Vincent Varsalona
VIDEO PRODUCER PORTFOLIO

In the fall of 2018, I worked with the UVA Women’s Rowing Team to produce this piece. Before I began production, I met with coaches and teammates to learn more about the team. As a result of those meetings, I felt a piece that highlighted the grit, passion, and need for both mental and physical synchronicity would best encapsulate the program. I also wanted to highlight the beauty of the sport, so I chose to film and edit this piece in a more cinematic style that accentuated the flow and grace of rowing. This piece, to date, has garnered about 150K views over multiple UVA platforms. It is also still being used as a recruitment tool for the team. Roles: writer/conceptualizer, producer, director, cinematographer, camera operator, video editor, audio editor¬

In the spring of 2022, I pitched this idea to create a video that captures the essence of UVA at sunrise; the feels, the beauty, and the people that work in the early hours of the morning to keep UVA running as the special place it is. To execute this piece, I filmed over 25 sunrises and coordinated with various departments and individuals at the University. I wanted the video to feel peaceful and somewhat meandering, as if the viewer is there, witnessing the scenes unfold in real-time. To accomplish this, I went with a handheld style in 24fps and meticulously used/edited over 300 sound effects to create an ambient viewer experience both visually and auditorily. Roles: writer/conceptualizer, producer, director, cinematographer, camera operator, video editor, audio and sound effects editor

After the positive reception of the UVA Rowing Feature, in the fall of 2019, I was asked by UVA Athletics to produce a video highlighting the baseball team. Like in the rowing video, I met with members of the team to learn more about their program. After those meetings, I decided that I wanted to highlight the culture that the team has with emphasis on each person recognizing their individual roles and duties to better the team collectively; that is what makes a baseball team successful. I wanted to show both the team’s efforts, as well as the players’ individual hard work that happens on their own to strengthen themselves and, therefore, strengthen the team. To do this, I filmed a few practices and organized several shoots with individual players to capture that aspect of the story visually. I filmed using mainly dolly, gimbal, and crane shots, but also incorporated some handheld moments to give the piece a gritty, raw feel, mixing both 24fps and slow motion. Roles: writer/conceptualizer, producer, director, cinematographer, camera operator, video editor, audio editor

The UVA Graduation is a unique and special celebration, where students get to walk with whomever they wish down the Lawn from the Rotunda to Old Cabell Hall. In the spring of 2018, I pitched this idea of creating a video featuring UVA alumni talking about that feeling of walking down the Lawn and what it means for the future of those who are graduating. I wanted the video to feel like a message to the graduating class, so I chose to have the interviewees talking directly to camera. I also wanted to convey the idea of “looking back at that special moment” and a feeling of reflection, so I incorporated b-roll of the alumni actually watching footage from previous graduation ceremonies and filmed them to be used as b-roll. I also asked a couple of them to break out old photo albums, which I filmed them sifting through. For the cinematography, I wanted everything to feel slow and serene, so I filmed much of the video in slow motion with subtle dolly movements. Roles: writer/conceptualizer, producer, director, cinematographer, camera operator, video editor, audio editor

In the summer of 2018, I decided to produce a video highlighting a student at UVA who was also a professional cyclist. Roles: writer/conceptualizer, producer, director, cinematographer, camera operator, video editor, audio editor

As part of an editorial and marketing campaign highlighting research at UVA, I was asked to pursue a piece highlighting renewable energy. This led me to producing a piece in the summer of 2019, filming both at the lab at UVA as well as in Colorado. For this project, I decided to use a combination of handheld, gimbal, and dolly footage, both in 24fps and slow-motion, to give the video a somewhat raw, but also polished feel to accent the nature of this ongoing research: unrestrained yet still controlled. I also chose this music as I felt it further compliment the overall tone. Roles: writer/conceptualizer, producer, director, cinematographer, camera operator, video editor, audio editor

In the fall of 2022, after researching stories highlighting research and medicine, I learned more about the UVA Children's Hospital's Developmental Pediatrics Program and how they are using Gene Therapy to treat children with Spinal Muscular Atrophy. Their story inspired me to produce this piece. In addition to the interviews and b-roll, I also wanted to include some chalkboard drawings to assist in telling the story. I worked with two of the art directors in my department to create these. I wanted them to be colorful and almost "childlike" to accent the nature of the story. It was an absolute pleasure and privilege having the opportunity to create this piece with the doctors and families to shed some light on this disease and the life-saving treatment being provided at UVA Children's Hospital. Roles: writer/conceptualizer, producer, director, cinematographer, camera operator, video editor, audio editor

As we all know, 2020 was a difficult year for the entire world. When it came time to produce our annual Year in Review video, all students, faculty, and staff were working remotely, which posed a major challenge: how do we make this video? I was tasked with producing this piece. Given the circumstances, I decided to create a video that would require minimal additional on-site production, but instead utilize pre-existing footage. I wanted the piece to reflect what everyone was going through; being stuck at home on their computers, while still conveying the idea that we are in this together and we will come out stronger on the other side. I produced this piece entirely from home (aside from filming a couple empty classroom shots), over the course of 3 weeks. I also collaborated with a writer from my office to write the script. I used Adobe Premiere and Adobe After Effects to produce this video. I feel this piece highlights my skillset in problem solving to create a piece that is still visually and emotionally engaging despite the production limitations. Roles: conceptualizer, co-writer, producer, director, cinematographer, camera operator, video editor, audio editor

At the end of the spring semester at UVA, we make a Year in Review video highlighting accomplishments and memories from the academic year. In the spring of 2019, I was tasked with owning and producing this annual piece for the first time since I started at UVA in June of 2016. Departing from the solo host format set by previous years, I decided to have the story told by multiple students to give the video a more shared and collaborative feeling. I wanted the video to be high-energy and entertaining, so I chose a dynamic cinematography style paired with an upbeat song. To keep the piece visually engaging and polished, I chose to incorporate much of the b-roll into the scenes organically and/or film the narrator in a location that highlighted the topic. I coordinated with over 100 students and individuals at UVA to execute this piece. I also collaborated with a colleague in UVA Today (UVA’s online news platform) to write the script. Viewing Note: The end also features our former Year in Review host, who was very well-known and adored by the UVA community and was moving to California. Roles: conceptualizer, co-writer, producer, director, cinematographer, camera operator, video editor, audio editor

In the fall of 2018 while researching various labs at UVA to potentially produce videos about, I came across the Kucenas Lab, which uses Zebrafish as a model to learn more about the regenerative capabilities of the human body. For this piece, I was posed with a unique issue: how do I create visuals that not only explain the research, but also keep the viewer engaged? I decided to use whiteboard illustrations to aid in the explanation of the research. To execute this, I collaborated with one of the talented art directors in my office to assist me with drawing these images. Roles: writer/conceptualizer, producer, director, cinematographer, camera operator, video editor, audio editor

In the winter of 2018, I met Shawn Russell, a professor of orthopedics at UVA. After meeting with him and learning about his work both within UVA and with Wintergreen Adaptive Sports, I decided to produce this piece. I filmed this over the course of about 3 weeks and filmed multiple sessions while skiing. (I have been skiing since I was 5 years old, so this was very enjoyable getting to ski with the incredibly talented members of Wintergreen Adaptive Sports). Roles: writer/conceptualizer, producer, director, cinematographer, camera operator, video editor, audio editor

In the fall of 2017, I pitched this idea to create an anthem-style video for the University. I centered the theme of the video around “numbers”, highlighting the statistics that make UVA special. I filmed some additional footage specifically for the piece, but also incorporated pre-existing footage from previous projects (both of my own and those of my colleagues). I worked with a colleague in UVA Today to write the script. This video still holds its spot as one of the all-time top performing videos on UVA’s social media platforms. Roles: conceptualizer, co-writer, producer, director, co-cinematographer, co-camera operator, video editor, audio editor

In the summer of 2019, I was researching community service organizations at UVA and came across the Blue Ridge Mountain Rescue Group. I decided to take a different approach with telling this story by using both voiceovers from interviews as well as text-on-screen. To keep the piece visually engaging, I used Adobe After Effects heavily to incorporate the text into the b-roll as if it was organically in the space. I worked with a writer from UVA Today to write the script as well as collaborated with an art director to create the graphics. Roles: conceptualizer, co-writer, producer, director, cinematographer, camera operator, video editor, audio editor

Working with the UVA social media team, we came up with this short, fun video to congratulate the students admitted to the UVA Class of 2027. With the landscape of content consumption continuously changing, our department has started thinking more about creating "social-specific" content to improve engagement on social media platforms, Instagram in particular. This is one example of using the vertical video format in a fun, bite-size piece of content. This video has garnered over 120,000 views on Instagram. It was filmed, edited, and completed within six hours. Roles: co-writer/co-conceptualizer, producer, co-director, cinematographer, camera operator, video editor, audio/sound effects editor

This short piece was created as a complimentary asset to a UVA Today story featuring the engineering class who created this fascinating clock. Keeping social media in mind, I kept the piece short and visual in a 9x16 format. It was filmed, edited, and completed in 4 hours. Roles: producer, director, cinematographer, camera operator, video editor, audio editor