Student Highlight: Dylan Gabbard 

Dylan Gabbard can be described with many titles: a film lover, a video game player, a friend, and, above all else, a creative. Since he was 9 years old, he has created various personal video projects. However, if you ask him, he will claim his best pieces of work came much later.  

Dylan has been a part of many film projects in his personal and professional life. He was part of his high school’s broadcasting team for all four years, and, as a Video Team Specialist, Dylan is an integral part of the Digital Corps.  

“I just like being creative in all aspects.” 

Being a part of the Digital Corps, Dylan has had many opportunities to delve into the world of filming and editing educational and promotional videos. However, his favorite projects are creating long-form videos that have more creative freedom. 

He speaks fondly on two long-form video-based projects he worked on for two Ball State clients: Bracken Library and the Health Clinic. These projects involved scripts filled with characters, unique storylines, and interesting shots that differentiated from the average video project. 

“It’s one of those things where you look through the footage and say, ‘I don’t have something in my reel that looks like this.’ And that’s cool. That’s really cool.” 

Dylan is a very outgoing individual and has taken charge in many groups throughout his career. During high school he led his broadcasting group during his junior and senior years and has now become an admirable upperclassman on the Digital Corps Team.  

It’s clear Dylan has worked on a multitude of projects with many different students, but it took time and effort to collaborate successfully with others. 

“It has made me a lot more aware of the fact that there is just so much behind-the-scenes work that goes into a project… I have been soaking in all of that and appreciating that and wanting that.” 

Recently, Dylan had the chance to work on a film project with a bigger crew than he had ever worked with before. This is a challenge he took on with the help of his experience at the Digital Corps. 

He took on the role as Director of Photography and collaborated with 25 other Ball State students to create a short film called, “Listen.” This project was lengthy and left him leaving the set every day realizing he learned something he did not know the day before.  

“I never really saw the point in cross-team collaboration unless it was directly related to the project, but now I do.” 

Dylan loves to make an impact and create. And tries to take even more time throughout his life to enjoy.  

When asked if he had anything else to add onto this spotlight Dylan said, “To anyone reading this blog, please watch the movie, ‘RRR’ on Netflix. It is a 3-hour-long Indian epic. It is a fictionalized story of two revolutionaries during the Indian Revolutionary War like a hundred years ago. It is the most crazy, beautiful, insane thing you will ever watch, and I recommend that everyone watches it.” 

Dylan getting some experience in an outside shoot. This shoot was for a Corps project and he had the chance to work with friend and coworker Matthew Barton.

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