Academics
SOUL Seeking: Film compilation
Martin G.’s SOUL Seeking and Capstone project is a compilation of 100 films made across four years, between 2018 and 2021. Martin’s videos follow him on his life in China and in Canada and on trips abroad to places including Taipei, Prague, Hungary, the Czech Republic, and the US.
Martin’s desire to document his life and travel was sparked early on when, age six, his parents bought him his first camera. When he got a bit older, he started an accompanying travel journal to record his thoughts and experiences, and when he came to Shawnigan this evolved naturally into making short videos and travel vlogs to share with family and friends back home in China.
From rafting adventures in China to participation in the National Film Festival for Talented Youth (NFFTY) Film Festival in Seattle and a film industry tour in Los Angeles, his travel vlogs have covered nine different countries on three different continents and charted experiences as diverse as Martin’s first snow storm in Vancouver and watching spectacular New Year’s fireworks in Taipei. He’s also branched out to tech reviews and a thoughtful COVID documentary charting his experiences of travelling in a pandemic and going through hotel quarantine, which Shawnigan broadcast to the school community last year.
Martin started out using iMovie as a default film-making app, but began working with Neil Trafford after arriving at Shawnigan and has since developed his Adobe Premier Pro, film-editing and narrative-development skills. In the past three years he has produced 109 videos totaling 620 minutes—the equivalent of six feature films!
The next step for Martin is taking up a place at NYU in the fall and continuing to document his life adventure through film. As he noted himself at the end of his SOUL Seeking project video, “I’ve been to so many different places. I’ve learned so many diverse cultures. I’ve met so many awesome people. I think I’ve found my SOUL.”
We acknowledge with respect the Coast Salish Peoples on whose traditional lands and waterways we live, learn and play. We are grateful for the opportunity to share in this beautiful region, and we aspire to healthy and respectful relationships with those who have lived on and cared for these lands for millennia.
Shawnigan Lake School is an independent co-educational boarding school for ages 13 –18 on Canada’s beautiful West Coast. Our diverse, interdisciplinary and innovative programming helps shape the next generation of global leaders.
