New Beginnings - first cover and first logo!

Hey, sorry it's been a while but I've been reeaalllyy busy. And this is one of the many things I have been busy with.

 They say when one door closes, another opens. So, while the Middle Earth saga may be over (at least for now), in this first month of 2015 my husband and I are opening new doors. Not sure where they will lead, if anywhere, but we are opening them nonetheless ;)

Most of you know I've dabbled in music over the years, but most of you probably didn't know I played the penny whistle. 

The penny whistle is a traditional Celtic flute (also referred to as a tin whistle) and is not to be confused with a recorder. 

I started playing the penny whistle when I was 16 (around 13 years ago) after being inspired by Celtic music such as the Titanic soundtrack and a band called The Corrs. 

I have taken lots of breaks from the penny whistle, as other forms of music as well as writing and editing have stolen a lot of my attention, but I always seem to come back to this instrument. I guess I just love the history and culture associated with it. 

While I have written a few original songs on the penny whistle, most of the time I am learning other people's songs on it. Soon after I heard the Misty Mountains song in The Hobbit films, I decided to try learning it on the penny whistle. And by the time the final Hobbit movie came out, an idea was brewing in my mind. An idea to start making cover videos and posting them online. Now I know this is something lots of people do, but hopefully the addition of the penny whistle will spice it up a bit. I do plan to do more covers in the future, so keep an eye out for those, and if you fancy yourself a singer or musician and want to collaborate in the future, please let me know! (I also mixed the audio and love mixing music whether I am in it or not, so I'm open to all kinds of collaborations) - oh and the song at the beginning and end is "The Edge Of Night" (also in the films) so I guess it's not just a cover but a bit of a mash-up too. ;) 

BTS shot from our hike to the rocks (background)

BTS shot of me getting into position on top of the mountain.

I tried to get my husband to perform this with me, and he almost did, but then he didn't. He did, however, do all the filming and directing, and I think he did an awesome job. We wanted to film in the snow, but unfortunately Mother Nature decided to deny us that, so we went with what we had - trees and rocks. And on day 2 of filming, we hiked to the top of a mountain near our home in order to get certain shots, and while on our hike we were blessed with some shots of ice, so at least we had that. It was bitterly cold though. Playing the penny whistle in 25 degree weather? Bad idea. But we survived, and I'm glad we did it. 

A very cold Kylie between takes. Also a tree hugger.

In addition to this being our first cover, this video is also the first to feature our brand new Frozen Creek Studios logo, created and animated by yours truly :) And it couldn't be a more fitting video to premiere the logo in, since the sound effect we used for the tree shaped crack in the ice was actually taken from footage we filmed for this cover (when you see the staff hitting the ice toward the end of the video - that's where we got the sound from). So Anyway, I hope you like it! Let me know what you think. :) 

Shot from the FCS animated logo

Youtube is giving me issues again *shakes fist* so please click HERE to watch the video. Enjoy!

Be the lightning, 

 Kylie Jude. 


P.S. I almost forgot, MORE new-ness. My name no longer links to the about section of my blog, but now to my very own official website! Check it out if you haven't, and keep checking back as I not only have my blog there, but all kinds of different stuff. Stay frosty ;) 

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Dear Santa - A Holiday Journal Entry

When my talented husband D. R. Acula wrote his monologue entry for the new Tentsquare contest #HolidayJournalEntry, I loved the cool and hilarious twist he put on it, but we weren't quite sure how actors would portray it or if they would get the message we were trying to convey with it. But then, a light broke through the clouds of uncertainty. That light's name is Adra Janean.

Adra is an actress with some work already under her belt, which you can find on her IMDB. We were pleasantly surprised to see that she not only read the monologue, but understood completely the message in it, conveying it perfectly and hilariously on film, with some great editing to top it off and make it even more entertaining. And she did it all in one hour! As a dabbling video editor myself, I know how hard it is to complete a project like this in just one hour, but she did it. So that earns even more kudos from me!

At first Adra was worried if a female Santa could work for the challenge, but her take on it as Mrs. Claus was absolutely brilliant, and she even threw in some improv that made the whole thing better. With this video, Adra completely surpassed our expectations, and made a little masterpiece in the process. Watch the magic HERE. You won't regret it. ;) 

If you like the video, you can vote for it once a day, beginning December 13th. If she wins, she'll score some cash and a meeting with casting director Lindsay Chag. So help us show our appreciation for this wonderful performance by voting when the time comes. She so deserves to win. :) 

Be the lightning, 

Kylie Jude. 

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