Videography - Jasper Willson

Video is my favorite format for storytelling. The visual nature of video allows people to connect with stories in a way they might not have before. This connection is what leads to new opinions and stronger communities.

I have experience in many areas of video production, including: filming, interviewing, narrating, and editing. I have worked with some great teams as well as made videos entirely by myself.

Science Education

Environmental documentaries have taught me so much about the world I live in, and have inspired me to want to work to help heal our planet. We need people able to communicate scientific research to interested lay audiences, to create a bridge between these sometimes separated communities.

My Honors Thesis offered an opportunity to do a deep dive into science I didn’t know, distill a story, and create an educational video to share what I learned in an easily digested format.

I won the Crimson Award from the Office of Undergraduate Research at WSU for Arts and Design for this documentary. This is the highest award for creative research projects. I also passed my Honors Thesis defense with distinction, an honor awarded to fewer than 10% of all honors students, and was awarded the Erita Society Excellence in Undergraduate Research and Scholarship Award for this work. In May I will present Forest on Fire at Berkeley as part of the WeRISE summit at Berkeley.

Reporting

Stories are a personal and vulnerable thing. Being able to work with people to share what they have been through, what they are passionate about, is one of my favorite things. I have been honored to be able to share several incredible stories.

Firefighters face job-related risk of cancer.

Spokesman-Review Nov. 24, 2023

Activism

Activism is the dynamic face of social and environmental justice movements. A dynamic background for video, storytelling can be the challenging aspect: will viewers know what activists are working for? I enjoy the dynamic environment, capturing these potentially historic moments.

Archiving Art

Art is a broad medium that includes many formats and is explored all over the world. Video is capable of bringing that art to people who may not otherwise be able to experience it. I spent my Junior year as a Marketing Intern creating videos that archive exhibitions put on by the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art.

Prior to that I was hired by the Edmonds Center for Arts to create videos highlighting local artists, and had some opportunity to shoot live music as the marketing director of the Student Entertainment Board at WSU.