Jessica Zhang
By Kate Mcleod
Jessica Zhang is a grade twelve filmmaker and writer who has attended Collingwood since grade seven. She was born at Vancouver children’s hospital and lives in West Vancouver with her mom and her blonde-haired, blue-eyed, Ragdoll cat named Valentino. Most of her family lives in Beijing, China with her mom’s side of the family living in Shandong Province. She takes a liking to music. She enjoys all genres but especially (Japanese) rock music. And enjoys reading especially Anthony Bourdain’s book, World Travel which is her favorite.
She used to be a competitive swimmer and swam with the Otters West Vancouver with a national team and she even attended a swim meet for junior nationals in Claery. Her experiences with swimming helped teach her independence and determination but also made her a perfectionist.
Jessica has a passion for filmmaking and the visual arts. She used to spend her time painting, using pastels, sharpies, or felt markers, expressing with bold lines. She transferred these techniques from canvas to face art. She uses her skills to transform her face into a stunning piece of art.
Jessica has always loved filmmaking but she really established her work in grade ten. She started in Mr. Francis’ film one class. She then started to attend film festivals. She even got finalists for festivals such as both The Los Angeles and New York International Awards, The Toronto Independent Festival Of Cift, and Vancouver Independent Film Festival all for one short film, Concealed. In her film, she collaborated with grade eleven student Samson Boldizar and grade twelve student Carolyn Yu as actors.
Jessica also recently attended zoom fest, a 48-hour film festival where you were instructed to create a film in 48 hours. Zoom Fest implements a word/theme and an object. Their theme was redemption and their object was a turnip. Her group wrote a thriller with the goal to make the audience think.
Jessica also does a lot of creative writing and by telling a story she finds it reflects the mood she’s in and the feeling she wants to portray. Because film is complex, she sometimes turns to paint her face. it comes naturally and when she does it, it makes her feel confident because it’s the emotion that she wants to portray on top of her face. Contrasting to film. Makeup and drawings are more underlying but you can see it flat.
Jessica’s favorite part about filmmaking is generating a story, a new world, and when has the whole story planned, starts shooting, and finally makes the world come to life. And then finally being about to watch the finished results after working hard.
Jessica says that the art she does is her identity and before, she saw it as just a hobby. She started to notice that people would often attach film-making to her. She now feels more in touch with what she creates but she also has pressure to make her films good but, tens to not worry about it and do what she thinks is right. While she was starting out, Jessica
experienced some roadblocks. She noticed her lack of knowledge of equipment. She knew how to frame things but she had to experiment to see what worked best for her. She went into it with no knowledge of cinematography, lighting, or bocking. She said that just had to figure things out.
Jessica’s most recent screenplay starred a couple who broke up, however, was still in love. Jessica says “That screenplay was more emotional, Stories are usually not narrative.” Implementing the context of the world around her she can make whatever she wants. Jessica enjoys creating dramas and in the sense of things that make you think and have high emotional value. She says “People get immersed when you laugh and cry with characters and that makes a good story”
Jessica’s favorite year in film so far has been this year (2021). Jessica lists “ Shang-Chi, Squid Game, Chloe Zhao, as the years keep going we will see more Asian representation” it has additionally been a good year for her in filming, she says she “Finally got the kicker and feels really motivated” and “something clicked”.
When asked if she had any advice for people who want to start film, she says, from experience, at the start she wanted to put 20 concepts in a 3-minute film. When she first started she was immature with her work. She wanted to do crane shots and dolly shots without the equipment. so one thing she would tell someone “you know your stuff, so apply it but don’t overcomplicate.”
To Jessica, film means self-expression when she comes up with cool ideas and she needs to tell them or it feels like an idea wasted and if she doesn’t tell them it feels uncomfy. In different ways, she is proud of all of her work but she always wants to be better. All of them but at the same time also none. She strives to make a film that is her own voice.
By Kate Mcleod
Jessica Zhang is a grade twelve filmmaker and writer who has attended Collingwood since grade seven. She was born at Vancouver children’s hospital and lives in West Vancouver with her mom and her blonde-haired, blue-eyed, Ragdoll cat named Valentino. Most of her family lives in Beijing, China with her mom’s side of the family living in Shandong Province. She takes a liking to music. She enjoys all genres but especially (Japanese) rock music. And enjoys reading especially Anthony Bourdain’s book, World Travel which is her favorite.
She used to be a competitive swimmer and swam with the Otters West Vancouver with a national team and she even attended a swim meet for junior nationals in Claery. Her experiences with swimming helped teach her independence and determination but also made her a perfectionist.
Jessica has a passion for filmmaking and the visual arts. She used to spend her time painting, using pastels, sharpies, or felt markers, expressing with bold lines. She transferred these techniques from canvas to face art. She uses her skills to transform her face into a stunning piece of art.
Jessica has always loved filmmaking but she really established her work in grade ten. She started in Mr. Francis’ film one class. She then started to attend film festivals. She even got finalists for festivals such as both The Los Angeles and New York International Awards, The Toronto Independent Festival Of Cift, and Vancouver Independent Film Festival all for one short film, Concealed. In her film, she collaborated with grade eleven student Samson Boldizar and grade twelve student Carolyn Yu as actors.
Jessica also recently attended zoom fest, a 48-hour film festival where you were instructed to create a film in 48 hours. Zoom Fest implements a word/theme and an object. Their theme was redemption and their object was a turnip. Her group wrote a thriller with the goal to make the audience think.
Jessica also does a lot of creative writing and by telling a story she finds it reflects the mood she’s in and the feeling she wants to portray. Because film is complex, she sometimes turns to paint her face. it comes naturally and when she does it, it makes her feel confident because it’s the emotion that she wants to portray on top of her face. Contrasting to film. Makeup and drawings are more underlying but you can see it flat.
Jessica’s favorite part about filmmaking is generating a story, a new world, and when has the whole story planned, starts shooting, and finally makes the world come to life. And then finally being about to watch the finished results after working hard.
Jessica says that the art she does is her identity and before, she saw it as just a hobby. She started to notice that people would often attach film-making to her. She now feels more in touch with what she creates but she also has pressure to make her films good but, tens to not worry about it and do what she thinks is right. While she was starting out, Jessica
experienced some roadblocks. She noticed her lack of knowledge of equipment. She knew how to frame things but she had to experiment to see what worked best for her. She went into it with no knowledge of cinematography, lighting, or bocking. She said that just had to figure things out.
Jessica’s most recent screenplay starred a couple who broke up, however, was still in love. Jessica says “That screenplay was more emotional, Stories are usually not narrative.” Implementing the context of the world around her she can make whatever she wants. Jessica enjoys creating dramas and in the sense of things that make you think and have high emotional value. She says “People get immersed when you laugh and cry with characters and that makes a good story”
Jessica’s favorite year in film so far has been this year (2021). Jessica lists “ Shang-Chi, Squid Game, Chloe Zhao, as the years keep going we will see more Asian representation” it has additionally been a good year for her in filming, she says she “Finally got the kicker and feels really motivated” and “something clicked”.
When asked if she had any advice for people who want to start film, she says, from experience, at the start she wanted to put 20 concepts in a 3-minute film. When she first started she was immature with her work. She wanted to do crane shots and dolly shots without the equipment. so one thing she would tell someone “you know your stuff, so apply it but don’t overcomplicate.”
To Jessica, film means self-expression when she comes up with cool ideas and she needs to tell them or it feels like an idea wasted and if she doesn’t tell them it feels uncomfy. In different ways, she is proud of all of her work but she always wants to be better. All of them but at the same time also none. She strives to make a film that is her own voice.