Adobe Contribute

I'm actually just writing this because I just discovered Contribute from Adobe.  I've had it all along and never knew what it was or did.

Reflections

I almost fell out of my chair a minute ago when i discovered there is a class website!!!! (Thanks Lloyd)

I suppose now would be a good time to attempt a blog entry since I’ve messed a few weeks.

Monday was a big day because we had our holiday party which I almost singlehandedly organized. The food was great and everyone had a good time including my self.

The snow day we had last week was a lot of fun as well and virtually no work was done because everyone was downstairs playing (in the end, even corporate executives are kids at heart).

Integrity check - I will be using the majority of my "Great divided" presentation for my final project. There’s no two ways around it, it was the same assignment and it makes no sense to me why I would re write the entire thing.

Looking back – This past semester was a lot of fun (at work). We tackled many large projects (and dropped a few along the way). The active shooter video which was what my internship was supposed to be based on, is still in limbo. Seems like just when we get the ball rolling a twig gets in the way and no one wants to get up and move it. On the other hand, I was put in charge of the conversion from out dated security product and made responsible to oversee the transition to the new one. I had two senior chiefs and the VP reporting to me on a daily basis. I don’t think they liked it to much, but in the end everything got done and now I am helping with the customized web clients. I suspect that this should go over just as smoothly and be even more hands on.

Looking Forward – It was recently brought to my attention that UH now has a digital communication department (or something similar). If it’s been around for a while then I suppose it’s my fault for not checking sooner but when I first enrolled at HCC it did not exist. This being said, I am looking into attending possibly in the fall semester of next year.

Reflection – In the end, Graphic designers are a dime a dozen…what sets you apart from the rest? Sure “who you know” helps but it does you no good if once you have your foot in the door and don’t have the skills to take over. I decided I want to continue my education and get my Bachelors.

Now to find a boss who wants a free lunch.

The Great Divide

Tuesday was a big day for me, I was asked to speak in “The Great Divide” as a panelist and I have to say that it was a learning experience. (im certain with the amount of photographers there that night their has to be a better picture of me but this is all I could find)

Lesson one, regardless of how comfortable you feel you may be in public speaking, always have a plan. I didn’t even try to have a speech ready – thinking that I could just make it up as I went. Well it backfired on me with a few awkward moments of silence as I tried desperately to gather my thoughts.

Lesson two (and this goes against the first one) – No amount of planning will prepare you completely so stay flexible.

In the end I was super glad I did it and it was a great opportunity for me to catch up with old friends from semesters past that I had not seen in a while.

The idea behind the event was to give students a chance to talk to graduates who are now in the field. I heard a lot of good advice and then some that was not so good but it’s all a matter of opinion and what led you to be where you are today. Everyone’s story is different but I find that I have always been a little “by the numbers”.

On a less serious note, were past midterms and the class site is still not up nor did I ever receive an e-mail with everyone’s info as promised. I'm going to stop trying and just go with the flow. If by chance someone in my class reads this (you wont because you never got the link) pleas let me know when the next class is.

Chewie

Chewie
Originally uploaded by Edouard Dubiton

I can’t say anything happened too exciting last week however this week I was asked to speak in the “The great divide” at HCC. I have never attended this event so I'm not too sure what to expect however I am assured that there will be no surprises and will have plenty of time to get ready. I suppose this means I have to start getting together a presentation (the dilemma unfolds - should I do this at work if it gets slow?).

Posted is a picture of my adopted dog Chewy (the spelling is up for debate). When ever it gets slow at work I work on personal projects such as this piece. I figure as long as I'm doing something in the realm of visual communications then I am in the clear.
My family rescued him after going toe to toe in what must have been a slaughter with our 2 German Sheppard. Several thousands in vet bills later he is as good as new

A fun Weekend

Country Road
Originally uploaded by Edouard Dubiton

While not work related, this past weekend was a memorable experience for me. I was invited to take pictures on a movie set. After a short 5 hour drive, I found my self in Uncertain Texas (population to small to care) where the remake of Boggy Creek is being filmed. Immediately I realized that this was no major motion picture and I will more then likely never see this at the Alamo Draft House however it was still a unique experience for me so I decided to make the most of it. When I arrived, my contact told me that it was a closed set for that day due to a nude scene (which was of no concern to me) but if I wanted I could meet him at the Uncertain Tavern where the cast and crew were going to meet up after.

After a few hours and mingling with the locals the cast and crew showed up and everyone had a good time. I was allowed to take pictures of whom ever I wanted but the lighting was poor in the bar despise having a low light 50mm lens so it was a challenging task. Luckily the set photographer was there and gave me some ferry helpful tips on what settings to use.

Photographer and a Cast Member
Originally uploaded by Edouard Dubiton

Unfortunately I also learned that night that it was the last night of shooting for the weekend and all hope of me seeing an actual movie set went out the window… that is until Saturday night when we all went to Shreveport. While going through downtown I found my self on the set of a major motion picture when out of nowhere I heard someone yell “Action” and two Abraham tanks came screaming around the corner followed by a Hummvee shooting blanks from a 50 cal. So in the end I saw my movie set after all.

Then I went to the casino and lost all my money but that has nothing to do with this class.

A big company is asking me to do some pretty serious updates to their security site but I am reluctant because I know that next month we are revealing our newest version of World Watch and they will be automatically converted over to the new format which means all the changes that I make today will be for nothing. I explained to the client the situation and they agreed to tone down the changes they were requesting. I feel that the leadership here is more concerned about sales then they are about customer service sometimes. No one had bothered to tell one of company’s oldest clients that we were going to be making this big change. Its discouraging sometimes when you look at the big picture and realize that regardless of the amount of passion you have in something, in the end, its pointless unless others share the same feeling.

I started today off with the usual updates from the usual clients. Now things are starting to slow down a little and I am in need for something to do. The client that wants the video made is not replying to my e-mails so I'm going to take the time to learn Adobe's After Effects. For the past couple of days I have been doing tutorials online in my free time and feel that now I am ready to start using it as a productive tool. My first order of business is to create a simple intro using our logo that I can place at the beginning of every video we produce from here on out.

I’m brain storming a few ideas and think I’m going to go with a grungy digital look that flickers a little. The whole thing won’t take more than 2 seconds but I’m thinking that those two seconds are going to involve a couple of hours worth of work. I’m excited to take this project on and it’s something I’ve wanted to do for a while now and Ill be sure to post the results when its complete.