While many people imagine a drawing or painting in front of them when one mentions art, this is may not always be the case. Unique to many of his peers, Senior Vashi Chintalapalli enjoys creating films and takes photographs.
Chintalapalli became fascinated with movies at a young age. Because his family held a movie night each Friday where Hollywood and Bollywood films were shown, he was able to notice techniques and styles often used.
In reflection on his younger days viewing films, Chintalapalli said, “At the end of each movie, I would spend time contrasting the different styles and comparing the different industries.”
Even though Chintalapalli was always an avid viewer and creator, he did not take filmmaking seriously until his junior year of high school. In this time, he entered a short film at the Individual Speech Competition; qualifying for the state competition, Chintalapalli received fantastic feedback from judges, which helped him grow as an artist.
The following summer, he worked as a videographer and editor at WHBF news. This was an amazing experience for such a young artist; Chintalapalli said, “Having the professional experience set my foundation that movies are what I want to do in life.”
However, working professionally was eye opening. “Working at WHBF taught me a lot about impromptu film production,” said Chintalapalli. “As a student filmmaker, setbacks are apart of the art. Through the experience from both of these areas, I learned a lot about handling projects under difficult scenarios.
Although he has enjoyed working professionally with his artform, Chintalapalli noted that his camera has truly become a large part of his daily life. He understands the importance of experimentation and practice when it comes to an art form, so his camera is often on him during the daytime, just in case something comes along.
Chintalapalli enjoys focusing on his craft even if he finds nothing particularly interesting to shoot; he said, “I’ve learned that enough even I do nothing with the content, experimenting in different day to day scenarios is great practice for learning how to share a story through the camera.”
Exploring different methods to capture a photo helps Chintalapalli continue to be creative in the ways that he chooses to portray stories. In his free time, he enjoys analyzing movies and writing reviews for them as well as writing his own scripts.
Currently, Chintalapalli is working on a podcast rooted in a film and politics basis. Chintalapalli is graduating high school a semester early and will attend the University of Iowa during the winter term; he will major in cinema and political science.
Although Chintalapalli is soon departing the Pleasant Valley High School halls, he is thankful for the time he has spent here and thankful for the time he has been able to have crafting his art. In closing, he said, “Learning through different mediums has helped me explore and get deeper into my art.
