Being Geek Chic is a blog about one woman navigating the male-dominated industries of production and tech. It's written by Elizabeth Giorgi, Founder, CEO and Director of Mighteor - one of the world's first internet video production companies. Learn more about Mighteor here.
Every time a new year rolls around, I find myself wistfully wondering: what did I learn this year that I can take into the next year? Most years, it’s very tangible things: I learned to crochet or how to do a certain type of animation. But this year? This year is all heady stuff about being a woman person.
THINGS I LEARNED ABOUT BEING A WOMAN IN 2015:
1. Being Brave Pays Off in Confidence. When self-help gurus and therapists and miscellaneous humans in your social circle talk about bravery, they are probably talking about going on a scary hike. Or running a marathon in the winter. Or confronting an estranged family member. Accomplishing those things will pay off in confidence - so the same principle is applied. But what they often aren’t talking about is those moments when you’re stretching beyond your own knowns and exploring the confines of your own emotional bandwidth. There is no hike in the world that is more scary than facing your demons. But facing them is worth it.
2. Friendship is NOT Optional. My girlfriends are the reason I am happy and healthy and feel full of hope. Isolating oneself doesn’t work. Friendship does. <3
3. Getting Sexed will not make you FEEL Sexier. As a single woman, it can be really easy to assume that getting laid will be the answer. One night stands and random make out sessions can be a blast. I am not anti-getting sexed. But do it for the right reason. And do it because it’s fun. The alternative is depressing.
4. You Can Live on Luna Bars, Coffee and Bananas. In the months when I wasn’t sure where I was living, I didn’t want to buy groceries, because storing them seemed like such a pain. For three months, this was my diet. I didn’t die.
5. Binging TV Will Actually Help You Get Over Your Ex. Every breakup requires an escape. For me, it’s always been a good TV show. Depending on how long the relationship lasted or how deep you got into it, you will need to pick a TV show that can heal those hurts. For me, it’s Sex and the City, Parks and Rec and Scandal. Always gets me through.
6. Happiness is a Practice. Make choices every day to be happy. Before you know it, it will add up like a savings account of joy. (With interest.)
7. Speaking Your Mind Comes with a Cost. You Should ALWAYS Pay It. When my mentor did the impossibly brave thing of coming out publicly as a whistleblower in a sex scandal, it blew my mind. Her public pain was on headlines across the country. But it caused change. It opened a conversation. She didn’t deserve it. But she did the right thing when she had to. For that, I admire the hell out of her.
8. Adventure is Never a Bad Idea. Planning my 5-week trip to Italy was easy. Actually getting on the plane to spend that many days alone in a foreign country was totally insane. I regret none of it.
9. When Things Don’t Go as Planned, Say Fuck the Plan. Nothing went as planned this year. It went better.
10. Dreams Aren’t Handed Out. They are Crafted, Created and Carefully Tended To. Four years ago, I started dreaming about starting my own business. Today, when I go to my office every day, I feel so proud that it actually happened. However, there were so many times where I’ve wanted to quit. Thank goodness I didn’t. Those moments were key. By pushing through the hard times, I made my dream even better.
I make videos for a living. So it should be no surprise that I’m moderately obsessed with video apps. Like way obsessed. And with the new iPhone 6 about to be mine (only a few more days!) - I fully intend to use all these apps within days.
Best for Editing: iMovie
Yes, it’s $5, which is annoying, but if you’re serious about being able to do EVERYTHING in one app (meaning cut clips, add music, add text) then iMovie is the answer. Otherwise, you’re going to be using pieces from the apps below. For me, I tend to use iMovie when I have multiple clips I want to splice together and not so much for when I have one clip I just want to perfect.
Best for adding Filters: Instagram or iSupr8
Obviously I love instagram and the whole world knows what it is, but if you want to spend a little coffee money and you have an appreciate for film, I recommend spending the $1.99 on iSupr8.
Best for Slow Motion or Adjusting Frame Rates: SlowPro
iPhone 5s brought a 120fps video recorder to our smartphones. iPhone 6 is going to double that. So just imagine the super slow mo awesome stuff you’re going to create with this app. Plus, it’s free. No excuse not to download it.
Best for adding Text: TextonVS
A lot of the other video editors will allow you to add text, but not necessarily attractive fonts. Gotta love TextonVS for this. It gets bonus points for also being the Best for changing Hue and Saturation on video.
Best for Stabilization: Hyperlapse
They just changed the game when it comes to creating awesome stable video with the iPhone. Can’t wait to see it on iPhone 6.
Best for Time lapses: Hyperlapse or Lapse It
For longer videos or for people who just prefer traditional time lapse or stop motion to that of Hyperlapse, I can’t recommend Lapse It enough. The on screen functionality for adjusting ISO, f stop and aperture are pretty spot on as well. For $1.99, you can go PRO and unlock a bunch more cool features.
Best for getting 16x9 video on Instagram: CropVS
The free version of this awesome little app allows you to scale and rotate video. AWESOME. It’s especially handy when you consider the workflow for the Hyperlapse app. If you create a landscape Hyperlapse (and why wouldn’t you, because DUH, this is video we are talking about) - you NEED this app. It will allow you to rotate crop into a square shape for the Instagram sharing awesomeness. So yes, it gets bonus points for being the Best for creating and sharing landscape Hyperlapses.
Best for adding music: FLY
Many of the apps I mentioned above will allow you to add music, but I have found that the built in automatic fade in/fade out function of FLY has made it my favorite. Just pick the song and the second marks you want for in and out points and it does the rest.
That video above was created with the following workflow: Hyperlapse for stabilization > FLY for music > CropVS for rotating and adjusting to 16x9 within square. Just a word of warning: currently if you try to import a video that was shot in landscape from Hyperlapse to Instagram, it won’t let you rotate it, so you have to add this step in your workflow.
Keeping up with movies both in the United States and the United Kingdom can be nearly impossible. Heck, I still haven’t seen at least 10 films from Sundance that seemed like MUST SEEs just a few months ago. However, I have managed to find a few ridiculous gems from across the pond that you should see:
Cuban Fury:
I just watched this ridiculous movie last night. And yes, I mean that. It’s ridiculous. It’s full of super famous faces: Nick Frost, Rashida Jones, Chris O-Dowd. And yes, it’s kind of dumb. But I laughed out loud several times and found myself wishing I could salsa once the credits rolled.
Cemetery Junction:
The first time I saw this movie, I was instantly charmed. I wanted to pick up everything, grab my camera and go on an adventure. It has that infectious spirit. Many people don’t like this movie… but those people confuse me.
One Chance:
My fellow Doctor Who fans will recognize the lead actor, James Corden, who played one of my favorite characters on Doctor Who during Matt Smith’s era. In this biopic about Paul Potts, the opera singer turned Britain’s Got Talent Winner, he’s charming, adorable and ridiculously enjoyable to watch. This movie got terrible reviews. I get it. It’s not a blockbuster. BUT, it’s one of those mindless picks that will truly warm your heart.
