Standout Spartan: Morgan Smartt '25

Morgan Smartt ’25 spent four weeks this summer at The University of North Carolina School for the Arts School of Filmmaking, where they participated in a filmmaking and photography summer intensive. Morgan and their fellow creatives explored elements of visual storytelling, cinematography, directing, editing, and more.

“We learned about screenwriting, storyboarding, character development, directing, and more,” noted Morgan. “While I was familiar with a few of these, learning new skills like screenwriting and directing was an amazing experience!” For two of the four weeks, students were on set shooting films. 

“The first week was entirely classes on pre-production, and the last week was a bit of post-production and some specialty classes, including portrait photography,” explained Morgan. “We took photos using studio lights and colored gels — it was my first time using them, and it was exciting to bring my visions to life with this new equipment. I took a ton of photos of friends posing and experimenting with various light intensities and colors. And I took home the award for Best Portrait Photography! It was amazing seeing others’ work and having everyone appreciate mine.”