Living & Working in Les Arcs
So I’m well aware I haven’t written on here in a while. I’ve been pretty busy you see, what with moving to France and all. Yep, that’s right. I now live in the ski resort of Les Arcs, up in the French Alps, and I am loving it. In between the boarding sessions, I am currently working as a freelance showreel editor for two agencies, The Rights House and Lou Coulson Associates, cutting numerous showreels for their clients, who range from TV presenters to some pretty big name actors. I’m actually really enjoying this work, and it’s a great way to get my foot in the door for hopefully more editing work in the future.
Looking For Work
So I’m home. The adventures are over and I have firmly landed back in the real world with a bump. And now the job hunt is on.
I’m looking for work in the editing world; making music videos, promos and adverts primarily, but really any editing work will do. I miss it.
I’ve got a few leads, but nothing solid yet. I’ll keep you all informed. I know you’re on the edge of your seats.
Plans Are A-Changing
So, in the last week or so there have been a few developments. I am now no longer moving to Canada in October as I have decided that it is time to move back to London, find a ‘real’ job and have a base for a while…scary and daunting but i’m actually pretty excited for what the future holds. I’m looking for work in either the travel writing or film (editing) industries, a wide spectrum, but I can see myself enjoying either field at the moment, and i think now is the time to try things out and work out what I want to do.
Currently…
So I thought I’d kick this off and just let you all know where I am in my life right now. I graduated from university in June 2011, then worked at Camp Sloane YMCA in Connecticut, USA as the Media Director before going off travelling around the world for just over 7 months (you can read about my travels at www.rusjafoster.com).
Now I’m back working at camp and loving it. And then in September I’m off to Canada to work a ski season and after that? Who knows?
The world is my oyster.
Photo Of The Week: Together Again
I love these people
This weekend I went back down to my old uni town of Falmouth, in Cornwall, to visit my friend Anna who’s still studying there. What Anna didn’t know though, was that I was secretly bringing three of our other bestest friends down with me…best. surprise. ever. We had an awesome weekend, just chilling and catching up; eating yummy food, drinking wine and sitting by the fire. This was the last time I’m going to see these guys for a really long time before I set off on my travels next weekend (!), so it was lovely to just get to hang out, like old times.
Graduation…The End Of An Era
After my exciting and adventurous summer, it was very strange and surreal to be back in Falmouth yesterday for my graduation. And what a graduation it was…with us all dressed up in our robes and those ridiculous caps, I felt like we should have been holding wands in the middle of Hogwarts! But on a serious note, the ceremony was great, no one fell over (phew!), everyone was all smiles, and we were given a very inspiring speech at the end…it almost made me want to go out and get a real job. Okay, I said almost!
Degree Results!
Just a quick note to say I am now the proud owner of a 1st Class Honours Degree! Thank you Falmouth.
In other news, Camp is going great, I’m settling in and working out what I’ll be doing over the course of summer. Good times ahead.
Camp Sloane Here I Come!
I have officially finished my degree! I handed everything in on Monday so now I am free to enjoy my last few weeks in Falmouth before I head off to the USA to begin my job at Camp Sloane. And I am more excited than words can possibly explain.
Halfway Point
New Video Alert!
Here’s one of the films I edited for part of my final Portfolio for Uni. It’s called Halfway Point and tells the story of Michael & Sarah as they try to decide if love really does conquer all. With songs performed by up and coming band In Colour, the film segways into a music video featuring the band, as Michael tries to make a very important decision…but will he be too late?
(25)…It Is Now!
This is it. The end is nigh. It’s almost over.
I’ve just fully completed Jade’s documentary ‘The Little Things’, with the proper sound and music and everything and it looks (and sounds) fantastic! It’s a better film than I ever thought it would be…it’s gone through so many changes over the last couple of weeks, but this is the best by far. It’s been quite a stressful week, mostly due to the fact that I’ve kind of been feeling like I’m in limbo…I’ve finished all my own work and essays etc, so it’s just been a matter of printing everything and putting it into my portfolio, which I did on Tuesday. I also finished off Dave’s film ‘Halfway Point’ at the start of the week, and he’s taken it away to make the DVDs for us all.
(24) And They Think It’s All Over…
I had my peer appraisal on Monday, and on the whole the feedback I received about my work was pretty positive. Obviously there were a few suggestions for various projects, some of which I’ve taken on board and some of which I haven’t, the main one being my Action trailer, as it is a piece that I worked really hard on and feel that it does what I want it to do…changing it now would only turn it into something I never intended it to be, and hopefully this will come across in both my contextual and self-reflective essays.
(23) Cutting It Close
It’s been a pretty hectic week for me work-wise, with little (and big) editing changes going on all over the place. It’s now just over 2 weeks until hand-in, and this looming deadline is making me panic ever so slightly. Especially as I’m still trying to make all the little amendments to Jade’s documentary that everyone is suggesting…between me, Jade, Collette and all our tutors, it’s becoming almost impossible to create a film that everyone is happy with, there are opinions coming in from everywhere, about everything!
(22) Showreel Complete!
I’ve spent today just polishing off my editing showreel, making sure it all runs smoothly and cuts in the right places, as well as adding a few bits from Dave’s music video and Jade’s documentary, so that it now showcases all my work to date.
(21) Problem Solving
So now that I’m back in Falmouth, it’s been pretty non-stop in terms of work. After a (partially) positive tutorial on Tuesday, I realised I still had a lot more work to do than I first thought. There was a lot to do on Dave’s music video film, as it was a bit of a mess (and about 2 minutes too long!). However, my main concern was Jade’s documentary, as Mark had a few things to say about it, a lot of which I agreed with (and I definitely appreciated his suggestions), although this meant I have had to do a completely new cut, reworking the story and trying to focus more on a few individuals, rather than everyone all at once.
(20) Nearly There
With only 5 weeks until our last hand in EVER, I’ve been trying to knuckle down and get all my editing done and dusted asap so that I can get the two films to the sound people in plenty of time. So far, I’m pretty much on target in terms of what I’ve completed and what I’ve still got left to do, which is nice, so I’m not too stressed…but I see that changing fairly soon as the deadline looms ever closer!
(19) Treasure
Now that my dissertation is finally handed in, I’ve been able to make a proper start on the edit of Jade’s documentary, which for now has the working title of ‘Treasure’. I spent a good few hours doing the somewhat tedious job of organising the footage; making sure all the sequence settings were correct and matching up some missing audio. But now I’m on to the good stuff, cutting up people’s responses, creating funny, honest and often emotional moments as our interviewees were captured reflecting upon their lives and their possessions.
(18) What Is The Meaning Of Life?
I just got linked to this video and felt compelled to share it. It’s about life and freedom and what it all means. A powerful film, and one that will definitely be an inspiration to the documentary I’m editing, which is all about the personal items people carry around with them. Both films expose people in an honest and open way, but without being too intrusive.
(17) Dissertation Takes Over
Since finishing off the Action Trailer I’ve been mostly focusing on getting my Dissertation done and dusted, seeing as it’s due in next week! I’m pretty much finished with it I think, just a few bits to polish off here and there and then just little organisation things like getting the title and contents pages right etc etc…And then it’s being printed and bound next Wednesday! Eeeek! I can’t wait to have it all finished and handed in, leaving me free to just edit, edit, edit.
(16) Action Movie Trailer
Here it is, the finished product. Enjoy!
(15)…And Cut
In terms of the progress I’ve made with this project, last week was a definite turning point. Yesterday I completed (what I hope to be) the final cut of my action trailer and this is one piece of work that I am actually really proud of. I’ve shown it to a few people who I trust to tell me the truth and they’ve all really liked it, saying that it makes them want to watch all the films in it, and that they’re impressed with the way it fits together with the music to make a cohesive narrative, which is great because that was pretty much what I’ve been aiming for.
(14) Icaroo Logo
Yesterday, when I got bored of editing my action trailer, I decided to create an animated logo, or ‘sting’ as they’re often called, to go at the start of all my future projects, just to make it look a bit more professional, and so perhaps my name/logo will stick in your memory.
(13)…And Action!
I’m finally getting somewhere with this action trailer, the final piece of work in my trailer collection (also the last bit of work I can do before I get the footage from Jade’s and Dave’s films, which they are yet to shoot), and so far, I’m really enjoying the process.
(12) My Week At Vertigo Films
As part of my Practical Project, and to enhance my CV, I’ve spent all of this week in London working as a runner/office assistant at Vertigo Films, a film production and distribution company. They did Streetdance 3D and the recent Gareth Edwards film Monsters. They’re currently working on a 3D film of the successful kids books Horrid Henry, and from what I’ve seen, it’s going to be brilliant!
(11) And The Trailer Is Complete!
So here it is, in all it’s glory. I’m really pleased with the end result, and while there may be a few tweaks made here and there over the next few months before hand-in in May, this is pretty much it:
Rusja Foster 