To tell a story can feel difficult at first, but the truth is, everything carries a story. I chose to focus on something we rarely consider as “living a life worth noticing”, a leaf. A lead is only alive when attached to its tree; once it falls, it gets caught in the wind, picked up by a child, or gets eaten by nature.The leaf I chose lived what I call “the perfect life”. It saw the beauties of the world, lakes, sunsets, and the quiet places I’m naturally drawn to throughout the city, as well as the pain in life that makes us who we are, like getting tossed around and stepped on, before its inevitable end. The leaf’s journey became a reflection of the life we all hope to live, hardship before beauty, and a story I would want shown to me.Though the subject is simple, the meaning is truly beautiful and profound. Throughout this series, the leaf reveals to us what it means to experience life’s beauty, and shows us what ‘the perfect life’ can look like.
Throughout this short film, my friends and I spent two days filming, and I wrote and edited it in a day each. I created a story about a man from nine years in the future who travels back in time to fight his younger self in an effort to “save” his dying family—only for the twist to reveal that his family had died long before, and all he really wanted was a bag of chips.
The opening contrasts the two timelines, and once it’s revealed that both characters are the same person, the fight begins. I felt the story needed a little more than the three minutes allowed, but I’m proud of what we accomplished. With plenty of blood, sweat, tears, and help from my friends Eric and Mitch, I present: Cheesy Come, Cheesy Go.
Reflection –
Throughout this semester, I stepped into completely new territory. This was the first time I had ever worked with a professional camera, edited a full project, or thought seriously about how media elements like framing, lighting, and audio shape a story. Each assignment pushed me in different ways, and together they built a toolkit I didn’t have before.
For the photography assignment, I struggled at first because all my ideas depended on having a person as the subject, and no one was available on the day I needed to shoot. I had to rethink what storytelling through images really meant. That led me to choose something simple yet challenging: the life of a leaf. Telling a narrative through an object with no expression or movement forced me to focus on composition, angles, lighting, and pacing. I learned how even small visual choices can create emotion and guide an audience through a story.
The audio assignment let me dive into something I’m genuinely passionate about; fashion and innovation. I developed an advertisement-style audio piece for a clothing brand concept that blends AI, design, and audience interaction. Although the idea itself was fun to build, the real challenge was in the technical process: recording clean audio, layering sound, shaping a tone, and editing everything to flow smoothly. It made me appreciate how powerful sound is in creating mood. This project taught me to listen more carefully, not just to what is being said, but how it sounds.
Finally, the video assignment was where everything came together. From the moment I found out my friends (who are twins) were available to act, the idea for a time-travel story clicked instantly. I decided to go all out and create a full five-minute short film. This project tested every skill we learned: scripting, scheduling shoots, setting up lighting, choosing camera angles, recording audio, and editing the final cut. It was the most ambitious thing I’ve made, and I challenged myself creatively and technically at every stage. Seeing the final result (especially with my actors bringing the story to life) made the long days of filming and problem-solving worth it.
Across these three projects, I learned how each part of media production works on its own, but also how they all connect. Photography taught me visual storytelling, audio taught me the importance of sound, and the video project showed me how powerful they become when combined. This class didn’t just give me new technical skills; it gave me confidence to create.