We Are Here: University of Southern Mississippi SPVA

Motion Graphics, Editing

In the wake of Covid-19, I was tasked with creating a motion graphics commercial for the School of Performing and Visual Arts that told the world even though things are getting difficult, we would push through.

It is a message to a mid Covid-19 world saying that we were still open, and that we would get through this together, because we are a family, and we are artists, and that WE ARE HERE.

Our director, Jacob Cotton, showed me these Apple motion graphics where the type was moving so fast you barely had time to read it, yet your mind could still tell what it said. I was hesitant, but I went for it.

I spent a whole day and a half straight doing nothing but editing. I painstakingly went over every beat of this music so that the timing of every image transition would be perfect.

Every single image the SPVA had was used for this video. I even had to use some student’s Instagram posts.

I was a bit worried about the reception of it, having worked so hard on it, so I was extremely happy when the first word to come out of my director’s mouth was “Damn”. It was a lot of work, but it paid off in the end.

In February 2021, this video won a Golden Addy and won the Addy’s Judges Choice Award for student work.