#5 Creative Thinking

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Making Meaning

This is an honest effort on my part to talk about the process of creating work that says what you mean, or to put it another way, keeping your work within the boundaries you've set according to your personal values and goals.
The book that sparked this introspective podcast is Darkroom to Digital, by Eddie Ephraums. The supplied link takes you to the Amazon page. Eddie's home page is still under construction.

I spend a few moments talking about Socrates and his statement "the unexamined life is not worth living" because encapsulates the need to the creative individual, if not every individual, to consider the meaning and purpose of their life. You can read a concise summary of his trial here.

On page 26 Eddie’s book I look at 5 questions he asks himself as an artist to clarify his goals. I highly recommend it, regardless of what medium you work in. His writing style is straight forward and concise. It’s the kind of writing that brings new understanding each time you read them.

Taking Chances

I feel like I'm still getting my bearings creating this podcast. I also feel that perhaps it was premature to wander away from concrete and technical matters, such as production issues and class schedules. And yet, I've also made a commitment to myself to experiment and take risks. That includes embracing the sure possibility of failure.

A couple of quotes I often think of regarding failure are "if you're going to fail, fail boldly" and the other is "It isn't the falling down and failing that is the problem, it is the falling down and not getting up". I could do a podcast on interviews with people on failure, how they cope with it, what it means to them, failures that have shaped their lives. Not a bad idea.

Introspection and soul searching are going to occur from time to time throughout this podcast as I try to figure the meaning of what people are telling me and whether it's something I can, or should integrate into my own life.

Chapter times

• Discovering Meaning in your work :12
• Darkroom to Digital - about the book :52
• The unexamined life 2:19
• 5 guides for creativity 3:57
• 5 guides quote 4:36
• What I'm saying, what are people hearing 4:55
• Developing your vision 8:04
• Sharing your vision 8:26
• Avoiding sidetracks 9:47
• Closing remarks 11:11
• Next week 12:55

Production notes

I was having some problems with the audio going into the red in Garageband. I didn't see any distortion in Soundtrack, but it was hitting 0db continuously. I used the Levelator from Gigavox media to see if it made a difference. The audio sounded fuller and I can see it made changes, but it was still running too hot. I looked at the modified audio in Soundtrack and the levels looked fine. Maybe there's a setting in Garageband that's off.

I'm going to trust Soundtrack, and by extension Levelator and put the podcast out as it is. Let me know if you think the levels are still too high. If anyone has any experience with Levelator let me know how it's treating you. I don't want to rely on a black box, I want to know how to control audio in a program like Soundtrack Pro or Pro Tools. Right now, I'm going to be satisfied knowing I'm not blowing out anyone's eardrums.

Let me know how I can make any improvements. Submit a comment or email me.

#4 Video Dreams

The first half of this show I'm recapping the reasons why I'm taking the classes at the CDIA, the 2nd part I go over what I want to accomplish professionally.

Chapter Times

• Review of personal goals :20
• The joy of learning 2:14
• Exploring ideas 2:41
• Challenging my limitations 4:48
• Networking 5:44
• Being open to alternate visions 6:51
• Using video for learning 7:48
• Video as entertainment 10:21
• Working on a team 12:03
• What's ahead 12:29

I submitted this podcast to iTunes, I'll let you know when I show up. At that point I'll have a link directly to the subscribe page.

#3 CDIA Curriculum

There's a number of ways you can hear this episode. You can listen to it through the Flash player on the host site or subscribe to it using the RSS feed. I will be registering it on the directories, including iTunes, over the next couple days. You can download the Flash Player here.

This very lengthy episode has me reviewing most, but not all the classes I'll be taking at the Center for Digital Imaging Arts. I discuss my expectations as well as what my personal interests. In a nutshell I'm looking forward to everything.

My gung ho attitude is due to my expectation that I will never get another opportunity to attend classes in such a lengthy, structured manner. I believe in lifelong learning, but that constitutes fitting the learning in between large chunks of life. For the next 18 months that equation will be reversed, where, wherever I can help it, the classes take precedence.

I've done my homework, checked out the school, the instructors, the program, the content of the classes, interviewed students, clocked the commute, calculated how many hours of sleep a week I can live on. Now it's up to me.

I don't believe in passive learning. I intend to dig into this experience with my nails. I know what I want to know, in a vague sort of way. I also know I need to be paying attention so that when something unexpected comes at me I can get a piece of it as well. If I'm not satisfied when I'm finished, it will be my own fault.

Chapter times

• Introduction :10
• 1 Fundamentals :59
• 2 Camera & Lighting 1:19
• 4 Project 1 6:15
• 5 Editing 1 6:51
• 6 Editing Lab 7:48
• 7 Documentary Camera 8:21
• 8 Interview 10:26
• 9 Editing II 12:16
• 10 Directing Documentary 12:57
• 13 Directing Drama 13:39
• 14 Preproduction 13:56
• 15 Cinematography 14:18
• 16 Locations 14:36
• 18 Final Production 15:09
• 25 Workshops 16:23
• 26 Final Cut Pro 17:34
• 27 Practicum 18:01
• Close 20:16

You can leave comments on the blog or send me email. Show notes are also in lyrics section of the .mp3

#2 Podcast Goals

In this episode I go into some depth about the things I want this show to be about – production video software and hardware, production workflows, video editing and distribution, reviews of the classes, the school, the workshops and visiting artists.

Yeah, I've got dreams as big as the sky, but there's a lot of time to cover all this stuff, maybe. Boiled down to it's tar-like essence I’d like to extend my classroom experience into this podcast. I want to let you know what I'm learning, how it's helping me create a better podcast and ultimately become a better video producer.

Copy the RSS url and paste it into your podcatcher, like iTunes, or Juice.

Chapter times

• Podcast goals 1:21
• Audio 1:40
• Avid 2:20
• Managing my time 3:38
• Applications of Video 4:24
• Topics of discussion 5:58
• Interviews 7:53
• Production Skills 9:20
• Workflow and problem solving 11:34
• Podcast schedule 12:10
• Combining different media 13:02
• Distribution 13:34
• Community 14:53
• Advertising 16:33
• Close 17:54
• Enhancing this podcast 18:27

#1 Looking for learning

The first podcast has finally arrived. I haven't run it through Feedburner or put in any of the directories. The blog page on the host site has a player and there's also an RSS tag you can click to subscribe. In the next couple days I'll put the RSS link on this blog and take on other things such as submitting my feed to podcast directories, including iTunes and whatever else is necessary.

Here's the show notes

In this first podcast I talk about what led me to think about production video and how I discovered the Center for Digital Imaging Arts at Boston University.
There's a little bit about me, my video class experience at Clark University and how I’ve been using video. Finally, I describe who I think might be interested in listening, or at the very least, who I think I may be talking to.

Chapter times

• About the show :07
• About me :30
• About the Center for Digital Imaging Arts (CDIA) 1:02
• Previous classes in video editing 1:51
• The impact of Final Cut Pro on professional video 2:42
• CDIA culture and programs 3:37
• Who should listen to this podcast 5:49
• Close 9:03

The first 5 episodes of this podcast, that I post over the next two weeks, will cover different aspects of being a video student, such as the school, the classes in the program and personal goals.

Once my classes begin January 23, 2007, I'll deliver this podcast on a weekly basis. Initially you'll hear me talking about what's being covered in class and my impressions of the school. As time passes and I get my act together, I'd like to include interviews with other students, instructors and visiting artists at the school. I also hope to include comments and interviews with people in similar programs at other schools.

Please submit your comments on this site or email me.