2 posts from June 2007

Tracing the series of events that lead to things can be interesting.
A few years ago someone studied Screen Arts and I found out that they had kids and that her partner was a musician. I was able to listen to his music and Catherine made a cool music video for one of the songs as well.

She stayed in touch with me and let me know about the launch of the new CD with the new combo which is Fresia and the Offsprings with Eric Fresia and two of their kids, Charlotte and Samuel.
The timing was perfect as it was happening just as my summer vacation was starting, so my son John and I would have our first summer adventure at the CD launch. There were camping facilities available, so I packed up the tent and our sleeping bags so we could set them up if we decided to stay. The weather was calling for rain, so I wasn't sure if we'd camp or not.
We started out after lunch and got a coffee and ginger beer for the trip up. We stopped for gas in Truro and I thought that I'd refill the windshield washer fluid. The gas wasn't a problem, but the hood wouldn't open. I became quite focussed on opening the hood, and it eventually opened. After the fluid was filled, I dropped the hood down and it didn't latch. Hmm. I hadn't thought through the whole process, so now the hood wouldn't stay down. It looked like the wire that releases the latch was broken, so I cleaned around the latch (it was covered with some dirt) and eventually managed to get it to stay and we were back on the road again.
It rained on and off for the rest of the journey, so I figured that we wouldn't set up the tent. The Bussiere - Fresia homestead is in the community of Beckwith, which is just outside of the blueberry capital of Canada, Oxford, Nova Scotia. We sailed through Oxford and drove down the very muddy driveway to find a beautiful house, studio, greenhouse, outdoor stage, sauna, pond and outhouses. While it was too rainy and damp for the outdoor stage to be used, the instruments and speakers were set up in the studio, which was very cozy.
The band started to play as everyone gathered in the studio and they went through the songs on the CD mostly in order. It was great and most people were smiling the whole time. It rained very hard outside, but as the first set ended, the rain did as well. Then after a break where people chatted, kids played, swam, and warmed up in the sauna, the fire was started to make sure that there would be a bed of coals after the second set for cooking hot dogs and marshmallows.
The second set was shorter and had some covers and then the kids got bored and Charlotte slipped out to play. Sam then left to kick the soccer ball around and Eric did a few more songs with some assistance from the audience. Then John got up and performed a few magic tricks. It was his first time in front of a microphone and he took to it like a duck to water. His patter had the audience laughing and paying attention to his skillful prestidigitation. I was very proud and I think that he got a kick out of it too.
Now it was time to roast marshmallows and have great conversations into the night. Eventually it was time to hit the road for the trip home and with a bit of light rain falling we popped the CD in and made the journey home. John was very tired and was asleep before the CD hit the halfway point.
The trip home was uneventful except for a raccoon that crossed the road, but I saw it soon enough to slow down and avoid it. We pulled in with everyone else in the house asleep and I tucked John into bed and then slid into bed myself and fell asleep right away. All in all it was the perfect way to start the summer.

This is the time of year that I always get retrospective and a bit mushy as another group of the people that I help to learn about filmmaking are about to graduate. No more classes and just filing and wrapping things up from the past year and getting ready for the upcoming term. The other big thing is the end of year Applied Arts show that happens on the evening of the convocation ceremony (we wear gowns and fill a big theatre as everyone graduates).

Each program gets to show off the work of graduating learners, so it's filled with all sorts of neat visual stuff and sound and moving images. The last few years the graduating Screen Arts classes have built and dressed sets that highlight some of the skills that they've gained. It's a lot of fun and it's a great party.
A few days ago we had an awards night where graduates are given awards. We usually are at the beginning (Applied Arts shows up at the top alphabetically), so we slip out with our winners and go for a drink which is a lot of fun. This year someone said that they remembered something I told them in class two years ago when they started and as I drove home I thought again about the privilege it is to teach and spend time with interesting people every day.
I quickly did the math and figured out that over the two years of the program each person spends 65 weeks going to school. There is no choice in the program and each person spends all that time with the people that they started with (20 people each year). So I'll see them a few times each of those 65 weeks, so you end up knowing them fairly well, so seeing them go out into the world is always a bit emotional.
What I've realized over the past few years is that it's just the beginning as many people stay in touch and come back to visit. Time flies by so fast and I can't remember when people have graduated as it seems like only yesterday. I love filmmaking and it's great to be able to share that feeling and help other people share their stories. Filmmaking is one of the most powerful of the media arts, so I think that I'm helping people to change the world. I get paid to help people change the world and how cool is that?