Journey of a Dream
I'm working on a new feature documentary about a Tibetan refugee born in exile, turned activist and heavy metal musician. The title is catchy, Journey of a Dream, and so far the editing, a journey of its own, has also been a dream. The cinematography is top notch, some of the best material I have ever worked with; will be award-winning for sure. The story is one-of-a-kind and compelling; it bridges too many genres to count: political/human rights, musimentary, travel/adventure. And the editing... well, I'm making the magic happen for an exhilarating cinematic experience.
Check out the Teaser (early promo) and more info at JourneyofaDreamMovie.com.
Journey of a Dream, Feature Documentary
Humble Beginnings
For those who don't know, I found a new space for my edit suite last October. I moved in on a Saturday, and was hard at work the very next day, cutting a music video for a new client. The space was embarrassingly baron. And cold. We all sat in office chairs, huddled around a space heater to keep warm. We got the job done. A couple months have now gone by, and the edit suite is feeling much more like an edit suite: comfy couch, halogen lighting, bigger desk, bigger and better monitors, blackburst generator (that I scored for $10!). Yep, now I just need a rug to tie the room together.
Quiet Summer, Loud Fall
'Bang!' or possibly 'kersmack!' are usually the sounds of loud falls, but in this case it's more of a hum (of the 60 Hz variant) and clack (of the keys). After enjoying much of the summer off, I am now enjoying a recent surge in demand for my services. I cut/composited a short film for the NFB, edited three EPK videos, and onlined two films- one experimental art, the other a documentary- even did a little DVD authoring for a colleague's reel.
More free-time this past summer meant I got to polish up my After Effects skills, which are now sharp and ready for action. They had gotten a little rusty from series work, which of course focuses primarily on the art of storytelling (and the art of fixing mistakes); the motion graphics and compositing needs are sent out to specialists, who can afford to take hours on a single shot or short sequence. But as a freelance editor, I find that a lot of clients expect an editor to possess motion graphics skills as well, and I am pleased to say that now more than ever I bring that to the table, the EDITING TABLE! Actually it's more of a desk than a table, but you get the idea.
Summer Makeover
Representing myself strictly as a Video Editor has never sat quite right- I am an artist in many forms of media- so I decided now is the time to update my website accordingly (check the photography page, and more to come). Long before I ever got into video and film, I studied photography (both in college and as a hobbyist). Even after devoting countless hours in the darkroom developing rolls and making prints, it made sense at the time to trade in my SLR for video, as in "..Killed the Radio Star," which definitely killed a part of me. As video took front and center in my career and led me into the wonderful world of film and Television, poor ol' photography sat in the rafters.
A couple years ago I blew over $800 on a fancy 32" High-Def TV, and quickly realized it was a total waste of money. I returned the idiot box a few days later, and exchanged it for something far more useful and beneficial to my quest to suck the marrow out of life- my first DSLR. It awakened something in me, like the old man in Amélie
who is anonymously returned a tin box he had accidentally left behind in the house he grew up in. My heart pounding with excitement, I stumbled out of the cave like a bear from hibernation and bought the cheapest tripod I could find! I hit the road for a little solo voyage and rediscovered the joy of slowing life to a single moment frozen in time.
Building on inspiration, I have decided to take my hobby a bit more seriously, and offer my photographic skill set as a service. I don't know if this move will lead me to become a photojournalist for the New York Times, or merely to make people look cool and contemporary, but what is certain is my ambition to aim for the highest vantage point, and shoot.
Catching Up: Past, Present and 2009
Computers love me, but I don't love them. I do my best to stay off the machines as much as possible when I'm not working. Therefore updates to my site are quite rare. Instead I prefer to occasionally rattle off a summary of activities since my last entry. This time I let nine months lapse without a post. For shame!
Since then, many projects have come through these hands:
- Viral video coinciding with an international grassroots campaign urging China to open a diplomatic dialogue with Tibet, leading up to the 2008 Summer Olympics in China
- 6-minute demo for a documentary being produced by the National Film Board of Canada
- Promotional video for the city of Powell River, BC
- Feature documentary, shot on Super 16mm, telling 'the legend of the dolphins' in an original, poetic narrative form
- Story-driven music video for the artist RUMI, shot on the RED One
- Short Biopic on visual artist David Pirrie
- Teaching at Tony Papa's film school in Powell River
This may seem like a lot of work, but I've had more down-time than usual, due of course to the recession. 2009 is definitely looking up though, and I'm getting excited about a number of projects on the horizon.
What We Do
Offline and Online Editing Services for Broadcast and Film: Features, Docs, TV Series, Shorts, Music Videos, and more. Workflow abilities include RED, XDCAM, Film, P2, HDV, BetaSP, DV and more. Avid and FCP. Over 10 years experience.
In the right hands,
editing is an art.
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- Journey of a Dream
- Humble Beginnings
- Quiet Summer, Loud Fall
- Summer Makeover
- Catching Up: Past, Present and 2009
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