Multimedia – J.D. Swerzenski

Finding the Words: The Story of Voices from Inside

This documentary project on which I’ve served as editor and co-director of photography focuses on a Western Massachusetts-area organization called Voices from Inside. Initially started as a writing workshop for incarcerated women, we try to document how the unique writing method–15-minute time limits, all positive feedback, all work taken as fiction–has resonated beyond prison walls, becoming an crucial recovery tool for many women as well as a vehicle through which to challenge beliefs about the carceral system and those who experienece it. Below is an excerpt of larger documentary covering a workshop held at the Franklin County Jail. More details about the project are available through the website here.

The Sound of Lovers Rock

This video essay explores the use of sound, and specifically music, in Steve McQueen’s 2019 film Lover’s Rock. Rather than deploy music in the secondary role of enhancing the visual, McQueen instead centers music as the protagonist, the center of gravity around which the shots, characters, and narrative action all revolve. Currently in review for the peer-reviewed video essay journal (in)Transition.

Film Glossary Video Definitons

These videos are all a part of an online film glossary that I use for production classes. Beyond giving basic definitions of various film concepts, these video tutorials try and contextualize a set of concepts.

For this entry on lighting, the idea was both to illustrate basic 3-point lighting technique and point toward ways of tweaking those standards to create other lighting effects.

This film glossary entry uses a scene I shot and edited to illustrate the uses of diegetic and non-diegetic sound. The footage is the same; I’ve just changed up the audio to showcase each mixing approach.

This entry overviews different types of shot movement including dolly, zoom, and title and the meaning each conveys.

SmartTV: The Mise en Scène of Black Mirror

This is one of a series SmartTV videos I produced, wherein media scholars break down a television show of their choice. This episode features film professor Kevin T. Anderson explaining the use of mise en scène in the Black Mirror episode “Hang the DJ.”

Equipment of Living: Imo Imeh

I filmed and edited this installement of the Equipment for Living artist profile from Fall of 2019. Painter/scholar Imo Nse Imeh here speaks about the role art plays in his life, the role his history and culture play in his art, and the role he hopes his art can play in the lives of the people who experience it.

More than Narcos: Upper Intermediate English Final Video

This piece is a collaborative project with Upper Intermediate English classes at Universidad EAN in Bogota. Students answered weekly prompts such as “what are some misconceptions about Colombia?” in video form and added footage of their lives.