On Company Time: Art Inspiration with Kel Embry

We were curious about how each of our editors brings their own special alchemy to their work. While there are many ways to cook an egg, skin a cat, and dream a dream, one constant is that we take inspiration from our predecessors.

Starting with Kel Embry, we wanted to know, is there an artist who influences your editing, and could you explain why?

"My answer would have to be Emma Portner, she's a contemporary dancer/choreographer (now musician for a band called Bunk Buddy that I randomly found and loved, only to find out weeks later that it was her).

It all started in 2017 when I saw this (below) for the first time. Not only did it introduce me to what would become one of my favorite bands of all time, but it broke my brain in a delightful way. It feels like both fiction and nonfiction, there are definitely choreographed moments, but also some that feel like discoveries in the moment. As with a lot of contemporary dance, there are movements that are not directly rhythmically connected to the music.

I started following her on Instagram and she would just post these little daily dances, eventually bringing Elliot Page into the mix, and it was cool to see them learning together. Emma has this cool way of veering left when you would assume you should go right.

When I started editing, I really learned the software and discovered my love for it by cutting random things I’d filmed around campus to whatever music was inspiring me at the time. So many squirrel music videos, and of course, when you're starting, it's just cutting on the beat. Which, don't get me wrong, is effective as a starting point, but Emma's choreography sort of challenged me to find those moments where you can do something more unexpected. 

When you're building to this big moment, how can you make that climax feel like an actual reveal and not just the obvious conclusion? Sometimes that means taking a swing for the fences that's a total whiff, and sometimes it means trying alt mic drop moments that end up making the edit feel fresh."

Check out some fresh edits from Kel here.