A short comedy horror film. A group of friends livestream a Halloween D&D session from a haunted distillery, but their game takes a deadly turn when they summon a demon who plays by his own sinister rules.

A short action sequence created to explore and practice filming and editing a chase scene.

I wrote and directed this short. What started as just a concept to practice shooting an action sequence, grew into its own contained short film. I wanted to write something that took place in the middle of a war, in the middle of another country that had this decrepit, rusted aesthetic to it. Luckily we were able to find and get permission to use a run-down, open air factory in downtown Huntington, IN.

Every year, Gettysburg creates a holiday video to celebrate the community and wish everyone a safe and happy holiday season. In 2024, to both problem solve for an exceptionally busy season where many members of the community who might typically be in the holiday video were not available for filming, and to find a new way to showcase the magic of the campus and community, I decided to do a stop motion animation. The stop motion features multiple scenes you would find around campus during the winter, including a few inside references to things that happened this semester, like an owl making campus its home, to portray the whimsy and warmth of the holiday season while still making it feel uniquely Gettysburg.

I storyboarded what scenes I could do that depicted the whimsy and magic of the College while still being recognizable as Gettysburg. Then, I made a list of everything that needed to be constructed, and how many versions of each I needed for the animation. I purchased craft supplies and hand-made all of the paper pieces used for the animation.

Filming of the video consisted of setting up a top-down camera rig at the surface where I was completing the animation, then tethering my camera to Adobe Lightroom Classic so that I could have a live-view of each frame before I took the picture, and remote control of the shutter and all of my settings so that I wouldn’t have to physically touch the camera and risk bumping it. Then I took each photo - each frame - in Lightroom and exported out as a basic moving timeline before taking it into Adobe Premiere to do the finishing edits. I created a soundscape for each scene, adding more life and kineticism to it.

After watching the initial edit, I also decided that I didn’t want it to just start directly on the stop motion, so I shot the opening two shots of the sun setting over campus. I made a callback to the Gettysburg College holiday video I made two years ago, including the Pennsylvania Hall snowglobe, which also served as my transition into the stop motion “world.”

The Gettysburg Approach introduction video was always envisioned to be from the perspective of a student, not only so that prospective students could see and imagine themselves at Gettysburg College, but also to show that The Gettysburg Approach was something that had always been in action at Gettysburg. The next step was to create a script that included the necessary brand language and components of The Gettysburg Approach that the team wanted to get across to audiences, while also sounding organic and inspiring, pulling at the strings of yearning and aspiration that already exist within the students we wish to recruit. I also wanted to make sure that this video was representative of the student body at Gettysburg College, and I intentionally sought to showcase a diverse student to show that Gettysburg takes care in making sure their type of education is for everyone while also being able to be curated by the individual.

I wanted this video to have a very aspirational and dignified feel, one that instilled a sense of curiosity toward the College, but also one that leaves the viewer with a sense that they can achieve all that they set out to do. To achieve this tone while still making the video feel uniquely Gettysburg College, I structured the video using the bookend of two College traditions - walking the steps at Pennsylvania Hall. The video opens with the sun rising over the town and campus, lingering on a shot of the majestic, white columns of Penn Hall (which is also the basis for the unique Gettysburg Approach animated logo). This signifies how the new class is welcomed to the College each year, with the tradition of them walking through the building and down the steps of Penn Hall. We then end the video with our student protagonist at Penn Hall again, looking up at the waving orange and blue banners, knowing they have everything they need to be successful outside of the proverbial four walls of the campus and out in the world, ending their journey where they began, the final frame being of her silhouetted within the door frame of the historic building and stepping forward.

The video worked in conjunction with the launch of the new brand and distinction work, The Gettysburg Approach, and has been used in multiple email campaigns, digital ad campaigns, during live events as a keynote video, and is the highest viewed video of all time on the Gettysburg College YouTube channel.

This video received a Silver award for Short-form Video at the 2023 CUPRAP “CUPPIE” Awards, a program for higher education marketing professionals in the Mid-Atlantic.

As part of Gettysburg College’s new brand identity launch in 2025, introducing new logos and wordmarks, they wanted a video that showcased the change through the years at the College, yet showing that the spirit and pioneering of those that walk the campus hasn’t changed. It is still a place of progress, of inspiring education, and a place where you can dream and lead your own consequential life.

The script was written by a prominent board member and brought to life by myself in the marketing office.

As part of the implementation of Gettysburg College’s new strategic plan and brand direction, they sought to have a video created that embraced and expounded on the underlying themes and promises of A Consequential Education; an education that enriches the mind, deepens the heart, and strengthens the capacity to act. Gettysburg College understands that there is boundless potential within each student that walks through its historic halls, and they aim to help each and every one flourish through their experiential and immersive education.

To showcase the concept of boundless potential and flourishing, we wanted to use visuals that were disruptive and emotionally striking, while still displaying various aspects of the Gettysburg experience. To do this, I used a double exposure technique using footage shot of those different aspects of campus within silhouettes of a diverse range of Gettysburg College students set to an original script read by the same students, encompassing many different types of unique experiences and paths that can be found and explored at the College.

To further set Gettysburg’s location and historic presence, I opened with a layered motion graphic that included phrases from the Gettysburg Address - the words that have inspired much of Gettysburg path and charge to “…be dedicated to here to the unfinished work…”

The video worked in conjunction with the launch of the new brand and distinction work, and also coincided with the visuals of the Winter Magazine that utilized the same double exposure technique, creating a unique yet cohesive visual brand identity for the College.

This video received a Gold award for Short-form Video at the 2023 CUPRAP “CUPPIE” Awards, a program for higher education marketing professionals in the Mid-Atlantic.

The Enduring Skills Story Series was part of a larger marketing initiative to promote the Gettysburg Approach. This series was created to feature each of the seven enduring skills that we emphasize within The Gettysburg Approach - adaptability, communication, creativity, intercultural fluency, leadership, problem solving, and teamwork - through the stories of alumni using those skills and their Gettysburg education in their careers. The video series emphasizes how as students, these alumni utilized what was provided to them at Gettysburg in building their skills and how they continue to draw on and build upon what they learned and experienced a the College in their everyday lives. This series not only demonstrates tangible outcomes of the Enduring Skills and The Gettysburg Approach, but also reinforces that those skills have always been a natural part of our curriculum and education.

Fergan’s story was the first I filmed in the series, and we shot on location in his lab at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he is currently a Ph.D. candidate.

Tasked to create a music video for Wrongbird Erickson’s “Dark Eyes,” a single off of his 2016 album The Epitome of the Opposite, we sought out a place that would give us a unique perspective of nature and animals but within the constraints of being in the middle of a bustling city.

The tone of the song gave off an old-school vibe and so we edited it with a VHS style and overlay. We wanted to match frame each cut to the next location, with Wrongbird’s eyes being in the same position. To achieve this, our DP Joshua Bellis measured the length from Wrongbird to the lens for each new set-up.

Two estranged brothers are forced together to search for their mother after a deadly storm hits their hometown. Tensions rise as old grudges haunt the two, leading one brother to a fatal mistake.

Created as a collaborative senior thesis project in 2018, The Storm is an award-winning 10-minute student film. The film is a short drama that explores the consequences of unchecked anger and festering grudges. Utilizing a dark plot, color palette, decaying scenery and nature symbolism, The Storm attempts to tell the story of a man who ends up making a fatal choice in his desperation.

The Storm also sets out to tell a dark story with a dark, messy resolution. Not every story has a happy ending, and, with undertones of the Biblical story of Cain and Abel, we wanted to leave our story unresolved.

One of two 30-second TV Spots created for Huntington University in 2020. I wrote, directed, and edited this promotional piece.

Your life doesn’t have to stop if you want to get your degree, not when you can get it online. This was the simple premise of this piece. We showcased three small ‘slice of life’ moments; family, fun, and fitness to show that you can live a well-rounded life and get a well-rounded education all on your time and from the comfort of your home (or with you on the go!)

We asked the question, “What is Digital Media Arts at Huntington University?” and tried to answer it in three minutes.

The Digital Media Arts Department is comprised of three programs: Film Production, Animation, and Broadcast Media. Huntington provides personal and professional, hands-on learning in each of these areas and we set out to showcase the energetic and creative atmosphere you’d be stepping into if choosing to attend Huntington University for one of these programs.

Contains work created by years worth of HU students, not all of which is mine. I wrote the script and oversaw editing direction for this promotional piece.