Summer Camp

My dear teachers, or friends,1

When I first came to your summer camp, I was nervous. I was not sure how strict you would be, and I was afraid that I would not be able to understand your lessons because my chinese is not the best. I had never used DV before, and I was not sure how well I would do in your training camp. However, I needn't have feared. 2

From the first moment you taught us, I saw that you were teachers who become friends with their students instead of rising above them. Respect can be a barrier between teacher and student, and you took that barrier away. I perhaps did not respect you as much as I should've, but I liked you.3

I payed attention in class and took notes, determined not to let my small Chinese vocabulary stop me from learning. You cannot know how afraid I am. Some people envy me for growing up in America, but I feel that I've lost too much from it... I miss China but cannot go back because I cannot read my mother tongue. Teacher, did you know, XiangShan is my childhood home? Such a place should be very dear to me, but I don't recognize it anymore. There I was in your classroom, so close to the place where I grew up for a year after I was born, struggling to understand your words.4

I learned a lot from that lesson, as well as the lesson you gave me after lunch. I learned to focus on one object at least 80% of the time, and to make sure sure that the viewer knows what you're filming within the first 3 minutes. I also learned that you can sweep the scene, zoom in and out, and I also found out how to change the brightness of the image, a tool I found quite useful. I learned that the most important thing was to hold the camera still and steady, and to not let your hand shake the camera even slightly. This would cause the picture to shake too. I found this extremely difficult to do.5

During those lessons my camera was on; perhaps you thought I was filming you, but I was not. I was practicing, trying out everything but not taping anything, and this experimentation helped me a lot when we began climbing the mountain. I tried zooming in on a bottle of ice tea that I had bought, found that the picture was much clearer if you moved the camera closer instead of zooming in. I tried sweeping the entire classroom, and zooming in on all of you, and I found that to get a clear film you must move slowly. Patience is the key; the slower your movements, the better your movie will be. 6

Later, we began climbing Xiang Mountain, and there was beauty everywhere. I remembered everything that I had learned and did my best to apply it all. No time for nervousness there, only concentration. 7

Later, when you told me that my video was filmed very well, do you know how happy I was? I was very happy, my dear teacher, I was so proud. 8

The next day, you taught us how to use Windows Movie Maker. This lesson I had a hard time following, since I could not recognize any of the characters on the screen. I tried to follow your actions, and I could see how you dragged movies and music onto the timeline and how you deleted sections. There were no movies on my computer so I had nothing to practice with at that moment, but I knew that I could practice and learn at home as well.9

When camp ended, Teacher, I truly did not want to leave. There was nothing better than being there with all of you, with all these friends, learning how to make movies and having fun. I learned so much, and gained so much, my teachers, my friends. Thank you.10

Shya11

7/31/08