It’s been nearly two weeks since I’ve blogged or tweeted anything of significance.

Not because I’ve overlooked my little corner of the internet – forgetting a site called “Committed to Memory” would be chock full o’ more irony than even Alanis Morrissette could wail about – but because I’ve been making movies.

Lots of them.

31, to be exact.

They were for FORUM Credit Union‘s annual President’s Day all-employee fete called Day of Celebration.  This year, for the first time, we encouraged employees to record “shout out” video messages to teammates and departments that made a difference for them in 2010.  The videos would then be played during the Day for everyone to watch and enjoy.

I volunteered my ultra-amateur filmmaking skills and FORUM’s ultra-cool video production and editing equipment to direct, shoot, cut together, and distribute said videos for anyone who wanted the help.

I thought only four or five employees would reach out to me.  I was incredibly – and thankfully – wrong.

Instead, 30 individuals and teams asked me to film everything from simple interviews to complex skits in order to recognize nearly 75 of their fellow employees.  And I loved it.

As regular readers of my blog know, I’m fascinated with virtually every aspect of the movie-making process.  To have the chance to work on a project this large for FORUM’s annual all-employee event was a great opportunity.

As a result, I’ve been in full-on indie movie mode since the beginning of this month, all the while trying to keep up with my regular job responsibilities, be a halfway-competent husband and father, squeeze in time to turn 40, and recover from a separated shoulder I suffered - again with the irony! – a few hours after writing my ”Snow, Insomnia, and Gravity” blog post.  That’s why I’ve gone dark recently.

How did they videos turn out?  From the internal buzz, pretty well.  You’ll have to take my word on it for 30 of them, though - we’re keeping them on FORUM’s internal network and off of YouTube.

But I’m kinda proud of the last one.

It’s a 2-minute piece called ”We Are FORUM” that I created as the kickoff for the whole day.  I used a Nikon D3100 in full HD (instead of my usual Panasonic AG-HVX200), then laid the footage over this bit of stock audio goodness and recorded the voiceover track.  And since this was the product of my addled brain, I’ve no one to blame for its technical/production/editing errors but myself.

Yet and still, it is my small way of giving back to the company that has given so much to me.

Here it is: