entries from professional filmmakers as well as undergraduate and graduate level film students, therefore making it all the more significant for Jeffery - a high school student - to have been accepted as a nominee.
A young man's journey from literature to motion pictures
Jeffery has a passion for literature. With an appreciation of the elegance of the written word and the richness of a story, he is also curious about the underlying meaning of the words he consumes. After enrolling in Pao School in Year 6, he began reading a large number of books about Chinese philosophy, including The Book of Changes, a collection of classical Chinese poetry, and Laozi's Dao De Jing. His favourite school of Chinese philosophical thought is Taoism (or Daoism), identifying profoundly with Taoism's worldview and The Way it espouses.
In Year 7, under the tutelage of his father, Jeffery began developing a strong interest in film. Jeffery is different from the typical film buff in that his focus is on both the technical and storytelling aspects of movie production. Simply put, if it's part of the filmmaking process, Jeffery wants to learn about it - from screenplay writing and film theory to shooting and post-production (editing).
Some clips of Jeffery's film
In Jeffery's view, since arriving at Pao School he has experienced immense personal growth. During his time at the school, Jeffery has had many opportunities to cultivate his personal interests, and the school has always been highly supportive. In particular, Jeffery has been touched by the support and affirmation of his pursuits provided by Mark Bishop, Principal of YK Pao High School.
Prior to IB course selection, Jeffery expressed his interest to take IB courses focusing on media. After extensive evaluations and discussions, the school enrolled him in a IB Film course through Pamoja Education, an online IB course provider.
Jeffery is fortunate to have become Pao School's very first IB film student. The IB Film SL course develops students’ skills so that they become skilled in interpreting and developing films. Through the analysis of film texts and exercises in filmmaking, the course explores film history and theory. It also develops students’ critical abilities, enabling them to appreciate the variety of cultural and historical perspectives in film. Though the online course does not have fixed class time, it still has a fixed curriculum and deadlines, ensuring students must manage their time to meet the deadlines. This process is honing Jeffery's conscientiousness and time management ability.
Poster of another of Jeffery's films
Though the film course is taught remotely by subject-expert teachers using the Pamoja platform, Jeffery is supervised by Mr. Jason Borovick, who acts as Head of the ICT department at the High School. Every week, he meets with Jeffery to discuss and offer support for his IB course work, giving his own insight into Jeffery’s current projects. As he is also a dorm parent in Jeffery’s dorm, they occasionally find time in the evening to enjoy discussions about their shared interest in film and film history.
Mr Borovick has also been impressed by Jeffery’s initiative, both in pursuing the IB Film
course and in directing his Cannes film project, “Other students at YK Pao School
should follow in Jeffery’s footsteps to the extent that, he took the initiative,
he knew that it was only going to get done if he did it himself. But he also knew
that there were people on campus who could help him. Don’t be afraid to reach
out for help and you’ll get the help that you request, and you will be rewarded
by having an exciting journey studying a topic that you are passionate about.
We here at YK Pao School will do our best to make that happen.”
Jeffery's father speaks highly of Pao School. He notes that the school has an open and inclusive environment, where students are encouraged to broaden their horizons, develop their personal interests, explore customized academic tracks, and to experience both Chinese and Western culture. In this open environment, children have the chance to participate in extracurriculars focused on classical Chinese poetry, guqin (the Chinese stringed instrument), philosophy and movies.
Jeffery was not very self-confident in his first two years at Pao School, he did not have a strong foundation in English and his grades were average. Jeffery's father especially appreciated how the school took a prudent approach to managing Jeffery's academic performance.
Pao School focused on encouraging Jeffery to explore his research and personal interests, while showing patience and understanding. This was very beneficial for Jeffery's personal growth. In this environment, Jeffery developed the confidence to pursue his own interests. The school’s supportive nature has allowed Jeffery to explore film through various avenues - knowing that he loved motion pictures, Pao School encouraged him to shoot promotional videos for new Year 10 students and also later helped him become the first student in the school to enrol in the IB film program.
—— Jeffery's father
Finding the meaning of life through motion pictures
Jeffery believes life can be made more meaningful by enriching the learning experience and that, if he can see things from the perspective of others, he can learn more in a smaller amount time. He notes that making a movie is a constant learning process. And in order for a movie to be made, a filmmaker must force himself to learn on the job. Meanwhile, it is necessary in this role to think about the process from different angles, whether it be from the prospective of a screenwriter, a director or an editor.
Jeffery began work in film production in Year 8, shooting some promotional and narrative videos. His Cannes-nominated short, Wandering in the Wilderness, is his first film. Using an existentialist perspective, the film describes how a teenager behaves and the emotional fallout after he loses his girlfriend and is provoked into a fight by a peer. Jeffery hopes to use existentialism to portray the fundamental meaninglessness of life and to motivate the viewer to consider how to face this meaninglessness.
Producing Wandering in the Wilderness
Young people often find unique meaning in many things and work hard to achieve certain goals because they believe these things are meaningful. But perhaps, in the end, we find that the goals we are striving for are an illusion. In fact, they may not even exist. What then? How can we reconcile that nothingness with all of our efforts? I think we should not be so singularly focused on results but enjoy the experience of life. Life is fundamentally ephemeral, characterized by fleeting moments of joy and sorrow. When we overcome that sorrow, we feel a sense of relief, and we learn from it. That allows us to become more open-minded. The process of chasing, struggling and entanglement is called 'youth’.
—— Jeffery
Jeffery’s production team began working on Wandering in the Wilderness in July 2019. After months of screenplay writing, casting, venue selection and team formation, the film officially began shooting in Beijing on New Year's Day in 2020. Although shooting the film took only 2 days, the overall production process, including editing and other post-production tasks, took 8 months.
"A good screenplay is a condensed summary of the world. The characters in a film
need to reflect the human condition. It's a complex process, to use film to show a
snapshot of the human experience. You need to conceive the narrative’s entire space
and time, and then look for sections and cut points in it, so what you create is
realistic, with each character embodying the spirit of a living person. This is the
hardest part of screenplay writing." Jeffery added that during the filmmaking
process he felt his previous observations about people and the world around them
were not detailed enough, and that he would strive to improve his ability in this area.
The filming process was arduous and challenging for everyone involved. Jeffery found that he was under a huge amount of pressure - both mentally and physically - but that by meeting the challenge he was able to grow as a person and strengthen his problem-solving skills. Beijing is freezing cold in early January, and in that icy winter weather, everyone had to remain standing for 12 hours a day. On average, it took more than 10 attempts to get a camera angle right. A scene usually took half to an hour to complete. Overall, the film production team was made up of 20 people, including actors and the crew, all of which answered to Jeffery - the only high school student among them.
Poster for Wandering in the Wilderness
He admits that it was really stressful to lead a group of older, more experienced college students to produce a film. As such, it was crucial to communicate effectively and be flexible in one's thinking. Jeffery notes that movies are very abstract, and directors need to express their ideas clearly. At the same time, to truly understand each teammate, one must consider things from each person's perspective in order to ensure mutual respect and understanding. In addition, as the film's director, one must have the deepest understanding of the movie's character. During the films shooting, Jeffery often asked himself: Why is this possible?
Poster for Wandering in the Wilderness
During the film production process, unexpected problems are common. Directors must be resilient and able to think on their feet. For instance, in one scene, a pool table was initially going to be used as a key prop, but it was too heavy to easily move into the right position. Therefore, the film production team changed the screenplay on the fly, replacing the pool table scene with a scene involving a bottle being smashed.
During post-production and editing, Jeffery and his team needed to condense three or four hours of video into an eight-minute short story.
In post-production, it is crucial to grasp the important aspects of the narrative and express them accurately, while paring down all of the content you have into a concise yet complete film. And this needs to be done within a reasonable time frame. This ability to understand subtlety is also essential in learning and life.
—— Jeffery
It’s all about the journey, not the destination
Jeffery is relaxed about the possibility of winning a prize at Cannes. He believes that the purpose of filming is to learn and that having a film featured at Cannes is secondary to the learning process.
Throughout the film production process and shooting, he discovered many areas in which he came up short. In the future, he plans to continue improving himself through constant observation and practice.
