3. PROJECT PROPOSAL

During my years as an international student in the United States, I have met many different types of Chinese uprooted from their homeland and learned many stories about them. Although they are all Chinese, they have different regional characteristics, dialect culture, eating habits and so on. However, these Chinese people from different places and with different personalities all met in New York, and they became a unique Chinese community in New York.

I want to make a documentary film to record the life of several different types and personalities of Chinese people in New York State.I want to let more people know about the Chinese community in America.What I want to express is that these Chinese people living in foreign countries all have common characteristics. They are all overcoming various obstacles brought by foreign environments.The pressures and challenges they face are often greater than the local people.But they are all living an ordinary but upward life and constantly running forward.

4. OUTCOMES

A 20-minute documentary video will show 3 or 4 people from different parts of China with different identities and ages. They are a working woman, a young boy who starts his own business, and an overseas student studying in university.I will record different contents and habits of their daily life, and add clips of interviews and personal narration, with editing, some background music and voice-over dubbing. Finally, it presents the different difficulties encountered by the Chinese community in foreign countries, as well as their positive attitude towards life.

5. METHODS AND MATERIALS

I would use my cell phone and Canon EOS T6 as my main camera tools. I bought a camera tripod to assist in the fixed shot shooting of the interview clips. There will be a lot of following shots and tracking shots in the video, for which I will use mobile phone Gimbal Stabilizer to help with shooting.For video clips, I will use Adobe PR and iMovie as editing software.I will use Adobe PR’s multi-camera clip technology to present a multi-camera comparison of the three main characters.

6. TIME SCHEDULE

March 6th to March 13th, the tracking shooting of the boy who started his own business was completed, mainly including three scenes: the car on the way to work in the morning, the company and the dinner table；including the shooting of the interview and the self-statement part.

March 22th to 24th, part of the shots of women who working at the airport. Mainly includes interviews and self-narrated footage.

March 25th to April 1st，learning Adobe PR’s multi-camera camera editing technology and add subtitles.Download the background music at the end of the documentary and complete the notes or story board about the editing plan.

April 3rd to April 10th, the shooting of a international student. It mainly includes shooting scenes of daily life, learning scenes and entertainment places.

April 12th to 20th (depending on workload), complete the extra shots needed for the 3 main characters, add more outdoor shots.

After April 21, finish editing according to camera plan notes or story board.

7. RESEARCH REFERENCES

A Walk in my Shoes: First Generation College Students Full Documentary

Director Rusty Earl takes this documentary into the campus and successfully explores the lives of first-generation college students and educators, whose culture and their own pasts and hopes for life are brought to light. The narrative is clear and methodical.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQA5ahGFy5A

Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father

This documentary is easy to let the audience into the perspective of the protagonist. The structure of each chapter has a clear purpose. Lyrical part and plot twists are very successful. The film involves the plot of the story of the law of extradition, I think very important.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1152758/

Up Series；Directed by Paul Almond.

The series follows 14 seven-year-old children from different classes in the UK from 1964, who are interviewed every seven years to observe changes in their lives.
This is a 63-year series.The film will show the characteristics of each person is very distinct, and through the way of tracking the shooting reflects each individual life, very thought-provoking.

First film: Seven Up!

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058578/

8. PROJECT DESCRIPTION / WORK STATEMENT

There are so many different kinds of people living all over the world, and those who live alone in a foreign country are more likely to be a difficult and lonely group. They are far away from their relatives and hometown, in a place with different national conditions and cultures, and strive to integrate themselves into a different country.

I will record the life of the Chinese community in New York through a 10-minute documentary video.And I plan to name this film Runner. These Chinese people have different regional characteristics, dialect culture, eating habits and so on.They have different identities and personalities. However, the only common feature of them is that they are struggling to live in a city that does not belong to them. They overcome various obstacles from foreign countries in their own way, such as language, work and study.

In addition to describing the details of their lives in a documentary way, I also wanted to show the diversity and collision of cultures, namely the culture of their hometown and how to integrate into the local culture of New York. I will use the self-statements and interview shots of the three protagonists, combined with their past confusion and future development, to show the acceptable of this unique group to the foreign environment, and their positive attitude towards life, just like runners.No matter which track you are in, only desperate to adapt to the track, adapt to the scenery around, so that we can run to the end of life.