Film / Video Studies
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John Cessna
B.A. 2007
John Cessna, originally from Elkhart, IN, graduated from the Film Studies program in the spring of 2007 with Full Honors and Distinction. In addition, he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa honor society and was the winner of the College of Liberal Arts Outstanding Senior Award, representing the Interdisciplinary Studies Department. While at Purdue, he worked for WCCR radio station, played violin in the Purdue Symphony, and was a member in several other campus organizations.
While at Purdue, John directed and produced several short films/photography pieces, receiving frequent honors from the Purdue Digital Cinema Contest as well as the Purdue Photo Club's All-Campus Photo Contest. He had pieces featured in the Patti and Rusty Rueff Art Gallery, a news segment played on Purdue's Fast Track student news program, and in the Spring of 2007, helped create the "Films of Scorsese" course, also serving as its TA.
John is currently pursuing his Master of Fine Arts degree from Purdue in Studio Arts, specifically he's a part of the new Electronic and Time-Based Media program. His research and body of work revolves around the role of the Post-Modern generation's views on media and film and their ability to question and foreground current media genres. He currently holds an assistantship with Bill Callison in the Elliott Hall of Music helping Callison write his first textbook on video production. The text is slated for adoption at multiple universities, including Purdue, for use in the Technical Video Production course, a hands-on lab based class teaching students the ins and outs of working in the world of live video, as well as instilling the foundations of basic film/video production.
Most recently, John finished a video piece entitled "Movements in Rhythm and Edit" featuring original music and choreographed dancers performing in an abandoned industrial space. The performances are edited in chapters to represent the major movements in film editing. The piece was a featured favorite in the "Over Amused" installation-art show in West Lafayette's Jacques Building. John also just finished principal photography on his half-hour long musical film tentatively titled, "The Penny"