Well, firstly, huge thanks a-n for selecting me for a Professional Development Bursary, your investment in me will really make a difference.
In all honesty I don’t usually apply for things like this as I don’t believe that I’ll be successful so, if like me, you feel like that maybe give it a go next time?
My current solo show is coming to an end at the Ruskin Gallery in Cambridge (shameless plug I know)! This show represents a major shift in my practice as it features the first serious film work that I’ve ever made. I felt that film was the only medium suited to the work I wanted to make and therefore it just had to be done despite lacking some of the skills needed to pull it off.
I am pleased with the resulting work but I was frustrated by aspects of the production because my lack of skills meant I had to rely on others too heavily, mostly with editing. The generosity of others was amazing and although I directed the work and controlled the editing, having more knowledge of the capabilities of the software might have yielded better results? So, I decided to ask a-n to support the acquisition of better skills particularly in editing. My application asked for support to undertake a professional training course in Premiere Pro and, fantastically, they decided to say yes. I have an established profile in Drawing but am keen to develop my video work so I described this to a-n and thankfully, with the help of a reference, from a fellow artist Kimberley Foster (one half of Sorhed) I was successful.
Regular updates to this blog will happen as I undertake my training. Thanks for reading.
Catherine
www.catherinebaker.co.uk
So from my previous posts you can see that I was lucky enough to secure a Professional Development Bursary which covered the costs of attending a short course in Premier Pro. After much searching I went on a course with Certitec in Covent Garden which was really good. Small class with a really nice instructor and a good deal of after support and it’s probably this aspect that represents where the value for money is. There were a few marketing people on the course, I was the only artist and the others consisted of small business owners hoping to skill up so that they could make their websites more exciting.
My previous blog entries give a little more detail about the course and the work that I did which I kind of felt was finished a while ago. Anyway, as promised here is the entry that concerns the sound work. I was pleased with the quality of the imagery but not being someone who usually works in moving image I think I settled a little too quickly with the work and after living with it for a few months I realised that it had much more potential. It had some sound but only that which was recorded at the time and I realised this wasn’t enough and that I could enable the work to have more impact if the sound was better quality, more structure and purposeful. The work is about people who live with terminal illness or long-term health conditions, I could go on at length here so I’ll spare you but do contact me if you’d like to hear more!
I had an idea to develop a soundtrack from the sounds of diagnostic imaging processes and thanks to some contacts I managed to get some of the medical sounds I needed. Having just started work in Premier I then needed to find someone to assist me with the sound work. Through a work colleague I was introduced to a young composer would had experience/interests in electronic sound so we met and have been developing the work together. It has a long way to go yet as we are trying multiple approaches that are quite electronic, some new tests that will be more choral whilst balancing the aims of the work in the first instance.
Over the holidays I am planning a number of recordings with people reading scripted text that will be the basis for the final composition which we are working on in January. I expect the work won’t be fully complete until Feb/March so I’ll be planning another entry to update a-n readers on how it all plays out. Thanks for reading.
Here’s a little 1 minute snippet if you’re interested:
https://vimeo.com/240289879
Please leave a comment if you have time or share, thanks.
www.catherine.baker.co.uk
Apologies that its been a while since my last update but a few exciting projects have been taking up my time, in a very enjoyable but time consuming way.
I’m still working with the video piece as the recording event was extensive so I have a great deal of footage to use, here’s another film still from the latest version. The participants as you can see from my previous posts are all clothed, which was a decision I made after some tests, they were shot in a small tank as opposed to a more expansive body of water. The below image was from the first test (tank)and my volunteer was an excellent participant but the resultant images reminded me somewhat of a “…tense, nervous headache” advert so along with rethinking the presence of clothing to normalise the person whilst exaggerating their out-of-placeness, I decided a radical change would be needed for the next filming. The first test made use of a plastic bag type invention that you can place your camera in ‘safely’ and submerge it…scarily we read the instructions multiple times and miraculously it worked! Sadly the quality wasn’t superb though so a very expensive camera and housing was hired for the second shoot…in for a penny in for a pound I thought, though it was many, many pounds more! Still a fraction of the purchase price so in hindsight it was a good decision.
Anyway, after my editing course I had felt that I was quite pleased with the 10-minute film outcome but thats the rub, once you develop your skills you get more ambitious and so I’ve been reworking the film for the past few months….check out my next entry for an update on my progress, thanks for reading!
After starting a new part-time post in May, it ended up being more difficult than I imagined finding the right time for the course I outlined in my Professional Development Bursary. With so many on the market, all advertising pretty much identical introductory course to Premier Pro, I finally plumped for the one that was well placed, well timed, good value and with really good reviews. These Adobe accredited courses are plentiful and generally have two fee structures; one for individuals and another price for employees. So it ended up significantly discounted by about 20%.
I decided to go for the Certitec two-day introductory course for Adobe Premier Pro CC as detailed in my a-n application. It was based in Covent Garden and was really easy to get to. The class size was only 7 and therefore the tutor time was excellent. I learned a great deal and thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it – Thanks a-n!
I am now practising putting my newly acquired skills to the test and have started re-working some previous clips that I didn’t have the knowledge to alter in the way I needed. I’ll follow up in the my next post with some images of the new work and do feel free to ask about the course, which I’d thoroughly recommend. I am really grateful for the opportunity to update my skills as I am now able to expand the work that that I can produce.
Bit spoilt for choice in terms of dates to undertake my Premiere Pro training as part of my successful application for a Professional Development Bursary. Probably going to wait until the June / July time as I’ll have more time to practice my new skills and maximise what I get out of winning the bursary.
I’m going to continue working on my underwater footage from my recent work.
Thanks for reading.
Catherine
www.catherinebaker.co.uk
