Jacob, The Listener

June 30, 2011 3 Comments

Months before my sister got pregnant with her second son I had a dream of him. I was carrying him on my back like the Native American women and taking care of him. In the dream I remembered thinking, “He is different, he is deep.” I woke up excited for this baby boy to exist. She soon announced she was pregnant and gave birth to him earlier this year.

Today I was spending time with Jacob and discovered he is a great listener. My dream was right, he was different. He is five months and I can already tell. We went outside to enjoy the fresh air and I found myself talking to him about all sorts of things. I told him about Central Park in New York, the streets of Sydney and how I loved it there but missed the family. I held on to his little hand and told him about the season change and the joy of Summer. I later wondered how he was able to get me talking like this. When his older brother, David was a baby, I never knew what to talk about. David would just look at me and make me feel so dumb. haha.

Jacob smiles every time I kiss him and even laughs at my jokes. He also doesn’t mind watching me edit on my computer. Call me crazy, but Jacob is one of the coolest people I know. I am thankful to be a part of his life.

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Tips for New Working Video Editors

June 29, 2011 Leave a comment

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I’ve edited for nine years, so sometimes I forget there is so much for a new editor to learn. I wrote down some of the things I had to learn as a new editor. Some points are my opinion but break the rules at your own risk. :)

Tips for New Working Video Editors

  1. Use common sense.
  2. Watch examples, get inspired but don’t completely copy.
  3. Don’t be lazy, fix the shot, color, animation, or re-export.
  4. Keep text within the title safe.
  5. Copy and paste all your text from a word document so it can pick up miss spelled words.
  6. Make text large enough to read.
  7. Say no to RED text. Make it maroon. Red doesn’t process well in video.
  8. Make your text constant if creating lower thirds.
  9.  Lower thirds= graphics on the bottom of the screen.
  10.  If text is supposed to follow the speaker, have the text appear as they say it, unless instructed otherwise.
  11. Work smart to save time.
  12.  Save your work, turn on auto save on final cut and after effects.
  13.  Do the ground work, its worth the extra time. (templates, research, shot list,etc)
  14. Learn keyboard short cuts.
  15.  Takes notes when learning from someone. It’s ok to ask questions the first time but learn to figure out the answer on your own. Goggle is your best friend and creative cow forms are great too.
  16.  Learn the company’s “culture” or style when it comes to language, and delivering information.
  17.  Find where your video storage is on the IT network.
  18.  You can break the rules when you are giving permission and freedom.
  19.  Know and understand your EXPORT settings. Where is the video going to be played?
  20.  Understand video compression.
  21.  Find which video compression works best for your work and then make it a custom setting. (After Effects)
  22.  After Effects, learn how to render your videos correctly. It will save time.
  23.  Check your frame dimensions, frame rate, aspect ratio, final file size when video is completed.
  24.  Delete old versions of your video/renders that have mistakes on them. 1)They will appear and haunt you, confuse you, and take up file space.
  25.  Make the person on screen/company look good.
  26.  Edit out: Awkward moments, silences, expressions, mistakes. (Unless you are editing for TMZ)
  27.  Be proactive and inventive.
  28.  There are 100 ways of doing something but learn the old process first, understand it then fix it.
  29.  Don’t be offended when someone is training, teaching, correcting, critiquing you. They are there to help you grow in your skill as well seeing the job is done right.
  30.  If you don’t like the video you are creating, start over. Don’t waste time trying to make something work.
  31.  Take care of your hand, get a wilcom tablet.
  32.  Label your tapes and footage!
  33.  Don’ think no one will notice your mistakes, THEY WILL.
  34.  Understand NTSC/PAL and other international TV standards.
  35.  Work on your audio. Keep levels around (-12 to -16). Soundtrack pro is great for this. You can export your audio mix from FCP to Soundtrack. Don’t make your narration compete with your soundtrack.
  36. Double check your work, review your video more than once.
  37. Don’t think you know everything, expect to learn the rest of your life.
  38. Spend time living real life.
  39. Carry a note book with you to write down video ideas.
  40. LEARN FORM YOUR MISTAKES.

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Event: Dinosaurs, Lunch and Conan

June 26, 2011 2 Comments

You never know what will happen in LA. Today I took a trip out to the city with a friend to visit the Dinosaur exhibit. To my surprise, nothing was real.

For lunch we took a drive to sunset to eat at my favorite place. Molly’s opened up in the 20′s. I was sad to learn that they are closing. Eating out side on Molly’s bar is a real LA experience. It’s cool to see the different people who walk up to the window, the small chat that goes on between customers as they sit side by side together. There was this homeless man who walked by and made eye contact with me. I told my friend that the man looked like James Brown, my friend then said, “James Brown is dead.” I’m going to miss Molly’s Burgers. Their food is delicious.  We continued on our adventure to see, “Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop” in Bel Air. The neat thing is film maker and star were going to be there after the film to talk to the audience.

A lot of the staff and people who were in the documentary was there. Watching it with them made the movie experience real. Some people asked stupid questions but this one guy asked, “How do you want to be remembered?” to Conan. He was taken by the question and said he would like people to remember he did the best with what he had and that he was nice to people. “Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop” is extremely funny. I laughed every thirty seconds.

Another great day in LA.

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Photo Shoot: Defender of Beauty

June 25, 2011 1 Comment

defender (noun)
1 protector, guard, guardian, preserver; keeper, overseer.

Krista not only teaches young girl how to do ballet but she is truly a defender of their beauty. She believes in teaching young girls from an early age what it is to be beautiful; to believe in themselves and to display the gift God has given them. I am always inspired when I see her dance. I was honored enough to take some photos of her in her new studio.

Every photo was my favorite.

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Between Now and Then

June 23, 2011 Leave a comment

A few years ago my dad shared a youtube video with me. It was of a motivation speaker named Les Brown. I laughed at how old fashion the graphics and studio audience looked but once I started listening he caught my attention. He spoke about inner conversation about our dreams, that our worst enemy can be ourselves.

“If you wanna keep on getting what’cha getting, keep on doing what’cha doing.”

“You are the director of your life.”

“The future is unfolding for you right now, its unlimited.”

“No one knows where you can go..you don’t even know that.”

“If you aren’t willing to risk, you can not grow, and if you can not grow, you can not become your best, and if you can not become your best, you can not be happy, and if you can not be happy, then what else is there.”

I was so impacted and encouraged I saved the video to my itunes.

This week it came up on my shuffle. I let it play and to my surprise a lot of what he was saying I had overcome. I realized the growth of my inner conversation. I no longer talked my self out of my dreams but now I was encouraging myself. Positive growth doesn’t happen over night, it took a journey. Don’t let your life pass you by, be encouraged, all things are possible, dreams take hard work. So endure till the end. :)

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