Archive for the ‘LA’ tag

Weekends that feel like weeks.

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

Can’t sleep so I’ll think

It’s not too hard for my own thoughts to get the best of me. Lately I’ve been thinking more about the upcoming changes in my life and in some ways it’s getting a little silly.
I’m back into nocturnal mode, I had that 9 to 5 thing going for a while but I’ve been doing some other work recently and that means I can stay up as late as I want. I can work on projects at night, I can stay up and watch movies or read. When I lay down to sleep there is no rush to get rest and wake up… and that just leaves me alone with my own thoughts. You can only analyze a situation so many times, you can only weight your options for so long, until you just start twisting things to bits in your mind.
I get to finally be free of college in February and then the world is my oyster. Where I go and what I do is completely up to me… and therein lies the problem.
A good friend gave me some worthy advice, that the decision on where I go and what I do when I graduate should be completely about what is best for me. It is good advice because there is truth to it, but I’m not sure it’s the whole story. It’s great to think that a decision like that should be made for one’s self. It obviously effects me the most, but at a certain point the mature way of making a decision like this is to consider those around you.
I’d love to be closer to Boise, my family and friends are closer to there and I’d be great to be able to drop in on Boise for a weekend whenever I wanted. Portland has some good opportunities, it’s a more favorable climate and the drive between there and B Town is no big deal, I also happen to adore Portland. A city like Austin would be fun, there is a lot of good work and it’s a very unique and hip city. Vancouver looks better every time McCain moves up in the polls… plus I’ve always thought that expatriate has a nice ring to it (Yes Dad I’m mostly kidding). LA provides an almost certainty of work, and I do know some people there now. Working on features in LA also does your resume a lot of good, even if you swept the studio floor for a big budget movie people elsewhere go nuts when they see it on your resume. PHX is the easiest and most complicated option. I’ve done the whole, move a city where you know no one thing and honestly I’m not cut out for it. I’m lucky to have the friends and roommates I have here, going to a completely new city again doesn’t sound so great. There is some work here, but it’s not great and especially the way the economy is going, it’s not steady. There are some great people here though, and one special one in particular. It’s not smart to make a decision based completely on those around you, but it’s silly to think that you can make it based solely on yourself. No man is an island.
At the moment it looks like I’ll be staying here for a while after I graduate. My VFX Reel could use more work then I currently have time for, and I guess if I can’t make it here I can’t make it anywhere. I’m not living in LA for the rest of my life so I’d better get use to corporate videos and local spots before I get too ahead of myself.

Today’s soundtrack is obviously not Colin Hay, but it is his song (If you’re reading this on Facebook try the “view original post” button). Evidently a few tours ago Dashboard Confessional put out an EP of covers and it’s simply amazing. Feel free to download it here, it’s basically out of print so I’m calling it fair use… though it’s not like I’ve ever really respected copyright laws anyway.

Take it easy and wish me luck on sleeping :)
David Hildreth

Hootenanny!

So, this last Tuesday I got to rock out with Weezer and it wasn’t just kinda cool it was a-freaking-mazing. They are doing a little tour called Hootenanny in which they pick out a tiny venue and have a local radio station invite a hundred or so fans. The only catch is that you have to bring an instrument.
As I’ve mention I’ve been doing some free intern work for The EDGE 103.9 lately and while we didn’t get to shoot the show like we thought, it was a ton of fun to be a part of.
Weezer (and us) played six songs which are going to be compiled into a live CD at some point. They also signed everyone’s song book which was a nice touch.
The EDGE‘s website has all six tracks, some photos and a bit of video.
Note: The above picture isn’t mine, you could kill a man with such a ridiculous vignette.

Speaking of The EDGE I shot a commercial for them and a local bar last friday. Shooting in an open bar with few lights and a small crew was challenging. We got all the footage we needed and then had a few beers, so all in all it was a good night. I’ll post the spot when I get it done later this week. It’s all handheld… and unfortunately it was my hand, so I get to spend more then a few hours doing some motion stabilization :|

I’ve started into my last leg of classes. I walked into Visual Effects I on wednesday and got syllabuses for the next 30 weeks. The teacher I’ve got from here on out is a great guy and really knows his stuff. I’m not really sure what I’m going to do in February but as long as I pay attention I’ll have a good shot at a roto job in LA. It’s a path that about a dozen recent graduates have taken…
But then again, why the hell would I want to goto LA?

I dunno, I’ve got a while to figure that out… I think,
David