Life on Yavin IV: Transitions

Life on Yavin IV

Hello there. I'm Jedi Knight G. Since the creation of the New Jedi Order by Master Skywalker, the Jedi have been free to take part in previously forbidden activities. One of those being Marriage. The following are the tales of my experiences being married with children. May the force be with you...G.

5.31.2006

Transitions

"I'm just a simple man, trying to make my way through the universe." - Jango Fett

Tran-si-tion : A passage from one form, state, style or place to another.

Sometimes a transition will give me problems while I'm editing. A lot of the times it's just me nit-picking, but the wrong transition can wreck havok on your spot. The Webster's definition of a transition is above, but I'm refering to a edit-transition used in puting together a :15 spot or a movie. It's the vehicle that moves you from one scene or action to the next. There are lots of various types of transitions.
There's the really lame and corney ones...which are generally refered to as wipes. That's the old page turn effect, shapes like stars filling the screen to transition you to the next scene or that spinning cube...I really hate that one. In some cases they work, but most of the times they are overly used.
Then there's the dissolves. Sometime one image or scene will simply dissolve into the next, giving you a very soft and smooth transition, and occasionally you even miss the fact that you've been transitioned because it was so smooth. You can also dissolve to a color then back to a scene. Your watching a scene then it slowly goes to white then dissolves back into another scene. It causes you to pause for a second, giving you a breath before the next scene. Each of these effects bring with it a sort of emotional wieght if you will. The way it's used can help maintain a feel to a scene. It can help speed it up or slow it down, it has just as much emotional impact as does the score.
There is one more transition style. It's called a 'hard -edit' or a 'jump-cut'. Basically there is no transition. One scene ends abruptly and another begins. There's no chessy effect, no soft dissolve, no fade to color...just and abrupt end and a quick beginning. These generally make you feel uneasy or unbalanced, which is the point. These are used alot in action sequences and movies...especially horror.

Now that you're all educated in the art of edit-transition I'll get to my point. I was intending to post a picture of my new office today. Today was the "Move-In" day for everyone at VTN to move to their new offices. I had been sharing a room with two other producers and the production guy. "The Quad" we called it. It was fun, but distracting at times. Anyway, I spent the morning yesterday cleaning my old space. Packing everything into a couple of boxes and getting ready for my move.

I never made it to my new office.

I was moving a stand into it when my boss waved me to follow her. So I did. I ended up in her office sitting across the table from the stations General Manager. I didn't need my Jedi sense to tell me that this wasn't good. I won't go into the details because I'm not here to question anyone or start playing that bitter blame game. That's not who I am. Basically it came down to creative differences. VTN was heading to one path with one vision and I was seeking another. That's it in a nutshell.
That was my hard-edit or jump-cut. Before lunch I was an employee of VTN...after lunch I wasn't.
I can't say that I'm really surprised. I've butted heads alot with my opinions of what we should actually be doing. I most certainly didn't fall in line with their conformity nor did I attempt to jump through any hoops. I was simply being me. Saying what I feel, doing what I did. If I had to do it all again....I wouldn't change a thing. I'd do the same thing, shoot if I did it again, I may even push harder the second time. Who knows.
Here's my thing. I don't hold to any form of political correctness, nor do a play office politics, (which is why I'm not nor ever will be involved in corporate america) and I can't for the life of me really get into anything that I'm not passionate about. Like my yard...lol. My viewpoint of christian TV is this. It's in a bubble and it will always be in a bubble as long as it is run by and catered to the 'bubble' people. The concept of christian TV is a good concept and the underlying message and theme is good as well, but the execution of it and the way it is handled is subpar to most other networks. I'm not talking about just VTN...I'm talking about ALL of the christian channels...Family Net, TBN, INSP, DayStar...you name it. Except for a handfull of original shows, they all have the EXACT content. The people that would truly benefit from a christian pesprective or presence on TV are the ones that are not even remotely interested in it, because there's nothing there that interst them. It' not relevant to them in anyway and that's just sad. It's no one person's fault. The networks can only air shows that are available and quite frankly there's nothing available. And if there is something that is out-of-the-box it's either poorly done or shunned by the 'bubble' society.
I think that's why I love Rock Creek so much. It's not 'Church'....it's LIFE! It's not confined or restricted to anyone's preconcieved values or codes. It simple is. It's a place where everyone is truely welcomed and no idea is too outragous. They'll try anything that will further their ability to reach people where they are at; and the will of the church will not be controlled by a couple of loud mouth controlling individuals, which is the case in alot of churches. They're going into the world...not into the bubble.
I see christian TV as in it's current state to be increasingly irrelevant to the people that truely need it in the future. There are few in my and younger generation that buy into the current trend of Christian TV and basically, the main audience is dying out. Once they're gone. It's done. If they don't start building a younger broader audience now...it's not gonna happen later. They (christian TV) tries to hard to set itself apart to the extent that people outside the bubble looking in are confused and turned off by what they see. I don't have all the answers. No one does, but I know this is not my path...this is not my destiny...God did not put me on this earth to conform or follow the status quo...He told me to "Transform". That's what I intend on doing.
As I said before, I hold no one at fault. Nor do I hold any resentment. It just simply wasn't a good fit anymore. I had come to a place where I just quite trying to be creative because I could see the futileness of it. I couldn't see the usefullness of it. I didn't want to continue maintaining the status quo. I was out the door a long time ago.
I've never been one to keep in line with the crowd just because that's what everyone is doing. I like to challenge authority, challenge the status quo...ask the question "WHY?" Now, I'm not disrespectful of authority...don't get me wrong. I've done my military time and I know how it works, at the same time I refuse to conform to anything that does not go in-line with who I am and what I believe. Not happening. And I thank God that I have a wife that understands that and supports me in that endevour. She's been very encouraging to me. She actually told me she was proud of me. Just so you know that's not the typical response from a wife when her husband meets her at the door and informs her that he's unemployeed. God bless my wife. She told me that she love's who I am and that's why she married me. She loves my loud mouth and unconformist ways. "You always say what everyone is thinking anyway." She said. We both had a good talk and we're very excited about what's ahead. I'm looking forward to spreading my creative wings in a place without restrictions. I wasn't happy there. I knew it. They knew it. And there you go.
I appreciate your time and letting me share my feelings. I look forward to posting a pic of my new office soon, where ever that is. And I also look forward to wearing jeans to work ( I hate slacks).

posted by G. @ 6:04 AM

5 Comments:

At 1:32 PM, Dare said…

DAWG!!!!! I don't know what to say besides May the Force be with you. I can understand your position and I support it. I also know what it means to be unemployed. Keep to the faith. God has just opened a Death Star size door. Heather and I will help you guys with what we can.
At 1:45 PM, Anonymous said…

Hey Paul and Jenn,

I am glad to see that you are both keeping your chins up right now. I wouldn't expect anything less. We will be praying that God will continue to give you courage to face whatever comes and that God would reveal to you His amazing plan waiting just around the bend.

Let us know if there is anyway we can support you in this.

We've got your back
At 8:40 AM, Pamela said…

You are an amazing person! GOD has blessed you and will bless you with wonderful things to come. I love you and if you need me I will be there rain or shine.

Love you lots.
At 10:51 AM, Capt. C said…

Well, it's about time!!! I have always believed that VTN was limiting you - now, I am right. VTN will die off soon - then, they will be begging to have your thoughts again. But, too bad!

It is time to spread your wings and take the step of faith (see my blog)

Love ya brother! You know that I will always have your back!
At 11:34 PM, Unknown said…

Paul,

John 15 is the passage for you. Sometimes God lets tough transitions happen in our lives as part of the "transformation" process. Hang in there! Remember your CHOZOWN!

B