Wake Up and Smell the Roses!

 Wake Up and Smell the Roses!

by The Girl With The Kaleidoscope

She struggles to figure out where to begin.

It's not easy starting over, turning a brand new page and beginning a new chapter. Those first words are always the hardest to compose. Your mind literally goes blank and you can't help but wonder, am I where I'm supposed to be?

Is what I want to do, truly what I should be doing? She can't help but doubt herself and her choices. Dreams are foolish, she tries to convince her mind as it wanders to yet another imaginary possibility. They are hypocritical, unattainable and selfish!

But we still have them, we jot them down and spend every waking hour daydreaming about the possibilities and the 'what ifs'.

Money, fame, fortune, a hot new boyfriend, a mansion by Disney World. All bullshit! Dreams are just a way of letting you know that these are the things you will never truly have. Wake the fuck up and live reality!

It's frustrating, and the tears in her eyes sting like acid.

Problem with reality is that it's bleak and dark and disgusting! It smells of piss and blood and heartache, and who the hell wants to be a part of that?! Who wants to walk in the muck of reality when they can swim in the fresh waters of dreams?

She can't seem to make up her mind, though, do I really want to be here or there? Do I want to continue dreaming, or do I want to suck it up and tread through the muck?

Darling, you don't have a choice in the matter. Reality of the situation, is that it's not about what you want, but what needs to be. And reality needs to be. Being stinky, bloody, dirty and depressed is what needs to be. There's no escaping it. No point of even trying.

But for how long can I keep up with this reality?

Her questions and doubts will probably never be answered. She will probably continue to question, continue to dream. At least until reality sinks in and her dreams become another distant memory, never to be exhumed again. She will walk through life just like the rest of the world. In a dream like state of mind.

Note from the author: Sometimes I disassociate myself from me for a brief moment while writing a personal blog post.

Welcome to the Circus! An Animation First!

The video I am about to share with you is one I am very proud of! Not only did I use my video editing skills to put this piece together, but I also used a set of new skills that I convinced myself I could never have - animation. Now, this may be viewed as a very primitive form of animation, but for someone who has never done this, who has believed she could never pull this off ... I say primitive my tush!

It took me about a week and a half to complete this. It started off as one sequence and ended with sequence no.6 with no relation what-so-ever to the  first sequence (most video editors may understand what I mean). 

I used three programs to make this video, the main one was Photoshop. Taking each image into different layers, cutting, trimming, distorting, rotating and resizing. Then, I imported them into Final Cut Express where the still images came to life! Live Type was used for animating and making the font. Voila! My first animated short came alive!

This is another piece that I contributed to hitRECord. This one was for the Creepy Collab.

Editing Programs: Photoshop, Final Cut Express, Live Type
Uploaded To: Youtube & Vimeo

The art in the video was contributed by the talented following:
monazz here & here 
adhgraphicdesign 
KitchCat

The wonderfully creepy music was contributed by:
Jamielee


The Girl With The Kaleidoscope
@Yaya_Artist
@Instagram

Love in the Snow

I present to you another one of my animated videos! Like the video in the previous post, this one was another contribution to the hitRECord "Little Smokestacks - Short Film Collaboration" by FauxFix

Like in the other video the editing and the animating of all the still illustrations was done by me.  


Like Little Smokestacks (Short Film Collaboration) from Yaya8nfinity on Vimeo.

Editing program: Final Cut Express
Uploaded To: Youtube & Vimeo

Footage in this video are from the following contributors:
Yaya_Artist
Just_Jess
annmarie57
OnLy_aMy
Zachary A. Ronan
Aliceart
Les Gordon & Les Gordon

The Girl With The Kaleidoscope
@Yaya_Artist
@Instagram

Salute to All You Animators Out There!

This is one of my first videos where I've attempted to animate a still image! 

'Kissing in the Snow', is a contribution to the HitRECord, 'Little Smokestacks' Short Film. It's a beautiful winter song by FauxFix and they have called on all artists to contribute their work and make this beautiful song into a magical music video. So, I contributed my editing skills!

Editing program: Final Cut Express
Also uploaded to: Youtube  & Vimeo

Art work & footage contributed by:  
OnLy_aMy
courtneyjaynebaran
jeannproductions 


The Girl With The Kaleidoscope
@Yaya_Artist 

The Artist - Doodling Leads To Short Film

'Artist dry spells' can be a huge motivation if you know how to take advantage of them. A mere doodle can turn into a short horror/suspense film, and with an iPhone 4S by your side you can do just about anything with regards to filming! 

This little piece is not really about the actual art work, but more about the transitions and style of editing. The sound effects I used also play a major part in the unfolding of this story. 

Camera of choice: iPhone 4S
Editing program: Final Cut Express
Also uploaded to: Youtube & Vimeo
Sound effects from: freeSFX & soundgator


The Girl With The Kaleidoscope
@Yaya_Artist 

NOT a Blog

Let me begin by saying, this is not a blog. Contrary to what the url says, this can not be a blog. I'll tell you why ...

I seem to have an affinity for starting new blogs, and closing them down. I've started a wordpress.com blog about poems, closed that down. I've started a blogger.com blog as well, it was supposed to be a domain for all my scripts and short stories I've written, closed that one down. I have a few blogs over at livejournal.com as well, a personal blog, a fan blog where I post reviews for my favorite TV series 'Supernatural' ... Winchesters *sigh* ... There's also one that showcases all my videos I've edited. All those blogs are still open. Though, I haven't posted in them in awhile. 

Not sure if it's an obsessive compulsive need to fill the void that consumes me on a daily basis, or just another one of my obsessions with collecting things. 

In any case, here I am again, with yet another new blog ... well, a not blog. This one is more like a portfolio of my work. Perhaps, this will remain open and active for longer than a few years? *nervous chuckle*.

Who am I, you may be asking. 

Well, I'm many things, complicated is one and apparently I'm crazy with a dash of weird too, but who am I to judge. Mostly I'm a video editor. I'm also an amateur photographer. I go romping around my house, and sometimes the city using my iPhone 4S and those awesome camera apps, and snap away like I know what I'm doing. If you're curious you can look me up on Instagram under the alias Yaya_Artist. 

I also write scripts and short stories of the fictional kind. Sometimes, I dabble in art, I will occasionally get smacked by the god of creativity and produce a piece of work I like to call 'unique'.

This is what I am, and this is who I do. Hope you enjoy what I post, and don't be afraid to hit me up if you think my work is hot ;)

The Girl With the Kaleidoscope
@Yaya_Artist