The Triskelle Office Through the Years
There's no Hallowe'en-themed blog post from me this year. Instead, I'd like to celebrate the fact that - finally - the new Triskelle Pictures HQ (also known as my home office) is finished. Nearly. I've been unpacking a box or putting up a poster in every free afternoon I've had over the past few months, and there haven't been many of those, so there's still a few things left to set up (mostly more action figures!) and I still have art supplies on the floor, but we're very much getting there now.
As someone who even played 'office' as a child, I've always appreciated having a place to work. But all through the last 19 months of working from home, and particularly now that I'm kinda self-employed again, I've really come to cherish the importance of a private creative space. My edit suite is surrounded by posters, prop replicas, books and other inspiring things; symbols of everything I've achieved so far, and imagery from my filmmaking heroes to keep me pushing forward in the direction of my dream career.
I don't have photos from my first two workspaces. Originally I had a computer in my teenage bedroom, which was actually contained inside a sliding wardrobe to save space, where I edited some pixelated videos on cheap pre-Adobe software. Then I moved to a Windows Vista laptop, with Premiere elements installed, when I moved to student halls at the University of Creative Arts (you can see a little glimpse of that room in this blog post). But ever since then, I've always made sure to get a photo of my office set-ups, partly to document the work that I was doing at that time.
So how has my creative space (particularly the technology involved!) changed over the years, and how does it compare to my latest home office? Well, I thought it would be fun to share that with you...
1) The Belper office, 2010 - 2013
When I graduated, my parents kindly let me set up an office in their spare box room (which had actually been my bedroom when I was little). My friend Josh also helped me build my first 'proper' computer, including a 1920 resolution monitor - which we were really excited about at the time, as it felt like the future! It wasn't until my team and I shot Night Owls in 2014, using 4k for the first time, when I realised we had a problem (sections of the preview image disappeared off the edge of the screen!)
That office was heavily documented in my (now slightly cringeworthy) 'Filmmaker Diary' series on YouTube. I also had a nice sense of deja vu this year when I set up a temporary office back at my parent's home, in this same room, while my new house had to have some building work done. My Dad had turned the room into his artist's studio when I left home, so it was really generous of him to give it up and let me use it again.
Software used: Avid & Premiere Elements
Films edited here: Stop/Eject BTS videos, Ashes, some early music videos & multiple filmmaker diaries for YouTube
2) The first Derby office, 2013
Leaving home in 2013, I briefly moved in with a creative group of people including the brilliant filmmaker Christopher Newman, and his equally brilliant partner Sam Tansley, who was then studying dance and is now a jewellery and gift designer. They also had a spare room, so we set up a joint space for us all to make things together, which was lovely. This office set-up could also be seen on BBC News in May 2013, when they did a feature about my journey to the Cannes Film Festival.
Software used: Avid
Films edited here: Ashes (finishing touches and EPK) and Halo Haynes' unplugged music video suite - I think I also started the music video for The Oramics Machine in this office, too
3) The second Derby office, 2013-2017
Also in 2013, I met my partner Edward Harvey (who I'm still with today), and we ended up moving in together fairly quickly because our leases were up around the same time. Our Derby town house was a decent size, so we left the spare bedroom as a spare bedroom and instead turned the dining room into a shared office for the two of us. Because who needs a dining room when you have films to make??
Software used: Avid then Adobe Premiere Pro
Films edited here: Night Owls (promotional assets), The Dress, Songbird (film and funding videos) and multiple films for clients including Sheena Holland's promotional video, a music video for Scribble Victory, and my entry into the James Bay Film Project, The Chaos & the Calm
And then we moved to the cutest, cosiest little space - and an office that will always mean a lot to me. It's the first place where I really started making a living while working from home, and I also loved the view of my garden and country sunsets from that office window. It served me well all through the pandemic, with many a long evening spent sat at that desk. I felt quite sad packing it away, but as I ranted about in a blog post earlier this year, we'd been driven away by some truly terrible neighbours. (But it's all's well that ends well, as you'll see when I unveil my new office...)
You can't really tell in these photos, but this was also the office where I really upgraded my kit; I had a new super-powered computer tower built, and I was also finally able to purchase a giant colour-grading monitor with help from The Prince's Trust. And yes, it did allow me to play 4k full-screen, for the first time in my life!
Software used: Adobe Premiere Pro - and a bit of After Effects!
Films edited here: Songbird (main film and behind-the-scenes videos), funding videos for Growing Shadows and Lepidopterist, plus absolutely loads of edits for brilliant creative clients including Towersey Festival, Foundations Revealed and many more.
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So, without further ado, it's time to unveil my new office. It's definitely my favourite one so far, even if it is taking a long time to set up. What makes it really special is the fact that it's in the first home me and Edward actually own, so it's meant that I really have had free reign with the decorating!
As a reminder, here's how it looked before....
And here's how it looks now (so far - it's still a work in progress!)...
So far, I'm loving working here. I still get to watch the sun set when I work into the evenings, but now that view has been joined by a family of bats as well! And as for what films I'll be making in this office? Well, my fab creative clients are keeping me busy as always - but beyond that, we'll have to wait and see. All I'll say for now is that I've definitely left some wall space for an extra poster or two...
Sophie
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