PHILOSOPHY & METHODOLOGY
Creativity—and finding joy in the act of creating—is at the core of what it means to be human. I believe teachers play a foundational role in helping students nurture their innate creative instincts. While learning fosters the development of professional and practical skills, I view education as the foundation for personal enrichment and lifelong learning.
As a teacher and practitioner, I seek to design classroom experiences that promote not only productive, but meaningful learning. It is critical for students to develop a multifaceted approach to video making by drawing inspiration from their observed surroundings and applying conceptual ideas to real-world skills. When I taught Editing for Film and Video at Duke University, I wanted my students to achieve this by combining practical techniques with an understanding of editing history, literature, and theory. We studied and discussed Walter Murch’s In the Blink of an Eye in conjunction with in-class film scene analyses. I watched as the students became energized by the connections they made between Murch’s insights, our film breakdowns, and the problems they were facing in their current editing project. In our few short months together, I witnessed the students' creativity bloom as they were equipped with creative approaches drawn from literature, history, and creative practice.
A good teacher demonstrates a sensitivity to students as individuals. I understand that each student will bring to our class a unique set of experiences and background, and I see our inherent differences as a strength within the classroom. With this in mind, I create a process-oriented classroom experience to allow students to take responsibility for their skill development and learning journey. When I was a student, I was once tasked with creating 40-second, single-frame movies using only my cell phone. This broader creative prompt, with only a few logistical parameters, challenged me to find narrative moments in my daily surroundings and transformed my understanding of the relationship with the camera I carried in my pocket. Rather than incentivizing students to create for a particular result, such as a grade or classroom recognition, I see open-ended assignments as opportunities for students to make work relevant to their goals, take pride in what they create, and ultimately come to better know and trust their artistic eye.
New technologies are transforming creative industries in unprecedented ways, and I want to prepare my students to build their use of contemporary tools on a foundation of timeless creative principles. For instance, as digital technology has become the broadly accepted standard for creating and editing images, I believe in the value of students gaining hands-on experience with analog film and cameras. When teaching about film, I bring in a variety of analog cameras and film reels for students to hold and feel in their hands. By directly handling these tangible elements of picture making, students can begin to demystify the technical processes and get a new sense of the medium’s finitude and fragility. While digital photography can store thousands of instantly accessible images, successfully making and reviewing a film picture requires an added layer of cost, patience, and care. I believe that teaching students to work within older technology’s restraints can encourage more thoughtful preproduction planning and image composition within digital media.
Through teaching, I want to help guide future generations of filmmakers and artists as they thoughtfully create images and tell impactful stories. I am dedicated to implementing dynamic classroom practices and continually improving my approach to student instruction. My ultimate hope is to help students discover the joy that comes with creating and articulating the ideas that shape who they are and continually observe and shape the world around them.
Editing for Film and Video
Introduction to Film Studies
TEACHING INTERESTS
Documentary and experimental film production
Cameras, lenses, and lighting
Film history and theory
Editing, sound mixing, and other post-production processes