Open Studios: Dana Delaney

Senior Dana Delaney describes her artwork and process as a Visual Arts major

Kelly Kennedy | Managing Editor | The USD Vista

On her love for videography:

“This is my most recent work I’ve done [pictured to the right], it’s a music video to ‘Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend’ by Marilyn Monroe. It was kind of a pun on the lyrics and I really liked doing the special effects. The assignment was to do different layers and effects for the video. I started in Premiere and then I did special effects in After Effects. I [also] made [a short film] in my hometown, it’s more like a play on horror films. It featured a funny murder scene. My main work is editing and I love doing special effects. That’s kind of what my senior thesis is going to focus on.”

On her upcoming senior thesis:

“I’m not 100 percent going to focus on this, and I might change it, but the plan so far is to have two projections on the side of the wall. The videos are going to be clips of nature — I’m going to film a bunch of different parks — and it’s supposed to be relaxed and immerse the viewer into the environment. Then the second loop would be cut with parts of the human body and the interaction between the two. The third part would be choppier edits to show how people are a part of nature, so it would go through those three loops. I really love doing visual effects and working with the camera.“

On being a transfer student:

“My major at DePaul was Digital Cinema and it focused so much more on computer work. I learned so much editing software, which I really liked working with, but here [at USD] you’re required to take drawing, sculpture, painting — a wider variety of art classes that I never would have taken. I probably wouldn’t have taken Visual Communications, which is one of my favorite classes now. I feel more pushed to use my imagination and creativity — it totally expanded my abilities. I liked DePaul and thought that they had a strong program, but they didn’t require me to broaden my horizons, and now I feel much more skilled in different areas.”