Jujube/thesis-practice

1.2 Documentation of practice

I elaborate on an essay jujube/practice I wrote during my first year at PZI. If the repeated act means anything, it spreads existence —and the anxiety, contemplation, peace thereby — across the most mundane tasks. In this strand, I expand on the methods and decision-making in my filmmaking practice.

Unlike text, a medium I have been familiar with since adolescence, filmmaking is new to me. In the first year of the Master’s, faced with the influx of new production-based knowledge, I inflicted a penance by refraining from the methods/skills I had as a writer (especially scriptwriting). This resulted in a sort of suffering in my research, as it was filled with epistemological uncertainty, a love-hate relationship with chance and blind faith.

However, through the methods I developed during the first year, I have become a metaphorical host or guest for each film shoot. I foster trust, ease and comfort. I remain humble, curious and listening. Meditating on the new discoveries from and insufficiencies of my previous approach, I decided to incorporate my writing knowledge as I continue to develop my voice as a filmmaker. It has become clear that filmmaking has cast new light on how I write, both creatively and critically.