“I started filming in December of 2024. I would see these creators and the videos they make on my Instagram feed, and I’ve always wanted to try making some of these myself. The problem was that I would fall into a trap where I would scroll, have an idea, and then delay the execution because I wanted to find the perfect video. One day in December, I was really bored; it was during winter break, and I had nothing to do so I just found a really old tripod, and started recording a bunch of clips. 

That was how I created my first video: bored over winter break. I went out with my friends to Japantown, Pier 39, and other areas in SF, then made a short video of what we did. After that, I made a video of me at the gym — just those everyday, casual videos. Besides vlogs, I also like making color grading videos where I post videos of my process of working with color grading and color theory. 

The best part of this process for me is learning. What I usually do is, if I have an idea and I’m not sure exactly how I want to proceed, I go on other social media apps and find people who have made similar videos, or just experiment with different angles, shots, or transitions. Editing is also very fun. In the beginning, I just used CapCut, and I had no transitions; it was just cut, cut, cut. But as I made more videos, I started learning how to use different tools like masking. Trying out different transitions is really satisfying.

My favorite subjects to film are people and scenery. I like Wes Anderson’s style of filming where you have a subject and an open scenery, like a neighborhood or a hill. Most of the time, for my videos, I’ll either film myself or I’ll record my friends as they go about their day. I like filming those natural moments. 

In the future, I want to look into creating cinematic short films, like those four-minute ones you find on YouTube. I also want to try creating long-form content because all my current videos are under a minute long. My main goal is to break the 10-minute mark.

For anyone considering filmmaking: I wanted to start since 10th grade but didn’t because one, I was scared that I was going to get judged, and two, because I knew my first videos weren’t going to be perfect. This might be cliche, but people are going to judge you. However, you only have one life, so if you have something you want to do, you might as well just go and do it. You’ll improve over time, and you’ll be able to look back on those old videos and see the progress you’ve made. It is a very fulfilling journey.”