I figured this is worth a post. A project that I worked on last year, North County Food Bank, has been nominated for an Emmy Award. Yes, it’s just a student category, but I still think it is awesome. I am not expecting to win, but it would be nice (LOL, fingers crossed). Anyway, if you have not seen the video yet check it out below:
Tag Archive: 2012
It has been a few months since my last update and the truth is that I have had a rough time finding steady employment, so I have not felt very inspired. At first, I thought finding work would be easy. After all, I am a military veteran with a college degree who wouldn’t want to hire me right? Apparently not many people, but I have chosen a tough industry to break into.
I must have “shot-gunned” my resume to over 100 organizations and individuals in the hopes of a bite. I have spent WAY too much time searching various job sites, tweaking my resume, writing cover letters, and filling out applications. I landed interviews for several promising positions and I felt pretty good about my performance in each one, but I didn’t get any of the jobs (you never really know with interviews). However, my family is a wonderful support system and they didn’t let me stay down for too long. I really do feel blessed and I am grateful everyday to have such a great family.
Luckily, the last few weeks have been good to me in terms of finding contract work and I am bouncing back as usual. I have been on several different shoots (a police training video, constructions sites, an infomercial) and I have gained a ton of experience on how to light a set properly: what to look for, where to block, soften, or reflect light (natural and artificial). I have also started working with the city of Carlsbad recently, mainly shooting video, taking pictures, and helping them archive media.
The last few months have been humbling and they have certainly put a strain on my finances (not to mention my patience). The good thing is that they have also allowed me to spend time with family and enjoy the little things in life. So even after sending my resumes out like spam, the jobs that I have been working have been purely “word of mouth” referrals. It just goes to show that it’s not always about what you know, but who you know. Stay positive!
Is it me or is this year just flying by? I must be getting old because that’s what my parents used to say when I was a kid (and now I’m the parent). To be honest, I was a bit nervous after graduation because it meant I would have to start looking for work (I am sure I am not alone in this). I was already working two different jobs on campus, but unfortunately I couldn’t keep them because the positions were for students only. Now, several months after graduation, I feel lucky that my internship and continuing relationship with CSUSM has flourished into several job opportunities. I have also been busy doing freelance editing for Strategic Operations down in San Diego, as well as shooting a commercial in Orange County. So all I can say is that I hope to keep staying busy. Below is the latest video I shot and edited for CSUSM’s annual convocation event. It was a daunting task because it ended up being twice as long as what CSUSM had originally planned (they wanted a ton of people in the video), but I must say that it flows nicely and feels shorter than it is. I did have a couple of hiccups with the audio in this one because of a bad microphone and some mischievous wind, but it was an excellent learning experience because I had to remove tons of static and background noises in both Premiere and Soundbooth. Many thanks go out to my partner Ryan Smith who helped out during the shoots as well as with the audio clean-up and coloring.
The last video I shot and edited was one of the most demanding videos I have ever created, but it was an absolute pleasure to work on because of the diversity of shoots and the emotion it delivered. The purpose of the video was to create a captivating and emotional video that would help California State University San Marcos raise money for scholarships during the annual Gala event. It definitely put my skills to the test because it involved multiple cameras, tons of “b-roll” footage, and a great deal of collaboration. Of course I cannot take all the credit, my partners Matt Unwin and Armand Gutierrez had vital roles in the making of this video, but I spent hours upon hours editing the project making adjustments and tweaks, so I feel a bit like it is my “baby.” All of the hard work definitely paid off because I just received an email praising the video; below is the text of that email as well as the video itself:
“Happy news to report…
On Saturday night at the University’s gala, we debuted your video (titled Empowering Tomorrow’s Leaders) and the response was incredible. As you may recall from our discussions, the video is played just before our “Raise the Paddle” where we ask our guests to raise their live auction bid cards and make a donation to support student scholarships. Last year, to give you a comparison, we raised $30,000 after the video. This year… drum roll please… we raised more than $70,000!!!! The video inspired our guests to more than double their gifts from last year, and in fact , it is the highest amount we’re ever raised for “Raise the Paddle” in the history of our fundraiser. And in so many ways that is because of you and your work. Nastassja and Temet were brought up following the video just before the bidding began… and because of the connection and heart that you captured in the video, they received a standing ovation! People were moved, some even to tears. Your video allowed our donors to connect with our students in a way that was powerful and purposeful. More students will have access to scholarships at CSUSM because of your ability to share the lives of our students in meaningful ways.
Each of you had a strong hand in making our video standout in exceptional and powerful ways. Your enthusiasm, expertise, creativity, skillful attention to detail and collaborative team approach produced a masterful video for us. You really listened and delivered what we needed. Communicating the lives and personal impact of scholarships for three of our students in just 5 minutes is a tall order, but you perfected it beautifully. From the interviews and diverse yet engaging broll shots, to the music that guided the story, to the hours (and hours) of editing that perfected our vision, the final product was spot-on. Thank you!
I encourage you include the fundraising dollar amount, as well as the increase, in your portfolio along with the video. It’s proof that your work can inspire action and deliver results in incredible ways. I’ll be sure to pass along additional feedback as I hear it. The video will be going up online (on the homepage, YouTube and NewsCenter this week). Kudos again, and I hope you have a great day, week and summer.
All the best,
Christine
Christine Vaughan
Communications Specialist
Office of Communications, University Advancement
California State University San Marcos”
The moment finally came and went. I graduated, WOO-HOO! It feels amazing to finally accomplish this goal that I have been after for so long. I have to thank my family for their support, especially my wife, who has been there every step of the way.
My last semester was truly my most rewarding one because I was able to put my video production skills to work by working on 6 different video projects for Cal State University San Marcos (CSUSM). On top of that I earned “A’s” in all of my classes and finished up with a 3.3 GPA; not bad for being a dad/husband/student and having 2 (sometimes 3) jobs at the same time.
As usual, I am posting some of my projects as well as a graduation picture. I have to thank my partners Armand Gutierrez and Matt Unwin because they did an amazing job and they were awesome to work with. The first video asks students at CSUSM to summarize the last academic year with just one word and also use one word to describe what they hope for the following year. The second video (graduation) was shot and edited in less than 6 hours (nice job on the edit Matt). Enjoy!
As I mentioned in my previous post, I am currently involved in 4 video projects; 2 of which are finally done. This semester I was enrolled in a class called “Video in the Community” and I have been working with a group of people to create a video for the North County Food Bank (San Diego County). The objective of the video is to help the Food Bank attract more donors, suppliers, and volunteers. As usual, I am posting my handy work below, but I cannot take all the credit, my group was awesome and they made this project a breeze; thanks Kevin, Heli, Patrick, Heidy, and Stephen.
With graduation approaching (May 19th), I have to say that I am feeling a bit overwhelmed. In addition to the presentations and papers due for school, I am also working on 4 different video projects, two of which are for school, not to mention trying to look for a job in this economy. Anyway, this semester, I was one of three lucky students to be selected as paid video production interns by the Communication department at California State University San Marcos (CSUSM). The purpose of the internship is to produce four short videos for the school’s website that highlight various aspects of the school and hopefully attract more students. My two partners and I have chosen to swap roles for each video, however, since we have at least 2 cameras per shoot, we end up overlapping roles all the time (we have all shot video). The only job we don’t really overlap on is the actual editing because it is difficult for us all to do the editing and it is just not practical. I edited and worked camera for our first video, which focuses on a couple of the research opportunities offered by CSUSM. One of the reasons I was so excited about this internship (aside from getting paid) was that I knew I would have the chance to put my newly created dolly to good use. Check out the first two videos below.
Recently, a client asked me to design a logo and menu for her new restaurant: “La Pizzeria Factory.” This was not the first time I have done graphic design work, but it was certainly the first time I spent so much time on a project like this because I wanted to get it just right. She sent me a detailed description of what she wanted with a few examples of generic pizza logos that she wanted me to draw inspiration from. I created over 25 variations of the logo with different borders, background colors, and fonts. In the end she ended up choosing the design that I liked the most, so once that was decided I got to work on the foldable menus. Check out some of my handy work below.
Ok, here it is, the “2011 wrap-up” post…
2011 is gone and 2012 is finally upon us. I don’t know if this will be the end or the beginning, but I would like to wish everyone a happy new year and also take a quick look back at the year that just passed.
In terms of moving forward and making progress, 2011 was definitely a good year for me. I completed all the required courses for my bachelor’s degree (Mass Media Production), so now I just have to concentrate on finishing up my minors. I almost can’t believe I’ll be done with school in a few short months; just one more semester to go before graduation.
Another major milestone for me in 2011 was completing a documentary film I worked on for a couple of years called Blood We Shed. It was an official selection at the G.I. Film Festival in Washington DC, which I am extremely proud of. It originally started out as a class project, with zero budget, however it turned into an amazing documentary. In case you have not seen it yet you can check it out below:
I also fell in love with digital photography in 2011; I made an 8-legged friend that kept coming back to pose for the camera. I am planning on purchasing a Canon 7D in the next couple of months so that I can continue taking all sorts of pictures as well as make some beautiful videos. I have a few projects that I would love to pursue this year, but only time will tell if I will be able to get to them.
2012 is looking to be another good year because as I’ve mentioned, I will finally be graduating. At the same time, I can’t help but feel a bit nervous about life after college, but it’s a good nervous, the kind you feel at the top of the rollercoaster ride. Once you are on that ride you just have to hold on. After all, I spent 4 years in the military, got out for two years, then went back in for another 3 years, got out again, and now that I am almost done with college I am looking forward to another awesome ride.
I hope 2012 will be a great year for all of you and let’s keep our fingers crossed that it won’t be our last.
Sebastian Maselli 