When it comes to my own film work, I always have a clear image of how I want to visually evoke certain emotions and am still working to get there. Videography is something I’ve struggled with throughout my entire academic and professional career. I have exact images in my mind but can’t get myself to convey them, and I think it comes down to patience. As a filmmaker, I want to write out my characters and see them on a big screen right away, but the process takes time. Lately, I have been studying the art of videography both in and out of the classroom and have come to learn and understand it a lot better. 

My strength in filmmaking has always been in screenwriting. My inspiration to write a story comes from just about anything and the ability to write up 50 pages of a script comes to me instantly. Growing up, movies and TV shows were a way for me to place my feelings into characters I related to and helped find some clarity in my own life, but contrary to that, film has always been a way for me to escape. I want to find a medium between the two in my own work. I think that being able to identify with someone and their problems, even if they’re fictional, is a great way to express one’s feelings and helps them to feel understood. At the same time, there’s nothing wrong with taking yourself out of your own life for an hour or two and coming out of the movie as a better person than you were before. 

Since high school I have been surrounded by creative minds and creative spaces and curriculum, and that’s aided my growth as a filmmaker greatly. Collaborating with a professor that I see as a mentor but having them create with and treat me as an equal to them is extremely rewarding. With the advanced tools I have been granted access to and an endless supply of equally amazing peers and professors has helped not only to expose me to different aspects of film, but it has helped me to flourish as my own filmmaker and writer. 

Being a part of a team is something I take great value in, and I want to extend that into my professional career after college. I would love to work with a creative writing team for a TV series in the future. I would also find a lot of joy in being a part of a production set as a director or producer, for they work as a team with everything from pre to post-production. There are so many amazing things that can come from a room full of creativity, and I am optimistic to see where life will take me.