briannaboulton-blog

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I haven't designed anything on my own for a while but yesterday the mood struck me while I was looking at cute videos of sloths. Sloths are some of the sweetest creatures and they own the Internet when they do something adorable, like breath, so I thought I'd try my hand at making some fun posters to commemorate the lovely beasts.

Both posters were created using Adobe Illustrator CC and my imagination.

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My new sounds:

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Taste the Rainbow - Creative Writing Piece

Hey peeps! It's been a while since I shared a creative piece that I've written but today in my writer's workshop I came up with something kind of cool. It's dark but I hope you enjoy it regardless. 

Taste the Rainbow

Drip, drip, drip…so slowly, never speeding, constant drip. Wet, rattling breaths the only other chorus of sound.

Dark, bleak, cold, dank.

A windowless chamber filled with the scent of blood and earth.

No escape, no way out, only pain in this place of lonely desolation. 

Cold metal chain comes striking down from one hand to another's welted shoulder.

Only pain lives here, to each in their own right.

Gasps and wretches to compliment faint threats of “more”.

Speak or be spoken to, but the only currency here is blood.

A new sound fills the bleakness of the space, a momentary shudder against the echo of screams.

Crinkle, crinkle. A package of paper and plastic. Sweetness melds into the air amidst the putridity of rotten flesh.

A bit of drool slips from the man’s mouth at the scent. His tongue becomes engorged, huge in his dry mouth.

The other draws out one of the sweet, colourful pieces of joy and slides it between his lips. A suckling noise floats to the his ears.

This is far worse than fire and iron. Against his will he parts his mouth, begging for the redemption of the treat.

Tauntingly, the other puts the sweet on the his tongue, momentarily awakening his taste buds with brilliant fervour. He dreams of blue skies and tasting the rainbow before the other lifts the sheers and he tastes no more.

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Last week my friend Jill and I went out on a photoventure to get her some brand-spankin' new head shots.

Jill is an up-and-coming actress in Toronto and rising fast within the theatre community so she she needed some photos to send to producers and directors.

We found this gorgeous alley off of Locke St. in Hamilton and had a blast playing with the fall colours. The purple and black in her outfit popped against the orange and yellows of the leaves, making a beautiful contrast that helped solidify her as the focus.

These were taken with my favourite portrait lens, the Canon 85mm 1.8 on my 5D Mark ii. I've had my qualms with the tightness of this lens in everyday situations, especially against the Canon's 50mm, but for portraits and head shots I cannot get enough of my 85. 

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Violence Against Women in Gaming (And All Else)

Links to read before continuing: --> http://kotaku.com/another-woman-in-gaming-flees-home-following-death-thre-1645280338?utm_campaign=Socialflow_Kotaku_Facebook&utm_source=Kotaku_Facebook&utm_medium=Socialflow --> http://www.buzzfeed.com/alisonvingiano/a-female-game-developer-had-to-flee-after-her-address-was-po?bffb&utm_term=4ldqpho#xwwt8v This makes me furious.

Yet another attack on a female in the gaming industry.

Anonymous online death threats are becoming somewhat of a theme lately for women who are speaking up and out about video games.

By simply sharing opinions and thoughts on the industry they love and are employed in they are being targeted by angry, misogynist, backwards-minded men who cannot stand the idea of a female having a say about their beloved shooters.

But I mean, they have a right to their thoughts and values. After all, how can we as women really understand the true subtly and nuance of Snake's plight to bring about peace while seeking revenge on those who stood in his way, or the emotional drive behind blowing shit up and takin' other dudes down in COD, amiright? How silly of me. I only understand how a spatula flips eggs in the morning and sometimes I even screw that up! How could I possibly know how to handle all those little buttons and things on a controller?

In all seriousness though, this needs to stop.

I've been a gamer all my life and as of late have been seriously considering going back to school to make it my career, so scenarios like Brianna Wu's, Zoe Quinn's and Anita Sarkeesian's really hit me close to home.

Video games have always been really important to me. They got me through some of the more difficult times in my life, rescuing me from reality for a few hours at a time when I needed it most. This is no different from hundreds of thousands of other people who lost themselves in the gaming universe, so why does the concept of Gender divide us when we have so much that could unite us?

Why are some men so scared of the idea that women want to participate? Why is it so horrible to think that we too enjoy the practice of playing games? It's really overwhelming to think that in 2014, a time when feminism is a household word and making leaps and bounds in the right direction, that this amount of hate in a modern profession is still such a prevalent thing...

The world of gaming (until very recently) has always been geared more towards men, this is true, and even though I hate to admit it, the environments, online especially, can breed violence.

But I don't necessarily blame the games themselves. I blame the stigma that is still used as an excuse and I blame the people who allow themselves to become violently wrapped up in their playing to the point that they are dysfunctional. I mean, it's easy to fall into the black hole seduction of a really, really good game. It's addictive. Anyone who knows me knows about my experience with Mass Effect and how emotionally connected I was.

But that doesn't give people the right to be assholes.

These men who are sending the threats and goading each other on, feeding this feverish frenzy to hate and act with violence amongst their peers need to be unveiled and stopped. The fact that they hide behind the curtain of anonymity is shameful and dangerous. Places like 4chan and GamerGate are breeding grounds for darkness and I don't think they should be allowed to continue functioning in the way that they do if they're consistently allowing this amount of social destruction.

In summation, I'm hurt as a women who loves to game. This doesn't just affect the women threatened, if affects everyone. It puts a bad name to men who don't deserve it, as not all men in gaming hate women, and it harasses any woman who wants to be a part of that world.

It needs to stop. This is just another way to perpetuate backwards stereotypes and violence against women. It's shameful, disgusting and irrational, and only as a unified team of positive and progressive people can we hope to end this and all other types of violence against my gender and others.

This isn't even about fighting for my rights as a woman anymore anyway. This and all violent acts concerns all genders. Whether it's gaming or any other media, religious beliefs or political views, gender shouldn't divide. Gender shouldn't even be considered. Gender shouldn't be an issue.

Why can't we just be equals...Why is is so hard to work together?

P.S. Happy Thanksgiving.

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These are my new resumes! One for graphic design/creative gigs, the other for everything else! Both were designed using Adobe Illustrator CS6.

My last one was out of date not only with information but also in design. It was busy and heavy so I've tried to slim both versions down with only "need to know" info.

Something I've begun to realize while searching for jobs this past month is that employers don't look at resumes the way they used to. A lot has changed in the past 5-10 years to influence that, most of which is due to the World Wide Web.

The Internet has made applying for jobs a sinch for the potential employee, but getting that job has become a far more intimidating and difficult process, along with the other hundreds and thousands of applicants.

Employers now, vs even a few years ago, get hundreds of applications a day for jobs they post online, which means they aren't able to afford the time and detailed consideration to every application that they might once have done. I know this first hand from having to do interviews when I was Manager for the McMaster Marmor. Managers physically cannot give equal amounts of energy to each resume they receive because then the job would never be filled. There are simply too many applicants out there, which leads me to my next point.

It's great that thanks to the web we can apply for pretty much any job anywhere, but it is also somewhat limiting. You have to have something that really pops, really makes you stand out from a crowd without meeting someone face to face, which is a huge challenge.You have to continually be searching for ways to make yourself seem like the ultimate champion of the job world when in reality, you're feeling minuscule and puny in a huge ocean of other people's talent and potential. 

The biggest things people tell you when searching for a job are:

1: Stay positive 2: Searching for a job is in itself a full-time job.

This is so true. If you don't follow the mandate of these two rules, to remind yourself that you are worthy and capable of good work and success, and that you have to look at this as if it were a 9 to 5, then you won't get very far.

So I'm updated and renewing and maybe keeping my fingers crossed, hoping for just a little bit of luck :)

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My new sounds:

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This is a (very) short motion graphic I made for my upcoming LP series! I designed all the files involved with the video save the swing and one-up sound. But that "ffffft" was aaaaaall me. I made almost everything using the Adobe Suite. The controller was made in Illustrator, the sound effects in Garage Band and the final product was put together in After Effects. I love working with typography and motion graphics too and hope to just play and do more in the future.

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This is a poster and Facebook banner I designed for an improv show that I'm performing in later this month in Hamilton.

The producer said she wanted a "50s meets modern feminist" vibe as the show is being written and performed solely by women!

Using some inspiration from retro ads, Shutterstock and Google posters that I'd seen I came up with this idea along the title for the show.

Everything was created in Adobe Illustrator CC 2014. You can see the event here if you'd like! https://www.facebook.com/events/1513212508911002/?ref=br_tf

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This was a last minute wedding menu I was asked to design and I had an hour before my friend was running to the printer's. Her other designer had dropped the ball and she was having a panic attack, so I threw this together.

She ended up loving it, as did the bride and groom, to which I was extremely pleased. It was cool to know that I could make something they liked in such a tight deadline :)

*fist bumps herself and toots her own horn*

Okay, I'm done being egotistical.

...FOR NOW!! MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

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A Series of Spring inspired ads I made for Baffin Inc.

All of them have been/will be featured in prominent Outdoor Adventure magazines in the next few months, including a daily ad at OR, the biggest outdoor retailer show in North America!

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An End and Beginning

Well, last night the 11th Annual Hamilton Fringe Festival officially ended and on an incredibly high note as we took home the Best of Venue for all the BYOVs!

But it also means that The Yellow Wallpaper has been put to rest once more. On Saturday we packed up the chairs, the desk, the crib and took apart our glorious wall for the final time. It was an incredibly emotional and humbling experience watching it be stripped and taken down piece by piece, but at the same time it was thrilling.

This Fringe has been so different from my other experiences. There’s something so magical about watching something you lovingly crafted be performed and appreciated on stage. I now more than ever understand the term “it’s my baby”.

I’m extremely proud of the work my cast and crew did. Working with them was amazing, and the people at The Players’ Guild were outstanding. Reading the reviews and chatting with people after the show, watching and hearing about how it affected everyone differently… it was incredible. I can’t begin to be able to try and explain how rewarding that part of this experience was.

I achieved my goal of getting people to go out after the show, share a coffee and talk about it. Achievement unlocked!

Although, if I’m being honest, putting on the production was only 60% of why the Fringe was so phenomenal this year. What truly made this experience special were the people.

I have never felt so inspired and excited about theatre as I did these past few weeks, nor have I ever experienced such warmth and support from a community as I did from the artists and volunteers that made up this crazy festival. It was simply sensational.

Hamilton is such an inspiring place when it comes to the arts and the Fringe created this glorious hub and playground of creativity that bred originality. You were never just a singular until of theatre kids working on a show. You were a community of supportive players. Some days you were on stage but then some you got to spend in the wings watching and beguiling other artists, and the shows this year were on another level of amazing from any other festival I’ve been a part of.

This year I was able to take in: Romeo and Juliet: An Escapist Comedy – An outstanding comedy to be commended for the incredible writing and portrayal of a true-to-form Woody Allen wonder (Laura, Tyler, Sean) Jesters Incognito – Our partner show and one of the most brilliant and touching pieces of theatre I’ve seen in a very long time (Harry) A Language for Dogs – Such a brave and heart wrenching production put on by some of the most inspiring and creative minds I’ve ever encountered (Aaron) Places – This play moved me in a way I haven’t been by a performance in a very long time. Kudos to it’s truth and honesty (Michael) Mommy’s Mask – A wonderfully creepy and original piece by one of the first people to give me shot in the Hamilton theatre community (Peter) On the Rocks – Hilarious, creative and wonderfully choreographed. Who knew villains could be so much fun? (Robert, Jesse) Bell Ringer – Such a beautifully designed piece that was wonderfully acted and so imaginative (Taryn, Jessica, Philip, Danny) Fast Food Love – Always good for a laugh and brought me back to my roots! (Carly, Jason, Jessica, Paddy) Tomes – Improv at it’s finest and most wonderfully ridiculous. I’ll cherish my book forever.

That’s only 9 shows out of 45 and I wish I could have seen more, had time permitted. What I saw though was the heart and soul of Hamilton’s passion for the arts, and let me tell you my friends, it was awe-inspiring. I had no idea how much sheer, raw talent we had within our city. I’m in the best kind of shock.

Getting to know so many of the people involved was outstanding too. I’ve made connections that I hope will last for years to come. I finally got to talk to some of my artistic idols and fan-girled hard on multiple occasions. Only on the final night was able to try and regain some composure around certain people *cough-Woody Hamil-cough*.

So to my cast and crew, Hanah, Michael, Claudia, Sarah, Nick, Rose and Krista, thank you for taking this crazy journey with me and embracing the show with all of your heart and souls. I wouldn’t want to change a thing and I will love you and cherish you forever for making this show the wonder it was.

Thank you Harrison and Celeste for your constant support and congratulations for putting on the most incredible and wonderful show. You are both outstanding.

Thank you to Margaret for constantly being there to support and be the best advice giver a girl could ask for.

To all the artists, you are and continue to be an inspiration and I’ve been so grateful to share the stage and the experience with you.

This has truly been one of the most magical and fulfilling times in my life, an incredibly moving and humbling journey. I am elated and beyond excited at the opportunities I have been given and that await all who participated in the festival. What comes next is uncertain but I know that it will be insane and wonderful and scary and simply fantastic.

For now I’ll say “Until next year” to the Fringe, but I hope to the artists and all those involved I can extend the invitation to enjoy warm beverages together and talk art any time.

It’s been a slice.

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Director's Notes: Thoughts on Opening Night

*Breath* Okay. It's opening. *Breath* You've done everything you could possibly do to prepare for this. *Breath* Everything is now out of your hands and in your stage manager's...*Breath, breath, breath* You are no longer in control. *Breath, breath, breath, breath* No more notes. No more blocking tips. No more coaching. *Breath, breath, breath, breath, breath* ALL YOU CAN DO IS WATCH AND PRAY. *Hyperventalates and falls over* That's about all that's going through my mind presently as I sit here, watching the hands on the clock in my office tick by at the pace of a particularly slow snail.

Oh wait. That's not slow at all. What? It's now 3 hours until opening?! WHAT IS THIS BLACK SAGE MAGIC?! Honestly, the feelings you have before a show can range from excitement to terrified and back to excitement so fast that it makes you dizzy.

Imagine riding a rollercoaster and you're in that standstill moment at the top. That moment where you know you're about to drop off the 180ft high rise and you can feel the anticipation right down in your belly. That special spot where fear, suspense, joy and nausea all become one beautiful, unified emotion. And then you wait. Wait for the drop... That's what every moment is like opening night until you step on stage. It's both incredible and exhausting.

It's especially worse today too because not only is the show I have wirtten, directed and produced, but I'm acting as well.

Why do this you ask? Why put yourself through so much stress you say?

Because I love it and I can't imagine living my life any other way. Time to ride the coaster.

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Head shots I took for my cast of The Yellow Wallpaper!

Aren't they just the most attractive bunch?

All were shot using a Canon 5D Mark ii and an 85mm f1.8.

That lens is my favourite thing to happen to my camera since I bought a 50mm years ago for my Nikon. I can't get enough of it and the results are always so rich and crisp. It's gorgeous.

Dat bokeh though.

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Dad checking out the anemone garden at the Ripley's Aquarium.

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I made a playlist for kicks! Take a listen :)

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Ladies and Gents, I present to you... The Yellow Wallpaper!! We're at the Fringe this year, performing at the Players' Guild from July 17th to July 27th! I shot this on a 5D Mark ii with a Canon 85mm 1.8. All post was done in Photoshop save the text being done in Illustrator. Such a fun, rewarding project!