Awardee: Joseph Muszynski
Semester of Award: 2023-2024
Materials Awarded: Angelbird 256GB AV Pro MK2 UHS-II SDXC Memory Card
Project Description:
I used the 256GB Angelbird AV Pro MK2 UHS-II SD card as the media for long-form interviews and observational shooting. I recorded several extended interviews with my mother, ranging from 75 to 110 minutes of continuous footage each, plus chemotherapy-day material and observational footage at home, roughly 20 hours of raw material total. The added capacity was crucial. In one 90-minute interview, the first forty minutes stayed guarded and surface-level before the conversation opened into memories that became central to the film. Not having to stop to swap cards kept the room calm and the emotional thread intact.
Longer uninterrupted takes gave me complete arcs of thought and feeling, fewer artificial breaks, and cleaner editorial options. I can build scenes from sustained continuity rather than stitching around interruption points. Fewer media swaps reduced missed moments and simplified on-location data management. On the teaching side, this project has become a concrete example about interview dynamics and how technical constraints can influence what a subject is willing to share.
For other faculty, it’s worth considering what small purchases can remove a predictable bottleneck in time-based and human-subject work. I find it increasingly important to treat media and technical considerations as part of ethics and care, and not just as practical elements of filmmaking.