Skip to content

First Day of Filming for I Am Still Me (September 29, 2036) Event

The first day of filming for ‘’I Am Still Me’’ took place at the Lee family home in Baltimore on Monday, September 29, 2036. Joon-Ho Lee had agreed to a single trial day before he and Nari Lee decided whether Julian Reyes, Kayla Rossi, and Resonance Films would be permitted to return. The day established Minjae Lee as an active participant in the documentary’s direction, demonstrated that both Minjae’s and Julian’s health would shape the production schedule, and ended with the family allowing the project to continue.

Background and Context

The documentary developed after the public response to Minjae and Minh’s early-fall-2036 wedding. Kayla was the first member of the production team to communicate with the Lee family. Her correspondence helped establish enough trust for an in-person visit, while Joon-Ho remained concerned that a filmmaker might exploit Minjae or record intimate aspects of his life without respecting his choices.

Before filming began, Minseo Lee required the crew to clarify consent and household boundaries. Minjae had already told the family that he wanted the documentary to show his music rather than present him only through illness. Joon-Ho treated the day as an evaluation of the filmmakers’ conduct, equipment placement, and willingness to follow Minjae’s direction.

Julian and Kayla were staying at the Residence Inn Baltimore at The Johns Hopkins Medical Campus during this first Baltimore production trip. Julian arrived prepared to conduct an introductory interview, while Kayla managed communication, equipment logistics, and the family’s production concerns.

Sequence of Events

Arrival and Piano Filming

Joon-Ho watched the initial setup closely, standing near Minjae with his arms folded while Julian positioned the camera. When Julian or the equipment moved too close to Minjae’s wheelchair, Joon-Ho ordered the crew to step back and made clear that no one could touch Minjae without permission. Minseo helped communicate the boundary and adjust the setup.

Minjae quickly took control of the filming arrangement. He corrected Julian’s position, required the frame to include more of the keyboard, and checked that both of his hands were visible before he began playing. Julian deferred his planned introductory questions and followed Minjae’s direction. Once the camera held Minjae’s hands and the piano as he wanted, Joon-Ho became less tense.

Julian was struck by the contrast between Minjae’s small proportions and the reach, precision, and confidence of his hands at the keyboard. As fatigue developed, it appeared first in Minjae’s face and posture while his hands continued playing. Myoclonic seizures became visible after he removed his hands from the keyboard. Julian recognized the movements as seizure activity through his own experience with epilepsy, although Minjae’s seizure types and medical needs differed from his. The group allowed the episode to pass before continuing.

Conversation and Minjae’s Nap

Before resting, Minjae asked Julian and Kayla about their lives, preferences, and relationship. He shifted the exchange away from a conventional subject-and-interviewer structure, leaving Julian to follow the conversation Minjae wanted to have. Minjae spoke proudly about Minh, who was still at school, and identified her in English as the love of his life. After learning that Julian and Kayla were not married, he questioned why Kayla was still Julian’s girlfriend and used his AAC device to tell Julian to marry her.

Minjae objected when the family first suggested ending the visit for rest and asked to sleep on the couch so he could remain near Julian and Kayla. Joon-Ho prepared tea, and Nari brought a platter of small Korean and Chinese foods for the guests to sample. Minjae continued listening to the conversation and occasionally murmured a response, then fell asleep quickly. His soft, nasal snoring was consistent with the mildly enlarged adenoids that remained from childhood.

Joon-Ho left for work after the initial filming and conversation, asked Nari to monitor the remainder of the visit, and checked in by phone. He returned later in the day, before the filmmakers left.

Julian attempted to review footage while Minjae slept, but Nari recognized his increasing fatigue. She stopped him from continuing to work and sent both filmmakers to the guest room to rest. The intervention treated Julian’s health as part of the day’s practical needs rather than requiring him to maintain a professional appearance inside the family home.

Julian’s Seizure and Nari’s Care

Kayla set an alarm for the guest-room rest period. When it sounded, Julian woke abruptly and experienced a brief focal seizure. Kayla silenced the alarm, spoke softly, and allowed him time to move from sleep through seizure recovery into functional wakefulness before expecting him to answer or stand. The episode occurred during the private break rather than active filming.

Nari gave the couple privacy, then returned approximately fifteen minutes later with a tray containing American, Korean, and Chinese snacks. She apologized that she did not yet know their preferences and promised that she would learn them. Julian and Kayla assured her that they enjoyed trying the food, and Julian sampled the unfamiliar items gradually while discovering that he liked several of them. Nari told them to take as much time as they needed because Minjae was also waking slowly and needed to eat before any activity resumed.

Nari’s promise to learn what Julian and Kayla liked communicated more than hospitality. She and Joon-Ho had reached a shared decision that the filmmakers could return, although Joon-Ho did not formally announce his approval. Nari made the practical meaning of that decision explicit without presenting an unresolved silence as consent.

Minh’s Arrival

Minjae remained sleepy after the break but became visibly excited as the time approached for Minh to return from college. When she arrived, he introduced her to Julian and Kayla as the love of his life and remained physically close to her while the group talked. Minh recognized Kayla from their production correspondence and met Julian for the first time. Their conversation included Minh’s psychology studies, the fatigue of her school day, her cello background, and Minjae’s account of telling Julian to marry Kayla.

The camera remained put away during the informal introduction. Julian made clear that questions about Minh’s studies and music were conversation rather than an immediate interview. Joon-Ho listened to the English discussion after returning home but continued to prefer Korean when he spoke. Minh and Nari conveyed his meaning when needed, including the distinction between his attentive silence and disengagement.

Participants and Roles

Minjae was the documentary’s subject and the principal authority over how he and his music were filmed. He directed the opening camera placement, decided which topics he wanted to discuss, used speech and AAC according to his available energy, and negotiated a place to rest that allowed him to remain near the visitors.

Julian served as director and camera operator. He adjusted his initial plan in response to Minjae’s direction, waited through Minjae’s communication, and allowed filming to stop when Minjae’s body required it. Julian’s own fatigue and focal seizure also made him a recipient of the household’s access practices rather than an observer standing outside them.

Kayla managed production communication and supported Julian through the abrupt waking and seizure. Her prior correspondence gave Minh and the rest of the Lee family a known point of contact before they met the full production team in person.

Nari managed the day’s food, rest, and household pacing. She recognized Julian’s fatigue, protected the couple’s privacy during his seizure recovery, and communicated the family’s decision to continue working with Resonance Films through concrete preparations for their return.

Joon-Ho enforced Minjae’s physical and consent boundaries, observed how the crew responded, and evaluated whether the household could trust them. He understood more of the English conversation than he chose to speak and relied on established family communication rather than giving the filmmakers a formal verbal welcome.

Minseo helped establish the production boundaries and translated during the early setup without replacing Minjae’s decisions with her own. Minh joined the group after school and entered the production relationship as Minjae’s wife and eventual co-subject rather than only as an interpreter or caregiver.

Immediate Outcome

The family permitted Julian and Kayla to return after the trial day. The decision allowed the initial one-week Baltimore trip to develop into four to five months of filming across repeated visits. Kayla later secured a furnished production apartment at The Lucie so the crew had a stable place for equipment, footage backups, editing, meals, laundry, and Julian’s recovery between shoots.

The first day also established the production’s working rhythm. Minjae could direct the camera and shape conversations; filming stopped for fatigue, seizures, food, or sleep; and Julian’s access needs were accommodated alongside Minjae’s. Nari and Joon-Ho’s care for their guests remained part of the trust relationship without transferring authority over the film away from Minjae.

Long-Term Consequences

Footage from the piano setup became the documentary’s opening sequence. The finished edit begins with Minjae correcting Julian’s camera position, asking for the keyboard and both hands to remain visible, and beginning to play before the bilingual title appears. The sequence established Minjae’s direction of the film before viewers received explanatory narration about him.

The family’s treatment of Julian’s seizure informed the reciprocal care that developed over later visits. Julian and Kayla entered the house as filmmakers under evaluation, but the Lees responded to Julian’s neurological needs with the same practical patience they expected him to show Minjae. The relationships among Minjae, Julian, Kayla, and Minh continued beyond production.

Accessibility and Logistics

The production used a small crew and portable equipment to reduce the number of unfamiliar people and objects inside the home. Camera position remained subject to Minjae’s consent, wheelchair space, fatigue, and artistic preferences. Minseo translated when necessary, while Minjae also used spoken Mandarin, brief English, gesture, and AAC.

Rest was treated as part of the schedule rather than a failure to complete the day. Minjae was allowed to sleep in the living room because remaining near the visitors mattered to him, while Julian and Kayla used the guest room when Julian could no longer work safely through fatigue. Food was offered after both naps, and further activity waited until Minjae and Julian had sufficient time to wake, eat, and recover.

Events Media Events 2036 Events Baltimore Events Minjae Lee Julian Reyes Resonance Films