Behind the Scenes: A Day in the Life of Dekan Wheeler

Name: Dekan Wheeler Nickname: My friends and family typically call me Deke but I’ve heard worse. Title: Academics Video Editor   How long have you worked at Mudd: Since October 4, 2011 What do you do here? I version academics spots when requested, but I’ve also been working a lot with self promotion recently when I’m not too busy. Some of my more recent projects have been editing the AdSuite Launch Trailer shown earlier this year at Gung Ho and prepping iPads for use on the NADA show floor with the best video and print ads of 2011. Describe a typical day: My days tend to blend together due to a routine I try to keep set. Mornings I typically work on my new edits which I try to get out for approval before lunch. Once I return from my tuna or chicken salad (the rest of Muddville can confirm how predictable my lunches are), I work on my long term projects until I get notes. I try to turn these around by end of day and try to get a jump on the next day’s work or continue with long term projects. What’s your favorite part about your job? Working with a timeline and finding creative solutions to real world problems in advertising. Questions I work with daily are: - How do I get that graphic to shine and stand out? - How do I fit all that they want in 30 seconds? - How do I balance this spot’s creative need with practical applications? Being able to effectively figure how to make a spot effective while it remains creative and new with my peers is what truly excites me. Why do you do what you do? I have always loved the moving image. Animation, TV, film you name it I enjoy it. That’s why I went to Film School in California from my native Colorado. And that is why when my wife was relocated to Iowa I knew I would find a way to continue working with picture and sound, any way I could. Your best day at Mudd ever: A good day is always when I’ve finished something unique that is enjoyed by all. What inspires you? It may be sappy but that question is easily answered as, my wife.  She has always known what she wants and won’t back down in getting it. Be it getting a job as an engineer in the male dominated world of John Deere or our current struggle of trying to find a house that fits her dream. Her "never say die” life style is always an inspiration. A random fact about yourself: In California I was the lead editor of the TV show: “Elvira’s Movie Macabre”. The 80’s horror hostess whose claim to fame was not only cracking wise at cheesy B-Movies but promoting Coors was my boss. We produced 26 episodes together for her comeback show that ran Fall 2010 – Spring 2011 (3 of the episodes are on Hulu right now: “I Eat Your Skin”, “The Satanic Rites of Dracula” and “Night of the Living Dead”. If you are in the creative realm, who inspires you? Personally I am huge in to Christopher Nolan’s films right now. Of course we have the recent films such and The Dark Knight and Inception but his earlier work of Memento and Prestige are also huge modern classics in my mind. The way his films bend reality are always so creative and fresh which is what I feel the creative world needs. What makes Mudd a great place to work? The camaraderie between co-workers. The people I work with in Muddville are all wonderful human beings. The same can be said about everyone else I’ve had the pleasure to work with outside of the department as well. Anything else you’d like to add: Not at the moment. If anyone does have any questions though I typically answer my email relatively fast.