Progress?

I haven't been here in such a long time that it's hard to even know where to begin. A lot has happened lately, not only academically but as well as in my social life and trying to make the most out of my final semester here at Saint Mike's.

However, as I sit here in Bergeron at 9:03 on a Sunday evening waiting for my Premiere file to export, I am more in the academic mindset and would like to use this post as an opportunity to organize my thoughts.

Senior Sem is EVERYTHING right now, and I hate to say it but a lot of other things have taken a back seat. Including dinner...I AM SO HUNGRY. As soon as I'm done uploading things I'm headed home to eat.

Anyway, our project is due April 1st, and that's much sooner than I'm comfortable with at this point, but it's also relieving to know that the end is near. On Wednesday we have the introduction (a.k.a the "Hook") and a chapter of our film due, as well as a written outline that guides us through the story structure.

Here is a short teaser Sheila made for the film, set to Brandi Carlile's "The Story":

Despite Sheila and I constantly scheduling interviews and going out to film, I'll be honest--right now I'm not feeling entirely prepared for this assignment. This has to do with a few things, mainly being that we're not done filming yet--we have a few things we still want to schedule, including some stuff we've planned over spring break, and it's hard to imagine how everything will come together when we don't know how our next few filming sessions are going to go.

And, since we've been filming so much, we have a lot of material to work with--both a blessing and a curse. We've been cutting and editing interviews as we go, getting rid of bits and pieces we know we certainly won't need. But even after cutting, we still have about 3 hours worth of great interview footage. For a 30-45 minute film.

A constant daily reminder that I sometimes need to force myself to believe.

So, that's what we're dealing with right now. We have a few ideas floating around about what we want to hand in for this assignment, so I'm not overly concerned about making the deadline. If there's one thing I've learned about myself, it's that when things need to be done, they get done. We might probably DEFINITELY will be making changes before we hand in our final cut, because that's just how it goes. Making a film is like writing a paper. You get the best results once you've gone through a few drafts first.

Unfortunately for us, that means a whole lot--too much--of our time this month will be spent in front of computer screens. But it will be worth it in the end.

Because in the end, as with everything we do, it's not just a project. It's what we've learned, the mistakes we've made, the laughs, the tears (more of those to come I'm sure), and most importantly, the people we've connected with over the past 6 months or so. We have become so invested in this film, and we want people to see it. Not just because we've been working so hard on it, but because it's important. And because of that, we want to make sure it's our best work that we put out there. Not only to represent ourselves in the best way possible, but to shed light on a social issue that's too often swept under the rug in a way that makes people question why they believe what they believe (or fear what they fear) about aging--and of course in a way that makes them want to continue the conversation.