Archive for the ‘college’ tag

Zug Zug

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

So uncertain it’s certain

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

My Generation?

It’s almost the middle of August and well into monsoon season down here. The days are hot, the aren’t nights much cooler and the locals do nothing but complain about the “humidity”. Then again, the locals always complain about the weather, so that’s not really surprising.
As summer starts to slip away ASU is back in session and Tempe is full of people. I’m busy again, spending my days working and my nights at school. Classes are going well, I’m still wasting away in a terrible audio class, but I’m really liking the new visual effects classes that I’ll have from here on out.
This is an example of one of the small assignments we’ve been working on. There is a pretty big need in production for something called a sky replacement. It’s just basically taking the sky in a shot and replacing it with a more interesting one. Production schedules can get pretty complicated and most can’t afford to wait a day just because the sky isn’t so blue or a sunset isn’t so spectacular.

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I got word early this week that an important faculty member at Collins is going to be leaving the school. He hasn’t made any announcement yet but the information is from a reliable source and it just kinda makes sense. He’s definitely the most knowledgeable instructor in the program and my education really does depend on how good his replacement is. I’m not really worried though, I’m so ready to be done with school that in some ways I just don’t care. I’ll teach myself from here on out if need be, the instructor most likely isn’t leaving town so I’d easily be able to ask him questions. Collins is kinda sketch at times, it could see it being months before there is a real replacement.

I’ve been watching a new show on HBO lately called Generation Kill. I first heard about it as being “like Band of Brothers for the Iraq war”, it’s not nearly as amazing as Band of Brothers was, but it’s definitely worth watching. I highly recommend watching it if you’ve got HBO, buying it when it hits iTunes or downloading it through uh… other sources. The characters are solid, the episode engaging and it really shows how complicated everything in war is. I think it’s been a couple of hours since I last broke a copyright law in order to promote something, so here is a clip from last week’s episode. (The language is NSFW)

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Lastly I give you further proof that John Stewart is our greatest American. (as always if you’re on Facebook atm you won’t see the video)

The Georgian conflict is a strange one and I really don’t know enough about it to pick a side. However I do know that I don’t trust our government’s judgement anymore and to me that’s a bit scary. This election coming up is an important one, there is a lot at stake. If you haven’t familiarized yourself with the candidates shame on you, it’s your job as a citizen… and a good idea even if you aren’t one.

David Hildreth

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