Apara

Apara CHandavarKar

Hi, my name is Apara Chandavarkar, a freshman at DHS. I enjoy writing, filmmaking, writing films, and filming writing. I first became interested in filmmaking after watching videos of directing techniques, and since then I’ve been writing tiny scripts and attempting to film them by myself. I also scribble designs and watch comedy, sometimes both at the same time if I’m feeling adventurous.

My project:

My project idea is to film a documentary on talent vs. practice. It’s aimed towards people who want to achieve something but don’t necessarily have the skills and/or talent to succeed. If you really stink at something, to what extent does practice push you towards your goal? Using a combination of interviews from professionals from different fields, man-on-the-street clips, and experiments with talented students and ungifted ones, the documentary will (hopefully) arrive at some sort of conclusion.

Mentor

My mentor, Matt Pavia, is a teacher who has taught a film class at DHS for more than fifteen years. He studied film as an undergraduate and enjoys documentaries.

Final Project Video

Untitled: May 23, 2021 3:36 PM.webm

Reflection

Idea reflection

Advice To 2021-22 freshmen

To the incoming achievers, I'd like to say: choose wisely. I know that idea may seem like a tiny thing that doesn't impact your school life much, but there is a real opportunity to actually do something that you want to do. Let yourself become the person you want to be and choose a project that you're actually excited about. Mine was a bit far-fetched and a huge commitment, but I'm really happy that I got to do this because in a few years, I'll probably be studying something that doesn't excite me as much. Pessimistically, this could be your last chance to pursue your dreams and you should take advantage of it.

Copy of WIPP II

Progress Update 3

This update brings the most work I've done all year. Firstly, I accepted the lack of time and changed my goal for three experiments to one. Secondly, I filmed the one experiment and wrote half a script for the voiceovers. Thirdly(?), I made the decision to buy a PC for video editing and I downloaded DaVinci Resolve. Fourthly(???), I started video editing and filming myself in interview scenarios. Hopefully, if I keep the rate of my progress up, I'll be able to present a whole documentary short by May 24th.

WIPP II

Progress Update 2

In December, I made it my goal to recruit people to star in my documentary and plan out what I want to include.

I made it halfway.

My documentary outline has been completed--I've decided what experiments to conduct and how to conduct them--but I haven't sent out the emails to professionals I want to interview or the students I want to have in my experiment. Which brings me to my third goal for the end of January and February...

Mini goal 2: (for real) Recruitment/scheduling & filming

In the next few months, my goal is to actually send the emails to various clubs and parents (interviewees) and schedule times for filming. Best case scenario, I'll be able to start filming interviews and experiments immediately after winter break.

Copy of WIPP I

Progress Update 1

For my first mini-goal, I decided to research the basics of documentary filmmaking. I discovered the 6 modes of storytelling, and established the main two I'm going to use: performative and participatory. I also researched the three acts of a documentary, which seemed to be the same three acts of pretty much anything (intro, body, conclusion). As I did this, I realized I'd need to be very involved with the story. I'd have to be interviewing, experimenting, and filming, which is too much to do at once. Due to this, I'm amending my responsibilities as cameraman and will try to rope some friends into helping. But covid is still the biggest problem...

Mini goal 1: Outline/Emails

For my next step, I want to be able to plan out all the segments for the documentary. To do that, I'd need to decide which professionals in which fields I want to interview and feature. To do that, I'd have to email a bunch of different, hopefully slightly well-known people, keep my options open, and brace for rejection. Once I get replies I'll know which fields to feature and I can begin to plan the experiments with a "practice" group and a "talent" group.

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