Orson Welles the Genius

I feel compelled to blog about one of my favorite filmmakers of all time- the late Orson Welles.

Welles was extremely gifted in various areas of film production including acting, writing and filming. Because of this versatility, Welles was able to have almost complete control of his best production to date- Citizen Kane.

In the movie Citizen Kane, Welles portrays William Hearst, a newspaper owner with more money than God, and almost just as much power. It was an extremely bold move because Welles was taking on the media. And, we all know that's where the power lies.

Fortunately, Welles was able to make the movie and have it released, much to the chagrin of Hearst who offered RKO studios $800,000 to burn the film.

Overall, the entire story of Citizen Kane, off and on the screen, has inspired me a great deal in my evolution as a filmmaker.

Definitely blogworthy :)

Sad Day for Journalism

There were numerous job and program cuts to the CBC lately, forcing new and longtime employees to search for jobs elsewhere. 

If the CBC, the money giant of Canadian journalism, is making cuts, then things aren't looking well for smaller, less funded companies. 

But, I guess it's all a part of the recession! ;)

Or is it?

Perhaps the government is using the distraction of a recession to influence ($) the people in charge of the CBC to cut or reduce funding to programs that investigate or criticize government? Could be another way of censoring our media.

All we know is what we know- and if we don't know about it, we can't change it.

I'm doing a documentary on Native/White relations throughout the history of Woodstock, and it's teaching me a lot.

Over the past month, I've seen, heard and tried to understand photographs, testimonies and history books in search of the truth. Now, I feel like I can justly say that the Maliseet people here haven't been  compensated for their mistreatment.

I could sight several examples, but I'm won't. I'm leaving that to my documentary.

I just hope people see it and come one step closer to understanding the "real" truth.

2 Weeks Left in Woodstock!

Wow.. how time flies when you're having fun.

In a couple weeks my time in Woodstock will be over as I'm headed to Europe with Team Canada Football. Two returns to NBCC Woodstock I'll see are one to edit footage of the trip and one to graduate a journalist. Other than that, it's ova.

Thankfully.

Although Woodstock is an extremely boring town, my experiences here have tought me a great deal about friendship, business and professionalism. If I had the opportunity to turn back the clock and not come, I would still spend two years here.

There's something about this town that I'll miss, but I can't put my finger on it..

Busy, Busy, Busy..

Deadlines have been significantly shortened because of my upcoming Europe trip, so I've been running around like a chicken with its head cut off.... to say the very least.

Between a video documentary, internet journalism multimedia project and stories for our school newspaper, my free time has become a thing of the past. With this being said, my spirits are considerably high! The reason for this is the understanding that next year, in film school, my workload there will make my current woes seem like a day at the park.

But hey, who doesn't like being busy with stuff they love?? I certainly do.

Euro Trip

Recently I became accepted for a practicum placement with Team Canada Football for their upcoming London/Scotland/Bristol tour in April. I'll be the team videographer.

I feel this is a wonderful opportunity because it'll give me experience with film and will allow me to travel the world a bit before I'm too broke to do so.

Once I get back (early May) I start my second practicum with Rogers TV in Saint John. I'm not as excited for this one, but I'm still pumped. At Rogers, I'll have access to state of the art editing software and cameras- all adding to my experience.

For now though, I'm a busy little bee finishing up at NBCC Woodstock.

Why do you think I'm writing this blog?? lol

Got Accepted to VFS :)

The verdict is in and I got accepted to Vancouver Film School :)

I just paid the 5% tuition fee (1,700) and sent in my enrollment form, so it's official. I'll be moving there in October with my girlfriend who's almost as excited as me..... almost. 

The decision to move from journalism to film was an easy one because I work with so much video in my class. My documentary class gave me the opportunity to work with editing software and many of the other tools required in the film industry. Through this I became fascinated with the art of filmmaking and decided to pursue it as a career.

So, I'm taking a big step in the stairway to success!! Wish me luck ;)