Editing Luke in 2011

Of all the years in recent memory, 2011 was undoubtedly a challenging one for me.  It felt like a year of uphill battles, where every positive moment was directly followed by a heavier negative one.  Coming off of what was an epic year of successes, I suppose that 2011 had the deck stacked against it to begin with.  However, each year brings a new chapter to the story, and through all of the experiences I felt I discovered a lot more about myself and the people around me.  In retrospect, I did do more than thought.

Here are a few of the things that defined 2011 for me:

January 24, 2011 - In the midst of edits piling up and car troubles, I wrote a post that would seem to echo in the months that followed it.

February 10, 2011 - One of the biggest projects I undertook early in the year was upgrading my edit suite.  I incorporated new hard drives and reorganized all of my files. A few weeks later I went wireless for the sake of Netflix and my new PS3, and by March I was working with new software and wrote about Avid Studio.  That review actually showed up at the top of Google searches and has already been viewed nearly 6000 times.    



April 16, 2011 - One year to the day had passed, and I wrote one of my favorite posts of the year about an experience we had in Singapore.

May 10, 2011 - I added a new laptop to my editing arsenal.

May 18, 2011 - As my blog started gaining more traction, I wrote about why I think filmmakers should blog.

May 31, 2011 - Editing Luke celebrated 4 years.

June 10, 2011 - I launched my brand new blog, Jeeves and the Jaguar.  You can check out my year end recap of that site here and the promo I made in June below.



June 28, 2011 - A family gathering became a memorable event with bubbles. 

June 29, 2011 - I traveled up to Calgary for a Weddingstar photo shoot at the Opera House.  I embraced living like a boss for a day, and showcased my photos on the Weddingstar blog for the release of the new magazine.  The behind the scenes video I shot and edited debuted at the same time.



July 1, 2011 - I was away to Regina for the Canada Day long weekend to celebrate with friends.  I practiced my bonfire penmanship and snapped a bit of Canadiana.  




July 29, 2011 - One of the most memorable trips of the year was a day we spent on the South Saskatchewan River in the pouring rain.  It was so uncomfortable we couldn't help but laugh (more so after the fact though). 

August 5, 2011 - I spent an evening at the old Monarch Theatre with my folks.




August 29, 2011 - Some well intentioned time off resulted in a painful week of bad news. There were a few highlights at the beginning of the week though, like reuniting with friends from university at Daunean and Ian's wedding and seeing Dave and Wendy together before their baby was born.




September 12, 2011 - Without question the most difficult and emotional post I wrote this year was about losing one of my best friends, Dave.  The experience was a total shock, and I was candid about my feelings leading up to the funeral, the process of making a memorial video for him, and what it was like after we said our last goodbyes.  It's still tough to think about, and has changed the way I look at a lot of things.



October 7, 2011 - In keeping with the upgrade trend that started earlier in the year, I was forced to buy a brand new computer when my existing edit suite crapped out.  

October 17, 2011 - As a welcome break from my busy schedule, my sister and I went to see Jerry Seinfeld live.

October 19, 2011 - I cut a new reel for Stream Media.
                         

October 28, 2011 - For the second year in a row, I went out of my way to get a pumpkin purely for the sake of roasting the seeds.  This time I made an effort to document the experience though.

November 7, 2011 - I released a teaser trailer for my project, Searching Salvation about a trip to Salvation Mountain with my friend Dave.



November 29, 2011 - At the end of the month both my Dad and Brother celebrated milestone birthdays, and so our family all traveled to Lethbridge to mark the occasion.

December 16, 2011 - My brand new portfolio site, Fandrix.com went live.  I even designed new business cards to help promote it in the new year.

December 25, 2011 - I made a lot of posts about the holidays this year.  I snapped pictures of my place, of what Christmas looked like downtown, and I uploaded a We Two Kings music video.  We had a great Christmas this year and I shared a collage of highlights that I snapped throughout the weekend.













As 2011 comes to a close I'm anxious about what the new year has in store.  If I've learnt anything this year it's that there's no shortage of surprises, but also that the bright spots are always there if you look hard enough.  I wish you all the best in the coming year ahead!

Good Tidings and Mirth

And Christmas morning came just the same.  This is a new edit, but very familiar footage if you've watched We Two Kings in the past.  I opted to make a music video using some of my favorite footage from that shoot as a way to wish everyone a Merry Christmas!  Have an amazing day and go make some memories!  

Modern Inspired Photo Shoot

This year was full of on-location photo shoots for Weddingstar, but things kicked off with vintage, sparkle, and modern themed shoots at the office.  Each time the scope of the shoot became a bit more varied with more products and props.  Truth be told, the videos were all secondary to the photographs which were to be used for ads in the UK, to enhance product pages, and for highlights on our blog.  

The modern themed shoot was a bit more generic than those prior scenes, but instead of doing a traditional table setting we did a desert table and seating table.  Here's another sneak peek of some of the products used in the shoot.  

Charlie Brown Christmas Decorations

If listening to A Charlie Brown Christmas on vinyl wasn't enough, at the start of the holiday season I received two of these Hallmark decorations as gifts.  In the following weeks I bought myself the two others as they were released leading up until Christmas. Although I've made it clear that I'm a fan of Christmas clutter, what actually makes these decorations blog worthy is that they're all wirelessly linked to play accompaniment to each others songs. It was actually a pretty smart hook to make you want to go out and pick up the others.

I created a short video and took some photos of the collection to share.  Charlie Brown, Lucy, Shroeder, and Snoopy have been a big hit with everyone that I've had over, and we've had fun setting them up in all corners of the loft to hear them still play their parts. The trick now is going to be finding room for all of this new stuff after Christmas.  

Family Christmas 2010

Our annual family gathering on Christmas day has become one of the last remaining traditions that our extended family continues to honor each year.  As our group has grown it's become more difficult to orchestrate these large gatherings, but I think we'd all agree that without the holiday we might go the entire year without ever seeing everyone. Growing up you start to realize just how few and far between moments like this really are.

Last Christmas I got a Flip Cam and had asked for it specifically because I wanted an easier way to capture home videos.  In between dinner, energetic games of Pictionary, and one too many glasses of wine I managed to capture a nice sampling of our family gathering from that December 25, 2010.  With my Flip Cam at the ready, I guess we'll see what pans out this year.    

Weddingstar at the Opera

Earlier this year I was up in Calgary for Weddingstar to shoot another round of behind the scenes photography and video to help promote the release of the 2012 magazine.  One of the big photo shoots this year was taking place at the Calgary Opera House where the space was transformed into elements for a mock ceremony and reception.

Last year the big photo shoot was garden themed and we shot at the popular Rouge Restaurant in Inglewood.  That was a lot of fun, but this shoot was even more lively as there were a number of models and stand ins to help create the scenes.  

I've really enjoyed all of the on location shooting that I've been able to do this year with Weddingstar.  Even if it's just for small edits or more elaborate photography projects, it's exciting to see how our approach is broadening.  It's been a big year, especially now that our newly redesigned website is about to debut this month with the new magazine.  You can also check out the blog post I did about this shoot on the Weddingstar blog.

A Charlie Brown Christmas on Vinyl

Of all of the Christmas specials out there, A Charlie Brown Christmas is probably the one that appeals most to my childhood sensibilities. It's a humble and heartfelt telling of the true meaning of Christmas, and it's tough not to love the Peanuts gang.




Last year my friend Tyler gave me a vinyl copy of A Charlie Brown Christmas (not to be confused with the equally amazing soundtrack by Vince Guaraldi). I've watched the special countless times on television, but just hearing the story is an entirely different experience. There's something very wholesome about a crackling record and listening to Linus' famous speech. I put together this brief clip to share the experience.

Searching Salvation Teaser

I announced earlier last month that I had begun work on a Salvation Mountain project in memory of my friend Dave and the road trips that we took together in 2009 and 2010. I'm hoping to have the project complete in 2012, at which time I'll be considering various ways to promote and share this new short film.

I've titled the short, Searching Salvation in reference to our time exploring Salvation Mountain and the more enigmatic themes of life, death, and deliverance from loss.  I'm excited by the potential of this project to reach others, to share my stories, and to memorialize Dave in a way that feels so unique to the friend that I knew.

While the message sounds broad, the actual project isn't about a religious revelation. It's about Dave and the power of memories, the value in understanding your own mortality, and finding joy in sadness.  Searching Salvation will be one of the most personal projects I'll have ever done once it's completed.  I can't wait to share more, but for now I'm happy to give everyone a sneak peek of the project with this new teaser.

Stream Media Reel

One of the last projects I had left on my plate from this summer was creating a reel for Stream Media - or Stream.  It's the production company that I first started working with straight out of film school and a place that I still edit for regularly.

Stream Media just finished redesigning and upgrading their website so this project was really the last piece of the puzzle.  For me it was a reminder of just how many projects I've been a part of and how our work has become even more diverse in the few short years that I've been there.  

It's what I've loved about working within a small team of very creative people, I've always felt like I was directly involved in the outcome of many of the projects I was fortunate to be a part of.  Working with clients like the Canadian Forces, Encana, the Medicine Hat College, the University of BC, Medalta Potteries, etc. continues to present a lot of unique challenges that ultimately improve my editing and approach.

This was a fun edit to do for a lot of reasons, but I think what I enjoyed most about it was that it's a clear signal that we're still moving forward, we're attracting bigger projects, and we're catering to more styles and venues than ever before.  It's a great job.

Dave in Video

When you sit down to review all of the photos and video footage that you've taken throughout a friends life, it's surprising to realize how little you've really captured.  There were so many moments and events that it didn't even cross our minds to pick up a camera. The irony is that as film students we didn't shoot near as much of one another as we should have.    

I was keen to edit something with all of the footage I had of Dave from our Indio road trips, and thankfully Tyler was interested in collaborating to help me pull something together.  Tyler deserves a lot of credit for finding his footage of Dave and a bunch of his photographs and overnighting them to me so I could edit something.  The project wouldn't be near as rich without his contributions.  Thanks, buddy! 

Of course, the task of editing something under these circumstances wasn't easy.  My goal was just to capture the essence of who Dave was.  To show him happy.  To give him a send off that would make him proud.  And, I think he would be proud to see just how much we cared about him, and how much we still care. 

R.E.M. was his favorite band so I wanted to include Losing My Religion in the edit.  Knowing that Dave and Wendy weren't religious people, but that there were those around them that were, I tried to create a balance.  I cut Losing My Religion to contrast with scenes of us at Salvation Mountain, a place adorned with Biblical quotes and messages.  I then ended the edit with a song by The Killers which has a closing lyric stating 'it seems like heaven ain't far away'.  

I'm also not a religious guy, but I can understand and respect it.  If there was ever a time you wanted to believe, it would be times like this. 

Today is the day of Dave's funeral.  It's going to be difficult, but I know being around friends will help.  This is for you, Dave. 

One More Mile

It was a year ago that my friend Dave and I kicked off our second road trip to California (two years since the first) and I couldn't help but get a bit nostalgic once facebook reminded me what I had been posting last September.  

I'm not sure when the opportunity to do something like this again will come up, but I know it's something I should push myself to do as often as possible with as many people as I can.  It seems that traveling like this not only allows me to see and do a lot of memorable things, but it also makes the conversations seem to resonate because you remember where you were when you had them.  

The entire time you're in a bit of a haze.  You can't wait to see what happens next or where you'll be.  And even though you're tired and maybe even a bit lost, in that frame of mind you're keen to push on that one more mile simply because you feel like you're always close to something new, something different, something you know you'll remember.  It's like nothing else. 
 

Favorite Things MHC Edit

Of the series of edits I did for the Medicine Hat College this summer, ironically the favorite things edit I did for them was my favorite too.  What made this one so much fun to cut was that it was assembled from candid moments and comments from the staff about all of the random things that they like about working at MHC.  

It was also the edit I struggled with the most because it required the most balancing between people and subject matter in such a brief amount of time.  In addition to this, it had to feel light, casual, funny, and show as many faces from the College as possible.  I think the reason I like it so much is because it really was a challenging edit, but was also very genuine in its spontaneity.  From what I heard, the College Day screening was a big success.  That makes all the hard work worth it.

Research and Innovation MHC Edit

One of the edits I did for the Medicine Hat College this summer was focused on the research and innovation plans of the school.  While the subject matter made finding compelling b-roll challenging, Barb was able to capture footage from a variety of sources like the city water plant, a local design firm, and a student lab workshop.  It's always interesting to see how a project like this evolves when trying to summarize some of the specific goals or ambitions of a place like the College in just a few minutes.

Jaguar Super 8 Edit

Featured on my other site, Jeeves and the Jaguar earlier this week, I recorded this footage using a new Super 8 app on my iPod Touch.  The quality is purposely downgraded to echo that vintage home video feel.  I really wanted to play with that style and convey the simple joy of going for a drive.  That nostalgia and appreciation, after all, played a big part in why I started Jeeves in the first place.   

Editing Luke: Video Wall Edit

Inspired by video installation walls, I got to playing around with my promo reels and syncing them up to see what they looked like.  While this is a simple exercise, the result makes it really easy to not only see my progress over the last few years, but to get a better idea of my editing style and structure.  From the colours used to the way I cut on the action or emphasize motion, it's cool for me to be able to explore some of my particular approaches. Because my promo reels are often so intensively edited, the result is a visual smorgasbord.