Why I Watch Makeup Bloggers on YouTube

July 17, 2019January 7, 2015 by Josh Short

Note: Yesterday I had this whole post about New Year’s resolutions written and ready to go but thought that, well, it was boring. So I scrapped it and started on this one. Hope you enjoy it!

The world of media consumption is changing. Rapidly. I know I’m not the first person to say that. However I might be the first to say this: Everything you need to know about the evolution and trends of media consumption can seen from watching makeup bloggers on YouTube.

What?!

Yep, YouTube makeup bloggers. I watch them. Maybe you should too. Let me explain.

Finishing Strong to Start Stronger

July 17, 2019December 24, 2014 by Josh Short

There are 10,000 posts like “The Top-8 Ways to Tackle Your New Year’s Resolutions” streaming through your social media timelines and inboxes right now. This post is not one of them. This short post is to tell you that you can do whatever you want to do and give you a quick tip on succeeding in whatever goals you have whenever you have them.

End of 2014 Challenge

July 17, 2019December 17, 2014 by Josh Short

Without fail the last two weeks of every year can be called the most anti-personal-and/or-work-related productivity period of the year.

Nothing gets done.

Nothing.

Ever.

At least nothing of any importance gets done towards your personal and/or professional goals.

Clients don’t respond. Producers go on vacation. It snows. Your in-laws stay at your house. You don’t want to workout because you’re waiting for January 1^st. You are overburdened with last minute shopping and wrapping presents after one too many drinks.

I have a feeling that you’d rather use these two weeks to get something big finished instead. Maybe it’s something that’s been bugging you all year that you just didn’t get around to. Did you want to edit a family vacation video? Or write a short book? Start a website? Deep clean the garage? Why are we going to wait any longer to do these things when the opportunity is right in front of us?

I have a challenge for you. Let’s call it the End of 2014 Challenge. Together let’s take the next two weeks and complete one of these projects.

How to Become the Best Production Assistant

July 3, 2020December 10, 2014 by Josh Short

To break into the video industry you almost always have to become a PA, Production Assistant, or an AE, Assistant Editor. I’m assuming since you’re reading this than you’ve either been one, are one or want to become one. This article is on how to become the best assistant editor or production assistant that you can be.

I’ve worked as an assistant in a number of industries, as a PA and an AE and through my experiences I learned that there’s only one way to become the best PA or AE.

Here it is: Become the best PA or AE by always being one step ahead of the person you are assisting.

It’s rather simple. You can stop reading now if you want, my feelings won’t be hurt, or you can continue reading and learn about a couple real life examples from my career. There will also be some tactics along the way that will help you become the best PA or AE.

Vacation Approaches

July 17, 2019November 12, 2014 by Josh Short

Friends, My long-awaited vacation is fast approaching. I’ll be in Japan in no time and have a checklist a mile long of items to pack, devices to charge, things to remember, phrases to learn and more. Instead of trying to cram the next three weeks of blog posts and tutorials into my crazy, self-imposed schedule … Read more

Preparing for Vacation: A Quick Guide for Jet-Setting Video Editors

July 17, 2019November 5, 2014 by Josh Short

Soon I’ll be taking my first trip out of the United States and I’m making it a big one – I’m headed to Japan! In this post I’m going to go over what I’m doing to prepare for this lengthy vacation. I’d love for you to chime in too with your thoughts on what you do before going out of town. Thanksgiving for us in the US is right around the corner and the other winter holidays are fast approaching so I think the timing of this post is pretty ideal.

There’s nothing worse than being bothered on vacation or someone messing up your projects/media/hard drive/etc. especially when there’s nothing you can do about it. I’m sure I’ll come back to 1500 emails but I’m going to prepare my company and team the best I can for anything that can happen while I’m gone.

Freeze Frame in After Effects

April 20, 2021October 24, 2014 by Josh Short

This tutorial is on how to create a Freeze Frame in Adobe After Effects. It takes seconds to make a Freeze Frame and only a couple minutes to learn to do it

EVF Tutorial – Quick Transitions in Avid Media Composer

October 17, 2014 by Josh Short

I am SOOO excited. Today I’m launching my first ever product — an Avid Media Composer Bin with over 50 preset Quick Transitions. In the tutorial below you’ll find out how to create your own preset Quick Transitions. After watching the tutorial go here to get my Quick Transitions Bin. As always I come out with a new … Read more

Castle Premiere and How a Poorly-Made Montage Can Effect Story

July 17, 2019October 1, 2014 by Josh Short

Monday night was the season premiere of Castle. It’s right up there with The Walking Dead for me. They are interchangeable as my #1 and #2 favorite shows. Last night I couldn’t wait for the Season 7 premiere as Season 6 ended in a cliffhanger. After the show I was left questioning how one poorly constructed montage had completely destroyed the credibility of many of the relationships the main character had built with other central characters.

Note #1: This will contain many spoilers.

Note #2: You don’t need to be a fan of the show to read this post. What I’m going to get into will go beyond the reach of the show and I’m merely using it as an example.

What marriage has taught me about my NLE

July 17, 2019September 17, 2014 by Josh Short

I’ve been married to my wife for nearly two and a half wonderful years. I’ve been married to my NLE, Avid Media Composer, for twice that. What I’ve learned over that time is that the two relationships are fairly similar. I’m going to explain to you how lessons learned through your significant other directly relate to how you should work with your NLE.

How's your relationship with your NLE? Photo by Christopher Michel on Wikimedia Commons — How’s your relationship with your NLE?
Photo by Christopher Michel on Wikimedia Commons

Learn and Observe

In any relationship there is a learning curve. A man or woman never writes a user’s manual for himself or herself. That’s where you have an advantage with your NLE. Everything you need to know about it is right in front of you!

When I began editing on Avid Media Composer I had zero idea of what I was doing. None. I sat there for hours trying to figure out why I couldn’t click a clip in the timeline and move it (this was pre-Smart Tool). Then one day digging around my edit bay I found the software manual. I took it home and after a couple weeks had read the entire thing. This didn’t mean I knew everything about it but it did give me a huge heads up because I knew what it could and couldn’t do.