films i made as a film student 🎬
these are just some of my favorite projects i made in the three years that i was a media studies student at uwsp :) i made several other projects that didn’t make the cut, but i just wanted to share some of my favorites here and also let y’all know that if you want to watch them, most of them are available on my youtube channel!!
edit: i added my youtube channel link to my bio on here so if you want to watch any of these, check that out!
videos and what they’re about + some BTS!
🎬 vignettes of madison 🎬
genre: cinema verité documentary
filmed in: february 2022
class i made it for: video production II: documentary
what it’s about: a documentary made “in the moment”. there is no context going into it because i had none at the time. i was just going on vacation with my partner (at the time) and his family and planned to film it for class. it turned into this somehow.
BTS: this production was a sh!tshow ngl 😭 it was originally intended to be about a state wrestling tournament that was happening at the time, but obviously that didn’t happen. my ex got me drunk for most of the trip and so i was left with about 2 hours of incoherent footage to edit into… whatever this is. genuinely shocked that i got an A on this, especially since it is nothing like what i had proposed to the professor and it randomly turns into a music video for bound 2 by kanye halfway through??? i tried my best but idk i kinda hate this 😭 it’s still up on my channel though because it’s apart of my portfolio and has some nice editing and cinematography!
🎬 the modern american transformation film 🎬
genre: sci-fi/dystopian
filmed in: may 2021
class i made it for: intro to production
what it’s about: told through a series of VHS tapes provided by the government, we follow an unnamed main character as they attempt to follow the government’s rules for them. it shows what happens when you don’t do what society expects of you.
BTS: i filmed this whole thing on a green screen and edited it in imovie 😭 this was for my first ever film class and i was trying so hard to impress the professor, when i really didn’t need to because people were turning in vertical iphone videos with no editing for the same final project 😭 there was no prompt, it was just supposed to be a video. my professor ended up loving it though and asked me to skip video production I and all of the pre-requisites and join his video production II class the next semester :)
🎬 lili’s night 🎬
genre: experimental comedy
filmed in: november 2022
class i made it for: video production I
what it’s about: a girl watches her classmate’s video in an attempt to get inspiration for a video project for class. she slowly goes insane as the video loops in the background.
BTS: so in our video production class, we each were given one week to make a video that was a sequel to the student’s video from the previous week. this dude who went before me purposefully made a terrible video to screw me over, so this was my response to that. also! the person who made a video after me made their’s a news parody about “a local student who went viral for video project controversy” 😭
🎬 the easter film 🎬
genre: documentary
filmed in: april/may 2022
class i made it for: video production II: documentary
what it’s about: my family gathers for easter every year, as many families do. i wanted to create a time capsule of this easter for my documentary class but realized i had some explaining and context to give, and so i added doodles and text on-screen in my own handwriting!
BTS: honestly, this one is pretty cute :) my awful ex partner is in it, but besides that, it’s a wholesome tribute to my grandma and to family times together and it’s something my family can look back at for years to come. my professor said he thought it was interesting how time sensitive this was and how “there are some people who might be there that year that could never come back again”, which ended up being true in the case of my evil ex but that didn’t click until months later.
🎬 plants now! 🎬
genre: mockumentary/commercial
filmed in: may 2023
class i made it for: video production II: corporate & nonprofit video
what it’s about: ever thought about getting a plant? well here’s the video the plant industry wants you to see. a very real commercial for very real plants.
BTS: in my corporate video class, we were each supposed to make 3 commercials for real businesses by the end of the semester. unfortunately, a lot of people didn’t have any luck reaching out to businesses or couldn’t find places that wanted to work with them, and so we were tasked with making fake commercials for fake products. here’s one my friends and i made featuring my many plants.
🎬 colourbox body piercing 🎬
genre: commercial
filmed in: march 2023
class i made it for: video production II: corporate & nonprofit video
what it’s about: a real commercial for a real business! i traveled to green bay to stop by Colourbox Body Piercing Llc after asking if i could make them a commercial, since many of my piercings have come from them and i love their work. it worked and this was the finished product :)
BTS: it was honestly so fun just getting to hang out with the piercers all day and meet all the cool people who came in to get piercings done! everyone was so chill about me filming them and it made my job so much easier. i can’t recommend these guys enough, and they gave me a free piercing and some jewelry for making the commercial so that was awesome!! love the colourbox and all the ladies there <3
🎬 left behind 🎬
genre: dystopian horror
filmed in: november/december 2022
class i made it for: video production I
what it’s about: a girl wakes up one day to find that everyone on earth is gone. she slipped into the wrong timeline or a different dimension and just wants to get home to her family to see if they’re alive.
BTS: i put in SO MUCH work for an intro level class 😭 i spent over a month on the production of this thing and made it entirely by myself. i also ruined my sleep schedule for a whole month by waking up at ridiculous hours to go film while no one else was around. also, with filming entirely by myself, i had to set my camera in some precarious places to get certain shots and it fell and broke more than once. i was determined though and, with the help of next-day shipping and ebay, pulled through with a final product that im proud of.
a guy who graduated a year or two ago actually came up to me on the set of a production recently and remembered this film and was asking about it! which was super cool and made me even more proud of it :)
🎬 the death of dreams 🎬
genre: experimental coming of age
filmed in: october 2022
class i made it for: video production I
what it’s about: what happens when dreams are given up on? where do they go? a short film made entirely from images.
BTS: our assignment here was to make a video using only pictures, and boy did i take a LOT of pictures. i came up with this concept and decided to make it with the help of some family and friends and it turned into this. it also got shown at a film festival which was cool :)
🎬 i’m so glad i met you 🎬
genre: romantic tragedy
filmed in: april 2024
class i made it for: capstone & symposium
what it’s about: a college student wakes up in a hallway, missing a shoe and with her makeup everywhere. as she walks home, she attempts to piece together the previous night and the strange encounter she had had with a man at a party.
BTS: wow was this one a doozy. so i wrote this in 2023 after visiting minneapolis and having a similar experience to the girl in the film with a stranger there. he got super drunk, told me he loved me half a dozen times, and we talked for hours as we wandered the streets of minneapolis, stealing from expensive grocery stores and smoking. the next morning, he couldn’t figure out why a girl (who he thought was named megan) was in his apartment.
so anyways, after getting blacklisted from the only student film group at my university (a long story), i decided to fly out to colorado and work with a ton of strangers to make my vision come to life. after not sleeping for two days, i flew back home and edited the film in a week, presenting it to a board of professors and fellow graduates shortly after. this was the final product. it’s also not available anywhere yet as i’m submitting it to film festivals!
#summerdiary #lemon8challenge #lemon8contest #embracevulnerability #Lemon8Diary #travelwithme2024 #healthylifestyle2024 #film #movierecommendations #movies
Being a film student with a camera in hand is an adventure, a constant learning curve where every project pushes your limits. When I was at UWSP, it wasn't just about technical skills; it was about finding my voice, often through trial and error. You start with grand ambitions, like that documentary I tried to make about a wrestling tournament, only for it to completely derail into something unexpected, featuring a 'toxic boyfriend' and turning into a Kanye music video! It's those unplanned moments that often teach you the most. For many of us, the camera becomes an extension of ourselves, a tool to explore themes like 'not conforming to society's expectations' in a sci-fi piece or capturing the intimate 'love letter to family' in a personal documentary. The beauty is in the process – working with limited student budgets, scrounging for equipment, and often being the entire crew yourself. I remember setting up my camera in precarious spots for 'Left Behind,' a dystopian horror where a girl wakes up to find 'everyone gone.' My camera fell and broke more than once, but the determination to bring that vision to life, even for an intro-level class, was immense. That persistence, learning to problem-solve on the fly, is truly what shapes you as a filmmaker. Speaking of horror, crafting compelling student horror films is a unique challenge. While the OCR mentions 'horror movies collage,' it's not just about jump scares; it's about atmosphere, tension, and often, what you don't show. For "Left Behind," the idea of a world where 'everyone gone' is inherently terrifying. You might use visual collages, sound design, or even found footage elements to build that unsettling feeling. Think about how to make the audience feel the isolation, the dread, using clever editing and sound cues. It’s about creating a mood, perhaps a 'response to a classmate's video' that pushes boundaries, or exploring deeper, more experimental themes like 'lost dreams,' as I did with a film made entirely from images. Every project, whether it's a 'fake commercial' for plants or a heartfelt personal narrative, builds your portfolio and refines your craft. It's a demanding path, but incredibly rewarding to see your stories come to life through the lens.
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