My final project explores montage editing in a video essay format. I went with a 90s aesthetic camcorder of a forest, and stylistically made it like a personal diary entry. I was inspired by no specific video in particular, however, I was trying to mimic the nostalgic feeling of the late 2000s YouTube vlogs. They still exist today in crisp 1080p, but I found a new digital camera at Goodwill and immediately knew how to utilize it. I also felt that the theme of change worked well because, in a sense, graduating (at least at my age) feels like that final step into becoming an adult, and the video is a sort of diary on this trail that I spent a lot of time on in my youth. It showcases how change is inevitable, yet it is necessary to grow. That fear of growing up is still and probably will always be prevalent, and I believe this is a pivotal moment in my life. While I am accepting of change, by revisiting the trail conceptually and trying to fit the aesthetics of the 90s stylistically, I try to convey a bittersweet clinging to and release of my youth. The trail has changed in many ways, some good, some bad, but because of changes like these, I have also changed to become a better person. I focused on still and panning shots because my camera is only 480p, and the digital zoom was abysmal at best, and I felt that the restriction of only shooting close/far shots allowed me to be more creative in how I framed and told the story. Originally, I had planned on focusing mostly on wildlife, i.e, squirrels, birds, snakes, crawdads, but they were not interested in being a part of the project, so I had to focus more on the storytelling aspect to make it interesting. After reworking the script due to the lack of wildlife, it led me to feature my cats, which is the best part of the project!