Practical Project Portfolio (3)

I am making progress.

At least I hope so. I've made a start on two of my essays, the contextual one about the role of the editor, and the write-up of my work experience placements. They're going pretty well - although at the moment they're more in the planning stages than the actual writing phase. I want to sort exactly what I want to say in them, and get all my research down for the contextual essay before I actually write them up. But to be honest I don't see them being too difficult. I find writing quite easy really, and I know it's just a matter of sitting down and doing it. The work experience write up in particular shouldn't be too challenging, and I'm hoping to get it done before I go on holiday to Mauritius (!) next week. I just need to try to remember exactly what it was that I did and what I learned whilst I was on my placement (s). And as for the contextual essay, if I can get about half of it done before I leave for the sunshine I'll be happy.

I'm still working on the trailer mashup, and it's coming along nicely. Then I'll begin work on the other parts of the showreel - my own work and a re-cut trailer. I haven't decided which film yet tho...I'm thinking of doing a REALLY terrible film, and completely changing the look of it in the trailer, like doing it in a different style, or using secondary characters or something like that, to totally alter people's perceptions of the film that was previously conceived to be absolute rubbish. Any suggestions?

Wakey! Wakey!

Last night I went to a very intimate gig Upstairs at the Relentless Garage in Highbury, London, to see the incredible band Wakey! Wakey! Some of you might know who I mean if I say that the lead singer is Michael Grubbs, of One Tree Hill fame. With the set list including the songs 'Dance So Good', 'Brooklyn' and 'Light Outside', Grubbs had the 150 person audience in the palm of his hand within seconds, his beautiful voice and haunting lyrics ringing true in the hearts of every person there.

Wakey! Wakey! album artwork

"So yeah it feels bad now, but it's gonna get better someday" is just one such line from the song 'Almost Everything' that makes me love this band. It's just so perfect...it's applicable to any situation and is uplifting even in the hardest of times.

And what can I say about the man himself? Michael Grubbs is a very very talented man, a true artist. And he's really funny too - he was cracking jokes all the way through the set, even telling one about Kid Cudi getting kicked off the Lady Gaga tour for an altercation with a fan, regarding an unfortunate misunderstanding over some wallet throwing!

It's on nights like these that I'm reminded why it is I love music so much. When the artist just loves to play, and when every person is a true fan, there for the music, not the celebrity, or to jump on the bandwagon.

I even got a photo with Mr Michael Grubbs, the star of the show!

The gig was so small that it wasn't even the whole band, just Grubbs and his violinist, making it even more special...I'm not sure how many times that's ever going to happen again.

These guys are going places, and fast.

If what I've described sounds like it's up your street, then the full band will be playing another gig at the same venue in January, check out their website for more details.

Practical Project Portfolio (2)

Over the last week I've been busy planning out what I'm going to be doing for my final project. Last week I mentioned what is going to be in my portfolio, and since then I've been working on a few more ideas, particularly for my showreel, as this is the section that I can really start working on straight away, without having to wait for production to start on the two 10-minute films that I'll be editing.

Obviously a showreel needs to display different skills and qualities, so I intend to include a variety of my work, past and present:

• One of my main interests is travel, and I have made quite a few films about the places I have visited, so I will be using parts of these and re-cutting them into the showreel (including my STA application videos, which I believe to be some of my best work to date).
• I will also be using footage from the films I have made over the last few years (whether in the role of director, producer, camera operator or editor), as I feel it is important to show my abilities in editing different styles - my work includes silent films, comedies, dramas and music videos.
• I am also very interested in the speciality of promos and trailers, so I will be creating my own trailer of an already release feature film...and which film? Well, that I'm not sure of yet. On my list are Into The Wild, Lords of Dogtown, Almost Famous, and (to go for a cheesy teen movie) 17 Again (If you have any suggestions or ideas for what film I should do, just comment below)
• Finally, as discussed last week, I will be cutting a trailer mashup of The Breakfast Club and Ocean's Eleven, using the visuals from OE, and the audio from TBC. I've already started on this one, and it's proving a lot of fun.

I'm also trying to make a start on my contextual essay, which is going to be about the role of the editor in a professional context. I've been doing a bit of research and at the moment I'm reading a book by award winning editor Walter Murch, called 'In The Blink Of An Eye', which is all about different editing styles and the reasoning behind why we cut films, and how it works. It's really fascinating, and I hope to focus a part of my essay on Murch and his editing theories.

So that's all for now...I'll let you know how I've been getting on with everything in next week's post.