My Rainbow Girl // Wilmington Videographer

Just after the New Year I started a family cinematography course with Emily Mitchell of the Everyday Film School. The final project was a short video documenting a month in the life of my family.

I always say that we go through different seasons as a family, and the one I was assigned to document was one where my daughter Junie and her two older brothers were constantly at odds.

That’s not an Instagram-perfect story to tell, but it’s our life, at least for now, and it’s real.

When I looked at the footage I had at the end of the month, it was naturally telling the story of her trying to figure out what her relationship with them was and trying to forge her own path in the world.

Junie is confident and curious and adventurous and tender-hearted. She has been feeling really emotional lately, and this project became a way to literally give her voice and agency in what was happening in her home life. It became more of a collaboration than I could have envisioned, but that made it even more special to me.

To be honest, it is hard to put it out there into the world for just that reason. It is so intimate and true to this tender season of our lives that it kind of breaks my heart open to watch it.

But I am proud of it, and proud of myself for the work I put in to learning this new craft. And proud, always, of my girl.

I also know that if I made this film in a month or six months or a year it would be completely different story. That is the fleeting beauty of the work I get to do, and I will never take that for granted.

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If you are interested in learning videography, I cannot recommend Emily’s class highly enough. I have taken many, many classes and workshops in my career and her content and teaching style is the best of the best. She is thorough in her instruction, generous in her knowledge, and heartfelt in her encouragement and critiques.