Sample Clips Edited or Animated by Monica Nolan

Here are some pictures and descriptions of movies I have worked on, in reverse chronological order. (Click on the still for each to view a sample clip.)
Reel Open (2008) When I finally decided to put some clips online, I created this animation as a sort of opener. This is a work in progress--timing and color need to be tweaked, my graphic designer consultant suggested an alternate font, and I need to resolve some square/nonsquare pixel issues. Check back for the finished product.
Bachelorette, 34 (2007) 37 min. This is the opening sequence for Kara Herold's documentary about "one woman's examination of the ubiquitous belief that marriage equals happiness." I worked on and off on this film for several years, editing and creating animations. I taught myself After Effects in the course of the film, and this clip is the last thing I created for it. Working with Kara on this documentary was an amazing, stimulating experience.
"The Soldier" a KPIX News Segment (2002) 6 min. I worked at a bunch of Bay Area news stations from about 1999 to 2003. It was a great learning experience--I soon discovered how to put a story together really fast. But the pieces I preferred editing were the ones I got to spend a day or two on, as opposed to a couple hours. Ironically, the less "hard news" stories were generally more fun to edit. This piece, which was for an anniversary show about 9/11, broke that rule.
Grrlyshow (2000) 18 min. This was the first documentary I worked on with Kara, a film about women making zines. Remember zines? This film uses a more traditional documentary approach (unlike Bachelorette, you'll see some talking heads), but still reflects our shared love of found footage. Kara shot all the zine covers; now, of course, I would scan them in and animate the moves in After Effects. I learned and came to love Avid in the course of working on this film.
World of Women (1995) 7 min. This was the first movie I made in film school, and clunky as it is, I still love it. It was conceived as a trailer for an imaginary lesbian pulp movie from the 50s. Years later when I was working for the news I recut it, so now it's a trailer of a trailer. In classic film student fashion, I wrote, directed, and edited this myself (I cut it on a flatbed). Cathy Crane did the lovely noir-homage camera work.
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