The classroom episode

The twenty-first episode of Creating Fashion with Laurel was shot at the main branch of the Philadelphia Library.

Ariel Taylor, Youth Media Manager for PhillyCAM, recommended Laurel to the Murrell Dobbins High School to talk at their Senior Seminar event, held in rooms throughout the building.

So now, after twenty episodes of teaching to the camera, we get to see what it looks like when she teaches a class.

Patsy's place

Here it is, the twentieth half-hour episode of Creating Fashion with Laurel. Now we'll always be able to say we made at least twenty of them (we've already shot number twenty-one).

My favorites are the ones with guest stars. It's good to have someone in there to validate what Laurel is saying. My mother's friend Patsy sent her an email asking if she'd help clean out her wardrobe, which was threatening to take over her house.

My mother responded that she'd be happy to, then asked if it would be okay if her son came along and made an episode out of it. Patsy agreed, but warned that it couldn't be done in a day.

What followed was a full day of two friends joking around while sorting through piles of clothing. Editing it was a dream, the day was so well-planned: 1. Confirm Patsy's color palette, 2. Sort clothes, 3. Lunch, 4. Take inventory, 5. Donate clothes to charity.

Patsy has been gracious about the production of this episode. I think viewers with wardrobe challenges will enjoy this one, not only for the information shared, but also for Patsy's humor throughout.

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Patsy is columnist Patricia McLaughlin who writes articles like this one.

New CEFN videos

The Community Enrichment Fitness Network has granted me access to their YouTube account. Now I can post CEFN videos directly to the site. Here are the latest:

I've fallen into a pattern with the CEFN videos that summarize the four-hour event. I edit them to zap back and forth between vendors and performances, using the band to glue it all together.

You can see me walking around with the gimbal in this one. That was fun. The models were all walking the same route, so it wasn't long before I got into the rhytm and could stay one step ahead of them.

I did my best not to distract the audience while I was walking around the stage. Friend and photographer Theresa assured me no one was paying any attention to me. Okay, good.

Then this happened. I had no idea who this was or what she was about to do. Turns out La Diva Noire is a spoken word artist. I just rolled with it, following her around the stage with the gimbal. For this one, I digitally removed myself from the background.

Instagram campaign

Over on Laurel's Instagram feed, I've started a campaign to draw more attention to her books and YouTube channel.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Laurel Hoffmann (@laurelhoffmann4015)

It took some trial-and-error, but now that the layout is arranged to work for both posts and reels, all I have to do is pop videos into the template. I already have several ready to go, most of which are deleted scenes from previous episodes.

100k

I've posted this video here before, but this time it just passed one hundred thousand views on YouTube.

Someone must have embedded it on a high traffic site. Maybe a few people. Thank you everyone who is watching. This video is now the most seen thing I've ever made, thanks to the wonderfully talented ladies of CEFN.

One of the ways CEFN promotes healthy lifestyles in Philadelphia is by connecting people with dance classes. When their fundraising events come along, the dancers show off what they've learned and it's a treat to see. I enjoy running around the stage getting dynamic shots of them.

CEFN had another fundraiser in December that I'm editing now.

Number 19

The nineteenth episode of Creating Fashion with Laurel is now online. In this one Laurel shows how you can copy a garment without taking it apart.

If you haven't seen the video of the ceremony when we won the hometown media award, I stuck it at the end of this episode. It's in the last two minutes.

Movie Night flyers (2023)

I continue to take out my graphic design craving on The Plastic Club Movie Night flyers. With the new year approaching, these are my best from 2023. Click on the images to enlarge.

Previous flyers are in this old post. Happy New Year!