Directing Portfolio
The Glass Castle (2019)
The Glass Castle
Writer and Director: Wei Jiao Cast: Jess Prichard, Alex Yiakoumatos, Nick Daly, Katya Pylova Producer: Hlumela Matika Cinematography: Michael Anthony Koslov Music and Sound Design: Everett Young Editor: Wei Jiao Film Festivals:
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Logline
An honorably discharged serviceman, JACK, returns home from the Vietnam War, and tries to re-bond with his six-year-old son, BEN. Jack confronts and copes with the fact that his wife, SALLY, is going to leave him for a younger man, WOODY. After a duck-hunting trip with his father, Ben witnesses a sequence of the events that reveals the essential dynamic between the father and son. This leads to an ending of healing and elevating their relationship on a nonverbal level.
"Glass Castle” is a metaphor for a fragile home. The title also has associations with a man’s traditional place as head of his family and his own home. The core of the story is Jack’s line: “No one can control the lives of others… even if you thought you could. Not in Vietnam. Not even here.” Jack mumbles this line sentimentally in the duck-hunting scene as if he finally accepts the fact after experiencing so many failures.
The bonding theme arises from his role as a father. Jack needs to re-bond with his young son and protect his family from breaking apart. He has two problems that threaten his family: his own war-related trauma, which has undermined his confidence and his ability to communicate with his wife and son, and his wife’s love affair with Woody and imminent departure from home. Although a series of events and actions take place in the film to convey the theme, all these events faithfully and exclusively support the core.
The audience will learn that Jack as a husband fails to prevent his wife from leaving, and Sally as a mother fails to persuade her beloved son to come with her. Both of them have attempted to make up others' minds with sincere and intense conviction, yet things go out of their control.
An honorably discharged serviceman, JACK, returns home from the Vietnam War, and tries to re-bond with his six-year-old son, BEN. Jack confronts and copes with the fact that his wife, SALLY, is going to leave him for a younger man, WOODY. After a duck-hunting trip with his father, Ben witnesses a sequence of the events that reveals the essential dynamic between the father and son. This leads to an ending of healing and elevating their relationship on a nonverbal level.
"Glass Castle” is a metaphor for a fragile home. The title also has associations with a man’s traditional place as head of his family and his own home. The core of the story is Jack’s line: “No one can control the lives of others… even if you thought you could. Not in Vietnam. Not even here.” Jack mumbles this line sentimentally in the duck-hunting scene as if he finally accepts the fact after experiencing so many failures.
The bonding theme arises from his role as a father. Jack needs to re-bond with his young son and protect his family from breaking apart. He has two problems that threaten his family: his own war-related trauma, which has undermined his confidence and his ability to communicate with his wife and son, and his wife’s love affair with Woody and imminent departure from home. Although a series of events and actions take place in the film to convey the theme, all these events faithfully and exclusively support the core.
The audience will learn that Jack as a husband fails to prevent his wife from leaving, and Sally as a mother fails to persuade her beloved son to come with her. Both of them have attempted to make up others' minds with sincere and intense conviction, yet things go out of their control.
Teeth (2016)
Logline
The story is about an unspoken dispute between two characters, which leads to an unexpected ending. A man drills on a wall and decorates his apartment at night. An elderly man in bed is awakened by the drilling noise, and starts to knock on the ceiling with his cane to protest. In the meantime, the man suddenly feels a sharp toothache. After the toothache becomes intolerable, he pulls the painful tooth out. When he looks into the cavity in the tooth, he sees the "neighbor" knocking on the “ceiling.” I managed to patently blurry or even erase the line between reality and illusion to create a connection between the two worlds that are not physically connected. |
Film Festivals:
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Life Is Good (2015)
Life Is Good
Writer and Director: Wei Jiao Cast: Adam Offutt, Antone Dolezal, Donato Rossi, Joseph F Morley Producer: Kieu-anh Phan Truong Cinematography: Marcus Zhang Editor: Wei Jiao Introduction Life Is Good is a continuation of my practice in surrealist cinema. It is an allegorical comedy appealing for cherishing all the days of life. I adapted this film idea from my dreams. |
Film Festivals:
- 2nd Asia International Youth Short-Film Exhibition, China 2016
- North by Northeastern Theatre and Film Festival, USA 2016
Exposure(2014)
Exposure
Co-director: Wei Jiao and Marcus Zhang Director of Photography: Wei Jiao Cast: Zicheng Kong, Ring Yang, and Marcus Zhang Producer: Xizhe Zhang Editor: Wei Jiao Logline The protagonist invites his friend and his girlfriend — a girl that he has been dream of — to a movie screening at home. He encounters a love affair after the movie. However, did it really happen, or it happens only in his mental world. We created three different worlds in the film that you could believe. Which one would you like to choose to believe? |
The Running Shadow and Frozen Body (2012)
The Running Shadow and Frozen Body
Writer and Director: Wei Jiao Cast: Stephen Knotts, Jimena Alvarez-Buylla, Constance Charvin, and Marcus Lee Cinematography: Wei Jiao Editor: Wei Jiao Film Festivals:
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Introduction
The culture shock, language barriers, and the sense of dislocation did not limit my creativity. Instead, they combined to give me a new vision and attitude toward the world. I made this film when I first time came to the U.S. as a means to express the distinct sensations, perceptions, and emotions that I had in San Francisco. To pursue a unique expressivity in this film, I brought the narrative storytelling conventions back to this film, and merged them with certain surrealist conventions. The film gets rid of the shackles of logic to a certain extent, but it is not irrational at all because it has not abandoned causality, realistic situations, and narrative storytelling. In fact, I felt that the emotional impact of the experience that I had gone through in San Francisco was well expressed.
The culture shock, language barriers, and the sense of dislocation did not limit my creativity. Instead, they combined to give me a new vision and attitude toward the world. I made this film when I first time came to the U.S. as a means to express the distinct sensations, perceptions, and emotions that I had in San Francisco. To pursue a unique expressivity in this film, I brought the narrative storytelling conventions back to this film, and merged them with certain surrealist conventions. The film gets rid of the shackles of logic to a certain extent, but it is not irrational at all because it has not abandoned causality, realistic situations, and narrative storytelling. In fact, I felt that the emotional impact of the experience that I had gone through in San Francisco was well expressed.
The Real Artist at Work (2012, Documentary)
The Real Artist at Work
Director: Wei Jiao Cast: Anthony (Tony) Gomez, Miranda Putman, Francis Kohler, Christina Fong, Ann Yamasak, Jay Herndon, Makeya Kaiser, Ann Connolly, Laron Bickerstaff, and Richard Wright. Co-Producers: Francis Kohler and Wei Jiao Cinematography: Wei Jiao Sound: Sudi Wachspress Editor: Wei Jiao Introduction: It’s a short documentary film, made for Creativity Explored Studio II in San Francisco, CA. Creativity Explored is a non-profit organization for artists with developmental disabilities to create their artworks. This film shows the artists' talent and their fantastic works through my lens. They own the power, different senses, and unique ways to express themselves and represent the world. I got impressed and inspired every single day when I volunteered there from 2012 to 2013. |
It's Me (2011)
Introduction
This film is the first and the most surrealist film that I have ever made, based on my experience of preparing for a TOEFL test. I literally locked myself in my apartment for half a year to best prepare myself for the rigors of the language test. During that period, I had a great deal of stress and anxiety, not only because of studying a new language, but also because I was trapped in a small space with a looming deadline.
In making of the film, I realized that the process of preparing for the English test did not have as much dramatic tension on anyone else as it did on me. Therefore, I concentrated on expressing my own emotions, and excluded any description and explanation of the specific external circumstances and events, though I did hope the audience members probably had similar experience and emotions so that they could connect to what I presented in the film.
This experimental project was a success to me because I considered it was a true expression of my experience while I was studying for the language test. However, I discovered if irrational and absurd images dominated, and narratives or plots seemed to be absent, thereby blocking the amicable communication with the audience. That I personally see was problematic.
This film is the first and the most surrealist film that I have ever made, based on my experience of preparing for a TOEFL test. I literally locked myself in my apartment for half a year to best prepare myself for the rigors of the language test. During that period, I had a great deal of stress and anxiety, not only because of studying a new language, but also because I was trapped in a small space with a looming deadline.
In making of the film, I realized that the process of preparing for the English test did not have as much dramatic tension on anyone else as it did on me. Therefore, I concentrated on expressing my own emotions, and excluded any description and explanation of the specific external circumstances and events, though I did hope the audience members probably had similar experience and emotions so that they could connect to what I presented in the film.
This experimental project was a success to me because I considered it was a true expression of my experience while I was studying for the language test. However, I discovered if irrational and absurd images dominated, and narratives or plots seemed to be absent, thereby blocking the amicable communication with the audience. That I personally see was problematic.
Cinematography Portfolio
Maria (2018)
Maria
Director: Anthony Joseph Filosi Director of Photography: Wei Jiao Introduction
A life size, doll named Maria who can only speak French is sent out by her master Dante to destroy a small fishing hamlet in rural America before an incurable plague afflicting the town can spread. On her way to the town she is helped by a man Waite and his daughter Rosa after her car breaks down. Despite the language barrier Maria befriends Rosa and Waite, but it is revealed they are residents of town returning to try to cure the plague. |
Trees Cast Long Shadows (2017)
Trees Cast Long Shadows
Director: Marcus Zhang Director of Photography: Wei Jiao Story by: Wei Jiao and Marcus Zhang Introduction The film discusses the Confucian patriarchal ideology presenting in a Chinese immigrant family in the U.S. A middle-aged widowed father who turns his high expectations for his son's future into excessive harshness, which restricts the child's psychological growth and smashes his confidence. As a result, the harshness leads to the son’s hatred of his father. The impact of parents is just like the shadow cast by a big tree that not only provides a shelter but also cuts off the sunshine. Therefore, we named the film Trees Cast Long Shadows. |
Lalibela (2017)
Lalibela
Director: Hlumela Matika Director of Photography: Wei Jiao Introduction A short hybrid documentary/fiction short exploring personal journey as it relates to the American refugee community. Transitioning from their home country into a new one, refugees often undertake the challenges of learning a new language. The film follows the lives of Soria played by Habiba Buro (Ethiopian) and Yusuf Mohamed (Somalian) staged in the backdrop of an english class room, the story follows migrants living in Upstate New York, as they embark on a journey of culture assimilation. |
Film Festivals
- Africa International Film Festival, Nigeria 2017
- Silicon Valley African Film Festival, USA 2017
- Meraki Film Festival, Span 2018