I got my degree in film and went on to work in the industry for several years in the documentary, corporate and marketing space. Even as I moved into the digital space I continued to work in video. While much of the work I have done in the past for other companies is proprietary and I can’t show, here is a sample of some of the work I can show.
video production / VIDEO EDITING
Product Videos for CourtBound
Website and e-commerce videos
THE CHALLENGE
- Capture the premium quality and sleek design of Xamsa’s black racquets in a way that resonates with discerning squash players for CourtBound.com. Budget constraints called for a creative solution. Videos would be used in a variety of ways from social media to e-commerce to the homepage.
THE SOLUTION
- I opted for a minimalist yet impactful approach. Shooting it myself I constructed a black backdrop to create a high-end, almost mysterious atmosphere. This allowed me to use dynamic lighting to sensually highlight the racquets’ curves and design elements through a series of close-up shots. The subtle play of light and shadow on the black canvas added a touch of intrigue.
- To further elevate the videos, I incorporated a motorized slider and turntable for smooth, precise camera movements that emphasized the racquets’ sleek design. For some shots, I strategically placed the racquets on a highly reflective black plexiglass surface, creating a captivating mirrored effect. Finally, I married these visuals with dynamic, energizing music to create a truly captivating sizzle reel experience.
- This strategy aligned with Xamsa’s brand identity (premium quality) while positioning CourtBound as an aspirational, exclusive lifestyle brand within the squash community.
Xamsa PXT Regular Squash Racquet video for E-commerce Listing for CourtBound.com
video production / VIDEO EDITING
Short Documentary Defining Gravity
Short 20-minute documentary
THE CHALLENGE
- Creating a documentary on women in parkour presented several hurdles. First, working with a limited budget required meticulous resource allocation to maintain acceptable production standards. Additionally, gaining the trust of the parkour community, which is often wary of outsiders sensationalizing their sport, was crucial. Another significant challenge was crafting a coherent and engaging narrative over time, which involved careful research, asking thought-provoking questions, and following up with participants to capture their evolving stories.
THE SOLUTION
- To tackle these challenges, I adopted a multifaceted approach:
- Deep Immersion and Research: I invested time in understanding the history and cultural significance of parkour, particularly contrasting its origins in France with its growth and evolution in Canada. This foundational knowledge was essential in gaining credibility and trust within the parkour community.
- Building Genuine Relationships: I participated in parkour training sessions and engaged with practitioners, building authentic relationships. This helped in earning their trust and gaining access to their personal stories, ensuring a portrayal that resonated with the community.
- Resourceful Production: To manage the budget constraints, I took on multiple roles, including shooting and editing, to maximize the limited funds. For the major parkour event, I hired a small but skilled crew to capture high-quality footage without exceeding the budget.
- Creating a Narrative Over Time: Crafting a story that unfolded over time required thorough research and strategic planning. I asked participants thought-provoking questions and maintained regular follow-ups to track their progress and experiences. This approach allowed me to weave a cohesive and dynamic narrative, capturing the evolution of their journeys in parkour.
- By combining deep immersion, genuine engagement, resourceful production, and thoughtful storytelling, I was able to create a compelling documentary that authentically represented women in parkour, resonating with both practitioners and a wider audience.
video production / VIDEO EDITING
Social Media for Squash Club
one-minute hype reel for social media
THE CHALLENGE
- Creating a compelling one-minute online video for The Pickering Squash Club presented several challenges. Hardball doubles squash is not widely covered, and the club’s unique possession of two hardball doubles courts in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) needed to be showcased. The project was low-budget, shot documentary-style during a live match with a single DSLR camera not optimized for video. The rapid movement of players made it difficult to maintain sharp focus throughout the footage.
THE SOLUTION
- Despite these challenges, we crafted an engaging video by leveraging creative shooting and editing techniques. During the match, we captured a variety of angles, from close-ups to wide shots, focusing on serves, returns, and high-impact emotional moments. The footage was edited to construct a narrative with a clear beginning, middle, and end, starting with players entering the court and concluding with a winning shot. We incorporated energizing music and fast-paced editing, utilizing slow and quick zooms, varied speeds, and subtle special effects to enhance intensity without distracting viewers. Additional sound effects were added to amplify the impact. The result was a dynamic, engaging video that highlighted the unique aspects of hardball doubles at The Pickering Squash Club, all produced by a single person handling both shooting and editing.
video editing
Social Media featuring Yoga Content
Instagram Social Media
THE CHALLENGE
- I aimed to create engaging video content for a yoga studio that didn’t have staff who felt comfortable to be on camera. . The project needed to be completed on a low budget and provide different content from typical how-to videos, class advertisements, and promotional posts and yet still be clearly recognizable as yoga-centric.
THE SOLUTION
- My approach was to offer the audience content would be inspiring based on their core values of personal growth and transformation.
- To meet these challenges, I crafted two short inspirational scripts centered on themes of personal growth and transformation. I sourced free stock footage and music, and created a voiceover to bring the scripts to life.
- Recognizing that many users view social media with the sound off, I added subtitles to ensure the message was accessible to everyone. By creatively leveraging these resources, I created content that could resonate and provide value to the yoga studio’s audience.
VIDEO EDITING
Success Story for Agency Campaign
CORPORATE VIDEO
THE CHALLENGE
- The goal was to craft a video that effectively communicated the success of a co-promotion campaign with U2, Blackberry, and Rogers that involved contest winners seeing a U2 concert. With limited source material, the challenge lay in creating a dynamic and engaging piece that accurately reflected the campaign’s impact.
THE SOLUTION
- I constructed a high-energy and impactful video. Strategic editing techniques and visual storytelling and motion graphics were employed to highlight key campaign metrics and achievements. The final product delivered a clear and compelling demonstration of the co-promotion’s success, exceeding client expectations.
VIDEO EDITING
Meeting support video for Important product launch
videos to introduce product launch to sales team
THE CHALLENGE
- Unilever client to introduce the biggest and most important product launch (Dove Plus Men) for 2010. I created three videos for them. In this next video, some of the key stakeholders couldn’t be there but wanted to demonstrate how important this launch was so their agency decided to create this fun video, capitalizing on the black and white footage used in the commercials as well as the music used.
THE SOLUTION
- I was brought on board for production and hired a team to shoot the client’s team’s improvisation. I then cut the video to be fun and energizing, being sure to keep the various “in jokes” that the client’s sales team would appreciate. The video was supposed to be a surprise but the clients were so excited about it, that it was leaked before the meeting.
video editing
Pre-roll video Ads Explorer’s Edge
Pre-roll video ads for Youtube and the olive network (the star)
THE CHALLENGE
- Distill the essence of winter adventure in Northern Ontario into six captivating 15-second pro-roll ads. Each spot needed to immediately grab attention, tell a compelling story within a tight 10-second timeframe, and transition seamlessly into the next.
THE SOLUTION
- I selected the most evocative scenes that showcased the region’s winter activities. These carefully curated clips were then edited to create a dynamic flow, culminating in a call to action.
video production / VIDEO EDITING
marketing Pitch video for Marketing Agency
educational video for children
THE CHALLENGE
- The client wanted to create a series of videos supporting their marketing pitch to their client. We did a series of four videos demonstrating various youth perspectives that supported their presentation. The video below demonstrates how youth didn’t want to plan, wanted to make plans spontaneously, listen to music and other entertainment, and hang out in larger groups.
THE SOLUTION
- We got a team together to shoot interviews in and around the Eaton Center and Scene’s cinemas. The team asked specific questions about the interviewees’ lifestyles. I then cut together the various interviews that told a story supporting the agency’s pitch, in a style and with music that felt dynamic and energetic. The client loved these videos so much that they used them to then pitch new partners.
video production / VIDEO EDITING
marketing Pitch video for Marketing Agency
educational video for children
THE CHALLENGE
- The agency wanted to create a series of videos to help create an engaging marketing pitch. The marketing pitch for an online shopping experience for a department store client. For this video, the concept was to demonstrate how middle-aged women were losing their love for in-store shopping – an experience that the pitch has answers for.
THE SOLUTION
- I hired a small crew and we shot interviews on the spot in the client’s department store. The interviewees were asked specific questions about their shopping experiences and what they wished for. I then cut together the various interviews that told a story supporting the agency’s pitch, using short clips and music to create this short dynamic video. The video is just one of three used for various parts of the pitch.
video production / VIDEO EDITING
Educational Video Blindness is a spectrum
educational video for children
THE CHALLENGE
- Create an engaging educational video for elementary school students about different types of blindness, symbols for blindness, and techniques for living with blindness. We faced a tight budget, requiring resourceful solutions.
THE SOLUTION
- I acted as a one-person crew with the Checkered Eye’s talented champion and scriptwriter playing two roles, and together we created a dynamic learning experience for young viewers. To visually distinguish the characters, we used a simple backdrop for one persona and another backdrop with a costume change for the second.
- To showcase real-world applications, we transitioned to on-location shooting. This involved capturing the actress navigating the streets (waiting for traffic signals), and shopping in a store. Maintaining a one-person crew meant relying on a lavalier microphone and a single, locked-off camera indoors. Narration was recorded live, while outdoor scenes were shot handheld with natural lighting.
- This approach prioritized clear communication and demonstration for the target audience of young students, eliminating the need for fancy effects.
Animated Slide show low-budget storytelling
video editing
Videos can be an impactful way to communicate and create a mood that can’t be done through static visuals and writing. Animated slideshows prove that you don’t always need video footage to do it which can be an excellent low-budget way to still deliver impactful messaging.
I have made a lot of these over the years in different forms, but few were viewed more than this video campaign, So God Made a Gay Man when it came out in 2013 on YouTube. It was considered controversial, shared widely and regarded as a great success by the client The video was based on a commercial called So God Made a Farmer. So God Made a Gay Man is no longer on YouTube but as of posting still exists on Vimeo.
Personal Projects – Hybrid Art Projects
Video? I’m not sure…
These are a result of time off during Covid. I’d love to be able to do more of them – when time permits!
These are not straight-out videos in the classical sense. I was looking to create conceptual pieces of art. Most are more like moving photographs and all of them were made with more than one tool/technique. However, they all required video editing software to finish, and in some cases, the effects part of video editing software to create and that is why I have included them here.
The next video was made with live-action video on greenscreen and I used a 3d application called Unreea; to create the environment.
Cinemagraphs
I was interested in exploring bringing life to photographs. I used the Instagram platform for this, because at the time video would just play, so if someone was looking at the photo, in some cases I wanted them to do a double take as they realized something in the photo was moving.
In most cases, I wanted to create very subtle effects, like clouds moving, or water rippling, but in the case of the first post her the water was movement is much more obvious.
The next post used still photography and a 3d application known as Blender to create the water tank and water movement.
A conceptual piece about waiting and time. I used Photoshop, an AI application to make the faces and Davinci Resolve to animate this.
A conceptual piece around the expression you can’t go home again meaning things are never the same when you try to revisit the past in the present. I used a 3D application to make the water, a 3D capturing program, and multiple stills to capture and create a 3D render of my house, and Davinci Resolve to create slight life in the figure and to finish it.
- Not all of these may still be online.