(In the upcoming weeks, we’ll be highlighting other INTERPRETATIONS entries that caught the jurors’ eyes but didn’t make it to the final five. But each day this week, we’ll spotlight the five winning finalists in their own words, followed by a few words about their films from a few of the jurors. First up, Keith Eng)

KEITH

As a little boy, when asked what he wanted to do when he grew up, Keith Eng either said a restaurant waiter or a fireman. In all honesty, he never really knew for sure what he wanted to do except for knowing he’d love to spent the rest of his life watching Godzilla marathons. After barely escaping alive from being raised in New Jersey, Keith studied hard partying at Pratt Institute. Now living in Brooklyn NY, he’ll once in a while make a moving picture. See Keith’s INTERPRETATIONS profile page here.

As an Asian American filmmaker, INTERPRETATIONS was an opportunity for me to join an event with like minded artists who understand the challenges working for and against our demographic in the film industry. Because the Asian American film community is so small (so add me on facebook), I knew I couldn’t pass on an opportunity to not only help put on display the massive talent and potential that we hold, but also address some of my many personal concerns regarding our place in the media.

I’ve always felt the Asian male image needed much work in film and TV. Many know they’re heavily stereotyped and type casted into martial arts; a role they seem to even be losing now with films like Last Airbender, King of Fighters, Dragonball, and The Weapon. I also feel that there is a forced movement towards interracial love happening with Asians in the media. While interracial relations are a part of what makes the US great, I feel as if on-screen pairing with non-Asians have become more appealing or perhaps considered more American in appearance. My INTERPRETATIONS submission aims at utilizing Asian American talent in non stereotypical roles while showing that an Asian American pair can still be just as progressive and positive as a mixed one.

Struck at First Sight, not only gave me dozens of laughs and lessons throughout the production, but also gave me an opportunity to work with talented individuals who understand the concerns that motivate me as an Asian American filmmaker. Projects and competitions like this one are definitely important towards making our time in the spotlight come to fruition.

Having been raised by my father who is a storyboard artist, I’ve always been a very visual person. I write my films in images before jotting them down as a script. The following rough storyboards were drafted before the script was written. If you look closely, there is a scene where I buy a hot dog from a street vendor. The hot dog transforms in to cruise tickets. This was later replaced with me helping a tourist with directions.

Many problems arose during production. My original choices for the two male actors didn’t work out. With little time left until shooting, I had to place myself and my excellent camera man Zhenyu Lin in to the acting roles. A large portion of the film was already finished when our original actress was suddenly sent to the hospital with a burst appendix. The production went back to casting where I then found our replacement, Andrea Chen who’s talent exceeds the simplicity of the script. She had also never modeled before, but she did a great job. I took the photos, did the graphic design, and retouching.

Timing our reactions to “invisible” arrows and fire was difficult and made on-lookers wonder what the hell we were doing. Mismatching weather made several different days of shooting a color correction nightmare. Many thanks to my assistant camera-girl Yifan Wang for helping with such issues. Including the photoshoot, shooting took about 5 days and editing took a month. Visual effects were done in Adobe After Effects and Photoshop. In the end, everything was finished beautifully (and on the original earlier contest deadline too!).

Thanks to all for watching my film.

In addition to voting, some of our industry jurors also included comments about the films they enjoyed. Here are some of the juror comments about Keith’s entry:

This was a fun concept that pulled off several story layers in a surprising way. The cartoon style was an unexpected approach and helped to make a very cohesive piece. I really admired how the filmmaker took the concept and carried it all the way through. — ANNE LAI (Sundance Lab Producer-In-Residence)

Imaginative, entertaining and fun / Great use of digital effects to enhance the story and tone without being overbearing. — DAN LIN (producer, Sherlock Holmes)

This film is a delight. Fun to watch, inventive, with an infectious sweetness to it that reels in the viewer. The film guidelines were interpreted in a unique manner, and Keith shows he’s got some talent to burn. Great job. – COREY MILLER (writer/producer, CSI: Miami)

Good concept, good editing, strong execution of idea, funny. The director could easily get commercial or video work off this short. — JOHN MURCHISON (HBO VP)