Well, this is the last blog you’ll see me write anytime soon. I can’t say it’s been an enjoyable experience. I really don’t like blogging. I understand the reason for it and I get the importance of it but that doesn’t mean I like doing it.

I love to write, don’t get me wrong but I am a traditionalist….you remember journals don’t you? That is what I like to write in. I feel more connected when I have a pen and piece of paper at the ready. I am a tactile person, I like to feel and smell the paper, the book, hell, even a newspaper would be better than a computer. To write things and then send them out into the void or rather the big black hole I call cyber space is so impersonal and weird to me.

I am basically a shy and private person so writing things and letting strangers read my entries is (in my eyes) kind of creepy. Blame my sense of old-schoolness on my parents, family, friends of said family, I grew up watching the classic spaghetti westerns, cult classics and listening to ’60s and ’70s classic rock. I am a walking contradiction: I have traditional values, yet I am all for human rights and women’s lib. I could get into why I dislike technology but that would take forever. Suffice to say, yes it has its uses but I have gone literally months without the net and have not missed it one bit. 

So, I am happy to say this is the last blog, well at the moment for me should anything interesting ever happen in the future, I’m sure I’ll blog about it but for now…tata!

So over the past few months I’ve had my fair share of mishaps. Finding stories are always challenging especially when you can’t find people to talk to you or get back to you. I’ve had a few this semester which have caused plenty of angst. 

For example, the story I am working on now for Inside Angle has been a lot of fun. But the date for the story had to be pushed back because it just wasn’t coming together. It was tough getting people to communicate and now that I have two interviews down (I went out yesterday with Nathan) and he and I shot more than I know what to do with. It’s going to be so hard to get it down to 7 - yes, 7 minutes and I have two more shoots left. They are going to be awesome! But this weekend is going to be a blur. 

Another example is a story I am trying to do for my last feature. I’ve got two interviews and crappy b-roll so when I email the person I’m trying to to the story on, to ask for more stuff, she won’t get back to me! I am praying to the universe that this will all work out but at the moment, I am stuck. I’m also hoping another story will pan out but I won’t hear back for another few hours and it is driving me nuts. Note to self: I must learn patience but I don’t have time for it. 

  So needless to say, I’m a little freaked right now. I wish it would all just work out the way I want it too. That is of course the reason it’s not at the moment and I really don’t like it. There is so much to do and so little time to do it in….sigh. 

For my first story for Inside Angle, I did it on a riding stable that is specifically for people with disabilities. It was so much fun. I went there three times to shoot and interview people and it has turned out really well. Christine came with me for one of the shoots which worked out really well as she got a lot of stuff that I hadn’t and it worked out great! My brother provided the music, which was perfect for the piece.

The interviews were great. this one kid - Trevor, has Downs and you can tell he is a ham. He loved being in front of the camera, laughing and pointing it out whenever it was facing his direction and during the interview, he was great! He got right into the spirit of what he was doing and showed my what posting is (up, down) he said.

Val was another one of my interviewees. She was great and eager to help. Although it was difficult to understand what she was saying - she has Cerebral Palsy, I was able to make it out enough to write the subtitles down. It turned out fine.

Being around the people and the horses was a great deal of fun. It brought me back to when I used to ride and it made me miss it even more than I already do. The smell, the sounds, the atmosphere was how I remembered it, even though it was a different stable entirely. I really appreciate all the support I had with this piece, everyone was happy to do it and that was really special for me. 

So I started my practicum with Community Support Connections. You know, the people who do Meals on Wheels? We are doing two videos, a Thank you video for doners and supporters and a video about the company itself. The history of it and where they are going to in the future.

We are working on the thank you video right now and have had a couple of shoots and interviews with some of the people who receive support. The people there are amazing as are the people in need of the support. We met more than one really interesting person and I can’t wait to meet more. Of the many people we’ve met, a couple stick out in my mind. There was this one lady who used to be a singer in the big band days. Though she only sang in Kitchener, it was still huge and she turned out to be the sweetest person. Another lady we talked to is blind but she was once a radio personality at a country (gospel) station. She had pictures in her apartment of her and Hank Williams Sr as well as the guy who wrote “You are my Sunshine.” Who’d have thought?!

Every person you meet has a story and a bit of history locked inside them and it is part of my job to unlock that history, that information that could very well be buried if the story isn’t told. Everyone we’ve met so far has a story, some more interesting and out of the ordinary than others but each little piece when put together becomes a larger piece and in turn becomes a puzzle. And it is that which I find fun and exciting. 

I no doubt have plenty more people to meet, what will their secret histories be I wonder?

Looking back on this semester, I can only say one thing: WOW! Yes, we have another month to go but it has been non stop and I find myself missing or rather forgetting what I’ve done these last three months.

This semester has been a struggle from start to well now. My first practicum was a flop, after having a meeting in December and corresponding throughout, it turns out everything we talked about in meeting was for not. It made me feel like such a heel for bailing but what was I to do? When I’m told we want 18 set ups done in 3 hours, and I’m required to have 80 hours worth of shooting, editing and packaging, I don’t think so! But all is not lost, I got in touch with another group and it is now going fine. Because my lost opportunity cost me much time, I am worried about getting the hours I need to graduate. 

  This semester also brought in new courses along with this practicum conundrum. Media Essentials has been interesting…I am terrible at it. I am a Final Cut person. I am slowly figuring out Premier but is and has been a struggle. And when I say slow, I mean slow….but I am using it. I do enjoy the technology and find the class fascinating, I do however find myself lost at times, so it is one of the major stresses I have to deal with at the moment. 

Inside Angle has proved interesting. It turns out I really love it! I switched from Documentary to News Producer and found out that it was pretty much the same thing only we are doing a show for Rogers. Not too bad really.

519 continues to be amusing. Stories fall apart all the time or never come through to begin with. This time we’ve included segments. I’ve been doing entertainment. Celebrities never cease to amaze me when looking up ideas for the segment, the stuff they come up with is ridiculous. But that’s the way of Hollywood isn’t it? It’s why we ahem…love them.

So over all, we’ve been very busy which of course has made the year flown by but no one these days is sleeping well. I’ll be looking forward to getting back to normal.

Merry Christmas everyone and have a happy New Years too! See you next semester!

My feature…thought it was a good assignment until…well…I had to do it. I had four interviews and they all went swimmingly. Then I came back to the school to dump the three I had so far into the computer and OH…MY…GODDDDD! It was nightmare after nightmare!!!

First off, when I went to dump my footage onto my hard drive I didn’t realize you’re suppose to dump a whole project folder into the drive and name it. After you take the SD card out first, of course. So the computer asked me if I wanted to “replace” the files that were names the same with the new ones and I said no….so what do I do? I change the names of the files. And that’s where the problems start.

You see, I thought I was renaming the files in the drive…turns out I was renaming the RAW files off the chip and it was corrupted. Yay me. Then, everything went to hell. Thankfully I had some help and my missing/corrupted files were recovered (somewhat) but I had to convert them into SD to make it all work….again, yay me.

When this all happened (last Saturday) I had an interview later on and wanted to scrap it but was talked out of my rash decision. So I dried my tears and went to do the interview with the little girl’s family. And that turned out to be AMAZING. I came back with not only great footage, but also touched. This four-year-old is going through life with a lot of s*** to deal with and she was smiley (most of the time I was there) and sweet as can be. It was a real treat to meet them and I hope to work with them in the future. 

So anyway, long story short, we got everything going and I was able to finish ahead of time.