One of the things I really love about media, an aspect that’s especially relevant to the contemporary digital forms of media, is the remix culture. Our ability to not only consume but also interact with our media, by copying something that contains meaning, then editing, and remixing it, to produce a ‘new’ product that conveys and expresses unique meanings and emotions that we incorporated ourselves, and can then share again with others around the world.
I myself like to do this in the form of video editing, where I too, essentially copy things from a bunch of different forms of media I enjoy, to then recompile and create my own ‘new’ media product with: a video edit.
The type of video I’ve made the most, as well as like making the most, are video game montages. I store any funny, weird, or (usually) epic moments that I experience while playing games with my friends by clipping and saving them on or to my computer. Then I take a song I like to listen to, throw everything into an (Adobe) After Effects project, and let my imagination take it away! Often resulting in a flashy montage of all kinds of moments I cherished or am proud of, accompanied by a song track to which the footage is velocity-synced, to really make it flow nicely and overall satisfying to watch.
I started (learning) video editing ever since I was 13/14. I stumbled upon it by having to make lots of video school projects during my middle and high school years, such as animated explainers, skits, fake trailers, and documentary-style videos.
What initially started as something I had to do as a chore, turned into something I became skilled at, then an enjoyable hobby, and now after around 5 years into a passion.
My passion for video editing also fueled my appreciation for film and animation since I became more aware of the (creation) process and techniques that are used to create and convey forms of meaning, which partially led to me deciding to study Media and Culture at the UvA; to learn more about media, why I love it, and continue harnessing my creative skills to hopefully find a fulfilling career in media…
Side note: I really loved making the creative assignment for the Media Aesthetics class, I edited a fake found-footage horror trailer with my project group entitled ‘The Attic’, you can click here if you’d like to give it a watch! 😀
Evan Groeneweg, 13548107
Why I Heart My Media 