Over the last weekend I found myself browsing the well picked over crop of clearance DVDs in a local video store that's going out of business. The store was practically empty, both in product and people, but with everything 85% off I was completely willing to explore the haphazard displays and take the risk of buying a few duds.
Of all the sections remaining it was the documentaries that looked the most promising - practically untouched. Sure, most kids aren't clamouring for the 'special interest' shelf - a label that only emphasizes the hodge-podge of titles that end up there - but on this rare circumstance where everything-must-go I jumped at the opportunity to pick up some radically different perspectives in documentary form.
I quickly recognized the creative potential and challenge of subjecting myself to a series of largely unheard of titles for the sake of writing new material on my blog. I ended up getting 9 documentaries for under $14. Of these films I've only seen one before, and for the sake of the project I can now guarantee that there will be at least one film I like. Expect to hear about surfing, wine, suburbia, and even bestiality . . . I can't say I'm surprised that all of the titles were still there.
Whether these documentaries will be any good is hard to say, but I'm intrigued by the truths presented by these (largely) low-budget slices of life. Be sure to continue to check back for updates as the series of posts (and documentary titles) are revealed. A couple of years out of film school and it seems I'm going back.
In my first semester at the University of Regina everything was heavy. I was on my own for the first time, living in a city where I previously didn't know anyone, and just learning to balance my personal responsibility with my desire to let loose. It was memorable.
New Kinda World was just a short edit that I put together before Thanksgiving to take home and share with family and friends. It's basically just a brief look at the campus, but it gave a sense of my new surroundings. Little did I know at the time, but this footage would become dated fairly quickly. Just a year after this was shot, construction began on a brand new residence and phys. ed complex that would cut the campus green space in half and re-define the centre of the entire school. Check out the follow-up university edits that I made in 2006/2007 to see what I'm talking about.
While on the surface this footage is little more than a home-video of a few buildings, to me it's a reminder of those first few months when everything changed. I look at this and remember being on my own in my dorm, the walks around campus to try and figure out where my classes were, and all the new people I met in those first few weeks. I can't help but get a bit of that anxiety and energy from thinking about just how different all this was in the moment.
If nothing else, New Kinda World is a great piece of nostalgia.
I seem to be having a problem with procrastinating more and more these days. Maybe it's the amount of work I have on my plate at the moment, maybe it's the nice weather, but I'm generally having a lot of trouble getting things done. I haven't finished an edit for myself in several months now and it feels like even with procrastination there's just not enough time to mess around. Posts like this don't seem to help either . . . haha, merely a pleasant distraction.
Watch this clip from Ellen DeGeneres' Here& Now special for more random musings about procrastination - over the years this DVD has been a good reminder of all the things I'm not getting done.
