What this project meant to me:
The film Hoop Dreams is a real documentary about the experience of inner-city kids playing basketball in a rich neighborhood. I’ve explained this tens of times to various people from friends, to acquaintances, to even family. Hoop Dreams 2 is a nine minute video of my friend Owen playing basketball in my friend Matt’s driveway while he was on vacation. It was my idea to make a fun little video of Owen playing basketball and doing some silly, but mostly stupid, skits and send it to Matt while he was away. I edited it that night with Owen by basically just putting the clips together in iMovie. I had no idea it would become this big and that Hoop Dreams would mean this much to me, especially since I’ve never seen it*. Hoop Dreams 3 is a 19 minute video of many of my friends playing basketball and hanging out filmed over the span of a month. I actually spent some time on this one in the studio, which was just my attic, with Owen. I gave us each intros and theme songs. There was some music and actual editing in it. They all loved it. Hoop Dreams had become bigger than just me and Owen. It had spread to Ben, Matt, and Julian too. Hoop Dreams 4Ever is currently sitting at 90 minutes in Premiere Pro. This feature length film has spread across multiple months. It received a trailer and a poster. Everyone wants to pitch an idea for it. This one has one difference though - I’m editing it alone. I’ve deliberated over every moment, every scene, every word by myself. I’ve watched videos of us hanging out dozens of times, preserved like a mosquito in amber. I find that this film, with the idealization of longevity and preservation, has brought upon a lot of feelings of reflection in myself. There’s a certain wonder that this film will live “forever.” No other generation has had the opportunity to watch themselves in this specific time in their life over and over whenever they want. Montaigne wrote the essay “Of Experience” in the late 1500s. For a person who sought to enjoy life “twice as much as others” I’m sure he would be in awe of such a concept. I would like to imagine he would admire my attention I’ve set upon this film. It grew bigger than me the moment it was conceived. It became something for my friends. It became something for our future selves. We can enjoy our life now twice, thrice, four times, and so on. I’ve grown nostalgic of the present because I know how special this time is. I’m so grateful it exists. It's driven me further in my knowledge of editing, camera work, and music right before I head to college for film. It’s put me closer to my friends. It’s made me appreciate every moment because every moment can be a great Hoop Dreams scene. I probably won’t make another Hoop Dreams, nor will I start a new series for my future friends in college and beyond. But I will maintain that mindset - a mindset that cherishes and values every moment even if, in fact, especially since I can’t watch it again later. Since I’m editing it alone, I’m the only one who knows how it ends. About two weeks ago, I bought a big bulletin board from Micheals and ordered some photos of us from CVS. Set to the nostalgic theme of a song from Minecraft, the piano notes will accompany a montage of me hanging up each and every photo. The camera will slowly zoom out, focused on the center of the board which my head obscures. In the moments the song fades out, my head will fall out of frame and a singular word in the center will be revealed. “Forever” it will say on a card in the middle. It cuts to black. We’re planning on watching it together after graduation. I hope that when the credits begin to roll, I hear just a few sniffles. Even though Hoop Dreams will last forever, in that moment I think we will truly realize that this year, this wonderful year, is ending - forever.
*Have now seen it, it's really great