Video Portfolio

Here are some videos of projects I have worked on in the past. For each video, I have written a brief explanation of the context of the video production, the tools and skills I’ve used to create the video, and some additional comments reflecting on the work.

“Merlot & Hemlock”, Short Film

I made this short film from May to July 2026. I had the idea to make the film around the time I first finished building this website. Now was my chance to finally showcase my potential as not just a video editor, but as someone behind the camera and in the writing booth. I planned for my first short film to promote on this website as a simple exercise in suspense before moving on to other projects that showcased more of my ideas, creative vision, and style. Much of it came together in this project all the same.

This was my first time making a film set for myself since college, which involved asking for volunteers who live nearby to help with acting, lighting, sound recording, and production assistance. The pre-production process was actually the simplest part, with the rough draft of my script being approved by my actors on the first go, and location scouting being fairly easy. We gave ourselves four three-hour sessions throughout the month of June to shoot the film, and after that, the editing took about a week. Unlike most of my other projects, I primarily used Adobe Premiere Pro for this one, with some assistance from Final Cut Pro X.

This project showcases my ability to work with a team, shooting with my Canon EOS 80D and LED lights with gels, using my filmmaking skills to tell a story, and dealing with scheduling complications when things didn’t go as planned. While recording in an air conditioned space did result in difficulties later on in the editing booth, I’m ultimately very proud with what I’ve done and I’m satisfied with how the project turned out.

“Ambition”, National STEM Honor Society

When I had the idea to make “Ambition” in August 2023, I had been working as a video intern for the National STEM Honor Society (NSTEM) for about eight months. In that time, I had been promoted to one of the directors of the video department, and I was still making videos. In one of our meetings, the President of NSTEM told us he wanted “inspirational videos” to really show off our creative abilities. This is one of the ones that I created.

To create this video, I downloaded videos of stock footage, paired them with an instrumental track I composed in GarageBand, wrote some title cards about what message I wanted to say, and edited everything together in Final Cut Pro X. I also made the thumbnail with Adobe Photoshop.

While the production felt a bit rushed on my end, I’m definitely proud of this video. I would have made different choices if I had made this video today, but I have a bad habit of nitpicking. I guide a lot of my actions on the motto: “if it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing right”, and I pressure myself to make my work fit that. I’m still working on adjusting my perspective, but I’ve been getting better at giving myself credit where it’s due.

“Dividing by ZERO?”, National STEM Honor Society

Back in April 2025, I was wrapping up my time at NSTEM. For a long time, the organization gave me the title of “Fellow”, referring to members of NSTEM that have been around for a comparatively long time and mainly help guide interns in their contributions to their respective departments. But that didn’t mean I couldn’t make videos, and I decided to leave the organization with one last hurrah, and I had free rein to make whatever video I wanted.

To create this video, I downloaded stock footage, paired it with royalty-free background tracks I had found online, wrote and voiced over a script for the topic, inserted titles, made the thumbnail in Adobe Photoshop, and used the magic of Final Cut Pro editing to turn my idea and these components into a story.

I can’t think of much I could have done to improve the video beyond the scope of what I was able to do. I was experienced, my storytelling and editing abilities were enhanced, and I used my skills to do what I’m good at.

“Chicago: the Musical”, Off Off Broadway

My Senior Year in college was busy. I had my undergraduate thesis to write, my classes to finish up, and camerawork for my university’s musical theater organization, “Off Off Broadway”. One of our two productions that semester was the beloved musical “Chicago”. I, having been one of the key people in charge of video production at the organization for the past three years, gave myself the sole task of shooting and editing this beast. The actors performed this show in April 2023; I graduated in May; the video was finished in early June.

To create this video, I used my Canon DSLR and Rode Shotgun Mic to film two different performances of the show while adjusting my settings to theater lighting, then made the experience cinematic using cuts (between close-ups and wide shots), fades, and additional cinematic elements for artistic flair. The show ended up being two hours long.

While this was my favorite project to work on with Off Off Broadway and the one I’m proudest of, I’ve still found two “trouble spots” to keep in mind for future projects. The first thing is that the audio is uncompressed, and I didn’t know that compression could make the audio experience better. The second thing has to do with the unique circumstances of this production. I was originally set to shoot three performances, but due to reasons interfering with the university’s main theater department, I contractually was not able to do so and thus had to work with what I had. This ended up being a double-edged sword: I was unable to carry out my project with the exact vision in my head, but on the other hand, this setback tested my resiliency and made me think on my feet. And that’s how good art is made, isn’t it?