Brief Explanation

The film starts with a mother is trying to talk with her son, Jong-Hyun. She gazes into her son's eyes, hoping to make eye-contact. However, he's not responsive and does not look back his mom. Millions of children with autism struggle to make eye contact with others; Jong-Hyun Kim, an 11-year-old boy from South Korea, is one of them. The mother feels isolated from her son. She's like a stranger to him, and her gaze, longing to connect with her son, has been left unanswered. However, Jong-Hyun begins to look at his mom through the lens of a camera, using "Look At Me" app. "Look At Me" is a program developed for children with autism to improve eye-contact. Jong-Hyun keeps on taking pictures of his mom's face, looking at her eyes. Taking pictures of her, he steps towards his mom, as if he's finally getting closer to his mom. A panning shot reveals Jong-Hyun and his mom after 8 weeks of training with "Look At Me" They are sitting down, facing each other, Looking into each other's eyes. They can now connect as a mother and a son. Her wish has finally come true.

Creative Execution

The task was to make an authentic, personal, and emotional film under 2 minutes, using the candidates from the clinical test. Out of 19 candidates, only 2 agreed on filming, and due to the very low budget, we had to pick one candidate and concentrate. The challenge was working with a child with autism and his mother. We organized a minimum sized crew and carefully spent time in developing a bond with Jong-Hyun and his mother. Then, in order to get the shot we needed, we gave them activities and created environments where we induced them to show emotions naturally.