The first piece in my portfolio is my PechaKucha assignment. It is quite basic in its editing, but I was fascinated by the way different audios could drastically alter the meaning of a piece. This piece highlights the complexities of Chiron and his mother’s relationship in the movie Moonlight, showing the sadness and hurt that they both experience as a result of their circumstances.

I loved making this video. I used a clip from Moonlight of Chiron going to the beach by himself, which reads as its own short film in a way. It works because the story is purely visual so it didn’t give away too much context about the specifics of the video. As such, I was able to add sound and text that fit with the vibe I was trying to create. This project was a real challenge for me. I struggled to find a quote I liked that went with the film, but eventually settled on this quote from W.E.B Dubois The Souls of Black Folk. I think it works really well with the visuals. My favorite part of the experience of making this exercise was playing with timing and space on screen.

While most of my projects for this class tend to push some kind of point or narrative, I didn’t try to do that with my multi-screen at all. I just wanted to layer as many effects as I could think of to link these two very different films in a fun way. I learned a lot about editing techniques through the creation of this one, and even if it doesn’t *mean* anything, I still think it’s a cool example of what you can do with multiscreen.


My video response video essay is all about how video essays can make you feel. I wanted to explain why they are so compelling and get into the weeds of how I feel when I watch my favorite video essays. This particular video that I’m responding to is about the song “Holocene.” I love the song, and I thought this video essay really complimented the song in a way a written essay couldn’t have really done. I used a Desktop Documentary type set up, which was a challenging process but ultimately helped me to learn a lot. The desktop doc is a very versatile medium that can really have an incredible impact, and I think I’d like to explore the medium further in future work.

This is my final video essay about Moonlight, the culmination of the semester’s work. It’s not flawless but I am very proud of the way it came out. It made me super happy to watch after I was finished, since I have loved these kinds of video essays for so long, but never thought I would be able to make one myself. This project is proof that I can. I had lots of ideas about what I wanted to say about the film, but condensing them and choosing how to represent them on the screen was a challenge for me for a while. There are endless options, and being intentional about the choices you make seems like the difference between a well-made video essay and one that is middle tier. Ultimately, it was nice to have the time to really dedicate to making these choices and following through with them. I think this video is a good example of what can be learned in a semester in terms of producing videographic works. 🙂 (Also check this out soon, because it may receive a copyright strike soon) (Hopefully not, but I filed an appeal on an earlier claim so I’d be able to embed this.)