We were lucky to catch up with Elijah Horton recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Elijah, thanks for joining us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

As I became better at my craft as an editor and a videographer, I started to realize how freeing it was to be able as artistic as I wanted to be. I could pace the content, figure out the color tones of the visuals, and put whatever music I wanted behind it to set the mode for whoever would engage in what I created. The most meaningful project I have created to date might have to be a short video I put together when I went with my friends, and my wife to a Black Lives Matter march, where I took pictures and videos. The energy there was something I had never felt before in my life. With the whole world being in the middle of a pandemic and this country being at the height of a political travesty, it felt so important to document the history that was unfolding for myself and my fellow African American in this country. After capturing everything on my camera, I went home and cut a black-and-white video together with the pictures and shots I got to the tune of J. Cole’s “Intro” on his album “2014 Forest Hills Drive.” Even though I’m the one that put it together, it still makes me emotional every time I watch it, and I think that is what is most important when it comes to art. The emotions you get from it.

Elijah, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

For those who may not know me, my name is Elijah Horton, and I am a videographer, photographer, video editor, podcaster, writer, and cinephile; I am a jack of all trades and still trying to master at least one.

I got into this industry by going to school for it back in 2012 and going for my BA in film science. I’ve always had a love for movies and camera work ever since I was a child because my family would take me to the theater almost every weekend. When I got to college, my mom gifted me with my first camera, and that’s when I started to dig into my craft. I would go out and take pictures and videos with my roommate who was an artist and then come back home with them. I didn’t always edit or post pictures or videos, but just being able to work with the camera and continue to work on my craft motivated me to understand it better and figure out my potential. But there also were times when I would go out with a friend and shoot a music video and edit it all in one day. I realized that not everything has to be a grand production with a budget to be able to get something done.

Over the years I have picked the camera up a lot less and have become more of a full-time video editor, and that’s where I am most proud creatively. I love being able to take pictures and also be able to frame videos and movements with a camera, but the story I can tell when editing all of that is what is most beautiful to me. Being able to do that for my own projects and also bring other people’s visions to life is such a great feeling, especially when we can come to an agreement on what they want, or even when they don’t know what they want and I can bring it to life for them. There is no greater feeling.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

Something I think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative is the dedication to your projects and the toll that journey you are on can take on you. There are plenty of single creatives out there because they feel like they can’t be with someone that won’t understand the hours that they have to put in, and the time that it takes to create something. I am grateful to have found a partner in my life that understands what I have to do as a video editor, where there will some nights that she won’t be able to wait up for me because I have a project to stay up late to finish. But she understood who she was getting into a relationship with from the beginning. Not everyone has that luxury. Sometimes the non-creative that isn’t understanding could even be a family member, which can be very frustrating. The primary focus is to know that you believe in yourself and what you do, and all that other noise isn’t essential to your journey.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

The goal that is driving my creative journey is to look back at my journey and be proud of myself. Both sides of my family have a history of dementia, and it has always been a fear of mine that I will get it one day. I watch these videos on Youtube of these older folks with dementia that are shown videos of their younger selves dancing or listening to songs they made years ago, and all of a sudden they are transported back to that place again. I don’t know if there will be a Youtube or anything to bring up these smaller videos I’ve made. but if I ever get to a place where someone has to show me a video of my past work to get me to remember something, I just want to be proud of it. I want to be filled with a wave of nostalgia that brings me back to a time when I was directing something magical or edited something profoundly creative.

Contact Info:

• Website: elijahhortonmedia.com
• Instagram: @elijahhortonmedia
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elijahhorton1/
• Twitter: @ThatGuyEliH
• Other: https://boxd.it/EnZH

Image Credits
All me