It’s here! My first editing reel since 2009. Luckily I’ve been busy making videos, and suddenly almost three years went by since I compiled clips. So I’m proud to present this new reel for 2012.

It features highlights from work done for clients like theWit Hotel, Playboy (SFW), the IL Environmental Council, Emerald City Theatre Company and Cheeky Chicago; I’ve also got some of my comedy / narrative work here.

Below are credits in more painstaking detail than you could ever want. When I say “edited” that includes all graphics. Any shooting or writing I also did is noted where applicable.

Opening Montage (it moves fast, but in case you wondered):

Lower left: (a) Shedd Aquarium footage (shot and edited for theWit Hotel’s “Witisode” series); (b) previews of clips shown later in the reel: Chelsea Handler Playboy shoot, Joffrey ballet segment, Abstract Ab System, 48 Hour Film Project, Emerald City promo, Rollin’s in the 2-5.

Upper right: (a) A re-cut of Chicago Tourism Bureau footage, cut as a demo reel for theWit Hotel’s SCREEN venue. (b) A preview clip from ROOF Live, shown later.

Events:

• Fusion Networking Series (shot and edited)
• Wedding (edited; videographer: Mike Hendzel)
• Top Ten Cheeky Chicks of the Year (shot and edited)
• Top Chef Season 6 finale viewing party at SCREEN, featuring interview with Season 4 winner Stephanie Izard (shot and edited)
• “Cheeky Girls Night Out” at Naha, for Cheeky Chicago and 24/7 Chicago on NBC5 (shot and edited)
• ROOF Live concert series for theWit hotel (edited and shot b-roll; videographer: Lucy Wieczorek)

Corporate / Promotional:

• Chelsea Handler cover shoot, behind-the-scenes video for Playboy.com SFW (edited)
• “State of Emergency” - Illinois Environmental Council PSA by Chicago poet MouthPeace (edited)
• Illinois Environmental Council promo video of affiliate group Faith in Place (edited)
• Promotional video for City Farm, a project of the Resource Center of Chicago  (edited; videographer: Lucy Wieczorek)
• “Witisode” for theWit Hotel, featuring the Joffrey Ballet’s rehearsal studios (shot and edited)
• “If You Give a Cat a Cupcake” show promo for Emerald City Theatre company (edited; director: Tom Hoover; videographer: Kyle Hamman)
• Educational video for Emerald City Theatre company (edited; director: Tom Hoover; videographer: Kyle Hamman)

Narrative / Comedy:

• “Rollin’ in the 2-5″ music video for The Pawns (shot and edited; written and performed by Mike Przygoda)
•  ”The Twenty-Second Coming” for the 48 Hour Film Project, Chicago 2010 (edited; videographer: Joel Sacramento; 48HFP Team: Guacamole Conspiracy)
• “Abstract Ab System” informercial parody, featuring Aemilia Scott and Jack Thurston Farrel (edited, co-wrote, co-performed . . . just not in this clip; primary videographer: Aemilia Scott)

So there you have it, three years in three minutes.

What’s not here?

In keeping with the Heisenberg principle of demo reels, this is already as outdated as one would hope. I’ve been doing quite a few video display projects for hotels and trade shows, allowing me to work more in After Effects.  Clips coming soon. I’ve also been cutting multi-cam wedding ceremony shoots, and I’ve found that I love editing weddings. Beyond editing, I’m also producing shoots and writing scripts for a series of environmental education videos I’ll be editing in the next few months. Stay tuned, and thank you for watching!

Since early spring I’ve been editing videos for the Illinois Environmental Council about companies that promote conservation around the state. Here is the latest one, which profiles the eco-religious organization Faith in Place. I love the church sign about texting & driving!

Chicago Montage from Ali on Vimeo.

In honor of our first real day of spring, here’s a quick montage of the City. I used found footage from the Chicago Convention & Tourism Bureau and re-edited it as part of an in-house demo reel for SCREEN, theWit hotel’s private luxury screening room.

I edited this promo for Emerald City Theatre’s current production. It was my first-ever opportunity to do a “follow the bouncing ball” effect for lyrics in Motion (starts at 2:05). It’ll take shock treatment to get the “Responsibility” song out of my head, but we can all use a few manners reminders now & then . . .

Here is a fun project from last summer/fall that I made with my friends Jack (Short Vision) and Aemilia (Your Civic Doody). We all wrote it & improvised it, shot it at Aemilia’s place in Wicker Park, and then I went home and got crazy with Motion, P90x commercials and 1920′s abstract cinema. You’ll see.

Vote us up at Funny or Die if you like. We’re also up on Atom.com where play counts can apparently get us some sort of prize. Woot.

I’m currently planning a wedding (mine, incidentally).  So editing this Witisode was my chance to pack in all the information I know a bride wants. For a bride-to-be, no detail is extraneous. Last year I may have cut the details about capacity based on seating arrangement. This year I wake up at night thinking about capacity and seating arrangements. It stays in the video. While we’re not getting married at theWit, I must say it looks like an absolute blast and it’s 100% one-stop shopping. Must find another excuse to throw a party.

Here is a video I edited for Emerald City Theater Company, to promote their summer camp for kids. The interview selects and their order had already been determined when I got the project, so my task here was just to go through hours of b-roll and add cutaways as well as the graphics package. I also chose to add some small intervals of student performances.

The funny thing is, I used to teach at this camp myself! Total coincidence. So I really had fun picking the footage that best showcases what Emerald City’s teaching style is all about.

This is part 1 of our December ‘Witisode’ for theWit Hotel, featuring a behind-the-scenes look at the Joffrey Ballet’s Nutcracker rehearsals, the Jim Henson and Christmas Tree exhibits at the Museum of Science and Industry, and a visit at Macy’s on State Street with the cast of Irving Berlin’s White Christmas (yes, they sang and danced for us).

The Twenty-Second Coming [48HFP, Chicago 2010] from Ali on Vimeo.

Two weekends ago I edited a video as part of the Chicago 48 Hour Film Project, and our team’s entry has been selected to appear in tonight’s “Best of the Best” awards show at Lincoln Hall. Details here.  Our team is “The Guacamole Conspiracy.”

UPDATE: All of the films were great! Ours won the Audience Award for our particular screening group. Watch above.