Student shows passion for film, earns Time Magazine digital spot

While only attending Fresno Christian for two years as an international student, he first moved from Xi’an in Central China. He spent much of his childhood with his grandparents before moving in with his dad up until 2015. In 2015, he moved to Fresno and enrolled in Fresno Christian because both of his parents believed he would receive a better education in the United States.

At this time, Zhu realized his passion for video editing and knew that this was something that he wanted to pursue for the rest of his life. This spark for this hobby began in 2011 when he began a movie montage out of curiosity. He spent a lot of time piecing together movie clips to form revised movie trailers.

“Sure, it is time consuming,” Zhu said, “but I just love how I can tell a totally unique story with some film clips that are not relevant to my story at all. I believe it was the massive creative possibility in video editing that enthralled me. As time went by, I entered the world of films. It is such a beautiful yet entertaining form of art and from then on.”

Whether or not anyone personally knew Zhu, they would find his personality and character through his creative videos. The video skills that Zhu holds are far beyond what any high school student  typically possesses at his age. He has made his video profile known on his Vimeo channel by posting regularly and sharing his videos on his Twitter and Facebook account.

I would describe Clark as incredibly genuine. It is rare to meet someone his age that is as sincere as he is. What makes Clark stand apart from other exchange students is his willingness and ability to immerse himself in American culture and especially the language. Clark sought out students and teachers at FCS that could and would teach him and encourage his interests. — Andrea Donaghe, English teacher

One of Zhu’s most popular videos was his ‘Moving Pictures 2016’ which was a compilation of 260 movie trailers showcased that year. The project took over 20 hours of weekends to complete. This video now holds 261,000 views on his Vimeo channel and was featured on Time Magazine.

Just like sports or any hands-on activity, Zhu believes that practice along with watching movies are the best ways to improve his film skills.

“I learned my skill by constant practicing, and watching a lot of movies,” Zhu said. “Practice is surely the best way to possess the skill in this line of work because I can learn from my own experience and one can never forget these, in contrast, one may forget the lecture he/she attended in the morning. Also, watching movies helped me developed my own taste in art of storytelling. Also, it helped me to gain a sense of filmmaking.”

Besides using his editing skills in video journalism class, Zhu also enjoyed his senior English class this year. His favorite teacher, Andrea Donaghe, appreciates his attitude in and outside of class. His ability to adjust to the American culture has also impressed Donaghe.

“I would describe Clark as incredibly genuine,” Donaghe said. “It is rare to meet someone his age that is as sincere as he is. What makes Clark stand apart from other exchange students is his willingness and ability to immerse himself in American culture and especially the language. Clark sought out students and teachers at FCS that could and would teach him and encourage his interests.”

Zhu plans to continue in the film field after graduating. His goals for the future are to work for a movie trailer company and to continue to as a freelance editor.

“I plan to continue in the video/film industry after graduating from high school,” Zhu said. “I will attend Loyola Marymount University and major in Film Production.  I hope one day I can work in one of the best movie trailer companies in the country and also work as a freelance editor/filmmaker.”

Stay up to date with Zhu’s latest work by watching his vimeo channel, Clark Zhu.

To read another article check out: Librarian shows love for kids through learning.

These writers can be reached via Twitter: @jennypenny8835 @_NickLeBlanc and @Phillip11499