Editing Topaz (1945 film) (section)

== Filming process ==
During his time at the camp, Tatsuno filmed things like his new-born daughter, friends chatting after a church service, his father and son walking through the snow, girls attempting to escape a dust storm, and a teenager skating on a makeshift ice rink. These moments he captured represented the persistence of community through rough conditions. Because of Honderick's warning, the images and shots do not include that of watch towers, guards, and anywhere close to the barbed wire fence surrounding the complex.

In 1990, Tatsuno discussed part of his process for making the film by writing, "When viewing these home-movies, there are several things to keep in mind: 1) These films were taken secretly. Since I was afraid to take many shots in fear of being discovered, you will not see scenes of the guards and sentry at the gate, the barbed wire fences, sentry watchtowers, etc. 2) These films are in color. They tend to make the scene more colorful than the bleak, dusty and arid wasteland it actually was. 3) These are homemovies. As I was merely a hobbyist who enjoyed taking home-movies, these films were taken without the intent of being documentaries. As a result, I focused on family and friends. …The camera shots, thus, do not fathom the emotions hidden within the evacuees - the fear, the loneliness, the despair and the bitterness that we felt."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ishizuka |first=Karen |title=Topaz |website=[[Library of Congress]] |url=https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-film-preservation-board/documents/topaz.pdf}}</ref> While images appear to show the internees happy and enjoying their lives, Tatsuno said that they were "hamming it up" for the camera, hiding their sorrow.<ref>{{cite book |last=Ishizuka |first=Karen |title=Mining the Home Movie: Excavations in Histories and Memories |publisher=University of California |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-520-24807-6 |editor-last1=Ishizuka |editor-first1=Karen |pages=129–131 |chapter=The Home Movie and the National Film Registry: The story of Topaz |editor-last2=Zimmerman |editor-first2=Patricia}}</ref>