Final Video

Concept

As a graduation present to my freshman-year-roommate and close friend Grace, I made a video that both commemorated her beautiful qualities and paid tribute to her father, Steve, who passed away 15 years ago. To accomplish this, I aimed to audibly and visually demonstrate the attributes of Grace's character that her family and college friends believed would positively contribute to her future. This was implemented through scanned notes from Grace's college friends blended into a digital collage, as well as voice memos from Grace's family.

As Grace described one of the hardest parts of losing her father has been not having him physically here when big life moments happen, I wanted to depict the time he was able to spend with her as a child, as well as draw attention to his continued presence in her life. This was executed through home videos generously sent to me by Grace's family, stock footage of the rocky mountains, where Steve's ashes were scattered,  and a handwritten postcard to Grace from when Steve was overseas that reads, "see you soon." The animation's narrative is guided by a quote from A.A Milne sharing empowering words to a loved one before one departs.

Mood Board

The color palette used includes deep ocean blues, similar to the decor that was in our freshman dorm room. A scrapbook/watercolor esthetic was incorporated to give the feel of a nostalgic journal. As Grace is an avid collector of plants, scanned images of pressed flowers and leaves were integrated into the collage to represent preserving the beauty of life after something has died.

Raw elements