Lights, Camera, Action Saayeh Siahmakoun

Wide green screens, lanky wooden chairs, bulky professional cameras, powdery makeup, and a hundred frantic people surround me as my mind envisions this potential future of mine. Being a 21st century child, I was practically pressured into learning how to function a rectangular device that could fit in my back pocket, but I had my own drive to understand the secrets behind the screen.

The first program I taught myself to use was titled “Live FX”. With this application downloaded, I had opened more doors for myself than I thought I could go through. During the day, I would gather a group of my friends to be the stars of my spontaneously thought-out movies. At night, I would tinker with the app, discovering new tools to advance the creativity and quality of my videos. Years went by and my admiration for the film producing process only grew. I continued to mock the editing skills I learned from videos online, rarely succeeding in terms of perfection, but endeavored to be a creator of something nevertheless.

“Live FX” has since caused me to appreciate the hard work and process that goes on when the actors are off and the cameras are asleep. When watching a movie with my family, the story does not grasp my attention, but the little...