CreComm Year One

Well, we've come to the end — well the end for now.

To say this year has been anything but a roller coaster ride would not nothing short of a lie. From the high of registration day, where everybody nervously tried to make small-talk with the person beside them, to the countless Friday afternoons spent, temporarily, releasing some of the week's stresses.

I've learnt to walk up to a stranger and start a conversation and find the deeper meaning of what they are trying to say. I've struggled through not one, but two journalism assignments, Remembrance Day and city hall, where I was so ill that I could barely keep consciousness. And I've lost countless hours of sleep and years off of my life stressing about not only meeting deadlines, but meeting them with adequately produced work.

That being said, I feel like it has been worth it. My grades may not indicate it, but personally, I feel like I have improved as a writer, a film producer, and as a person because of this program. Coming into the Creative Communications program, I believed that I had at least a hold of how to write properly. The economics program is a challenging course that pushes your limits both analytically and critically. It is underestimated in terms of its difficulty amongst many of the university disciplines, yet it is one of most the challenging programs in university. And in CreComm, the word mathematics is not discussed, and when it is, it usually involves something along the lines of, "We're CreComms, we don't do math."

CreComm is a program that is meant to tear you apart and slowly, methodically build you back up again. The instructors hold "us" to a high regard and demand that we produce industry standard work. But you know what, when it's all said and done, I'd rather have that approach than a laissez-faire approach where teachers allow their students to coast and pass them, regardless of the quality of work they hand-in.

At the beginning of the year we were given a "survival guide sheet" that outlines things we should do and know heading into the year, so it should only be fitting that I return the favour for the new crop of "freshies" coming into CreComm.

Here are my top five pieces of advice for incoming students:
         1.) Check you ego at the door, accept criticism, and build yourself from it. (Oxford comma rules                      
               all)
         2.) Do not procrastinate, it will cause you a lot of unnecessary stress.
         3.) Become a master of time-management, especially if you work.
         4.) Make friends with your classmates, you will rely on them in dire situations, and they are  
               great for peer-editing your work.
         5.) Don't be afraid you approach your teacher, they are nice and are more than willing to give    
              you guidance and advice.

I'd like to thank all my readers for taking the time out of their day to read my blog, there are so many options out there, but I've almost hit 2,000 views on my blog. That's a big deal to me.

And of course, my babies would like to say thank-you as well,

Video Montage

Here we go, here it is. My video montage and for the most part, I am proud of it and everything it accomplished.

Unfortunately, I didn't get enough footage because I forgot to bring my second battery, whoops!


However, I created something in Adobe After Effects, which was challenging.

I hope you like it, please leave some feedback, both positive and negative.

Unfortunately, Jason Aldean doesn't allow his music to be played by Canadians. So, I had to remove the audio. If you have My Kinda Party, you can play it on top of it, haha.


https://youtu.be/P3N59p0PLU4

Recap!

This is my recap of the Keystone Arena during the Brandon Wheat Kings second playoff game.

What if you were told there is a place where 4,102 equals 15,004. On Friday March 27, my friend and I travelled to Brandon, Manitoba to watch the Brandon Wheat Kings game at the Keystone Centre. It was the second game of the Western Hockey League playoffs, and the Wheat Kings won 8 – 1.

The arena’s seating is set up in a single level horseshoe with a concourse that allows patrons to view the action from anywhere. Taking a walk around the rink, which took me about ten minutes, you pass beer stands offering cold Coors Light and Canadian draught beer, vendors selling normal rink food; hot dogs, burgers, and popcorn, and families.

Attending a Wheat Kings playoff game costs $22 per person, which is roughly 11 times cheaper than what it will cost a fan to sit in a seat that touches the back wall of the MTS Centre, $250.50 according to jets.nhl.com, if they make the playoffs.  The food is cheaper and more importantly, for many hockey fans, so is the beer.

The atmosphere of the Keystone Centre was as loud and enthusiastic as you would expect attending a Jets game. Having attending both arenas for hockey games, the crowd on hand, which was a quarter of the size of MTS Centre, was on par with a sold-out Jets home game in terms of how loud it felt.

The Wheat Kings fans cheer their team on with a “Go Wheaties Go” chant when they feel their team needs a little boost or to add extra pressure when the home team has the visiting team on the ropes at their end. The excited crowd cheered as loud when the home team made the score 6 – 0 as they did when they opened up the scoring 36 seconds into the game.

A word of caution though, standing at the top of the stairway is not allowed, and you will be, politely, asked to move, even if you are cheering for the home squad.

The crowd ranged from party going twentysomethings pounding back several pints in the concourse, to families sitting in their seats with sodas and popcorn, to old timers, both seated and standing, who have been attending games since they were, “just a little kid” that by my observations was probably 70 years ago. It was a wide assortment of people, all of whom you could spark up a conversation with, given a break in play.

However, if you feel the urge to step away from the large crowds, the Coors Light Hockey House, located in the 880 CKLQ Hall, offers fans, of legal age, a chance to watch the game on a large projector screen while sitting in comfy chairs and being served by Coors Light girls. There were probably 30 people taking advantage of this amenity when we briefly popped in to see what it had to offer, we chose to watch the game live.

No matter who takes in a game at the Keystone Centre, whether you are with a couple of your buddies, a family, or someone who has been going for the past 70 years, the experience is affordable, friendly, and fun.

Magazine trade fair

Well, what a day that was. The magazine trade fair was the culmination of months of work, agony, and pain. All the groups in CreComm laid out tables to present their magazines and show off their hard work. It was amazing, some of the booths were really incredible, much respect to them.

It was a long day, probably an hour longer than it needed to be. My feet were sore by the end of it, but I enjoyed it, and even was able to sneak off and capture some shots.

Around three o'clock we were summoned tot he north doors to find out who the top three magazine groups were. Myself, I was not getting my hopes up walking over there as I brought my camera to take pictures of the groups who finished "atop the podium".  Everything happened so quickly, a quick introduction and an announcement of the final three magazines, of which we were apart of. I was blown away that we were in the final three, no joke. I was in disbelief and as soon as she announced the top three, she announced the overall winner, Rise Up!

She said our magazine, OUR MAGAZINE! I was beyond shocked. I think I even let a few expletives out after she announced it, whoops!

I turned to Scott, who was standing beside me and he was in as much shock as I was. We literally did not think we were going to be in the top three, let alone win the whole dang thing. But we did, and we are proud of it and what we accomplished.

I can't wait to go back next year and see what the new class has to offer, I have a feeling there magazines will be better than ours – which is a good thing.

Anyways, here are some of my favourite shots from the day. Enjoy!

Off to Brandon!

Tonight, Brent and myself are heading out to Brandon. Reason being? Well, it's playoff time for the Wheat Kings and we both don't work. So, why the hell not?

We are literally heading out right at four and flying out there for seven o'clock puck drop.




Along the way, I plan on filming some footage and filming, hopefully, at the game also. Reason being? Use it for my montage film for Media Pro.








AND we also got another assignment today, a review assignment.







I plan to review the experience of the Keystone Centre and compare it to the MTS Centre or The Hangar as I am starting a movement to name it.




Having closed last night, I got home around three in the morning and woke up at 6:40 a.m. I am a wee bit tired as I am feverishly writing this blog.

That being said, I will get my third wind soon and be good to go for the rest of the day.

Next week is the Magazine Trade Fair, feel free top stop on by, noon - 4 p.m. Red River College's Exchange District Campus

Le Magazine

Well folks, it's done.

After months of work, countless hours of lost sleep, and immeasurable levels of stress, we've finally completed our magazine, Rise Up!

It wasn't all sunshine and lollipops, nor was it all thunderstorms and horror.

From the start, it was a battle to think outside of my comfort zone and try to represent the people that I interviewed and the companies I created ads for. I met an amazing young man named Michael Champagne, and wrote and rewrote an article that explains him and his story while trying to shed a light on the bigger issue that surrounds what he does and why he does it.  I think I did a fairly good job of getting it done, and I'm excited for him to read it when it comes to print for the magazine trade fair, April 2nd at the Exchange District campus.

Last night, I was up till nearly three in the morning trying to save the final PDF of the magazine. For some reason, we were having technical difficulties, and was definitely not a fun experience. However, I managed to get it done, and managed to get it in on time, so that's good right?

There's the cover, I think it looks pretty cool and new.

Anyways, as I had mentioned earlier, the magazine trade fair is on April 2nd, from noon till four at the Exchange District Campus and we'd love for everyone to come out and check out our booth, and our magazine.

P.s. There will be freshly baked blueberry bannock and home-made jam!

Travel assignment.

Today was crecomm travel assignment day. Four of us went to Emerson. It was a great experience, and we met some interesting people, including a former mayor, former fire chief, and current councellor. 

All in all, it was a fun day and I am glad we had this assignment. Even though I wasn't looking forward to it to begin with. 

Till next week!