Here are a few examples of my experience with video creation. Most of these videos were created to meet a school project deadline, however I believe these videos helped construct my creative process over the years.
EVERY 15 MINUTES (MAY 2018)
Every 15 Minutes is a school wide campaign to bring awareness to accidents from texting and driving. Being a part of my high school’s video club, I worked with a group of about 9 people in order to bring this video to life. Each person was responsible for filming on set locations, as my contributions were recording a portion of the school parking lot when the accident occurred and one of the hospital scenes which followed a medical procedure from an ambulance. Since this was my first big project and I was still green, one of the school staff watched over me as we travelled to the hospital. I wouldn’t call Every 15 Minutes MY first big video project, but I learned how each member of the team is equally important in order to craft a large scale video like this.
Roughly 2 years have passed since I contributed with the Every 15 Minutes video. In that time, I graduated from Parsippany Hills High School and attended County College of Morris to pursue my interest in filmmaking and television production. Afterwards, one of my classes assigned a semester long project in which groups of 2 would construct a 7 minute video interviewing and detailing an opioid relief organization called Hope-One.
HOPE-ONE (DECEMBER 2019)
Considering I had only 1 partner for this assignment, I had more involvement in the creation of this video than Every 15 Minutes. Not only did I film a majority of the interviews and background footage, but I was also responsible for collaborating with my partner on preproduction; what our introduction would be, who we would interview and what we would ask them about, what locations we would go to, and execute our plan accordingly.
Once I finished 2 years at CCM, I transferred to Montclair State University to continue pursuing a career in television production and filmmaking. In that time, I began to look at video production as a way to express myself and my interests, so I decided to create videos for assignments whenever possible despite those classes not being video production focused.
One class of note was a media writing course, in which our final project was to make an audio documentary and interview anyone of our choosing. We were allowed to create a video instead as long as it met the grading criteria. As I began work, I thought about to people in my life who helped me get to where I am now and express my gratitude for them in my own way. The first of these extended “thank you cards” was for one of my best friends since middle school, Daniel Gardner.
IN THE SPOTLIGHT (APRIL 2021)
This assignment was nowhere near as strenuous as Hope-One, yet I wanted it to be as perfect as possible since I was creating the video for my friend more than the grade. This video was created during the quarantine days of the COVID-19 pandemic, hence why Dan’s interview is through a Zoom meeting. Aside from my computer nearly catching fire from trying to recording the Zoom session, there were no, if barely any struggles with the creation of this video.
I like to look at this video as how both Dan and myself have grown since we first met and how much has changed with our interests. Initially we wanted to become artists, but eventually we took separate paths and ended up where we are now. I don’t think I’d be the same person I am today without Dan’s support over the years and vice versa, and I’m grateful I was able to create something he enjoyed while simultaneously expressing my gratitude for him.
PROFILE PIECE (NOVEMBER 2021)
Much like In The Spotlight, this video was another “thank you card” in the guise of a school assignment. The subject in question is my television production instructor from Parsippany Hills High School, Andy Nicholes. As someone who helped me start getting into the video production field, I wanted to make him the next focus for these ongoing series of videos. Once again, I barely had any struggles with creating the video, even more so since I had the opportunity to interview Andy in person instead of another Zoom session.