I've Moved

Hey guys, I've moved!

You'll find my new blog at www.rooaroundtheworld.com

Practical Project Portfolio (5)

Over the last week I have mostly been focusing on my dissertation and getting a solid first draft done so that I can really turn my attention to this project, because knowing me, once I properly start the editing on the various parts of my portfolio, I won't stop, and everything else will be out of the window!

Other than that, there's not much to report. I'm slowly chipping away at this mountain of work that seems to be piling up, but I'm not too worried about it...there's plenty of time to get it all done. Actually, right now I'm working out a Project Plan that encompasses everything from my dissertation, to extra curricular activities, to each individual part of this project. This will allow me to set myself weekly/monthly targets and tick them off as I go along, which I love as it give a real sense of achievement when you know you've completed something.

I've also been sampling a few songs that could be possibilities for my showreel, and at the moment I'm really loving the song 'Welcome Home' by Radical Face, as it fits with exactly what I want - with some slow and gentle moments and then a build up to something with a faster pace, so that I can exemplify different styles within the one showreel.

That's all for now. More to come soon.

Post-holiday, Pre-uni blues

Now that my lovely, beautiful, sunny holiday in Mauritius is over and my friends have all gone home after our New Year's celebrations in London, it is back to the grind of work work work, dissertation, dissertation, dissertation. And I've got to say it's thoroughly depressing. The only thing keeping me going is the thought that in just over 5 months time (on the 20th of May, to be more specific), all of this will be over. My work will be done and dusted, and all handed in, leaving me free to enjoy a few weeks of a Cornish Summer, before I (fingers crossed) head out to America to begin my Summer Camp adventure!

And after that...it's a round the world trip with my best mates. So enjoy me while you can, England, I'm gonna be gone for quite some time!

Hello, Sunshine

For Christmas I went to Mauritius with my (very extended) family...that is, my dad, my elder sister, my two younger half-sisters, my ex-stepmum, her new boyfriend, and their two-year-old (whom I consider my sister). See, I told you it was complicated.

The view from my sun lounger

Because of all the snow in London, we nearly didn't even make it there, which would have been an absolute disaster, but has luck would have it, it stopped snowing for just long enough so we could make it out of the country...we were the first flight out to Mauritius for five days! Phew...Christmas would have been lame if we hadn't been able to go - we'd already done Christmas dinner and presents and everything, so that we wouldn't have to carry extra stuff on the plane.

Anyway, after a long 12 hour flight, we arrived in hot and sunny Mauritius and quickly sorted ourselves out in our rooms at the Sugar Beach Hotel on the west coast of the island and were soon lying on the beach, soaking up some rays. It was beautiful, with white sands and blue sea, a book in my hand, and music in my ears. What more could a girl ask for?

Family Lunch

Over the week, we did nothing and everything. Everyday we'd eat ourselves silly at the buffet breakfast then play in the pool and lie on the beach before having an incredible lunch of sushi, noodles, salads, burgers, grilled sandwiches, fish...we ate it all! After all that food we thought it would be best to do some exercise, so we'd all go off to the watersports hut and go sailing or kayaking or on a pedalo. And about halfway through the week I got a quick wind-surfing lesson and went out on the sea for a few hours, using every muscle in my body to pull up that hefty sail. It was so much fun, I didnt want to stop, but when a big fish decided to sink it's teeth into my foot I thought it was time to call it a day!

Sunset over the South Pool

In the evenings we'd go for dinner in one of the hotel's three restaurants - at the main buffet they had a different theme every night, so one night it was oriental food, one was Lebanese, and of course there was Christmas dinner on the day itself. After stuffing ourselves to excellent sufficiency, we'd head over to Tides bar for some cocktails and dancing. Well, I say dancing...but I really mean that Thalia (the 2-year-old) had the time of her life dancing to the live band, while the rest of us watch on, thinking how cute she was! On some nights there were also live dance shows, ranging from belly-dancing to a traditional Mauritian dance display on our last night, a fantastic way to end our stay.

So, if anyone fancies a Christmas getaway, I would definitely recommend Mauritius. It's got everything you could want and more. But most importantly, it's not cold, grey and wet, like England!

Practical Project Portfolio (4)

I've been away on holiday in Mauritius for Christmas and so have had no internet for over a week, hence the late blog post.

To be honest, I'm a little ashamed to say that there's not much to report in the way of progress. This is due to hectic-ness of family and Christmas, and of course a holiday in the sunshine! I have, however, managed to complete one of my 2000 word essays - the contextual one about the theoretical and practical aims for my portfolio. I'm pretty pleased with it, and I feel that it succinctly sums up what I want to get out of this project and why I'm doing it, looking into what influences me as an editor and the different theories that I can apply to the individual projects in this portfolio, whether they are a music video, a documentary or a trailer.

The trailer mash-up of The Breakfast Club and Ocean's Eleven is getting there, but it's pretty slow going, as matching up audio of one film to the video of another is a lot harder than I thought it would be! I've also begun to make plans for what pieces of work I'm going to include in my showreel, so as to best display my skills as an editor using different genres and styles

So at the moment progress may be a little slow, but I know that once this Christmas/New Year's period is over,  I will get straight back to it and try to get as much done before term begins as possible.