Talk about time travel. Ten years ago I hung it up (or so I thought) and moved from lugging a camera and all that entails to running a zoo…oops, I mean teaching. No more violent winters or simmering summers…wading hip deep in flood waters…chasing crafty politicians. I was set. Complete climate control and lots of eager young minds to imprint.
That too became history when I retired in 2010. Then (after a callback) again in 2011. Um…maybe this year I’ll get it right. But I AM retired. Got that?
I sure didn’t. It seems I can’t sit still. Sure, I garden. Do the occasional volunteer gig. But just plain life seems to bore me. (Which may explain why I’m sitting at the kitchen table at 3am.)
So over the past few months I’ve been plotting my reincarnation, bringing in the best of both of my former lives. LOOK! Faster than a granny in a wheelchair! Able to carry heavy thoughts and run with them! Wilier than even Wiley Coyete himself! It’s … well, it appears to be an old lady with a camera.
But old is only old when you feel it.
I’m forever young in mind and spirit and to prove it, I’ve (finally) got a demo reel together. In this biz you can’t prove anything unless you show it. So here’s my show and tell for 2012. May do some tweaking…may not.
Now if you’ll get out of my way, I’m heading for the high hills to see if I can keep up with a group of disabled skiers…
Add-on
The lesson here for all of you aspiring VJs? You can’t get a job unless you can prove that not only you can do it, but you’ve done it. The “getaway” reel has been a standard in news since I first set my sights on a job in broadcasting. My internship at KFSN/Fresno lead to a weekend stint at KXTV/Sacramento, which in turn lead me all over the place. Yeah, I got hired a couple of times based on attitude and rep – but I had the reel to back me up. The trick is to keep it short ad sweet and keep it compelling and moving. This is my first demo reel in – oh heck – 15 or 20 years. And yeah – that first short fire clip WAS shot on Beta last century. But I haven’t been out on a breaker in a while…see?
Final note – I’d like to credit Kathleen Newell with some shots I didn’t shoot: that absolutely spectacular wide shot of the mountain with the snow reaching to the lake, the group of kayakers passing by, and the lone kayak in the middle of the lake. We were working together on this gig/she had the shore and I was on a boat…but she has the eye!
