Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1521562
C I N E M A A U D I O S O C I E T Y. O R G 67 speak fills me with the spirit of the story's magic and the power behind its creation. What does the CAS Award mean to you and what will you do with the money? The CAS Award has given me an incredible feeling of support for the development of my skills as an artist. Being recognized by such an accomplished panel has further inspired me to continue with my adventures into the film sound arena. I will use the money to finance some of the beginnings of the studio production services that I hope to offer, and to further help me reach the next stage of my audio career. Purchasing hardware equipment like a professional mixing controller and working toward establishing my studio are where I see the aid from the CAS being applied. I aspire to mix films and sound design for games as well, so the equipment provided as part of the award is greatly appreciated and will serve me in also furthering these aspirations that I believe my education and experience has prepared me for. Having won this award, do you have any advice for someone who would like to apply for the Student Recognition Award? Focus on an interest and then pursue it every day. Filling your day with the thing that excited you enough to begin down this artistic and technical journey is what will lead you to success in your education and career. Everyday practicing and learning how to effectively execute your artistic ideas and to develop some technical problem-solving techniques will make us all invaluable craftsman in our fields. I have been fortunate to learn from some of the very best in the industry and have been given some invaluable knowledge from their experiences navigating through the industry. Their mentorship has made me believe that staying interested in your passion and remaining always a student will make someone a very competitive visionary. Do you have any advice for someone starting out in the sound for picture business? Learning the technical language will help immensely in the long run, both with problem-solving and with communicating ideas. Being able to develop the ability to problem solve technical issues during production and in the studio is invaluable. Sound is often misunderstood and misrepresented, but it is crucial to the quality of your film. It is an element of the film and story that helps the audience connect with the visual. Often, the manipulation of emotions by a story is led by the significance and impact of the overall sound. I believe that building on fundamentals and practicing good technique will lead to finer results. Who have been the people that have influenced you the most and what did you receive from them? My mentors and professors at the USC School of Cinematic Arts have really helped me to zoom in on my passion for sound design, sound recording, and visual storytelling. My early childhood experience singing across Beijing is what ultimately blossomed into this deep interest in audio engineering and sound mixing. The support from my family has allowed me to explore these creative interests and I have been fortunate to now know which of these paths I would like to explore with my education and for my career. I am thankful to be able to develop my career path around my creative interest. What's your next step? I will be completing my graduate studies with the USC School of Cinematic Arts soon. I then hope to apply my education and pursue studio employment experiences in the field of sound design and audio mixing while I strategically develop plans for the establishment of my own studio service and beyond. I hope to become an audio professional working on films and sound. Is there anything else you would like to add? Winning the CAS Student Recognition Award is a big honor! Being nominated was already a recognition that I was not expecting; but winning was well beyond anything I could have imagined. The acknowledgment by this panel of accomplished professionals highly encourages me to continue working diligently and striving past challenges on toward my creative goals. This year's SRA nominees (L-R) Allison Blum, Eunseo "Bella" So, SRA chair Sherry Klein CAS, Yushu "Dorris" Shen, Shubhi Sahni, and William Tate.