I feel like I haven’t been in my own house, or slept in my own bed in a couple weeks. A few good weekends will do that to you I guess.
I got to go to Mexico last weekend and LA the one before. Mexico was a great time, Marco’s mother and step-father own a condo in Puerto Peñasco, what people around here call Rocky Point, and rent it out to tourists. Who knows how long Marco had been pitching the idea but he finally got permission to take a few friends down and stay for the weekend. It was crazier then most of my weekends but a lot of fun. To sum it all up I’ll just say that we ate toxic hot dogs, saw the sun set, walked on the beach, drank at a swim up bar, went dancing, saved Marco from some ugly girls, saw a prostitute that was probably a dude, got offered cocaine and then paid off some Federales. If you want the rest of any of those stories feel free to ask, it’s more fun to just give the headlines though :)
Photos from Mexico can be seen at the beginning of this album.
The weekend before we went west to see a friend who works at an effects house in Santa Monica and pickup some footage for a pilot Marco is helping out on. Five of us crammed into one car and made the drive friday night resisting the casinos in Palm Springs on the way. We navigated the maze of freeways and ended up in North Ridge at Demitre’s apartment. I wont tell you what he said he pays for the place, but the pictures below should give you a sense of how big it was… just imagine 6 guys sleeping there. That is one part about living in LA that wouldn’t be so awesome, although I’ve really warmed up to the idea of moving there. I don’t think I’m going any time soon and there are many places I’d rather go but as graduation gets closer the promise of work there seems better and better. Hearing stories about 80 hour work weeks, three hour commutes and less than lavish pay, doesn’t exactly excite me, but the projects you get to work on and the experience you gain sounds worth it.

I got some good news on tuesday, I’ve landed a steady editing gig for the next few months and maybe more. Freelance work as been harder to come by lately and the stability that this should bring will definitely keep me in Arizona for a while. The company produces concert DVDs for a well known heavy metal act and I’m going to be editing their next release. This should be a great opportunity to gain some more experience in film style editing and a chance to do some motion design and DVD work. I’d tell you more but while I haven’t signed an NDA yet they seem a bit squeamish so just know that it’s legit and I’m pretty excited about it.

I’m hoping this gig means some piece of mind about my near future and maybe will help to show that my decision to stay in town next year was a good one. There are many reasons I’m staying but this really helps validate it.

Recently I’ve been listening to more of The Beatles, everyone knows their singles but it had been a long time since I had really listened to a few of their albums. The last track of Abbey Road hit me hard about a month ago and inspired me to make something. It worked out that so I could turn it in as an assignment and it ended up good enough that it’l be seen on my reel. It’s an example of motion graphics typography, a style that has really become popular over the last few years. It can be seen in a recent batch of Ford truck commercials for example. This piece is set to Her Majesty, a track that wasn’t even suppose to be on Abbey Road. It was literally picked up off the cutting room floor… and it’s simple tune and complex words remind me of her.

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I’m cutting away on three new reels, I don’t have anything to post but I will shortly. My motion design reel will be the first done, the VFX reel is made up of projects not yet polished enough and my editing reel is just an idea, I have no idea what it will look like.

Take it easy, I’m taking it extra easy for a while.
David Hildreth

I’ve had half a dozen projects to do for the last ten weeks… and they all need to be done this tuesday. So I’m spending even more time then usual in front of an editor trying to get everything done.
The assignments are worth it, most will go directly on to my reel and what won’t is at least teaching me something.

This is an example of the sort of shot I’m working on. It’s just a generic piece of video shot a few years back, it would go on my reel if not for the dozens of other students that have done the same shot.

The first step is to key the screens, which isn’t too hard. There are places where you can’t exactly just do a one click key however, and a few small spots where you have to go in frame by frame and rotoscope. Secondly you have to track the shot, whatever goes into the monitors has to move with the camera. Third you have to make the video in the screens look like it’s on a TV and lastly I add some color correction so it doesn’t look so plain. None of those steps are really that hard, but they all are time consuming and tedious.
What I’ve got so far looks like this, it’s not done but it’s getting closer.

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Some of you might have heard about a promising interview I had week before last, I’ve got a follow up this thursday so we’ll see how it goes.

I might get to go to LA this next weekend. A friend of a friend is shooting something has invited him to be the FX supervisor. A few of us are going along and should be able to see our friends who are now working LA. I’ll post some pictures if it happens, hopefully I can find the money to make it work.

David Hildreth

There is one thing I know about my life, and that is that it changes.

I’m on a high about something one moment and lost about something else the next. I try to keep a pretty even keel but lately it’s been difficult.
I’ve got an interview… there is a lack of communication.
I’ve got time to work on projects… I have absolutely no motivation.
I make a decision… I talk myself out of it.
I feel so sure about something… I look around and have no idea what I’m feeling.
I don’t like it when my life resembles a roller coaster, I wish I could just sit everyone and everything down and just set things straight, but I can’t do that. Situations depend on more then just my whims… people don’t just do what I think is best… I can’t just tell her what to think.

I’m not trying to emo, I just want you to know that I’m feeling more unbalanced then I have in a long time. Not since I decided to get back in school have I been this conflicted, this diluted, this ineffective.

Despite my procrastination, work is getting done in my classes. I’m doing a lot of good work that should fill out the new demo reel I’ll be cutting this winter. So look out for that, I’ll have some stuff to post in the next couple of weeks.

I am looking at my travel plans for this Christmas but nothing is set in stone yet. I know I’ll be seeing my parents in Vegas but I don’t know if I’ll actually make it back to Boise this year. That’d be a very scary first.

This post’s soundtrack (facebook people don’t get that because notes are lame) doesn’t have a lot to do with anything, it’s just a song I love. Music always puts me in a better mood. Also, those Pedro fans out there will notice that this is the version from the Progress EP… the full title wouldn’t fit on the page.
David Hildreth