Kaia Yuan
MVHS alum ‘25 Kaia Yuan has enjoyed capturing and recording the moments around her since she was very young, but her interest in professional filmmaking was first sparked when she attended a church summer retreat. Someone from her church created a video detailing what they accomplished there. She initially hadn’t thought much of it, but when she watched the video, she began tearing up.
“He paired the video with music, and everything fit so satisfyingly,” Yuan said. “But it’s also cool because I know all these people, and these are all people I love, and people who love me, and this guy has taken all of these pictures and videos and created a story of what we did at this retreat. I realized this is something that you can make and give to people, and it will give them an emotional reaction.”
As a freshman at Biola University in the film and Torrey Honors program, Yuan is taking two film classes, Production One and Production Two. These courses cover documentary, narrative and short-form or commercial media. Currently, Yuan is directing a short narrative about her experience with anaphylactic food allergies and allergy anxiety, which is her favorite project so far. Before Biola University, Yuan felt the only course at MVHS that impacted her filmmaking journey was Writing for Publication, when she was assigned to make a documentary.
“I brought my iPhone gimbal I got for Christmas,” Yuan said. “None of the shots needed a gimbal. It was really extra. But I just felt like, ‘Wow, I feel so professional, I’m a filmmaker, I’ve reached my filmmaking peak.’ Writing for Publication was really the only class that taught me anything about filmmaking or sound stuff.”
During her time at MVHS, Yuan never took the Film and Animation class due to scheduling conflicts. She described the arts opportunities and classes offered at MVHS as limited, as the focus in the community centered primarily on STEM and academics. However, she acknowledged that low student interest made it difficult for the school to offer more courses. Despite few opportunities at MVHS to foster her interest, Yuan’s filmmaking passion remained strong throughout her high school years, serving as a way for her to connect with other people.
“The chance that I make it big and successful is not fantastic,” Yuan said. “The starving artist stereotype is very real. There’s always a little small question of, will I go into financial debt if I pursue something that gives me a lot of joy? But I think my purpose in life is to love God and to love others well, and filmmaking is how I express that. The films I want to make are things that will connect people or raise awareness or raise empathy. I have a very strong funneling purpose towards why I want to make films.”
Noah Vin
MVHS alum ‘24 Noah Vin first started playing cello when he was 5 years old. By the time he was in sixth grade, he was committed to playing for the rest of his life. Now, as a sophomore majoring in cello performance at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, Vin aspires to become a professional cellist.
“As soon as I started playing in the orchestra in Kennedy Middle School, I really loved it,” Vin said. “I don’t think there was a specific moment in which it clicked. Over time, I just saw myself pursuing this, and I couldn’t really see myself doing anything else. My parents were extremely supportive, and I’m very grateful for them and the mentors I’ve had.”
During Career Days at MVHS, Vin found himself disappointed by the lack of arts professionals presenting on their experiences. Although Vin deeply appreciates the instrumental music department at MVHS, which played an important role in solidifying his passion for cello, he also notes that it was difficult for him to ask questions and find answers about a musical career in an environment where pursuing music wasn’t viewed as a possibility.
“I felt like I was alone in going into music,” Vin said. “People don’t see this great music department as something that’s a possibility to explore after high school. They just see it as an extracurricular, as something to put on their resume for college. I was weird for not doing the norm.”
Now at NEC, Vin feels at home connecting with fellow music students who share similar interests and passions. Compared to traditional universities, he explains that conservatories like NEC expose students to world-class musicians and are more tight-knit and music-focused, with classes centered on performance, theory, orchestra and one-on-one lessons with a primary instructor. Although Vin has faced rejection, he has never regretted his decision to pursue a career as a cellist.
“I want to make it known that majoring in the arts is definitely a possibility,” Vin said. “There are so many opportunities that people can explore besides what’s expected of them at MVHS. I think it’s important to really use the resources you have at MVHS. There’s Mr. Gilchrist and these great teachers you can talk to that will help explain and debunk some of the myths that are around these kinds of subjects.”
Claire Ma
Growing up, senior Claire Ma noticed her favorite Disney princesses had the same “hourglass” figure. Despite dressing up as them every Halloween, she was never able to truly identify herself in them. This sparked Ma’s interest in portraying different body types in media and film, especially for women, through majoring in Animation and Digital Arts at the Cinematic Arts Department at USC.
“There’s a common stereotype that as an artist, you’re gonna go broke,” Ma said. “My parents were like, ‘Oh, I don’t know about this major. It’s either biology or engineering.’ But I was able to convince them, like look at my teachers, look at all these films, there had to be someone to create these films, and I want to be a part of that. They did their own research, and they really supported me in that.”
As a rising freshman, Ma is excited for USC not only for its strong film program, but also because of its industry connections, noting that many students come from families working in Hollywood. She says her path to the prestigious college was supported by MVHS art teachers and private instructors, who broadened her exposure to different art forms and helped her develop her art portfolio. For example, Ma says Art Teacher Brian Chow was the first person to teach her to draw a self-portrait.
“Before, I avoided self-portraits because I was scared that I would be unable to capture my features, but then I realized the importance of self-portraits isn’t about that,” Ma said. “It’s about the story you tell based on your own experiences. For example, I have an art piece called ‘Looking Back Into The Past,’ and that art piece is me opening a childhood drawing, looking through it, and looking back into the past. Specifically, it’s just me telling everyone that we should value our time.”
Ma is interested in a career in animation as well as being a concept artist, whose role is to design and plan the visuals for a film or video game. For Ma, USC is an opportunity for her to pursue both of these interests and hone her technical skills.
“In animation, you can also create concept art and you can also create characters,” Ma said. “I used to think animation is just frame-by-frame, just drawing until it makes a character move. But my teacher taught me that different perspectives, different shots and different colors really tell a story without audio. He was able to show me that, and it opened my eyes within this industry.”
