DISPLAY TIME: 1:52 -> 2:38
TITLE: No Grav Cava
YOUR ROLE: Writer, Director, Cinematographer, Editor
TYPE: Experimental
CAMERA: Blackmagic Pocket Cinema 4K
LENS: 35 mm
SOFTWARE: Adobe Premiere Pro
SPECIFICATIONS: 1920x1080p, H.264
DURATION: 3’24” 
CLASS: FMX 314 Experimental Filmmaking 
PROFESSOR: Dana Plays
SEMESTER / TERM: 2023 Spring Semester 
INSTITUTION: University of Tampa 
DESCRIPTION: For my final project, I wanted to experiment with telling a story using stop motion video and a fictional language. I told the story about the Milky Way War, a conflict from my story, War of Dragons. The story is told from the blue collar perspective (a para-military faction) using their language, Skrillan. The blue collar has Eastern European influence. The animation begins with the symbol of the blue collar faction. The film title, No Grav Cava translates into “The Great War” in Skrillan. I created a series of drawings on my Remarkable tablet depicting the order of events from the Milky Way War conflict. For each of the drawings, using a stop motion table mounted with a 35 mm Black Magic 4k camera, I repeated the process of snapping a picture and moving my Remarkable tablet to create the animation. It took a full 2 hours to complete the process. At the beginning of the film, I added a voice over of myself speaking in the Skrillan language explaining the conflict. I added music to the film. I chose a USSR, military song called Farewell of Slavianka by Vasily Agapkin because of the Eastern European influence of the blue collar faction. I was very happy with the final film. I successfully met my goal to tell the story about a military conflict using animation, music, and voice over. I enjoyed learning how to use the stop motion table. I appreciate the access to professional equipment, it makes the process of filmmaking easier. 

DISPLAY TIME: 0:20 -> 2:00
TITLE: The Duel
YOUR ROLE: Writer, Director, Cinematographer, Editor
TYPE: Experimental
CAMERA: Blackmagic Pocket Cinema 4K
LENS: 55 mm
SOFTWARE: Adobe Premiere Pro
SPECIFICATIONS: 1920x1080p, H.264
DURATION: 2’05” 
CLASS: FMX 314 Experimental Filmmaking 
PROFESSOR: Dana Plays
SEMESTER / TERM: 2023 Spring Semester 
INSTITUTION: University of Tampa 
DESCRIPTION: The Duel is a stop motion animation film using Lego figures. The Lego figures are two Lego soldiers in a battle where the soldiers fire different weapons at each other. I chose to make the animation comical where each soldier switches to a larger weapon after the other soldier uses a bigger gun. In the end, there is no winner. I made the animation by moving the figures then snapping a picture and repeating the process. The filming took four hours to complete. The animation that took the longest to make was the brown soldier marching in the beginning. I added music to the film. I chose the music by Edvard Grieg called Hall of the Mountain King. I chose this music because it begins slow and increases in intensity just like the duel between the Lego figures. I timed the music with the animation to emphasize the intensity of the battle. I feel the music really highlighted the intensity. I really enjoyed making the animation. Making stop motion videos is fun and relaxing because there is no script, I have creative control, and I can quickly change direction. Being my first stop motion film in college, I learned how to implement object animation techniques to create the film.

DISPLAY TIME: 0:17 -> 1:09
TITLE: 3 am
YOUR ROLE: Director, Cinematographer, Editor
TYPE: Experimental
CAMERA: Blackmagic Pocket Cinema 4K
LENS: 55 mm
SOFTWARE: Adobe Premiere Pro
SPECIFICATIONS: 1920x1080p, H.264
DURATION: 2’16” 
CLASS: FMX 314 Experimental Filmmaking 
PROFESSOR: Dana Plays
SEMESTER / TERM: 2023 Spring Semester 
INSTITUTION: University of Tampa 
DESCRIPTION: The assignment required creating a Triptych film which involved creating a scene with three separate sections in the frame. To create the three separate sections in the frame, I filmed three different views from my dorm room at 3 am. First I filmed two minutes looking out a window. Second, I filmed the microwave blinking 3 for two minutes. Finally, I filmed two minutes looking out another window from my dorm room. I chose to film at night because I felt it would be easier to align the three pieces together in Premiere Pro. Using Premiere Pro, I put the three pieces together in one frame, making the Triptych film. Filming the three separate pieces was easy. Putting the three pieces together in Premiere Pro was a new technique I learned within Premiere Pro because using Premiere Pro to edit video, add voice over, or add music became routine for me. This assignment helped me learn new editing techniques within Premiere Pro. I enjoyed the assignment because I learned a different way to create a film using three frames playing simultaneously.

DISPLAY TIME: 0:17 -> 1:03
TITLE: ChromaKey
YOUR ROLE: Director, Cinematographer, Editor
TYPE: Experimental
CAMERA: Blackmagic Pocket Cinema 4K
LENS: 55 mm
SOFTWARE: Adobe Premiere Pro
SPECIFICATIONS: 1920x1080p, H.264
DURATION: 1’11” 
CLASS: FMX 314 Experimental Filmmaking 
PROFESSOR: Dana Plays
SEMESTER / TERM: 2023 Spring Semester 
INSTITUTION: University of Tampa 
DESCRIPTION: My first assignment required to make a film experimenting with creating two frames on top of each other. I chose to create a stop motion with backgammon pieces travelling around a circle on a table within a colored frame. As the colored frame changed, the pieces moved around the circle. I made the animation by snapping a picture of the pieces and moving the pieces; repeating the process until the pieces made a full circle. To create the frames, I snapped pictures of different colors with different textures. In Premiere Pro, I merged the pictures of the pieces with a colored frame creating the ChromaKey film. I found the assignment simple and interesting as it required me to create a film in a different way. I learned how to work with two frames simultaneously within Premiere Pro.

DISPLAY TIME: 0:42 -> 2:00
TITLE: Thanatophobia
YOUR ROLE: Writer, Director, Cinematographer, Editor
TYPE: Experimental
CAMERA: Blackmagic Pocket Cinema 4K
LENS: 55 mm
SOFTWARE: Adobe Premiere Pro
SPECIFICATIONS: 1920x1080p, H.264
DURATION: 8’16” 
CLASS: FMX 241 Sound, Image, & Motion 
PROFESSOR: Kristopher Atkinson
SEMESTER / TERM: 2021 Fall Semester 
INSTITUTION: University of Tampa 
DESCRIPTION: Thanatophobia is the first film I made as a UT college student. My first project required making an experimental film. I chose to tell a story with only actions and music and no script. Thanatophobia is the fear of dying and a lot of people have this fear. I wanted to create a lighthearted film about the fear of death. The subject or lost soul in my film has recently died and doesn’t want to pass on to the after life so the death character comes to guide him. To make the film, I experimented with tight framing, different angles, and focus to show how trapped the lost soul feels and tell the story. I added music by French composer, Camille Saint-Saen, an orchestral piece called Dance Macabre and translates to death dance. The music helps create a lighthearted tone. I really enjoyed creating this film because it was the first time I used professional equipment to make a film. I learned so much from this experience. I learned how to incorporate music with film using Premiere Pro. It was really exciting to be able to create a film within the first month of my freshman year.