Leah Elizabeth

We’re having post-issues with my 9th video for a Christian artist named Francesca… 

Vid will be posted soon.

As of now, we shall just leave this space blank.

Went to lunch with Brandon today.  For those of you who don’t know… Brandon is  the best producer i know.  He knows what he’s doing and he does it well.  He used to be on staff here at Taillight and decided to leave and turn to freelance at the end of 2010.  Thank God he left! No… not because I wouldn’t LOVE working with him everyday at Taillight, because I really would…he brings a little flare with him where ever he goes… but because when he left, Matt moved up, and I moved in.  Brandon deciding to leave Taillight opened up my position.  

Anyways.. he still works on the majority of our projects here at Taillight, the only difference is that now he is freelance.  He was in the office this morning to discuss our upcoming video for Margaret Durante.  Around lunch, we left the office at different times, and then ran into each other in the Quizno’s parking lot.  After we contemplated what food to consume, we sat down, and ended up having a great conversation.  He told me all about his career, his goals, the different potential downfalls, and just plain, straight forward advice for the music industry.  He really is an inspiration when it comes to myself and the path I am about to head down.  He has been in my shoes before.  He actually sat at my current desk for 4 years.  And he knows the ins and outs of the business.  We agree on a lot.  And one thing we both agree on, without a doubt, is who we look up to and admire, both professionally & personally:  Chandra.  She is the Executive Producer here and for lack of better words, is a badass.  If anyone knows what they’re doing, she does.  Shes a pro when it comes to client relations, she always knows what she’s talking about (and if she doesn’t, then she can sure fool me), and she is just a genuinely good person.  Brandon & I talked about her today during our lunch.  He said that without any doubt, she has taught him everything he learned in the last 4 years with our company.  Working by her side, he is now confident enough with his knowledge and ability to make a career out of freelancing.  

After our lunch, Brandon had to run and meet Kristin Barlowe (one of my favorite directors).  They are location scouting for our upcoming Margaret video.  I can’t tell you how thankful I am that chance had us meet in the Quizno’s parking lot for lunch today.  It was a quick sit down, probably 25 minutes tops, and most likely, Brandon has already forgotten about it due to his extreme whirlwind of a day, but it meant something to me.  It got me excited for this journey I’m about to embark on.  It made me realize some things.  And most importantly, it made me realize that there will probably be good times and bad, but if you have your heart set on a goal, you can ultimately get there.  

“Don’t dream your life, Live your dream.”

I think thats an amazing quote that holds a lot of truth and hope.  You can dream all you want, but putting your dreams into action is when you are reciprocated with satisfaction.  I go to work every day, Mon-Fri from 9-6 (and leaving at 6 is getting out of here early), but I have yet to “work.”  I’m doing something I love, surrounded by good people, people that I look up to and admire.  This industry is more than just a job, its a passion.  And if you don’t have that passion, then get out, because it will eat you alive.  So if this IS your dream, chase it.  Because I sure am and it feels great.

[[Until Next Time]]

Signing Off,

Leah_Eliz

ALRIGHT…

Today after work, I started a portfolio of all the music videos I have worked on thus far in my career. It is a binder, with lots of paper, numerous burned dvds, and production books.  After I completed that, I thought, hellllllo, this is 2011 (or twenty eleven, if you will)… What am I doing with all this paper?  So I came up with this idea:

Instead of blogging about ‘things I find odd’ (ahem, my first post.. not really sure what was going on that day, I apologize) I figured, maybe I could put this blog to actual use. I can create an online, digital portfolio of the music videos I work on and some of the more exciting aspects of life/work.  Pretty much, I’m doing this so that I can stop emailing my mom with quicktime files after every video I work on (because lets be honest, it takes an extra hour on the phone with her to explain how to open the download, save it, and then WATCH the video).

So here we go friends and family (probably my mom - since I’ll just now be emailing her this link, and Jenn - since she is the only person I know with a tumblr and got me started on it)… Here are the videos I have worked on soooo far in my career.

I will attempt to keep this up-to-date and maybe even throw in some interesting stories every once in a while :)

[[Until Next Time]]

Signing Off,

Leah_Eliz

That concludes the videos I did while working freelance.

All videos posted from this point on: fulltime staff position at Taillight (Production Coordinator).

Videos will be posted soon.

The last 4 we have done (Carter’s Chord, Francesca, Reba, and Michael W. Smith) are all in Post Editing at the moment.

More to come!

Those videos conclude my internship.

In addition to music videos that summer as an intern, I also worked on the CMT Music Awards, a pilot for CMT, and a TN Lottery Commercial. 

The next few videos are from freelance production work.

If you’re looking for an entry full of substance or thought provoking philosophies, then you’ve definitely come to the right wrong place.  I’m about to ramble on about some of the odd thoughts I’ve had in the recent hours.  If you’re utterly bored and have literally nothing else to do, then go for it, read away! However, if you have ANYTHING productive you may need to accomplish, I’d advise you to steer clear.  

Here are some things I just DO NOT understand:

-TRAFFIC. I just can not grasp the concept of it.  Ok, there was a 4 car pile up 5 miles ahead and the emergency vehicles have narrowed the 3 lane highway down to 1… THAT kind of traffic I understand.  But what in the world forces me to go 4.2 mph on the interstate for 8 miles, only to floor my accelerator back up to 70 mph 45 minutes later with absolutely no visible reason for the slow down? I. Just. Don’t. Get. It.

-SUPERHEROES. why, oh why.. do they always seem to wear their underwear on the outside of their outfits? If you don’t believe me, google the following images: Superman, Batman, Captain Planet…. I could continue, but you get it.  Who was the first person to think, “ooh well this man can fly so OBVIOUSLY he needs to defy the status quo when it comes to layering his clothing…”

-BELLY BUTTONS. I understand the biological make up of the human body to an extent, don’t get me wrong, but these little holes just confuse me.  I mean, everyone is technically grown the same way.  All placental mammals actually have one of these tiny scars on their abdomen.  The thing that gets me, is that during creation, the Big Man Above thought that a cord connecting you and your mother through your mid-section is going to be the best place to receive your nutrients / blood supply. I mean, after you’re birthed into this lovely atmosphere, you then start receiving nutrients through your mouth… why make the switch? How come we went from a cord directly to our bodies to having to physically ingest the substances we need?  I know this may be one of the weirdest thoughts you’ll most likely read on this rainy day, but some things just confuse me, I said I’d air them out in this post, and you were the one bored enough to read them.

-FITTED SHEETS. Why am I completely incapable of folding one of these? Yes. I even youtubed (I believe I just created a verb) a tutorial of ‘folding fitted sheet tricks’ and came out of it no further ahead than I started.  I like to think of myself as a pretty organized person.  I mean, if you look in my linen closet, you’ll see stacks of neatly folder blankets, towels, etc.  However, there are always little balls of bundled up messes in the corner.  That is where I tend to store all fitted sheets… in the corner or behind the other nicely arranged items.  Martha Stewart, where are you when I need you?

-GRAPE FLAVORING.  I hate it. A lot.  Anything grape flavored. Grape juice, grape flavored medicine, grape suckers, grape candy, grape flavored vodka.  But what confuses me here, is that the “grape flavor” actually tastes NOTHING like actual grapes.  So why is it even called grape? I love those little green or purple spheres you keep in the fridge and sometimes have seeds.  But this so called “grape flavor” truly has no correlation to the actual fruit.  I curse the person who created this.  

and last but not least, who DID steal the cookies from the cookie jar?

Okay. That is all. 

[[Until Next Time]]

Signing Off,

Leah_Eliz