In this exercise, I strung together ten different clips that were all six seconds long from Denis Villeneuve’s Arrival. This was one of my first experiences on Premiere and I remember being in awe of what I could do with this software. I had never manipulated media like this before (even though, as I see now, I was barely scratching the surface). I wanted to add this simple PechaKucha to my portfolio because this was my true beginning of video editing. I am proud of my growth and wanted to highlight my humble start. 

For my voiceover I chose a comedic bit from Bo Burnham’s comedy social Words Words Words in which he makes fun of Shakespeare. It was such a different tone than Arrival so  thought it would be compelling to pair the two together. I am proud of my vocal performance because I really went for it and did my best to inject personality into my voice. I was still unlocking the potential of Premiere and editing but I found that I really enjoyed using voiceover. It was effective, for me, at least, in creating the tone and juxtaposition that I wanted.

*I don’t know why it’s 360 and if anyone why it did that.

For my final exercises example I chose my multiscreen edit where I compared Arrival and Midsommar. Here, you can see my growth as an editor. I began to play with sound mixing, screen layering, and other editing tools that I hadn’t even known about when I made my PechaKucha. I was very playful with this one and found parallels that I never intended on finding. Doing multiscreen felt so satisfying and I loved how visual it was. It allows you to show not tell, which is always the goal. The multiscreen exercise was really inspiring and was when it finally clicked that I could make compelling videos. 

In my videographic essay response, I dive deeper into why I am so emotionally affected by montages. I found this video essay about how Christopher Nolan (one of my favorite, if not favorite directors) elevates montages. One that he talks about is the emotional montage, which I thought would have a good explanation for why I always cry at a montages, but it was empty and unsatisfying. I wanted to give my own explanation with examples that always gets me emotional (montages from Kung Fu Panda 2 and Up). I use these scenes to help show why I think it is the aspect of time that makes it so impactful. The montage from Kung Fu Panda 2 when it’s all of Po’s core memories from the first movie has me in shambles every single time. The nostalgia, the character arc, the music that swells right as it starts is unbeatable. Transitioning into the infamous beginning of Up was rough for the tears but it really hammered the point home. I am proud of the personality I put into the video and the pacing/flow of it. It really highlights how far I have come from my PechaKucha.

For my final video essay, I wanted to do something on one of my favorite movies. So I did. I don’t see enough Portrait of a Lady on Fire video essays so I wanted to add to the mix. I was so shocked why I was invested in a movie that seemed to have the bare minimum (i.e. no soundtrack, minimal cutting, etc.). I realized it was because of this absence that I was so intrigued. The film made me reacquainted with my senses and I wanted to see if I could portray that through my video essay. This has a very different tone then my other video but I like that I was able to execute both. I am very proud of the stylistic choices I made and the cohesive look that it has. The movie is beautiful so I wanted to capture that beauty within my style as well. As a culminating project, I am happy with my work. I think I incorporated everything that I learned into this video (and my response video) which was my goal for the project.