Merry Christmas 2010!

My first "real" Christmas tree! Beautifully decorated in my London home! Wonderfully festive, very different to my Wiltshire family home this year.

"To kids from one to ninety-two,

Although it's been said many times, many ways,

A very Merry Christmas to you!"

- Nat King Cole, 'The Christmas Song'

No matter what language you speak, at this time of year everyone takes joy in that wonderful phrase that you wish upon those around you; Merry Christmas! And so, I'll wish it upon you all today and hope that you have a magical day with your loved ones and enjoy a wonderful meal, be it with or without turkey and have expressions of happiness and excitment when you open your gifts.

This day has always been special to my family and I every year, more so when my brother and I were young. Every year I wake up late to a warm, cosy house and make my way down to the living room in my pyjamas. I pass our big Christmas tree on the way into the living room and my dad is sat in his usual chair, also in his pyjamas, watching some old black and white on the TV. I'd shout "Merry Christmas Daddy!", "Merry Christmas darling!" he would reply back. My mum would already be in the kitchen getting everything ready for Christmas dinner later and probably whipping up something yummy for lunch. I'd walk into our kitchen through our dining room, where the table would be clear and plates, glasses etc. would be piled up ready to be set later. "Merry Christmas mummy!", "Merry Christmas!" she would say. I'd ask if there is anything I can do to help and she says the usual, "It's ok darling! You can set the table when you're ready!". Setting the table and making it all beautiful is my job every year and as geeky as it sounds, I really enjoy doing it! My brother would still be upstairs in his room either watching something on his computer or playing games. Every year I ask if we can open our presents then and there, every year my dad insists we wait until after Christmas dinner! It happens this way almost every year and I wouldn't change it for the world.

This year is very different. There is no Christmas tree or decorations and there are no presents to unwrap - well, apart from the gifts I bought in a bid to liven things up a bit and I sure hope they do considering the amount I spent on 3 gifts haha! We're not feeling the Christmas spirit this year considering how many bad things have happened in such a short period of time. But some traditions will never change, no matter the circumstances. The Christmas dinner stays, with all the trimmings and I am so happy! I can live without the tree, without the presents, but certainly not the turkey! This year, I'll be in the kitchen actually helping with the cooking, hoping to bring everyone's spirits up with some good food on the one day that we can spend some quality time together as a family. I'm wishing with all my might that the next year will be full of luck, love and happiness for my family. We've had a crazy, rough couple of years and it's about time the table turns for the better. May this Christmas be the start of something new and exciting, not just for us but for everyone. Merry Christmas everyone! Smiles all round!

Goldsmiths Dance: The Videos

 

This is the very first Goldsmiths Dance video I made. Most of the footage from this video has all been shot during our Taster Week! From all the videos I've made so far, I still believe this one is one of my best works. Not because it's visually stunning or has a lot of effects, because it doesn't. I'm proud of this piece because despite the music being challenging to work with, it fitted perfectly with the energy I got from the dancers and therefore I spent an incredible amount of time ensuring each frame was in place. I had so much fun putting this video together and despite the long and tiresome hours, it's worth it in the end.

Edited on: Final Cut Express 4.0.1 & Adobe After Effects

Shot on: Canon XM2 PAL Camcorder

 

The trailer for Black & White's DVD. Despite running around on the day of the show panicked that everything was going to get done in time, I managed to set up the video cameras to record the show so we could release the footage on DVD. This trailer was edited and released as a teaser for those that thought about purchasing the DVD. 

Edited on: Final Cut Express 4.0.1, Adobe After Effects & Adobe Photoshop CS3

Shot on: Canon XM2 PAL Camcorder & Canon SLR EOS 40D

 

One of my most recent videos. The current Goldsmiths Dance team and I came up with an idea to promote this year's dance show in an unconventional way and so we organised a flash mob to be performed in the middle of Goldsmiths' canteen during a busy lunch hour. Many thanks to all the instructors that choreographed their styles, to the wonderful dancers that took part and to my talented friend Howard Whiddett that went out of his way to produce a fantastic piece of music for us to use! Well done to everyone involved, we pulled it off so well! Shame the canteen staff made us clean up all those leaflets though! 

Edited on: Final Cut Pro 7.0, Adobe After Effects CS4 & Color 7.0

Shot on: Canon XM2 PAL Camcorder & other various machines

Goldsmiths Dance

I wanted to take an opportunity to talk about my previous projects and thought I'd start with one closest to my heart: Goldsmiths Dance. The business card above was printed when we first started the club, the club colours and designs change each year as shown below, but seeing as it was one of our first pieces I had to include it here. All designs shown here are my own, designed and used for Goldsmiths Dance only.

These were our very first promotional posters in 2008. We didn't order many as we only used them during Freshers Fayre mainly. With my Vice-Captain and I modelling for our own posters we hoped to demonstrate to members that we were enthusiastic and had the dance experience to support this club. This tradition of having team members in our promotional material continued onto next year's leaflets as well.

Our promotional leaflets of 2009. The leaflets were double-sided, with our information on the back. The above design is simply the front. All models are members of the admin team 2009-10. However, due to some complications with certain people moving away and commitment issues not everyone ended up staying on the committee but I'm glad we had this as our leaflet anyway. I hope it showed everyone the diversity of not only the classes we offered but of the people that were welcome to come as well. We welcomed everyone of any ability, age or gender into our classes and this motto still stands strong today.

Black & White (Christmas Term 2009) was our very first showcase as a club and I've never been more proud of everyone involved. The show was decided upon very last minute actually as I never planned to put one on, but after a few suggestions by the members I thought it would be productive for the dancers to have something to work towards. Black & White was also the very first show that I have organised and not danced in, it was so much hard work and the work load was almost impossible to fit into the short amount time we had. However, we pulled it off and it went exceptionally well with over 100 audience members showing up to watch! We managed to fundraise a lot of money and everyone had a wonderful time, which at the end of the day is what it's really all about. The annual Christmas showcase is now something that stays in tradition with the club and every year one is put on for everyone to look forward to, dancers and audience members alike.

A Little About Me...

I've always perceived myself as a very organised and ambitious person. Throughout the years leading from secondary school to sixth form college and to now finishing my undergraduate degree at uni, my original plans in life have changed many a-time. I was originally set on being an Architect and university has always been one of my goals. I've completed the university bit, but it's certainly not in Architecture, in fact BSc Creative Computing couldn't be further from the subject! Despite my disinterest for programming, there were a few modules I actually really enjoyed during the last three years and it was actually during university that I found my love for video editing and filmmaking. Having taught myself how to use several different editing software, I've been making videos ever since and I'm loving every minute of it. I go back to Goldsmiths this coming January to start my Masters course in Filmmaking and I am incredibly excited!

A lot of my recent work is very dance-orientated. Having danced from the young age of 3 years, dance runs in my blood and over the years it's become much more than just a hobby. When I moved to London to start uni I wanted to continue training and signed up at Pineapple and Danceworks Studios in Central. Joining and class fees were expensive and on a student budget it wasn't practical to continue, so I ended up setting a dance club as part of my university's students union. Goldsmiths Dance was born in the summer of 2008 and is still running strong today, even though I've handed it over to a new admin team after completing my undergrad. Being Captain for the starting two years was a hell of a lot of hard work. I had an exceptionally small team, which incidentally meant I was practically doing everything myself. The role was definitely like a full-time job and it was tough to juggle my responsibility along with my degree, especially during my third and final year. However, despite everything I will never regret anything I did. Starting, running and teaching for the club was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life and to prove I did a good job I even won the President of the Year Award in 2010. It's a real achievement when I know all the hard work and sleepless nights weren't in vain when others recognise all that I've put in. The club was nominated for a lot of other awards as well, including Team of the Year 2010 and a lot of our members and admin team received coloured awards. I'm so proud of that club and I will always see it as my "baby", my first business, even though it was always non-profit and I personally didn't earn anything. I will always look back on happy memories and know I did a good job and all my perseverance and determination paid off.

The Dance Club was always like my trial-run for my own business. I knew that if I could make it a success and people enjoyed the services we provided then I could be confident that I had the ability to run my own company in the future. I still don't know when my own company will take off yet, it's too early to say. However, the early stages are in motion already. Recently, I finally decided on a name, started designing my personal business cards and a logo/introductory brand for future videos has been designed. I am about to purchase the web domain to secure it and will work on the website when I get a chance. My own personal website is online again and also under construction, many thanks to my friend Mabz who is always helping me get my work online! So, all in all this lead up to Christmas has been fairly productive - despite my being ill! Keep an eye out for all the projects and updates to come! For now, over and out!