Reminisce much? ...

Inspired by a blog post from my friend Trevor, I went back to the very first entry here on my blog.

I am kind of blown away at how different I am now. I don't yet know if I feel okay with who I am now, or if I am disappointed that I am not further along in my goals. On one hand, I am still at freaking CALARTS! Now that is never something to pooh-pooh. But on the other hand, I am not the success I had hoped for. I know that sounds so absolutely foolish and stupid, but everyone sets goals for themselves- and I had several. I've not fulfilled many of them. I know I work hard- though not always on the things I SHOULD be working on- THAT is going to be a big problem for me for the remainder of my time here, and possibly after I leave CalArts... But there are certain realities of my time here that I have had to accept. Certain sacrifices I have made in order to be here and be in this wonderful place. And yet, if I had not made these sacrifices, I don't think CalArts would be the journey it has proven to be.

This year has brought new challenges and obstacles and GIFTS that I would have never seen coming a little over 2 years ago. I am now an RA. I wouldn't exactly say that I didn't see it coming at all- I mean, I've applied every year I've been here and I had planned to continue applying until I couldn't do so any longer. But the manner that it happened and the WONDERFUL, WONDERFUL experience that it is already proving to be is something I never foresaw! I am simply with some of the nicest people ever! Last night while on duty, we laughed until we ached.

I have been honored with several opportunities this school year as well. I was interviewed by NPR on Tim Burton, along with three of my classmates. I was interviewed by the MPAA (Motion Picture Associate of America). I was invited to the Chuck Jones Centennial at REDCAT (my first time there), with the chance to meet John Lasseter. I didn't get introduced to him, but I did get to talk to Alice Davis (wife of Marc Davis- one of the Disney Nine Old Men) and she is a SPUNKY, saucy lady! I also got to speak with Chuck Jones' grandsons. These are things that were COMPLETELY unavailable to me when I lived in Texas. CalArts gave me this, and I am unbelievably grateful.

Now here I am trying to get my third year film off the ground. I am interested to look at this entry two years from now. I wonder how much I will have changed by then. Okay- off to work.

Makin' Short Films!

So, I am in my third? week of my third year at CalArts?  Wow...  Time is flyin'!  I have officially signed up for my Mid-Res on November 2nd- EEK!  But- more interesting than that to me: I have made THREE "short films" in three weeks.

OH YEAH!  I am having so much fun!

So I thought I would link to my three films for you, my chosen few blog-followers!

The first: The Perseid Meteor Shower at Vasquez Rocks (August 12th, 2012)

I took 30 second exposures constantly for about 2 or 3 hours.  I am really happy with it, since it is my first ever time-lapse video.  I know what mistakes I made and I have ideas how to fix them next time.

Speaking of next time!
My second film: My Cube Painting 2012- time-lapse

So, I made changes to my process.  I mounted the camera to a fixed tripod, which fixed the shaky, aspect- EXCEPT, over the 17 hours I shot this, the battery died about seven times and the only way to fix it was to unscrew the camera from the tripod, replace battery, then re-mount the camera, which, although it was fixed, it wasn't so tight on the mount that I got no camera movement at all...  I am sad.  But I am still figuring out ways to make it better next time!

The third: Scene 189 of Star Wars- UNCUT!

This video is a collaboration between my friend, Harlan (Harley) Scroggins and myself.  Star Wars- UNCUT is a fan-made project, where the entire film is cut into 15 second sections and fans all over the world can film the sections any way they want.  Since Harley and I are such Star Wars fans, we just decided to bite the bullet and go for it!  We divided the work in half and pumped this baby out!  This was so much fun!  I'd like to try another scene perhaps for the next film.

So, I hope you enjoy!