This last year has marked a strong shift from Engineering towards film in the activities and projects that I have done. This is a result of the shift my interests have taken. For this year's annual review, I decided to reflect by currating photos of the major film-related extracurricular projects I have undertaken or participated in this last year. Enjoy!
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Integration TV Pilot
Integration was a twenty minute sci-fi TV pilot senior capstone project. I knew many of the seniors working on it and decided to spend several weeks of my winter break lighting the short film. The science fiction genre gave me more room to experiment and be creative than usual. I have found this to be one of the things I love most about filmmaking process.
Music Videos
Over the year I directed three of my own music videos and did lighting on several others. The bottom right and middle left images are pieces of two music videos I directed that I also animated. Experimenting with animation instead of live action this year was very rewarding and opened my eyes to what can be done with film when you don't limit yourself to specific formats of media. The minimalism that I achieved in my Frank Sinatra music video and the chaos I made in my Velvet Underground one would not have been as effectively accomplished in live action.
All For You Short Film
Murder Most Fowl Short Film
My major project of the summer was writing and directing a film called Murder Most Fowl about a police investigator dealing with the absurdity of her partner getting murdered by a chicken, There were far more organizational elements that had to come together for this film than any previous; from chicken handling to fake blood rigs. I learned a great deal about how to handle stressful situation in a crisis.
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Ghost Sitcom
Ghost Sitcom has been the biggest film I have both produced and acted as Director of Photography for. It has also been the strangest as there are no actors ever on screen. In the photo on the top left are the actors who only appear via disembodied voices throughout the short. Filming a whole short with invisible actors was a challenge as a DP and I had to be creative to figure out how to direct the audience's attention to the "actors." This involved a variety of props on fishing wire, panning to follow nothing, and repurposing the language of cinematography.
Bearcast TV
Compared to the other projects I have done, producing and leading Bearcast TV has been an entirely different kind of experience. As it is a live, monthly production, the process feels much more like a performance in the moment. Where dozens of people are all working together in the moment to make a production run smoothly. What I have loved most about it is how everyone pushes through every month through teamwork and grows closer together with every show.
Other Short Films
I have helped out on and directed a number of smaller short films over the course of the year and each has helped me come to understand what I enjoy about filmmaking: An exciting collaborative process full of problem solving and creativity that ultimately results in a story that affects people deeply and emotionally. I cannot wait for another year of filmmaking and growth.
