Time to hit it or quit it.

Life is keeping me busy. Between work, school and derby I barely have time to nap anymore(hah). School and derby are causing interesting conflicts between each other.. I'm doing my BFA project on derby, but one of my intermedia classes is during a practice... I want to skate my ass off at the one practice I do attend.. but I want to capture everything in film... I've enlisted someone to help me film, but if I don't start actively molding the direction of this project, it's going to fall apart.
I have a meeting with my advisor this week which has got me frazzled, and realizing that I don't have much so far. It seems my helper, Mr. Blood, if anything is going to keep me sane and focused. I need to create a plan, get interviews and start setting up the structure of how this video is going to play out. I have large hopes and goals for this project, but I need to think in small, short term goals if I'm going to get anything done.

Relating more to the derby world, our bout is less than three weeks away! We just set up a FUNdraiser with Coldstone Creamery, derby chicks selling ice cream and obtaining some of the profits. Quinn had me whip up a quick flyer for it..

 

So, I'm finally figuring some things out on photoshop.. hah. I think we'll being having our famous Jello Shot Night FUNdraiser as well. It was a HUGE success last time, and tons of fun. Our uniform tops are ordered, half time entertainment scheduled (hapkido performance!),  all seems to be well on it's way to the bout! The nerve-racking thing is that we play away two weeks later, and then another home bout April 3rd! I guess this is what a real season is like..  Last year we only had like four major bouts.

Well, I've got a lot to do the next few weeks! I'm excited and scared..

-L4D

Shut Up and Skate.

March 13th is our first home bout of the season, which leaves less than four weeks to get ready for it. Practice is merely one aspect of preparation for a home bout, the production of the whole event falls on us. This is no club at school where there is extra staff that puts these events on, we are the staff and the talent. From promoting to setting up hundreds of chairs, everything gets done by us.

Behind the scenes, skaters are split up into various committees to make this process easier. I belong to the PR committee, which is responsible for spreading the word of derby via flyers, the media, and putting together the programs for the bout. I try to fanagle any scrap of artistic skills or access to equipment that I currently have to benefit this area. Having such a diverse team, we can all bring something to the table through all our various connections and backgrounds. I recently finished the picture for our "Four Leaf Clobber" bout poster:

 

I realized two things in the making of this picture; I have little knowledge of photoshop, and it's fun to beat people up digitally. It's practical skills like this, which could be applied to more everyday life, that makes me almost want to reconsider my choice of focusing on intermedia instead of something like graphic design. Although, cutting bits of footage from my flip reconfirms that intermedia is more challenging and open to more possibilities of working creatively.

Intermedia also keeps me from derby though, I have a class Wednesday nights that cuts into most of practice, which means I only scratch my skating itch once a week now. Yesterday I scratched it right through my tights and walked away with some rink rash.

As for my ongoing BFA project, I'm not as far as I would like to be. I've been gathering a lot of footage at random during practice, giving my flip to people who aren't skating to get various points of view. I need to just sit down and lay out a plan and set some goals so I don't get too far behind. Tynamite, who has been helping me out quite a bit at practice with filming, also gave me the idea of getting some footage of the daily lives of derby girls. It's a shock to most people that a majority of our team does not consist of college students. Tomorrow I plan on spending the afternoon at work with Fonda Cuffs, a very fine police officer. 

-Left 4 Deadwards