Brent Clouse | Video + Design

New May

Brent — Sat, 04 May 2013 01:49:00 +0000

May has always been a month of change for me. I bet this is because my birthday is the first day of May. This year marked number twenty-five. Yikes – a quarter century. The month of May always seems like that time of the year when it’s easiest to hit the reset button, change your plans or try something new. By May spring is in full swing; whatever lingering newness of the new year is dwindling fast. Summer’s nearly here. It’s the month when as a child you advanced another grade level, and as an adult graduate from school. It’s the month two years ago when I chose (nearly on a whim) to move five-hundred miles from home to pursue a freelance career. It’s also the same month (a year later) when I decided to move into the city and live independently. And now it’s May again, and I again decided to relocate (albeit a couple miles) and get a change of scenery. May is change, and it always has been. I don’t really know why.

Here are some pictures taken with my iPhone from this past week. Enjoy.

Creative Identity

Brent — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 04:41:49 +0000

“I have given you my soul; leave me my job title!” – John Proctor

People who know me well know that I avoid language that translates to something simple like “I make videos.” How many “Storytelling Artisans” and “Film Craftsmen” do you know? I think I know too many, especially in Atlanta, GA. Better yet, how many “Writer/Director/Producer/Cinematographer/Musicians” do you know? Say hello to most of my colleagues and 20-somethings working in media. We are a generation of exhaustive job titles, it seems.

Okay, I’m not knocking titles. And I’m not knocking wearing multiple hats. Creative identity is actually something I’ve struggled to define for myself because, like many emerging media workers, I’ve learned a bit of everything and enjoy lots of things. Is that a bad thing? I’m not sure. I sure hope not. To test this out, I’ve gone through phases where I’ve focused solely on one outlet. First it was writing, then cinematography, then designing – all very different things. Still, I found myself wanting to switch it up just as I met a certain goal or benchmark. I began to worry I wasn’t meeting my full potential because I was working too many outlets. But recently I’ve limited how attached I am to my creative identity. I don’t believe a detailed job title is the essence of who you are when you work in creative services. Sure, you have the job you’re currently doing, a job you’re maybe best suited for, but I don’t believe that’s the end all be all when you work as a creative in media.

I got WordPress.

Brent — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 09:28:13 +0000

Well, I finally did it. I got a WordPress site. Everything is still in “beta” (that’s what you call it, right?), but if you’ve made the happy mistake of discovering this portfolio early, please leave some feedback if you’re inclined. Does everything look good? Functions okay? Like I said, beta.

Also, a big thank you to Dave Baker for helping me with all the FTP stuff.