Robin C. Farrell

From months without film/video involvement of any kind, to a weekend chalk-full of it, followed by a relatively busy shift at the day job. . . wow!

To recap: I attended the D.C. Filmmakers' Meet-Up on Thursday of last week (10/1).  I met quite a few people, some more professional than others. I managed to get my business card to at least one of the guest speakers that night, which I was glad about.   Also, I met a friend of a friend who was mentioned to me about almost a year ago; at that time, there were several other people trying tostart their own production company. I had expressed interest, but my friend advised me to wait it out, since there was a lot of creative disagreement going on; too many chefs in the kitchen, so to speak. Still, he'd shown me some of the test footage they had done for a project called, "Ashleigh's Vengeance," which I thought had a lot of potential. Now, as I say, almost a year later, things have been cleared up and they're moving forward with Ashleigh's Vengeance.  At the meet-up, I was asked if I would be interested in participating in the shoot that coming Sunday (10/4).  I, of course, leaped at the opportunity...

Meanwhile, the 72Fest was this weekend.  It's an annual film festival held in Frederick, much like a 48 Hour Fest, except that they give you an extra day. This year, the theme was Edgar Allen Poe, which I found hilarious because of the history my classmates and I have with Poe, back from Ye Olde Film Production class. I remembered about the Fest too late, so I threw out an email to a few people asking if they wanted to try to participate.  My friend Jenna responded, but no one else did. So I figured it was a lost cause.  Still - I had the other shoot planned for Sunday, so I thought the weekend wouldn't bea total loss.

Then, Friday morning around 8:30am, my friend Justin (who you'll recognize as Ethan from Kidnapped and Choices) texts me and says that the 72Fest crew he's working on could use an extra person. So I jumped up and drove to the location - which was actually close to my house for a change.  THAT was strange, to not be 30 minutes away from my house at LEAST.  I was mostly just an extra grip, but I did what I could, offering suggestions and pitching in where and when I could. I left Saturday morning around 10:30am (after acall time of 8am) to leave for work - which turned out to be veryprofitable - and came back after work around 6:00pm.

The project actually had real merit, which I was really happy about it. I'm looking forward to the screenings this weekend to see how it turned out. It's going to be called "My Last Words," although I, personally, think a better title would have been, "Damn Roses."

Sunday was a blast.  I ended up actually working as a Camera Operator for large portions of the shoot, along with taking some behind-the-scenes video and photos (the photos are posted here on my website).

It was all awesome. But very tiring. It was a long weekend. Then I had to work Monday morning. Today, I woke up and slept in until about 11:30am. It was glorious.

In other news, I got a new car, and I'm very happy about it; much more reliable means of travel.  It's currently being repaird, but I should have it in a few days!

~ R