Just Jennifer

One of our Videomaker forum readers spent the early morning hours of the first day of summer recording the sun rising for the Summer Solstice last weekend. He made some really pretty video.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIuY-rePSw8[/youtube]

It made me want to go out and shoot video again. I’ve been rather uninspired lately, I haven’t felt the urge to pick up the camera and shoot for anything in particular.

For several years, now, I’ve only been shooting stills or videos for family, friends and “acquaintances”(read that “my friend said you’d do this for free or maybe for a small price..”) I know, it’s my fault, but I’m getting burned out on it all. Seeing this video put together by Ken Carlson, and reading his post, made me wonder why I quit… did life just get in the way?

Read Ken’s post here:

http://videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/solstice-sunrise

I remember watching the moon set every night for a week one time, waiting for that one shot I knew would come when it planted itself right between these two palm trees on the horizon as the sun barely began to pink the sky behind me. I sat up all night waiting… and the shot was worth it, it was the right time of year and the right time of morning for this incredible photo opportunity. Hum. I wonder what ever happened to that footage?

It made me realize I need to get my video groove back on and take a vacation.

I’ve been riding my bike again because the weather has been so fine. We’ve had the most unseasonably spring-like weather, and for us, Summer starts long before the Summer Soltice.

In the old days, that is, those before Global Warming, the heatwave in Northern California usually began about mid-April, and stayed with us up to just before Halloween. Our “spring” and “fall” weather was usually 2 to 3 weeks long, at the most. Then the temps would be in the high 80s to the 100s… for weeks on end. For 2 or 3 years in a row, now, we’ve had very mild weather until around the 4th of July. I did a great “Music Photo Essay” on the heatwave for a news station one time, I’ll have to dig it up and link it here someday.

Last year, we had those horrible record-breaking fires that nearly demolished nearby towns and put a lot of people out on the streets. The smoke kept the heat down and our sky was overcast form April until October.

I’m hoping the summer will be more sunny this year, as a California Girl, it’s just too strange NOT to have it hot! Besides, I need an excuse to go to the beach. We always had our summer vacation trek in Pismo Beach. In the summertime in Pismo, the weather is balmy, sometimes even cold. The sky is foggy, and it’s always a welcome relief from the Central California Dessert heat!

In a few weeks, you can find me here: basking by the seashore.

Heaven on Earth.

I just lost a gig and I’m glad for it. A friend of mine, who had a friend, who had a hobby that he was sure he could monazite if he only had videos to sell, contacted me. After several back-n-forth emails, “well, I can’t pay you now, but you can have part of the profits…” …  “No, if I do all the work, YOU can have part of the profits…” etc. he finally agreed on a minimal fee of $150 per shoot. The editing along with DVD authoring and burning would be negotiable.

We shot three segments, but then got into the discussion of what he wanted for these stories. He didn’t want to edit out any of the 2-hours each segments, including the fluff-ups, … “oh, my… those are funny… the audience will love it…” …  “Uh, no, they won’t”… And he didn’t want to sit down and log the footage, “Just make it work…” So I edited the first one, gave him a nice clean DVD with pretty cover design and he took it to his next show and sold… one. For $3.00. Which the viewer returned a few hours later and demanded her money back.

My soon-to-be ex-client called last week and said, “Never mind, I don’t think this is going to work…”

Whew. Now back to that wedding-video-from-hell project that doesn’t want to transcode correctly for the DVD burn.

grrrrrrrrr….

So it’s been nearly a year since my car broke down and I had to start riding my bike to work.

I road for a full month before other life issues forced me to get back into a combustible engine. I did like riding, I hope to be able to start it up again. We had a few windy days that nearly blew me off my bike, but for the most part, I enjoyed the ride.

Today is a great day to ride, but yesterday it was pouring incredibly, and last night we had walnut-size hail hitting around town. Such is life in March in the Northern portion of the State of California.

I had to ride clear across town to the DMV  in a MAJOR windstorm, to get proper registration for my other car, which was registered as a non-op for 3 years. The “other” car is a 22-year old Alfa Romeo Graduate-Spider with only 72-thousand miles on it, I-kid-you-not! It’s a 2-seater convertible, so I can’t exactly cart my video gear around in it.

I finally dumped the German car that broke down, causing all my earlier drama. It’s a 1997 Audi A4 Quattro, an all-wheel-drive that really likes speed, and corners better than a Roller Derby Queen, but it also liked to spend more time in the shop than on the street. Between the two European cars, I had a whole one, but I didn’t want to put too much wear-n-tear on the Italian job, and I was afraid of the German vehicle’s expenses so I bought a new-to-me Honda Accord (2005). I like this one; it packs my video gear well and is kind on repair and gas.

I’ve been commissioned to shoot another wedding next week. Still camera, which is different for me. Video I know like a pro baseball player knows the feel of a bat in his hands, but still shooting has always been just a hobby for me.

Shooting video, I’ve run second cam for Brent or Ryan once in a while, which I like doing, but shooting a wedding solo can be a pain sometimes. Wedding videography can be a pretty lucrative business, but I tell you, some brides act as if they are the spawn of a demon on the days before the wedding. A good wedding planner can ease a bride’s drama, but sometimes brides and grooms just shoot themselves in the foot all on their own.

Trying to “bargain basement” the videographer or still photographer is not a good idea. I mean, after it’s over, for instance, who’s going to remember (or care) if the table cloths didn’t match the balloons, (I had a friend go ballistic on the caterer over this one time…) but if you have a poorly shot poorly produced video, you can’t redo the wedding to fix that. My hat is off to all of you wedding shooters out there, you do a great job, at great risk to your reputation if a bride goes over the deep end.

Well those are my musings for the week, it’s been awhile.

A recent tally brought surprising results: nearly two-thirds of the Videomaker staff either ride a bike, take a bus, ride-shares, or walks to work rather than drive a car. That’s saying a lot. Even Matt York can sometimes be seen buzzing to work on a little scooter. We’ve had some diehard staffers who don’t even own a car. [Below: Videomaker Bike Rack]

Long before it was hip to be eco-friendly, Videomaker’s hometown of Chico, California was doing the Save-the-Earth thing. We honor, preserve and sometimes battle over our old-growth trees. We’ve been a cycling town for decades, and even have a Velo cycling club, several century-mile cycle clubs, and a world-class cycling team, sponsored by our own world-class beer-haus: The Sierra Nevada Brewery.

This week was “Bike Chico“, a week-long event to encourage people to ride their bikes to work and school. Events around town included Energizer Stations with drinks and snacks for riders; and games, demos and important bike helmet safety tips for kids.

Last week was “Free Bus Ride” week, where anyone could ride any city bus for free all week. I sampled a ride, it didn’t take too long.

This is just a taste of what makes Chico such a wonderful place to live and work. It’s a college town with a small population, and has an honest-to-goodness thriving Old Town Downtown where you can actually stroll Main Street in the evening and stop off at Shubert’s Hand Made Ice-Cream shop, sitting outside on the sidewalk and watch and wave as other strollers go by.We have two marvelous Farmer’s Markets weekly, one selling veggies and goodies early in the morning, and the other more of a carnival, meet and greet in the summertime evenings. We even have outdoor movie-in-the-park night in the summertime.

Karma wasn’t on MY side this week, though, when it came to getting to work. I rode Monday and Tuesday, but decided to drive on Wednesday, due to a stupid need to run errands on my lunch hour. And wouldn’t you know it, my car broke down on the way to the office and I spent the next 2 hours waiting for a tow truck and then getting an estimate. It’s a German car, Audi A4 Quattro, All-wheel Drive. Nice sweet ride… until it doesn’t ride.

COST: Starter and Ignition, $1500, New key, $300, a chance to ride my bike for a few more weeks: Priceless.

It’s going to cost me a couple paychecks to get that baby out of the shop! Stupid gas-guzzling machine!

I guess I’ll be riding my bike more, not less… and taking the bus a time or two.

Chico California a great place to be. Just some rambling musings before I hop on my bike and head for the park. Night, all! Happy Weekend!

Did you ever play that summer camp game where someone starts a story and the next person has to continue the next chapter, followed by another storyteller, etc. until everyone has a chance to make up a chapter? Well, now you can do it with video, and maybe win a prize for your effort.

Sharp-eyed Videomaker reader, Allen Klosowski sent us a link to a cool new video contest that let’s you… or me… or Allen… or anyone, add to the story of a movie being produced.
Erik Luchauer and Kevin Antoine, the producers of Rootclip shoot the first chapter, and then it’s placed on the internet for video producer to submit their versions for the next chapter.

Luchauer adds, ” We at Rootclip produce the first chapter (a.k.a. The “root clip”) and users create chapters 2 through 6. The final chapter (chapter 6) is only eligible for submissions by the winners of chapters 2-5. I also hope to see some of your work on our site. We’re really trying to create a collaborative community and build up the excitement for a new generation of filmmakers. ”

After each consecutive chapter’s entries are in, the web audience votes on their favorite, which becomes the next official chapter, and then video producers start vying for the next chapter’s selection.

Winners of each chapter will get a $500 Visa card, and the final Chapter 6 winner gets to go to Traverse City Film Festival in Traverse City, Michigan, and meet the Rootclip creators, as well as filmmaker, Michael Moore.

It might be too late to enter this contest by the time our next issue goes to press, but check out the site for news about upcoming contests and challenges. Now THAT’s Community Sharing at it’s best!
www.knoxvillefilms.com/2008/05/rootclipcom-new-collaborative-short.html

Call it Life in a Fish Bowl… Half Box… Cubicle Cubbies or Jenny in a Box, we’re all making some changes to our office environment here at Videomaker, and it’s been pretty interesting to observe.

Videomaker has been at it’s 3rd and present location for a good number of years, and it seemed time to freshen up and rearrange the office.

Several departments work closely together, like our Editorial Dept. and the Production Dept, but the layout wasn’t efficient for one-on-one interaction, and some staff members were pretty isolated from others even within their own departments.

The Production  Dept. was on the opposite side of the building from the Editorial Dept, for instance, so we agreed to merge office space.  Production and Editorial merged with IT, creating a Super Cubicle Center we’re dubbing ProdITorial.  Sales and Marketing have also moved into a Super Center, …”Sarketing?” “Mar-sals?”… and we’re all trying to get used to each other’s differences.

Some who were in full 3-sided cubicles are now in open-air space, (like me) while others are more enclosed, (like Tech Editor Mark).

What was interesting to watch was how our daily habits have changed… “Where’s the printer” became a game similar to watching mice in a maze who have traveled around their familiar surroundings for months suddenly having to find their way around it again when someone moves a couple of the dividers.

Some of us like it more open, others prefer the enclosed space. Poor Susan and Melissa no longer have windows, and are now trying to Feng Shui their space with personal touches like fish bowls, plants, and mirrors.

The office previously had six long divided sections, each with 3 or 4 cubicles on each side of the divide. Now we have three “Super Cubicles” as I like to call them, with larger open areas in the center.

John joked that we need to make a true lounge in the center “quad” of our Super Cube to look what people assume our “Videomaker Lounge” community site must be based on, as everyone knows we have a fun office full of games like basketball tournaments, old-fashioned popcorn machines, and we used to ride around the nearby park in a old-time Surry on lunch breaks.

I have the garden table, bar stools, twinkle lights and umbrella ready, we just need the Tiki torches and luau skirts!

Here’s a photo of Life in an office environment that would be fun to work in. I sent our I.T. guys the photo with a request, but they have yet to build me a super fish tank!

My Second Post.

So I seem to have become the Guinea Pig for getting a Videomaker Lounge blog up and running.

After many trial and errors, we discovered that I’m a Bozo. Yep. That’s right. The computer thinks I’m a Bozo. That’s what I was told, anyway. It kept spitting me out of the system, suspecting that I’m doing some illegal internet activity, maybe even some s.p..a…m’ing. Notice that I didn’t even spell that correctly, just in case.

What this meant was that I couldn’t add an avatar to my member sign on. This discovery had our wonderful I.T. guys scratching their heads for a while, but they are such brilliant guys that the problem was solved. This might be why so many of our members don’t have avatars, so I’m looking into that, and will report on it… somewhere!

So we got my member sign on to stick, then I had to deal with the site admin when I made my blog page. A number of the pages don’t allow the user admin abilities, rendering them useless, so after some more trial and error, we are discovering which ones are mere dummy pages, and which ones actually work, and will fix those when we can get to them. I’m meeting up with the really cool Art Department next week to work on that. Again, as soon as I know.. you’ll know.

I think I have a shoot scheduled right now, so I gotta run!

Finally… I’ve created my blog page and joined Videomaker‘s Lounge.

I’ve been needing to create my blog, and join The Lounge, for a long long time, now, but I’ve been busy with the many duties I do here at Videomaker.

We all wear multiple hats, and this week I am trying to firm up assignments for the upcoming West Coast Summit in Pasadena in April; finish proofing the May issue of the magazine that goes to to the printers next week; beg and bother writers assigned to the July and August issues to please get their stories in; finish editing the June issue so I can send it to our marvelous art department so they can do the magic they do, … and… I’m writing the May Quick Focus column on how to sign up to The Lounge. So I guess I better get myself signed up! It’s not as intuitive as I thought, but I’m not as techy as the rest of the guys here, so I’m lucky to have them as my support.

Well, I must get back to proofing, or this issue will never make it out the door!

Welcome to my new blog, Jennifer VideoChick.