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.

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.

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?

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.

Practical Project Portfolio (1)

So, for my Uni Practical Project Portfolio, I've been asked to keep a blog about what I'm getting up to and the progress I'm making with my work. I'm doing an Editing skills portfolio, so I'll be editing a couple of films and making some trailers. Sounds more like fun than work really, doesn't it?!

Firstly, here's my task list for the next few months (all of which I need to complete by the end of May next year):

1. A Contextualising Essay on the theoretical and practical aims and outcomes for and of the project.

2. 2 films plus 3 minute collection of trailers (own work, mash-ups and re-cut trailer)

3. Write up of work experience (2000 words)

4. This Blog (updated weekly)

5. A Self Reflective Essay (min 1500 words)

I'm pretty chuffed with this, as I can actually start a lot of it now, and get it done and dusted before production even begins on the two 10-minute films that I'm going to be cutting.

I'm most excited about the trailers part of the portfolio, especially after finding this, a mashup trailer of Toy Story 3 and Inception:


I'm going to be doing something similar to this, and at the moment I'm working on a trailer that combines The Breakfast Club and Ocean's Eleven, and then I'm thinking of doing one that merges Toy Story 1 with The Departed. So yeah, it's all under way!