I really enjoyed doing the research for this project. Prior to starting, I didn't know much about California having never been there nor having any reason to read up on the history of the place. I did know a little bit about the Chinese immigrant situation from stories and personal anecdotes of diasporic Asian-American individuals reflecting on their cultural history, but this was the first time I've ever had to properly research about that history in-depth. The information I found was fascinating but sadly it was quite clear that the general negative attitude at the time towards people of colour meant that very little record was kept about them during that chapter in American history.
This was my favourite thing to come out of my research
Source: https://www.rancholoscerritos.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/chinese-at-RLC2-2048x1126.jpg
I had so much more I wanted to say about my research during my presentation that unfortunately had to get cut due to the time limit. One example was how the style of my main house was something I arrived at after seeing photos of typical "Spanish Colonial" style houses endemic to California during the mid 19th century.
Not much information was available about them, especially about their interiors, but I noticed how they would combine traditional Spanish architectural details like adobe mud walls, tiled roofs and open areas like verandahs and courtyards, with more traditional western elements like sloped roofs and sash windows.
I would also have liked to have taken more time to design the interior of my main house where my chosen scene takes place, as well as doing a storyboard of the scene.
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