samcollingemedia
Update #20 Paints, Lighting Desks and a whole lot of keeping busy.
Hi. Update 20 time, but speedy.
Personal
I've found myself trying to get myself out and about more often currently, wanting to find more than just being at home, and I can see that when I have had the time out I can work more efficiently instead of spending hours staring at a blank word document or canvas. This I saw through going up to a forest near me. It's strange how much of a connection I have to it, as me and 2 of my closest and longest friends used to spend so much time in there since we were young. I went up and took myself a bit of time to chill up there, I also took a few paints and a small cheap canvas to practice painting. Next to the small fire I built, and the quietness of the area, it was idyllic and quite therapeutic to not be completely overwhelmed and overstimulated which can be quite common in the techno-centric lives we live.
I got booked to be an extra for a TV show near the end of the month which is quite exciting, more updates as it goes on. If it goes through, then it will be first time that I will be doing an extra job, which is exciting, and finding how I will get to the locations intriguing. We have been given a theme in which we need to provide clothing for so some of my time is spent following guidelines which is practice in a useful skill in the future for sure.
Speaking of traveling to locations, I have my driving test coming up soon, one fo the main obstacles I need to overcome to independent living, which is a quite intense as the booking for future tests can be quite long away, hopefully with this, I will be living independently by 2022.
When it comes to growth, I'd say overall there is a lot in terms of networking, personal as well as my plants growth. My Sage (the opposite) and Rosemary and thriving and my bell pepper plants have started on creating their first produce.
My driving practical test in coming up shortly, in which I am not confident at all in passing. This in turn doesn't help when it is one of the key obstacles I am facing in leaving the valley in which I want soon as possible.
I have spent some time helping WAMDS. Who took me under their wing to show me lighting and further experience in rigging. I took a day to look at the Curtain Theatre in Rochdale, in which in the future I could be lighting shows there to gain experience in that field. In the current moment, I am helping rewire and rig the Whitworth location, rewire the DMX and help with general stuff as-well.

I'd say i've learnt quite a bit whilst also further broadening my skills in that area, end of the month I have the chance to shadow a professional lighting a proper music concert, cool shit.
For now in terms of progress in helping reset up the venue, I and another techie have been re-running the DMX for all of the lights to get it fresh and ready to be used for the upcoming show evenings and performances such as 'Two' by Jim Cartwright. (Which as some of you may know, is a personal favorite of mine.)
Talk about how you find yourself looking back into delving into the idea jar, finishing other paintings and experiments the building, the DND puzzle to do with the language and maybe more of the editing for the short test footage of a film I was making.
These are a few photos of testing with white ink on coloured backdrops (These are old palettes I have repurposed as backdrops for testing the ink drawings.) from the colouring of the backdrops, I got a nautical theme from the deep murky blues of the seas to the crisp skies above, whilst also foreboding mystical dark colours of green and purples.
This form of creating gives a new dimension to looking at colour and using my imagination in a new way. I quite enjoy using the base colours to create the image in the foreground, and to see where my focus and points of imagination is places, and in this case, it was fantasy and magical pirate themed, tad weird, until I remembered I watched Pirates of the Caribbean recently.
Hopefully I will finish and showcase some of these works in the future in which I will be utilizing some of these ideas from this test of using white ink overlays in a different setting of the trees up in a forest near me, to highlight details in branches and leaves.
I will also be focusing on blending the sky colours so it looks a little more natural in the smooth greyness of the sky that day.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021) 3/10
I did not enjoy this film.
The film didn't meet already somewhat low expectations. I felt the CGI, script, dialogue and action scenes to be about as bland as a piece of cardboard and the plot slow, and lazy.
This is a review on 2/3 of the film however, as I did have a kip halfway through.
Some plus however is the addition of more cultures within the marvel universe, but this feels like it needed more care into the quality of this film instead of riding the diversity of the film. The characters were not incredibly memorable or enjoyable (bar the scouse character, who was remember able but not enjoyable) and the fluffy CGI faceless creature I could only seeing added to this film for further marketable soft plushie toys of it.
Did not like. 3/10
Wrong turn (2021) 5/10
To me, this is the most middle of the road film I think I have watched when it comes to the horror aspect. It hits all the tropes a horror films needs, scares, twists and tension, all whilst being encompassed in a cliché storyline.
This review is in bias as this is one of many films with the same name, and having only watched this one I can't determine on weather it is the stronger of the series of films.
Either way, the plot follows teenagers on a self-discovery trip exploring the Appalachian trail, when they take a wrong turn, leading to slowly being picked off and lost in the forest.
I will preface this by saying if you are looking for a well thought out film, air-tight plot and cliche-ness enjoyment, you are wrong. This very much felt like a film to grab a few friends and have a laugh watching, (Also, feel free to have a drink every time someone trips.)
It's a ok film, not film wise, but enjoyment wise, sure. 5/10
I know this one is late, soz.
Hopefully I'll be cracking on 21 in a short while and it is brimming with all sorts of good good good news.
Till then, peace.
-S (08/08/21)