Wong posted his first sports film on Instagram during his freshman year after attending a Gunn varsity football game. Although he received positive community feedback, he found that he struggled with adjusting to filming at night.

“During the game, I had to quickly search on YouTube how to fix the lighting problem, turn up the ISO (International Organization for Standardization) and turn up the aperture,” he said. “(I had to figure out) how to increase the lens so more light came through to brighten the shot.”

Wong’s personal journey as a basketball player played a large role in his decision to continue making films.

“I wanted to capture how it felt being there (on the court),” he said. “That’s why I wanted to film sports, because I think (it) is a really great way to show other people’s passions.”

Core lessons Wong had learned from playing sports contributed to his filming mindset.

“Many sports require a lot of patience and dedication, and that really transferred over to my filmmaking,” he said. “(I had to) dedicate a lot of time in post-production, filming (and) planning.”

Wong’s journey, however, wasn’t all smooth sailing. Most of his major filmmaking challenges occurred when he pushed himself out of his comfort zone and tried filming sports he wasn’t as familiar with. In a water polo video, for example, lighting posed a problem.

“It was light out, and it was hard to adjust my camera to the glare from the water,” he said. “Since it was my first time filming water polo, I needed to get used to the sport and know what to look for.”

Usually, Wong creates multiple iterations of a video, and the full film-creation process for a 90-second video typically takes around six hours from start to finish. Much of this time is dedicated to fine-tuning pacing.

“(Making a film) is like telling a story,” he said. “There’s a rising action, climax and falling action. I take that format and use it to (create) the
video.”

Moving forward, Wong hopes to continue filming college sports to bolster his portfolio on Instagram. He has already filmed some Stanford basketball games this past season, and he and his twin brother, Liam Wong, are working to acquire media passes from the video director of Stanford’s football program, Mike Gleeson.

Despite the heavy workload, Wong finds the time commitment to be manageable, especially since he enjoys working on the videos. The feedback he receives further motivates him to continue to create films and seek new opportunities.

“Just seeing the athletes’ reactions make it worth it,” he said. “It makes me happy that they liked the video and that it wasn’t all for nothing.”

From an early age, Schettino González enjoyed creating skits and helping his sister — now a film student at Chapman University — make movies. For him, pursuing filmmaking was a natural instinct.

“I was never as attracted to something as I was to film,” he said. “I don’t think there was ever a moment where I was like, ‘Okay, this is what I want to do.’ It was always just something that I had to do. I had to make these films. I had to see my passion through.”

Schettino González has explored a variety of filmmaking genres — sports documentaries, PSAs and narrative shorts, just to name a few — but recently homed in on storytelling through fictional short films. He has a meticulous process: brainstorming ideas, writing a shot list, creating a detailed script, filming with actors and editing. He focuses on finding ideas and stories that resonate with his own experiences.

Like all amateur filmmakers, Schettino González started out shooting with default camera settings. With experience and upgraded equipment over time, he acquired an eye for detail, learning to enhance every element to make his films come alive. One technique Schettino González has honed is sound design, which he believes adds another dimension to films.

“A lot of people … don’t realize how (sound design) can enhance the performance, how we can create depth to the story, how we can make the characters feel lived in and make the story feel lived in,” he said. “Just creating a world with sound is very important and something that I pay more attention to.”

Schettino González’s film “Querido Mexico,” which explores his gratitude towards Mexico while comparing it to the stressful environment of Palo Alto, won first place statewide at the Directing Change Film Contest and the regional award for the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Student Emmys. It was also nominated for a National Student Emmy. “Skateboarding with Lara Botto,” a film Schettino González created with senior Josh Scheinman, also received the regional award for the National Academy’s Student Emmys.

Schettino González has found it extremely rewarding to be able to network with actors and directors and spotlight important topics through films like “Querido Mexico,” which touches on student mental health and pressure.

In the future, Schettino González will continue improving his abilities and using film to bring meaningful issues to light.

“I see myself creating more impactful work, pieces that matter, pieces that touch on subjects that most people are scared to touch on, and collaborating with talented filmmakers to create things that stand out,” he said.

The award show villain is the one film that the Academy loves, typically in the Best Picture category, though the general consensus online is that everyone hates it. Examples of this in recent years include “Green Book,” the Best Picture winner in 2019, and “La La Land,” the 2016 Best Picture nominee.

The term “awards show villain” was created to describe the movie that critics loved but audiences did not. Reasons that audiences may dislike these films often stem from controversies regarding the film’s story, production or contributors. Regardless of the specific reason behind it, the term creates a culture of people collectively rooting against a movie’s success.

This year, the two most likely candidates for the award show villain are “Don’t Look Up,” a satirical comedy about the impending end of the world from an asteroid, and “Being The Ricardos,” a biographical film about the relationship between actors Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz.

Though many claim that the two films possess Oscar nomination-worthy traits, some of the main reasons the films have become villains are because of behind-the scenes controversies. In the case of “Don’t Look Up,” director Adam McKay faced backlash for saying that viewers who criticized his movie didn’t care about climate change. “Being The Ricardos,” on the other hand, faced backlash for casting a Spanish actor in the role of Desi Arnaz, who was Cuban.

According to projections, these two movies are likely to win awards at this year’s ceremony, much to the dismay of some movie fans. However, the award show villain should be at least somewhat appreciated, because it accomplishes the goal of movies: bringing people together through both love and loathing.

Titan Broadcast Network (TBN) sent a reporter to take a peek at what we do. Watch the video to learn more about how we work.

Directed and produced by TBN.

Renowned actor, filmmaker and former Palo Alto High School (Paly) student James Franco returned to his alma mater to teach a nine-part film workshop that began on Sept. 13. Out of 500 high school applicants, the Paly alumnus accepted only 40 students. Franco’s students have been working on a professional feature film based on Betsy Franco’s book, “Metamorphosis: Junior Year.”

Junior Juan Santos is one of the 40 students taking Franco’s class. When he heard about the class, Santos immediately jumped at the opportunity to apply as he wanted to take his love for filmmaking to the next level. “Hearing that James Franco—a really accomplished writer, director and actor—is doing something that is involving my passion was a massive opportunity for me and I just had to take it,” he said.

Santos is especially excited about the prospect of creating a full movie. “The fact that we’re making something big [is something] I’ve always wanted to do,” he said. “[The film is] about a bunch of high schoolers and their experiences and the problems that they’ve had to deal with.”

Sophomore Flora Hon, another participant, started filmmaking as a hobby in eighth grade but hopes to expand her interest and gain more professional skills from the class. “I always liked film and took

Although Hon has had experience with filmmaking, she has never created a piece as long as “Metamorphosis: Junior Year.” “We’ve only made short videos like music videos and short documentaries in other film classes,” she said.

Hon explains that working with a celebrity is different than she expected. “He keeps it really professional and so do we,” she said. “I feel like we treat him like a normal teacher instead of what people might think us to be fangirling and snapping a bunch of photos.”

As opposed to both Santos and Hon, senior Eva Stoneburner is more used to being in front of the camera, not behind it. As an actress, Stoneburner has not had much experience with actual filmmaking. “I’ve never made any films before, but I’d definitely love to learn how to,” she said. “I thought it would be a really incredible experience [to] get myself out there and do something I love and try out something that I’ve only dreamt of doing.”

Through the workshop, Stoneburner hopes to learn more about what filmmaking is like. “I’m looking forward to making connections and learning about the industry,” she said. “I’ve gotten to give a lot of input into the whole process of making this movie. I’m really excited that I’m getting my ideas out there and people are listening to me.”

Santos says that the best part of the class is Franco’s collaborative approach to teaching. “I really appreciate that it’s not just him commanding everything that we do,” Santos said. “We work with him to understand the things we want to change and the ideas we hope to convey, he’s allowing us to take the reins.”

Franco’s work ethic, determination and diversity inspires Santos’s goals as an artist and filmmaker, Santos says. “Although not all of his projects are successful and great, he still pushes forward and still wants to do more and learn from his experiences,” he said. “He’s a very well-rounded artist and that’s the main thing I look up to.”