December 2025

I built a city for my cinematography final. While I genuinely enjoyed the class, I wanted to create something memorable for my final rather than simply following the standard criteria - filming in a dorm, featuring friends or student actors, and relying on simple dialogue.

While watching Corpse Bride, I began wondering: what if I built an entire city the way stop-motion filmmakers do? I designed and built the city itself, consisting of eight skyscrapers and ten additional buildings and structures. The entire city was handcrafted and designed by me from start to finish.

For the final shoot, I was supported by my ride-or-die collaborators Ada Wang, Mia Hernandez, and Frank Zhang from the Television, Radio, and Film master’s program, as well as incredibly skilled TRF senior, Elvin Zheng.