The screen fades in depicting photos scattered across a mahogany desk. Vignette lighting frames each image as the scene opens to a steady drum beat. In three minutes, from the collaboration of three students, this film brings a sense of childhood nostalgia.

The film accompanies “Like It Used To,” an original song by sophomore River Kelvin, who attributes their love for music to their dad. “He taught me a lot of what I know,” they said. Their song, now published on Youtube and Spotify, has already received a positive response, with over 200 views on Youtube alone.

The project was a collaborative process between a music artist, a cinematographer, and a photographer. Senior Sophie Tang directed and filmed the video, while junior Madeline Sheng-Williams shot and directed the photography process. “The music video was cool because we got to combine all three of our different mediums,” Sheng-Williams said.

Tang, who had worked with Kelvin on previous projects, originally approached Kelvin with the idea. “I worked with my friend River, and we all kind of came up with an idea to film nostalgic vibes,” she explained. Tang had also created a storyboard for the group to follow, mapping each scene to specific timestamps in Kelvin’s song.

Many of the scenes were filmed in Tang’s car at various locations from Kelvin’s childhood. As the group’s photographer, Sheng-Williams played a key role in recreating and capturing moments from Kelvin’s childhood. “The photos that I took played a really important part in the video,” she said. Because they were a recreation of some of River’s childhood photos, the theme of nostalgia stayed strong throughout the film.

The creation of the music video didn’t come without its challenges. Kelvin, who wrote and produced the song independently in their room, had to overcome both technical hurdles and personal doubt. “The biggest challenge was trying to be confident enough in it that I would feel okay sharing it with other people,” they said, describing their struggle with perfectionism. Tang also faced logistical pressure on filming day, since the weather threatened to derail the shoot. “It was going to rain that day, so we crammed the whole entire shoot in two or three hours,” she said.

The team also relied heavily on collaborative feedback throughout the editing process. Tang and Sheng-Williams made sure to prioritize Kelvin’s creative vision, sending drafts and edits to Kelvin, who provided notes on color grading and transitions. “There was a lot of tweaking back and forth,” Sheng-Williams said. “We wanted to make sure it was as accurate as River wanted it.”

The music video was completed and released just after a week of filming, a testament to the group’s synergy. This unique art medium highlights the potency of artists with a shared creative vision. Still, as Sheng-Williams reflected, “There’s always more to learn.”