The Educational Opportunity Fund program is filled with students who are striving for a brighter future, hoping to achieve it through higher education. In my film, I highlighted this idea by interviewing two students, Manisha and Danielle. Both of them discussed what their lives were like growing up in a financially disadvantaged home, focusing on specific memories--both good and bad--and looking brightly toward their futures despite the obstacles they may face.
I chose to focus on EOF students because I myself am an EOF scholar. I grew up in a financially disadvantaged home. There were days I had to skip meals because we didn’t have enough money to go food shopping. We had the electricity shut off on us from time to time because we couldn’t pay the bill yet. We faced a lot of hardships but they never stopped us from living and enjoying our lives. If it weren’t for the financial struggles we faced, my family probably wouldn’t be as close as we are now. Along with that, I probably wouldn’t be as appreciative of what I do have. These are recurring ideals that I discover when I talk with other EOF students and it always resonates with me. The idea that people who don’t have much are still able to love their lives and be grateful for what they do have has always been amazing to me and it was ultimately why I chose to focus my film on EOF students.
When I first began working on this project, I had a big idea in mind for how I wanted to go about filming it. I had hoped to interview at least five people and showcase their experiences in life. However, once I began editing my first interview, I realized fitting in everyone’s story in a four minute film was going to be a lot harder than I expected. I ultimately narrowed it down to two people in order to fit the time limit while still having enough of the interview to make it a compelling video to watch.
Making this film definitely was a challenge for me. I’ve come to realize that even when people are willing to open up, throwing a camera into the mix often causes people to put up a wall, making them hesitant to share certain details about their lives. This was something I had to push through, which I eventually did when I interviewed Danielle, who was open about a time when a their house was broken into while they were home.
Another challenge I faced was editing the film. I realize that the final product is not going to win an Oscar for Best Film Editing, but it does win in my heart, considering this was the first time I ever used iMovie or even recorded an interview with a DSLR camera. I opted to record the interviews with a DSLR camera instead of my phone simply because I wanted the quality to look good and because my phone only records video five minutes at a time. I used iMovie since it was the only video editing software available to me. It was difficult to use, but I soon got the hang of it, even teaching myself some new tricks, such as how to overlap footage and make it split screen.
Along with my tool choices, I also made a few artistic choices in the film. The film is segmented based on what the interviewees are discussing. Throughout the beginning of the video, these segments are separated with a short black fade out. However, the latter half of the video, the film fades to white instead. I chose to do this to signify that their futures ahead of them are bright, no matter the hardships they may have faced.
Overall, this film was difficult to create. The time limit restricted the amount of footage I wanted to use and I did face some issues in the editing process. However, these difficulties forced me to think outside of the box and challenged me creatively. I hope that those who view the film will be reminded that people are not always as they seem. Everyone comes across hardships in their life, especially EOF students, but, despite all of the odds, these students are here at Rutgers, aiming as high as they can.
I chose to focus on EOF students because I myself am an EOF scholar. I grew up in a financially disadvantaged home. There were days I had to skip meals because we didn’t have enough money to go food shopping. We had the electricity shut off on us from time to time because we couldn’t pay the bill yet. We faced a lot of hardships but they never stopped us from living and enjoying our lives. If it weren’t for the financial struggles we faced, my family probably wouldn’t be as close as we are now. Along with that, I probably wouldn’t be as appreciative of what I do have. These are recurring ideals that I discover when I talk with other EOF students and it always resonates with me. The idea that people who don’t have much are still able to love their lives and be grateful for what they do have has always been amazing to me and it was ultimately why I chose to focus my film on EOF students.
When I first began working on this project, I had a big idea in mind for how I wanted to go about filming it. I had hoped to interview at least five people and showcase their experiences in life. However, once I began editing my first interview, I realized fitting in everyone’s story in a four minute film was going to be a lot harder than I expected. I ultimately narrowed it down to two people in order to fit the time limit while still having enough of the interview to make it a compelling video to watch.
Making this film definitely was a challenge for me. I’ve come to realize that even when people are willing to open up, throwing a camera into the mix often causes people to put up a wall, making them hesitant to share certain details about their lives. This was something I had to push through, which I eventually did when I interviewed Danielle, who was open about a time when a their house was broken into while they were home.
Another challenge I faced was editing the film. I realize that the final product is not going to win an Oscar for Best Film Editing, but it does win in my heart, considering this was the first time I ever used iMovie or even recorded an interview with a DSLR camera. I opted to record the interviews with a DSLR camera instead of my phone simply because I wanted the quality to look good and because my phone only records video five minutes at a time. I used iMovie since it was the only video editing software available to me. It was difficult to use, but I soon got the hang of it, even teaching myself some new tricks, such as how to overlap footage and make it split screen.
Along with my tool choices, I also made a few artistic choices in the film. The film is segmented based on what the interviewees are discussing. Throughout the beginning of the video, these segments are separated with a short black fade out. However, the latter half of the video, the film fades to white instead. I chose to do this to signify that their futures ahead of them are bright, no matter the hardships they may have faced.
Overall, this film was difficult to create. The time limit restricted the amount of footage I wanted to use and I did face some issues in the editing process. However, these difficulties forced me to think outside of the box and challenged me creatively. I hope that those who view the film will be reminded that people are not always as they seem. Everyone comes across hardships in their life, especially EOF students, but, despite all of the odds, these students are here at Rutgers, aiming as high as they can.
