Experience

I have spent that last four years at Ball State University learning my craft. In these years I have had much experience on small film sets within my production courses where I learned many roles. When I first started studying at Ball State, I was in an introductory course titled “Gateway.” In this course I was able to independently produce multiple very short film projects. Listed below are the titles of those projects and the roles/techniques and skills I learned by creating them.

• “Someone is Upstairs Throwing Books Around” This short film was the first one I created in college. I was the writer, director, camera operator, editor, and I captured field audio. I got to “do it all,” and it was very exciting for me. I filmed this (very) short horror film in the dorm I lived in at the time. It was definitely not my most skilled work, but it was a great experience and memory.
• “Solo Project” In this project I set up various photos and other artifacts from my family. I was able to work on my camera operation skills and techniques by filming these objects in creative ways. I then independently edited the footage, this let me work on my Adobe Premiere Pro skills.
• “Converge Project” In this project I teamed up with a classmate. We each wrote our own short documentaries and produced them together. This was in the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, so I chose to interview my German language professor about her experience as a college instructor teaching in a pandemic. My partner chose to interview his close friend that lived in a “tiny house.” Through these two projects I was able to learn how to set up interviews both logistically and from a production standpoint. I also learned how to use Avid Pro Tools, as I was tasked with editing my partner’s audio. I was also given the opportunity to experience filming without a tripod and work on the technique involved in that.

My next larger scale production course, “Advanced Video Production: Cardinal Cinema,” was one of my favorites. My classmates and I were put into director/director of photography pairs. From there, each pair produced a script and the entire class assumed different crew positions and produced them all over a four week period. This structure allowed my peers and I to experience multiple roles. Listed below are the short film titles from that course along with the role I held in the production

• “Work On a Saturday” Roles: Director and Writer
• “Not Right” and “Kettle Pot” Roles: Grip/gaff
• “End of the Line” Role: Script Supervisor
• “Livin’ the Dream” Role: Producer
• “The Last Call” Role: 1st Assistant Camera