Editing has made me analyze (and sometimes OVER-analyze) what everyone has been saying. The following are ideas and general words that I've heard from multiple interviewees. These stick out because they've become repeated and when I hear it being said again & again, it makes me continue to wonder why we (as Asian-Americans) still aren't doing things to gain recognition.
"we should sell the talent. if there's a way to hide our looks and let the public decide on the music, then we would succeed."
--although i agree on the goal at hand, i find it a little disheartening because we should NOT have to hide our looks. although our arts should speak for themselves, we should remember that our art is who we are and to hide our faces or our looks would be to hide who we are. be proud Asian-Americans and walk tall amongst others!
"there aren't enough platforms/venues for us to share our art or collaborate w/our peers"
--someone needs to be the glue that holds everyone together. it's a difficult job and what we need are motivated people. what we need are leaders and even more so - what we need are supporters. everyone plays a role, even if there's no art involved. cheers and pats on the backs are just as strong as organizing a huge event. to more forward is to work as a team. what artists need are other Asian-American organizations to help out. everyone wants to do their own thing, but what needs to be done is for everyone to fall under a big umbrella that can utilize ALL the resources in one city.
These are a couple of phrases that will be heard within the documentary and what I hope is that non-Asian Americans will realize that even though we're supposedly "brainy, nerdy, well-calculated, & kind hearted" - there's a bad for that good. And even though we work hard and get into good positions, our actions have a reason. It seems that reason is not for the arts....
However - there's a light that shines. Recently - the Bubble Tea group of artists have risen up:
http://groups.google.com/group/bubble-tea?hl=en
This is just one of many organizations that have formed to help the cause of Asian-American arts. People need to research and join in with their support in order for these organizations to be strong. NOW - I will say this in all honesty - I'm not the biggest active player in all this and I try to do what I can when I can, so I understand where people are coming from when they don't have any time on their plate or they're just trying to do their own thing to be a strong individual. These are just thoughts to consider....that's all....
EDITING:
I actually have not been editing with Final Cut Pro like some people may think I am. I'm actually utilizing the firepower behind Adobe Premiere Pro 2.0.
This program has been fun to work with AS LONG AS you know what you're doing. I will admit that it's hard to pick it up and go w/it. You definitely have to sit and read a little bit into the manual to learn to do some of the functions, which may regard it as less user friendly as the heavily mediated mecca Mac & Final Cut Pro. But my p.o.v. is that if everyone is using Final Cut Pro - then some transitions/video effects may be easily recognizable and easy to imitate by others. I'd like to try to go at this thing from a completely different angle. Hopefully, Adobe Premiere's functions and transitions will accommodate to giving people a different vibe (if you have a keen eye on editing). And yes - my sound is competely clear and easy to hear compared to the teaser.
EMAILS:
I apologize to people that have been emailing me and asking me when this gig is going to be on a big screen. It's been a lot of work and if you don't know, I - Jonald Reyes - am the only one working on this project. My cameraman - the Wayne - is done w/his camera job and now the editing, writing, and vision is up to me to bring to a level of expectance. I will venture to say that a dry run version should be ready for viewing by March. That's my prediction, but don't hold me to it.....PLEASE!
INTERVIEWS:
"That Asian Thing" is closed as far as interviews are concerned. I will consider the situation is something is to come up and there are moments when I need to fill some space or get another p.o.v. that I feel is being left out. However, open calls and inquiries are done. I think I have enough artists saying their just cause to get the message I want in my film.
I do want to apologize to interviewees that may have felt that our interview didn't go as smooth. I must admit that when I watch footage over again - I can tell when things go dry and conversation is hard for myself or the interviewee. Thus I want to say I'm sorry if you were interviewed and it didn't feel professional or productive. Trust me - you're still edited into the flick as a golden child. No one's the bad guy here....just me for taking so long....
HANG TIGHT EVERYONE! WE'RE ALMOST THERE......
