Faz decided to make a narrative music video; he wanted to tell a story about how good kids in Buffalo can end up making bad decisions and even end up in jail.  He chose the song “Drop the World” as the backdrop for the movie in which he served as both the lead actor, director, and editor. We were impressed with his meticulous planning for this project, and it is evident in the variety of shots and angles, and in their composition.

As a “break” of sorts before our final project, the students were asked to work in groups to make a music video; they were allowed to choose any song they wanted and tasked with either creating a narrative, pretending to be the band singing, or some combination of the two, and editing to create a finished project. This group of students chose to show off their dancing skills, using a Karen hip-hop song as the backdrop, and using some new Final Cut skills- like slow motion and color filters- to create a very entertaining music video.

For his film, Sella interviewed his older brother and made his documentary about his older brother’s experiences as a refugee in Thailand. As with the other students’ stories, Sella’s documentary is an opportunity to catch a glimpse of one person’s remarkable history and experiences. It is also an opportunity to hear firsthand about the everyday life and courage of those who are living as refugees in other countries, waiting and working toward a time when they will be able to return home, or be given the chance to come create a new home in another country.

Mondip’s documentary talks about the conflict in Bhutan in the 1990’s, when Nepalese people living in Bhutan clashed over cultural differences with the Bhutanese government. Many of the Nepalese were forced to flee because of violence, and Mondip’s documentary chronicles this conflict and one families journey towards becoming refugees in America. Mondip had the most editing to do out of all of our students- the interview he was working with was half an hour long- and he did a great job of capturing the essential details while staying inside the time limit.

Maryan made her documentary about what she saw and felt when she and her family first came to America as refugees from Kenya. Her story is moving; she is one of our most determined and dedicated students, and she hopes at this point to become a social worker when she grows up, and move back to her country to help people the way she has been helped here.

Htoo decided to document his day-to-day life in this video, especially focusing on one of his favorite hobbies: soccer. Note that, even though soccer is always waiting in the background for Htoo, he makes time for homework, as well.