Richard Jacob
BFA Film & Media Arts
Junior, Fall 2023
Expected Graduation – Spring 2025

My creative storytelling journey began when I was 8 years old. I created an imaginary universe full of dragons as a result of being bullied at school. The dragons grew up with me and over the years I continued to add dragon worlds and characters. In middle school, my teachers found my creativity astounding and encouraged me to write down the stories; War of Dragons was born. At the same time, I watched Lego stop-motion videos on YouTube. I started creating my own stop-motion Lego movies on my iPad. In high school, I wanted to turn War of Dragons into a book. I thought I wanted to pursue becoming an author. However, the turning point came at the end of my junior year following a visit to a technical college in Wisconsin where I learned all about film production. BOOM! From that point forward, my passion for film making was born. With three semesters left in my high school career, I enrolled in all the digital media classes offered and ended with the capstone class, Advanced Placement Digital Media where I created the first short film for War of Dragons using my iPhone as a camera and a green screen. I graduated with honors and was accepted to the University of Tampa.

From the moment I stepped onto campus at the University of Tampa, I began using professional film equipment with my first class, Sound, Image, & Motion. I made my first film, Thanatophobia. I learned the importance of camera angles, lighting, and sound. At this point, I knew film making was the right career choice. The most beneficial film classes at the University of Tampa have been Narrative Production, Experimental Filmmaking, Creative Triangle, Documentary Production, and Screenwriting Development. Narrative production was my first foray into real film making. Professor Taylor Curry’s learn by doing projects broadened my use of camera angles, sound, and lighting to tell a story through film. Experimental Filmmaking with Professor Dana Plays provided me the ability to creatively experiment with different mediums to tell a story through film. In Creative Triangle with Professor Aaron Walker, I learned how to collaborate in a team environment on a film project and successfully wear different hats in the film making process. Screenwriting Development with Professor Cynthia Savaglio helped me advance my writing to the next level, work within my scope, visualize how the story translates to film, and provide me the opportunity to write the first Act for War of Dragons. By far my favorite class is Documentary Production with Professor Walker because the projects allowed me to expand my storytelling using new material and subjects. My favorite film project is my recent documentary called British Loyalist Women in Exile where I interviewed my US History Professor Patrick O’Brien on his research that analyzed the impact the Revolutionary Era had on British Loyalist women. I have a passion for history and I wanted to showcase the human aspect of war. Each class provided hands on experience and each professor encouraged me to be creative and tell the story through film.

After successfully completing two years at UT, editing films, storytelling, and writing scripts are my strengths. As a creative person, writing scripts comes naturally to me. I am able to identify and address problems in scripts. I attribute my success in script writing to my passion for history and storytelling. I have the ability to recall minute details about historical events and battles. I can remember the details and explain the details. I am very proficient in Premiere Pro. I can quickly and efficiently edit films, add sound, add effects, and manipulate videos. Presently, I have an internship with Men’s Health Unscripted where on weekly basis, I edit videos and audio files for their weekly podcast. One area where I can improve is lighting. I struggle with the best ways to use lighting because lighting seems to be more technical. To overcome my struggle, I have researched techniques to improve lighting in my films and before filming I look for opportunities to incorporate lighting to enhance the story.

After graduation, I plan to use my degree to land a position in the field of film and work my way up to become a director. My ideal starting position would be Production Assistant or Assistant Director. Working in one of these roles will put me on the track to become a director. The roles will provide me the opportunity to communicate with the production team and work closely with the director. I will be able to apply my learnings from the University of Tampa film curriculum. I know the process of producing films and know what’s expected and by when. My filming passion is narrative production because I like to tell stories through film. When I become a director, I plan to turn my story, War of Dragons into a film series and share my story with the world.