Andrea Pelletier - Clothing Designer

Andrea Pelletier was one of the designers for the Red Dress Gala & Fashion Show '13. She has a very unique eye for fashion, and I'm proud to say she was the designer of the red dress I wore that evening. The bright colours and eye catching patterns she chooses to work with bring her designs to life and stand out among the mass market.

Winnipeg's Finest - Events Tonight

Two of my former guests, Laina Hughes and Amy Tuckett, are hosting events tonight to highlight the work they've done for their Independent Professional Projects. Laina will be launching her first book, Wolseley Stories tonight at 7:30 at McNally Robinson at Grant Park Shopping Centre. All are welcome to attend. Amy will be having a screening of Hell on Hells, a video documentary about the effects of mandatory heels in the workplace. Her screening is sold out, but I wish her all the best!

Good luck tonight ladies. Knock 'em dead!

Alanna Tinsley-Roy - Fashion Designer

Part of planning my Red Dress Gala included making video profiles of the designers who contributed some of their pieces to the fashion show. Part of the reason I wanted to take on this event as my end of the year project is because I knew there would be a lot of opportunity to use the skills I learned and harnessed through journalism, advertising, and media production. I didn't have any video production skills going into CreComm, and it was something I quickly fell in love with.

Below is a video I shot and edited of recent MC College graduate, Alanna Tinsley-Roy, one of five designers who took part in the Red Dress Gala.

IPPs = Busy Busy Busy!

It's a busy time of year for us second year CreComm students. For the past year we've all been working on our IPPs (Independent Professional Projects), and a lot of them are starting to wrap up. As most of you know, for my project I've chosen to organize a Red Dress Gala & Fashion Show in support of the Heart and Stroke Foundation, on February 13th. Although I knew from the very beginning I wanted to do an event as my year long project, many other students have written books, created websites, filmed documentaries...the list can go on forever.

There are so many talented students in the CreComm program, and it's been great seeing everyone's hard work come to life.

Good luck with your projects everyone! Show 'em what you got!

Alpha Phi 2012 - Montage

Alright folks, here it is....

...Alpha Phi 2012 Montage!

For four years before I started CreComm, I was an active member of Alpha Phi (female) Fraternity. It was quite a big chunk of my young adult life, and so I decided to make my montage about the current members of Alpha Phi. I struggled with the idea of shooting this concept for a long list of reasons, and had a few backup plans in case I changed my mind. But after seeing the finished product, I’m happy with my decision. 

I started shooting in late February, which meant I had over a whopping 300 clips to sort through while editing. Note to self, shoot shorter clips. 

Are some of the shots shaky? Kinda. Is the white balance off in a few clips? Perhaps. Did I put a lot of time and hard work into creating this video? You bet! There are a number of things I would’ve done differently, now looking back on my footage. But this is my first major video project, and I look forward to taking what I’ve learned, and using those things to my advantage in the future. I loved the shooting and editing process, and I’m happy to be doing a lot more next year.

Until then...

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you...a Charmaine J. Jennings production!

Comments and feedback are strongly encouraged :D

Janelle Wookey- Memere Metisse

Director, writer, producer, shooter, editor, and on-air personality, Janelle Wookey, came to talk to first year CreComm students yesterday about her 2008 Individual Professional Project (IPP). 

She is a young woman from a French-Aboriginal background (Métis). Her grandmother, from the same background, has for years denied the fact that she was Métis and was embarrassed to talk about her heritage. Janelle shot a documentary about her grandmother for her IPP, in which the end goal was the get grandma to acknowledge her background, and to register for her Métis card.

The documentary was absolutely amazing. For most seminars you can often find me texting (although I’m paying attention as well). For this one, I started texting before the documentary started, but didn’t touch my phone once until the entire seminar was over. Yay me. And by Yay me, I mean Yay Janelle.

Her video was truly inspiring, and it couldn’t have been shown to us at a better time. Right now all the first year CreComm students are working on their IPP proposals and working out the kinks in their ideas. I thank Janelle for taking time out of her busy schedule to come in and inspire us to think big, work hard, and achieve greatness.

On Janelle Wookey’s website, you will find a link to her “Memere Metisse” documentary which I highly suggest you take a look at. She also has a bunch of other videos on her site, and I’ve been really impressed with the ones I’ve watched so far. After you watch her video, come back here and tell me what you think. I’d love to chat about it with you folks.