Photo Courtesy of Dung Phu

Meet the person behind the lens.

BY CASSIE SMITH, STAFF WRITER

Have you ever wondered who is behind a lot of the videos for clubs around Mason? Majoring in Communication with a concentration in Media Production & Criticism, Senior Vincent Nguyen has taken on the challenge of creating cinematic pieces for various groups on campus and creating a name for his work.

For Nguyen, his interest in creating videos started at an early age, when his dad got him a Sony Handycam for his 12th birthday. Almost instantly, he was taking his new camera everywhere he could and using it for a multitude of things, including school projects, where he would use his Handycam to give unique presentations. 

Nguyen has filmed videos for many groups and events on campus including but not limited to the NCAA Men’s Volleyball tournament, campaign videos for Mason Student Government members, and videos for numerous on-campus clubs.

“I have a huge passion for videography and content creation,” said Nguyen. “Most of what I do is filming content for different on-campus organizations and editing together a quick video they can post on their social media.”

Nguyen has earned multiple awards for his work in videography, his biggest being an award from the National Academy of Television & Arts and Science for a promotional video he did for the Department of Communication. The video was originally for a final project in his Introduction to Media Production class, but to his surprise, it won an award.

“Eventually, we released the video but I had no idea that [my professor] went ahead and submitted the video to the Academy,” said Nguyen. “One day I was just walking through campus with my friends and I coincidentally bumped into the professor who notified me that we had won this prestigious award.”

Nguyen has achieved other successes outside of his awards, such as the joy of seeing the impact of his work and hearing positive feedback from clients.

Nguyen says that being a Mason student helped him find a support system. “Mason has helped me develop my skills tremendously over the last few years. I’ve been fortunate enough to meet the right people who believed in me and helped guide me in the right direction,” said Nguyen.

Nguyen shares challenges that he faced along the way, such as originally attempting to go into Computer Science before he soon realized his passion for videography.

“As I was entering college, I was prepared to listen to my parent’s advice and choose Computer Science as a major.” Said Nguyen. “However, when my classmates and I were signing yearbooks on the last day of my senior year in high school, my English teacher wrote in my yearbook that he noticed my passion for film and hoped that I pursue it in some way or another. It was then that I realized I should choose the career I loved.”

Nguyen’s advice for newcomers to videography? He says regardless of the type of equipment you may or may not have, have a positive attitude and keep trying. “The best learning experiences are always hands on, so keep practicing to shoot in any different scenarios and which settings work best.” said Nguyen

“The more you practice, the better you’ll become. More importantly, have a positive attitude. People choose who they want to work with and it’s important to be professional and a fun person to work with.” 

Vincent’s work can be seen on his Instagram and portfolio website.