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.

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.

As any montage reel, it can only go so far to show my storytelling abilities, so I encourage anyone interested, to contact me for a DVD version which has entire scenes and more examples of work.

Special thanks to David Weicht of Switchstance Recordings (Germany) for providing the music.

The Question, produced by Jason James, is an Omni Film production for CTV.

Update: just locked the first episode! 3 weeks and down to the wire, phew! It was a bumpy ride trying to get everything done: cutting the segments and developing a style for the show; getting held up waiting for graphics and music; gutting out chunks of the show, and replacing with stronger segments; writing, re-writing, re-shooting. And it's finally done. On to the next episodes...

We decided to go with 3 Canon XH-A1 cameras and 5 of Apple's latest Quad-Core Mac Pros for the basis of our workflow. Students will learn all steps of the filmmaking process, from both aesthetic and technical perspectives, gaining the necessary knowledge to use technology as storytelling artists. Accomplished, talented writers, cinematographers, editors and other crew will present an exciting, rewarding introduction to the film world. Students then have the opportunity of guaranteed admission to Capilano College if they should choose to further pursue film studies. Roll sound... roll camera... and action!

He hurried along like a shadow, until he reached an iron gate, so thick it could guard the finest of jewels or sickest of criminals. He fumbled his keys, drawing too much attention from the beggars nearby, and hurried in, slamming the doors behind with a reverberating rattle. Up the stairs he ran, and found a dark, lonely room where he sat himself in front of a strange machine with an ominous glow that only a crazed individual would choose to operate for long hours, days on end. There he found the world of Omni Post, in the heart of Gastown, Vancouver.

I am a tv/film editor, Avid by day, Final Cut Pro by night... actually sometimes I work night shifts on Avid, so it could go either way. When I started at Omni, I hadn't cut on the Avid for about two years. I was looking forward to getting back on that bronco. Oddly just before I reverted, fellow editor Shane Ross went through the same transition and posted about his experience making the switch. I enjoyed his comparisons, switching vicariously at the time. I knew I was a bit rusty, so before starting, I installed Avid Free DV on my system at home, and brushed away all the cobwebs. That really made the difference, and I hit the ground running, working on a lifestyle series called She's Crafty.

For a little background info, I learned Avid in school without prior knowledge of Final Cut Pro, and I really worked hard to learn how to edit quickly and efficiently, to know the system inside and out. When I graduated, I thought I better learn FCP, or have difficulty finding work. It took about 15 minutes to figure out the basics, and within a couple days I felt like I was equally strong on both systems. They are each great in their own right, but Avid is far more unruly when it comes to media management, I find, mainly because all media has to be in one place and file names are in Greek, whereas Final Cut Pro you can keep media separated per project and easily identify files just by looking at them. That's when it's invaluable to have a great Assistant Editor, and that we did!

This is kind of a random entry, so I can't think of any valuable conclusion, but I will say this: love your work, live your life. They go together, but need a separation. I am currently on vacation, and it is so nice to have some time off.