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Sept. 29, 2010: Initial outline for the documentary film project for my 5th grade. After brainstorming various story ideas for Mr. Perris' Film Academy class with Mom, I decided to take her suggestion on doing a documentary interview of Dad's boat journey and escape from Vietnam.
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Dec. 22, 2010: To learn more about Dad's boat journey story for the film project, I read the 1992 special series published in The Orange County Register (Santa Ana, California) about his return to Vietnam almost 13 years after the boat escape.
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KEY HARDWARE & SOFTWARE
[1] Sony CyberShot 12 megapixels camera [SPECS] was used heavily for the entire film project. It was also used for all voiceover work. The two-year-old camera was purchased from Best Buy in 2009 for $249.
[2] The Dynex tripod was used at all filming locations. Dad bought it from a neighor's garage sales for $6.
[3] Most of the project was edited on the Apple's MacBook 1.83 GHz Intel Core Duo. The early version of the film was edited on a MacMini 1.66 GHz Intel Core Duo with a 20-inch Samsung LCD monitor. Dad bought both used Macs thru Craigslist in 2008, $800 for the Macbook and $400 for the MacMini.
[4] Apple's iMovie was the key movie editing software. iPhoto was used for importing photos into iMovie. Photoshop was used for adjusting photos and adding colors to ink drawings. Apple's Pages word processing application was used for composing outlines and scripts.
[5] LightTracer box was used for Ryan's graphic arts for this film. Dad bought this mini light box for $12 from Aaron Brothers Art & Framing store last December. He used a 50%-Off coupon sent to his iPhone for the discount price.
[6] HP All-In-One Scanner/Printer was use to scan Ryan's artwork and for printing project documents. the HP scanner/printer is already 6 years old and it costed only $80 in 2005. Don't ask me about the cost of the inkjet cartridges :(
[7] Clamp Lamp, $5 from Home Depot, was used for lighting source from the floor during the shooting of the "Pirate Attacks" reenactment [E].
[8] Dad's iPhone 4 was used for the film rehearsals in the beginning of the project. Dad also used this phone on-the-spot to document my work, whenever possible. Dad didn't tell me but he got a kick out of shooting my finish artwork with his phone, and sending them to the clouds (blogs) via E-mail for downloading directly into the movie project, just to bypass the use of wires, cables, and the manual labor of scanning.
HOMEMADE "FISHEYE"
To accomplish the wide angle in the "Pirate Attacks" [E] reenactment, brother Robin's homemade fisheye lens was put in good use. Our Sony CyberShot 12 megapixels camera [A] happened to be my brother's main camera for making videos, and some months ago, he wanted to shoot wide-angle [F] video clips to showcase his skateboard tricks and kick-flip skills. Because the Sony camera doesn't have detachable lens option, Robin decided to make a fisheye lens himself, with Dad's help. The homemade lens is actually a solid brass 2.4 cm/160-degree door viewer [B], or peep hole lens, costed $10 at Home Depot. For the base that wraparound the built-in tele lens, as well as for supporting the peep hole lens, a rubber cup (table/chair leg floor protector [C], $3 a pair) was mounted in front of the camera and reenforced with several rubber bands against the camera body [D]. A circle was cut at the center of the base of the cup to hold the peep hole lens.
VIDEO: Ryan working on film script and storyboard
VIDEO: Practicing Interview In The Field
VIDEO: Reenactment-Dad Packing For The Boat Journey
VIDEO: Reenactment-Boat People Walking In Countryside
ON LOCATION: COSUMNES RIVER PRESERVE
Nov. 5, 2010: My 5th Grade class with Mr. Broxton went on a field trip to see a nature preserve. My Mom and Dad came along to join me. It was our first visit and we really enjoyed seeing the beautiful scenery and wildlife in this southern part of the Sacramento County, California. Mom and Dad told me this place reminded them of the rice paddies in the countryside of Vietnam. See photos and video of the FIELD TRIP.
Dec. 30, 2010: On Dad birthday, he surprised us by asking all members of our family to get into the van. He said we don't have to worry about dressing up because he has several bags of old clothes and sandals in the vehicle. So we all agreed (for the sake of Dad's birthday wish) to work on the "walking in countryside" reenactment in the "Escaping From Vietnam" chapter of the film. The photo below is from a November 18, 2010 visit, when Mom and Dad went to this location without their kids.
VIDEO: Reenactment-Inside The Boat's Secret Compartment
VIDEO: Reenactment-Pirate Attacks In The Gulf Of Thailand
VIDEO: Reenactment-Dad in violent sea storms
VIDEO: On Location-Carnival Paradise Cruise
VIDEO: Reenactment-Dad On The Akuna Ship
VIDEO: Ryan Creating Graphic Arts
VIDEO: Working With iMovie
VIDEO: Working With iMovie
VIDEO: Voiceover By Ryan
VIDEO: Sound Effects
VIDEO: Ryan Editing Final Film In Class
PLAYING WITH MARBLES
This photo-illustration, used in the first chapter of the Film Academy project version, was originally a post from Dad's personal Blog and Facebook in August, 2010, one month before the idea for this documentary film was born.
One of Dad's favorite pastimes from the late 1970s was playing marble games with his neighbor kids and friends in Saigon. This was the age before video games and the Internet. Television was rare and most were black and white. The single channel was a government-sponsored network. The programs were limited to several hours each night and mostly contained of political announcements. Dad was playing marbles in the dirt with his neighbor kids one afternoon when Grandpa gave him the news about the boat escape plan.
