Colton Rybus

Week 7 EOC: Opinion of Optimal Resume

2012-02-22T11:59:00.000-08:00

My experience with Optimal Resume thus far has been overall, a pleasant one. However, this tool and tactic to producing a standard and widely-accepted and impressive resume without having some downsides. Optimal Resume is not the simplest interface. If you have experience writing resumes, this almost feels too cookie cutter, and takes creativity out of presenting yourself on a single sheet of paper. If you are new to the professional field in general and you're not quite sure what a resume needs to have and how it should be laid out, this tool is a life saver and is sure to be an important aid, especially if you are creating individual resumes per job that you apply for. Regardless of your situation, Optimal Resume is worth at least the time to check it out and make your own analysis of it's usefulness to you.

Week 6 EOC: How do I see myself starting in the industry?

2012-02-15T11:44:00.001-08:00

So far, I a have a year and one month of professional freelance and full-time audio experience. I have worked various gigs doing field sound, including an entire season of a reality show. This skill for field sound offers many opportunities for freelance. In addition, I am currently working full time at an advertising agency providing all of the studio and field sound work, as well as original music composition and sound design. I plan to remain here as long as possible to build my experience and save money for my next step.

My goal within the next five years is to be working at a video game production company providing sound design services (or whatever other part of sound for games that I can work my way in to). I feel that this industry challenges me in many ways, but also plays to my strength. More importantly, this industry is more specialized than film and music, allowing for more full time employment opportunities. This is ideally what I will be doing to build my life and save money for my next goal.

My third major career goal is to be an entrepenuer. I wish to start my own hybrid company (local theatre/coffee shop and audio/video production company). This is obviously subject to change as the digital media industry is in a state of exopential growth and it is impossible to predict its' condition in even the near future. I will be observing and studying the industry in the time until I plan to start my company to ensure it's modern validity.

Week 4 EOC: Executive Summary

2012-02-01T12:02:00.001-08:00

Executive Summary

"Can You Hear Yourself?" is to be a local-based hybrid service company. It will be one location including a small 120 seat theatre, a coffee shop/bar, and a video/audio studio located in the back. It will be run by 2 full time employees and 1 part time employee to help run the basic up-keep of the place as partner and myself will run the production company, offering location and studio video and audio capture, music production, compositing, sound design and foley, voice-over engineering, web design, and graphic and motion graphic design.

The goal of the theatre/coffee shop serves two purposes: It must create a local buzz to bring in creative locals, and locals who will come to see the creatives (family, friends, classmates, teachers, and potential employers or business people). This business will create a place for local creatives to come and hang out with one another, put on their own shows, and have the potential of producing what they come up with. By offering an environment for creatives, the concept is that this will bring steady and regular business and bring networking potential to my business as opposed to having to go look for it (although both avenues will be explored fully).

By taking cues from other local businesses (theaters, coffee shops, and production companies), we can see what is successful, what isn't and in many cases, why they are unsuccessful. Coffee shops create an ambience where anyone can come and relax, drink coffee, and meet with other people or sit on their laptop and use the local wi-fi or write (very well known for writers). In addition, being a young and passionate member of the local film network, I understand from the inside, what is something that this part of the population is in need of. I plan to create the ambience with full acoustic treatment throughout (proven to subliminal and consciously create a soothing atmosphere), wi-fi, comfortable seating, and inviting artwork (much of which will potentially be student's work that is done there via workshops and such). A large art of making this work will be cooperation with Las Vegas Academy, the Art Institute of Las Vegas, and other creative-based schools to bring customers in.

If done properly, with the consumer in mind only, a low-cost operation (as can be budgeted) will prove successful enough to sustain operation for years to come in a creative market that will only change, and never disappear, regardless of technology.

Week 2 EOC: Intellectual Property Resources

2012-01-24T22:02:00.000-08:00

1) American Society of International Law
-www.asil.org
Founded in 1906, The American Society of International Law has helped to promote and maintain international relations of law and justice. The foundation was charted by the Congress in 1950. In addition, they provide resources for many types of training for legal field careers and educational careers. There are also a large number of publications and videos that can be accessed from

2) World Intellectual Property Organization
-www.wipo.int
WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization) is an agency of the UN dedicated to a balanced and accessible IP system across the world.

3)Stop Fakes, Protecting Intellectual Property Rights
-www.stopfakes.gov
This site is dedicated to spreading the IP laws and the knowledge of how to properly report IP violations and complain about rights. This site has a great resource for the person who has their own copyrights and wants to learn about how to protect them from stealing.

Week 2 Photo Challenge: Professional Picture

2012-01-24T21:52:00.000-08:00

This takes place far down the 15 South, half way to Jean. We found this little quarry, far from the highway with large mounds of rocks that helped to break up some of the wind on a very windy day. After all, that day, we were recording the sound of fire. The use of these sounds are numerous for sound designers like Jenn Nguyen and myself.

We went on this trip at the very last minute. It was the the final day of Digital Audio 3 and we still hadn't recorded any of the many fire sounds that were needed for the sound track. We went out in the morning and burnt through everything we had. But we also never pass up opportunities to capture other elements on location, such as birds, rocks, and ambience, like the photo above. I'm using a Sound Devices 702 field recorder and a Rode NTG-3 shotgun microphone.

Week 2 BOC: Intellectual Property

2012-01-18T08:14:00.000-08:00

Wikipedia has shut down their site for 24 hours to raise awareness for SOPA. SOPA is a government legislation that is being run through the process to be passed. If passed, according to Wikipedia:

"The originally proposed bill would allow the U.S. Department of Justice, as well as copyright holders, to seek court orders against websites accused of enabling or facilitating copyright infringement. Depending on who makes the request, the court order could include barring online advertising networks and payment facilitators from doing business with the allegedly infringing website, barring search engines from linking to such sites, and requiring Internet service providers to block access to such sites. The bill would make unauthorized streaming of copyrighted content a crime, with a maximum penalty of five years in prison for ten such infringements within six months. The bill also gives immunity to Internet services that voluntarily take action against websites dedicated to infringement, while making liable for damages any copyright holder who knowingly misrepresents that a website is dedicated to infringement."

Basically what this means is that copyrights would bw allowed to be enforced upon websites that facilitate any copyrighted media. Any music, photos, videos, writings, etc that are copyrighted, can no longer be viewed on the internet (not just not downloadable, but not even streamable). This means that even Wikipedia, which is an organization for the good of common knowledge, which borrow information (usually cited) from copyrighted material.

While this may protect the fundamental right for our copyright protection, this works against us in the realm of the new age where the internet has been so important for marketing. When I say marketing, I don't mean advertising necessarily. The fact that this media is available on the internet allows for the creative's work to be marketed freely, allowing their "brand" to be spread throughout the world with very little work. This is the way the world is adapting to and SOPA is now threatening to completely change of the one free frontier left for us: The Internet.

Week 1 Photo Challenge: Online Short Film

2012-01-18T07:57:00.000-08:00

"The Martian Brothers"

Two brothers, separated at birth, have discovered each other, though they are not in mutual agreement over their mutual existence...

I took a cue from Superman and added the twist of a twin brother and the psychological drama of amnesia.

Week 1 EOC: What sacrifices are you willing to make for your career?

2012-01-11T10:51:00.000-08:00

As I see it, careers are life's way of making the best we can to find happiness amongst supplementing our needs. With happiness at the core of these values, I stand by that as my first need to achieve. This however doesn't only interpret as immediate satisfaction, but by comparing the average of the sum of both options, I can then decipher the optimal route to be taken for my career, whether that be via sacrifice of a job that I enjoy for the job that will pay my bills and then some, though grudgingly accepted.

Besides writing like a scientist, I like to write. I like stories, and figuring things out, as well as writing music and studying psychology. My point is that I am a passionate professional. It's tough to get me to go somewhere I dont want to go, but when you have me where I'm happy, you get the best of my potential. With that said, I am currently in a decisive process myself that may call for me to choose between a job that pays double my current salary but I thoroughly dislike and isn't steady, or a job that allows 100% freedom. While I know I won't stay here forever, its always tough to pursue change so quickly (since I just started). Student loans are a bitch, however, and I must plan for my future if I intend to achieve everything I've created in my mind.

Conclusively, I am willing to sacrifice only for that will allow me to accelerate to my goal more efficiently than if I stayed on my current path. But really, if something strikes a chord with me, I am malleable and in a time of life where I'm really enjoying learning and exploring new avenues, as I see how knowledge all inter-connects and what it allows me to do creatively.