Author: YIYUAN MAI

The films gave me some scary thoughts. I know we were all going to end up dead, whether if it’s under the ground or ashes in the ocean, it doesn’t matter much. However, what scares me was not the death being presented. It is the idea of seeing other people’s loved ones hanging onto life with tubes and machines. My grandma said if she was going to be like that and suffer, she might as well choose death. The film makes me appreciate the doctor and nurses even more. They face life and death every day that sometimes walking into an emergency room with an injured finger doesn’t seem like much of an issue anymore.

Other than the sad and emotional topic, I noticed how the camera has been shakey for the first few scenes and throughout. At times like these, the shakey camera actually adds to the entire film experience rather than taking away from it. The shaking of the camera promotes and increases the sense of nervousness in the audience. I had to stop and speed up the video when the doctor and family members talk about the patient because I couldn’t bear to watch. In addition to that, I noticed how personal close up of family members and doctors use the rule of thirds. Overall, the film is very hard to watch yet spoke the facts of life and death.

1. A friend’s life in quarantine and her new love for playing the flute. I think this would be a good idea because it gives me a chance to head out and get some outside shots.
2. I can also go deeper with the photo essay about children in front of computer screens at home. My sister is taking dance classes so it would be fun to record.

HOST INTRO: 

Quarantine has driven many to find something to do at home. A Chinese mother of four kids found some peace in a singing app where she can shout her troubles away, even if it is just for a few minutes.

AMBI:

Mother singing in the room.

(FADE DOWN AS TRACK BEGINS)

TRACK:

I am here with Mrs. Mai and her family in Brooklyn. She is singing on an app called “Quan Min” (全民) that does more than just record songs. She has found herself spending more time on the app than she would before the pandemic. It becomes a sort of like an exercise to sing in the morning and after school hours.

ACT: MRS. MAI:

Can’t go to work, in the middle of being jobless, and bored. Besides watching tv, it’s Quan Min. There is nothing else to do.

TRACK:

Having posted around two hundred songs, she says she also enjoys the other aspects of the app.

ACT: MRS. MAI:

You can go on live and teach people to sing if you have the talent in singing and interest in music. A lot of people go on live to earn money. You can go on live indoors, outdoors, and take people to enjoy nature. A lot of people watch those and earn from the coins the audience gives.

I like to watch outdoor live. Something like tourist attraction places or villages or mountains and river live. It’s quite fun.

Look at the scenery. Fishing. The details of life.

TRACK:

She finds herself enjoying nature behind the screen while she is stuck at home. The details of the average life add to her love for the app.

ACT: MRS. MAI:

Making breakfast in the morning, marinating things with his wife, doing fieldwork, and watching people fish.

TRACK:

This app also comes with mini-games. 

ACT: MRS. MAI:

There are many little games that I’ve never tried out. But I did go to one with planting flowers. Depending on the amount of water the flower is given, there is a 10 RMB reward. I just water the flowers. There are ones with toys. A lot of people play, but I don’t.

TRACK:

It has already been a little over a year since Mrs. Mai started using this app. Her youngest daughter takes after her and sings her favorite songs from time to time on the app as well. Mrs. Mai also got her second youngest, Mandy, to try it out too. However, that did not go as well.

ACT: MANDY:

I don’t quite like it because it’s a waste of my saliva.

TRACK:

As for her son, Matthew, he does not have a good impression of her singing.

ACT: MATTHEW:

I hear it every morning. I’m like no please I wanna sleep.

TRACK:

Whether if it is a quiet hobby or a noisy one that would affect other people’s lives, it helps people fight boredom. And we all need something to love during hard times. For Baruch College, I’m Yiyuan Mai.

Script

 HOST INTRO: Quarantine has driven many to find something to do at home. Yiyuan Mai spoke to a fifth-grader about her newly found passion outside of class and house chores.

AMBI: Sounds of ticking clock and a truck unpacking in the distance. 

TRACK: I am here with Mandy Mai in her family apartment in Brooklyn. She is sitting quietly beside the ticking clock and drawing on her phone. She has found a passion for digital art during quarantine and is able to improve her skills at home.

ACT: MANDY: I started off with just starting simple shapes. Watching others do it makes me learn their skills.

TRACK: She says she was inspired to do digital art through Youtube and TikTok. She learns from those videos as she progresses. The quarantine has given her more time at home to polish her skills

ACT: MANDY: Actual art, I always have trouble drawing symmetry, but in digital art, I can just duplicate it and flip it. I can also move things without erasing it a lot.

TRACK: Her love for digital extends to the various forms and possibilities she has on the screen.

ACT: MANDY: It depends on what you like to do. If you like drawing animals and stuff, you don’t really need to learn anatomy since antimony is about the human body and its structures. When you are drawing humans, of course, you need anatomy but you can always draw whatever u like. You can draw a chibi style too. That you don’t need anatomy. There are a lot of styles people have. If people want to draw like this, they can do that. They can draw abstract realism like shapes as heads and color in a really realistic face. They could do whatever they want. That’s another thing why.

TRACK: Hobbies would continue to be explored. Some may find it as a possible career. For Baruch College, I am Yiyuan Mai.

1. A story about the stress and worries of a friend who has to juggle work, classes, chores, and paying her rent.
2. A story about a mother stuck with four of her noisy children in quarantine and how she handles that with her passion for singing.

https://yiyuanmai.medium.com/children-behind-the-screen-3e752c530e8f

Portrait

Decisive moment