Why, hello there New Year! Welcome back to another day in quarantine! I took some time off to focus on working on a creative project and then for personal reflection.
I’ve more or less accepted life in lockdown will continue and it’s impractical to longing for the normalcy of 2019 and earlier. Perhaps, my mind has been digesting all those books that I’ve been reading because I’m quite content. I’m also making effort to reframe obstacles as lessons. One of these being a daily film journal.
film journal
I sold all my camera gear in the latter half of 2020 believing that that would be a tremendous way to simplify my life and recoup finances from depreciating gear. Silly me, I can’t gear rid of camera toys. I sold everything only to repurchase shiny, new toys.
I’m still waiting for the delivery of one of my cameras. Yes, one of –meaning I repurchased multiple cameras. I’m not good with being a minimalist in this arena. While researching my future camera I came across the daily film diaries of Joan Poggio, who was inspired by Tomás Corredor, and who was moved by Jonas Mekas. I have a deep appreciation for this example of recognizing influence. Acknowledging those that came before you is a way of showing respect and gratitude for ways that they’ve helped you.
These three artists created quick and dirty short videos every day for an entire year. Their respective collections left me feeling elated. Tomás declared it as his way of shouting love.
Hay que filmar algo, lo más pequeño, lo invisible de cada día.
Jonas Mekas
I’m taking on this challenge for as long as I can this year. I hope to expand my understanding of film, master my new cameras, and explore visual introspection through this process.
What I Learned:
Canon’s AF… Wowzers
I’ve created self-portraits and recorded a few vlogs in the past and both circumstances nailing focus was a hurdle. I relied on the camera’s Eye AF whenever I was in-frame and wow. All I can say is that Canon has come a long way since their 5D Mark II (the last Canon body I owned.)
Final Cut Pro is Easier and Faster for Solo Creators
I first learned the basics of video editing on Final Cut Pro 7 and then I quickly jumped over to Adobe Premiere Pro when the software evolved into iMovie on steroids. I avoided Final Cut Pro X and thought of it as an inferior product (without giving it a proper try.) Currently, I’m eating my words. FCP reigns supreme –especially when handling 4k footage from the Canon R5.
What I Need to Learn:
- Anticipating what I will need to learn for the future
- Knowing what questions I should ask
- How to color correct and use LUTs