When I think of a montage, the 1976 classic Rocky comes to mind. I picture the underdog “has-been" boxer running through the foul streets of Philly to Bill Conti's iconic soundtrack in a grey sweatsuit. To me, this movie — this scene in particular— embodies what cinema can be. Given the task of creating a video montage, the training montage from Rocky was an obvious thematic inspiration for me.

The academic project was assigned when the world was in lockdown and I was recovering from Covid; it had to be completed by a one-person team with limited access to real estate. I wrote a story that would fit within the constraints of my situation, storyboarded the shots, shot footage on my phone with a makeshift tripod while I performed, edited the footage, and composed the music on a DAW. The project was complete from conception to delivery within a week.