A double major in cinema and media studies and creative writing, Mendelson was eager to take on the challenge. He’d followed the pandemic closely since its earliest days. “And so I wanted to do something about it, something to express how it has impacted people's lives. I’m grateful that it has not [led to] something horrible in my life, but I know that for millions of Americans, it has had a direct impact on them and their loved ones.”
His videos are part of wehaveloved.com, a website created by composer and producer Ira Antelis as a musical memorial. Antelis asked Mendelson to create the videos to accompany instrumental songs that Antelis composed.
For the first song, titled A Moment is All We Have, Mendelson used images and relatively few written words to complement the piece. The result was a video that has had upwards of 250,000 views and counting.
Devin Mendelson ’22
Hometown: Chicago, Ill.
High School: Latin School of Chicago
For the second, A World In Mourning, Antelis asked Mendelson to use words rather than images. A lover of puzzles, Mendelson thought of a Scrabble board. “I’ve always been good at Scrabble. My dad hasn’t beaten me since he taught me how to play,” he said. The resulting video of interconnecting white words on a black background is starkly compelling. Mendelson has high expectations that it will exceed the number of views the first video received.
He’s hoping his first paying job making a video will be followed by many more. And movies. Mendelson aspires to a career as a director and/or screenwriter. “I always loved shows, and I love creative writing. And I love seeing stories put onto the screen. I really like the relationship between stories that are written and the visualization of said stories on the screen,” he said.
