make new friends, but keep the old

tonight i was reviewing some multimedia pieces that i worked on earlier this year — namely, the one from my final photo class, documentary photojournalism. i took it in the spring, and each student in the class had a semester-long story to work on. no other assignments, just focusing on going in-depth.

i was so looking forward to it... the time to spend on just one story, not a lot of mini-assignments and then cramming the last 2 weeks to get a good 8-10 picture package for my final story (as the other classes in the major were).

but it didn't quite work out that way. my story was on quinceaneras, the 15th birthday party that many latin cultures go all out for and throw a party bigger than most weddings i've attended. though it took me all semester to get contacts and i ended up doing the story in essentially 2 days, looking back on it, i realized how much fun it was and how much i learned in the process.

my photos were good. i'm really proud of them. i spent 17 hours straight photographing and shooting video on the day of one of the quinces. probably 11 hours for the other. and lord knows how many hours editing. it was the first project i learned video on, first project using finalcut pro, and while i think my video skills have improved tremendously since then, i miss taking photos. looking for that ONE moment that will tell that prism of that story better than all the other moments prior. observing, waiting, moving, composing as i go. video is a totally different workflow, and i think my brain has been operating in that mode ever since the summer. i've loved it, but tonight, i remembered that my first love is photography and that some stories need to be told in a series of still images, rather than a rapid succession of moving ones.

its like that old song that my mom used to sing to me:
"make new friends, but keep the old
one is silver and the other is gold"

cheesy, but applicable. video is silver — new, fun, in demand. photos are gold. they aren't going anywhere and they are what have given me the visual and mental tools for creating so many other things in life. becoming a photographer has changed the way i think, the way i see the world, the way i organize and plan, the way i speak. everything. so all of that has translated to video. gold indeed.

lifting the weight, but still getting my dose

while in thailand, a friend introduced me to vimeo.

he said it was like youtube, only better because you could upload/watch videos in HD.

yes, but it's much more. people don't upload 30 second clips of bad kareoke or lipsynching to the numa numa song. cleanly edited projects, full pieces, real stories abound there.

so i've been watching for inspiration. and also for relief.

i've discovered that there's lots of time to be utilised while rendering (a process in final cut pro where you have to wait a lot. sort of like downloading... same waiting and waiting until you can watch/listen), so i should do something productive with it (social networking doesn't count).

and so i've spent lots of time watching stories like the ones i like to do, or even short documentaries.

the problem is that many of these from sites like washingtonpost.com, the new york times, and mediastorm are so heavy! and yes, these stories need to be told, but sometimes i have to escape them for mental health.

this is where vimeo comes in.

some journalism, lots of cool stories, and plenty of creativity. it gives me ideas, ideas, ideas. yes, i want to tell good stories. i want to communicate. but sometimes i want to create just to create. just to make something thats beautiful or matches what i feel or hear or want to be. when other people do the same thing, it makes me remember that just because i'm in journalism school doesn't mean i have to think like a journalist all the time. the boundaries can be forgotten occasionally.

the point is always to tell stories. sometimes non-fiction, sometimes fiction. it so happens that a lot of what i watch on vimeo are fiction.

here's some of the ones i like so far (+ here's one from mediastorm that's not so heavy, but makes me happy to watch):


LEAF - HD from Matthew on Vimeo.


Pete in NYC from Dispatch Foundation on Vimeo.


Oleg Chubykin - "The Tourist" ("The Tourist" , 2007). Part 1 of 10 from Chubykin on Vimeo.

shot down

i get frustrated when people deny me interviews.

i have a final video due on friday, and at least 6 of my ideas have fallen through. so i scrambled to get something tonight. i have it, but its not what i wanted.

but here's a funny story.

one of my ideas was a taxidermist (i was struggling... the gamut ran from inner city boarding school to quilting circles to boxing gyms to christmas tree lots to communes [again] to taxidermy). out of all the calls i made, i figured this one would be the easiest and this guy would be the story that panned out the quickest and most smoothly.

not so. never before have i been shot down so quickly.

i called (for the 3rd time) and finally got an answer. i explained again who i was and what i wanted to do, in the friendliest, most professional voice possible.

before i even finished, he cut me off and said

"ehhhh i've been doing this for bout two or three years now, and i find that it just takes up too much of my time. plus the females can't handle the blood when they come out here, so i'm just gonna have to say no."

words cannot explain my indignation, but i recovered gracefully and hung up.

i haven't run into this too much, but one of my great frustrations in journalistic endeavors is when people tell me my story will take up too much of their time. as if their time is so precious that they can't give me a 30 minute interview at their convenience. that's just arrogant.

i'm sorry if you're really busy slaughtering a deer, but i'm pretty sure me filming it won't interfere or take ANY of your sweet time. did i mention that last week my brother shot a deer 15 feet from the kitchen window WHILE WE WERE EATING DINNER?

it makes my blooooood boooooil.

anyhow. it seems all i do here is rant. let me say some happy things.

it seems that i will be on a team of other unc students in february to go to idaho and document the special olympics there for 10 days. i'll probably get to do both stills and video. i couldn't be more thrilled! idaho is one place i never thought of going... not that i don't want to, but its just not on the way to anywhere, and i don't know a thing about it.

i can guess that idaho in february will be cold. but i also have heard that where we're going is beautiful, and if its the olympics, i imagine there will be skiing. now trying to find a way to squeeze that in. in thailand, i went to the pool while capturing tape. maybe i can ski a slope or two while capturing tape this time?

also, i've been experimenting with video a bit more and doing some little projects on family traditions and stories. one audio piece, two video, coming soon.

one video is done and you can watch it here.

they've been interesting experiments with new ways of storytelling. new to me, anyway. i've found myself thinking in terms of video more and photo less. i'm not sure i like that development, but it is what it is, and perhaps i'll return to my first love more over break when i am video camera-less, but still have my dslr.

speaking of, if anyone is looking to upgrade to the 5D mark II and wants to sell a 5D body, i'm in the market.