Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Week something or other...
I don't remember.
I've done a lot of writing. Mostly script writing, but some postcard writing too.
I also helped set up a cool music show. By help set up, I mean plugged one chord into a mic. It was tough work.
Seriously though, I have done a bunch of work this week, and it's been pretty stressful. And I'm working a show tonight. From five to ten apparently.
My next post will be more thorough hopefully.
-Eleanor
Sunday, July 26, 2009
I Say Go!
I started this last week at the MC off by helping out with The Bay Show. It was my first time really working in the control room; most of the time I'm on the set. I have to say that it was quite an experience...
It took quite a while to start taping, and when we did the process itself took quite a while as well. In my opinion, the communication between the director and the talent wasn't as good as it should've been. Instead of listening to what the director had to say the talent wanted to do things their way. Talent wanted to be directing the show, so then why get a director in the first place? It would've been very helpful to have the director put his foot down and let everyone know that he was the one in charge. That way everyone would just listen to what he had to say, what he had to fix (on the set), so that the actual taping could go begin.
Working as switcher was simpler than I thought it'd be. It's not that it's, per se, "hard" but it can get a little stressful. Taking cues from the director hasn't sat well with me before. When I've done theatre shows at UCSC I've worked as a light board op., and sometimes I tended to call my own cues. I wouldn't wait for the stage director to tell me "go," I'd go all on my own haha.
I guess it's more appropriate for the director to switch, they know what looks good on camera and what should make it to the tape. Having someone else switch brings in this other perspective, and then other ideas of which camera shot should be on tape.
There were points when I wanted to put certain cameras on program, but then I'd be like, "no, I can't. It's not my show. I gotta hold back!" It was tough. Maybe next time I'll try and direct, then I can call my own cues without having a director reprimand me for them later.
It took quite a while to start taping, and when we did the process itself took quite a while as well. In my opinion, the communication between the director and the talent wasn't as good as it should've been. Instead of listening to what the director had to say the talent wanted to do things their way. Talent wanted to be directing the show, so then why get a director in the first place? It would've been very helpful to have the director put his foot down and let everyone know that he was the one in charge. That way everyone would just listen to what he had to say, what he had to fix (on the set), so that the actual taping could go begin.
Working as switcher was simpler than I thought it'd be. It's not that it's, per se, "hard" but it can get a little stressful. Taking cues from the director hasn't sat well with me before. When I've done theatre shows at UCSC I've worked as a light board op., and sometimes I tended to call my own cues. I wouldn't wait for the stage director to tell me "go," I'd go all on my own haha.
I guess it's more appropriate for the director to switch, they know what looks good on camera and what should make it to the tape. Having someone else switch brings in this other perspective, and then other ideas of which camera shot should be on tape.
There were points when I wanted to put certain cameras on program, but then I'd be like, "no, I can't. It's not my show. I gotta hold back!" It was tough. Maybe next time I'll try and direct, then I can call my own cues without having a director reprimand me for them later.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Rockin!
Hi everyone. So this last week has been pretty chill. I Spent some quality time at the Media Center. I crewed on two shows on Thursday night, one produced by Henrietta and the other by Raphael. I worked the camera for both shows and also did a little floor directing. Everything seemed to go pretty smoothly, but it's hard to know what's really going on back in the control room. That's where most of the action is taking place after all. Our in-camera field projects earlier this week were pretty entertaining, and I tried to post all of them online, but it seems only one successfully uploaded. I'll have to check that out. I know the video that I worked on may have been damaged and I wasn't able to log and capture it, but the video "inevitable" should have worked. Sorry folks, I'll see what's going on with that!
I'm looking forward to our final projects-- the How To video and a PSA. I'm currently working on my script for my How To video on DEKO, and I'm trying to decide exactly what I want to do for my PSA. Music is a big passion of mine so I'm trying to find something that's going on in P.A. or the surrounding area that pertains to music and a good cause. Wish me luck!
It's been awesome working with all of the interns and getting to know the staff a little better. The Media Center is a great place to work! Cheers!!
~Joel W.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
"Phew, doesn't that just suck the eyes out of your head."
The title is self-explanatory. This is what i've had to put up with for the last few days. As Media Center Interns, we can take advantage of lynda.com, a website that allows you to access tutorials for various applications, such as Final Cut, Photoshop and et cetera. I've decided to learn all about LiveType, an application in which you create animated title sequences for video projects. Now, don't get me wrong, the application ranks pretty high on the useful scale. The tutorial, on the other hand, is a little on the creepy side.
First off, the voice in the tutorial is an exact replica of the voice from the movie Phone Booth. And by that, I mean the voice that threatens to kill the protagonist while he is stuck at the phone booth. It's a little creepy to say the least. Not only that, but he tries to liven things up by making jokes every two seconds that are not only not funny, but are borderline creepy. When demonstrating a new feature, he said something along the lines of "Now my children, I know this is really cool but let's try to slow our heart rates down and not get too excited." Self-explanatory. Did I mention that this tutorial was 3 and a half hours?
All creepiness aside, this tutorial is rather helpful. I've pretty much got the basics of LiveType down, which may certainly come in handy in the future.
This week, we also made 5-minute, unedited movies in groups. Camille, Haelin and I took on an abstract perspective and filmed random things around the Media Center. The video that everyone sees before they die from the movie The Ring was our inspiration. because it, too, had shots of random things that hinted to one big thing. Our film was pretty glorious. Not gonna lie.
Veronica
First off, the voice in the tutorial is an exact replica of the voice from the movie Phone Booth. And by that, I mean the voice that threatens to kill the protagonist while he is stuck at the phone booth. It's a little creepy to say the least. Not only that, but he tries to liven things up by making jokes every two seconds that are not only not funny, but are borderline creepy. When demonstrating a new feature, he said something along the lines of "Now my children, I know this is really cool but let's try to slow our heart rates down and not get too excited." Self-explanatory. Did I mention that this tutorial was 3 and a half hours?
All creepiness aside, this tutorial is rather helpful. I've pretty much got the basics of LiveType down, which may certainly come in handy in the future.
This week, we also made 5-minute, unedited movies in groups. Camille, Haelin and I took on an abstract perspective and filmed random things around the Media Center. The video that everyone sees before they die from the movie The Ring was our inspiration. because it, too, had shots of random things that hinted to one big thing. Our film was pretty glorious. Not gonna lie.
Veronica
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Well, I'm saying goodbye to the media center for about three weeks *sob* for a camp, but before I left, I did a lot this week.
I first watched our third show, Tech in the Bay, which we finally finished editing (I think.) I added in the pictures for my Inventions Around the World segment, which I thought turned out well. The graphics were well made and everyone spoke well, so I thought it was a good show.
Afterwords, as a group, all the interns started off with field training which was fun, and then Camille and Veronica and I made a mini tape full of random things that didn't really make sense. I loved it though, especially the panic button that Dave had on his desk that said: "Don't panic...don't panic...on second thought "PANIC!" Veronica had pretended to lose something on the computer and then ran away.
I enjoyed watching everyone else's as well. They were funny, creative, and very well done.
Then at 8:00 (on the same day) I came in to do a show called Black EPA Issues. I thought the set was amazing: the fancy props, paintings, cloths... were really cool and they brought the whole set together. It was my first hour long show as well, so I thought it would seem really long, but the time flew by! It was really fun and I didn't notice really how tired I was until I got home. I hope that when I get back from camp: I can crew another show!
I first watched our third show, Tech in the Bay, which we finally finished editing (I think.) I added in the pictures for my Inventions Around the World segment, which I thought turned out well. The graphics were well made and everyone spoke well, so I thought it was a good show.
Afterwords, as a group, all the interns started off with field training which was fun, and then Camille and Veronica and I made a mini tape full of random things that didn't really make sense. I loved it though, especially the panic button that Dave had on his desk that said: "Don't panic...don't panic...on second thought "PANIC!" Veronica had pretended to lose something on the computer and then ran away.
I enjoyed watching everyone else's as well. They were funny, creative, and very well done.
Then at 8:00 (on the same day) I came in to do a show called Black EPA Issues. I thought the set was amazing: the fancy props, paintings, cloths... were really cool and they brought the whole set together. It was my first hour long show as well, so I thought it would seem really long, but the time flew by! It was really fun and I didn't notice really how tired I was until I got home. I hope that when I get back from camp: I can crew another show!
Friday, July 17, 2009
Another week... ish
This really was more of a half week for me. I got back from vacation on Wednesday, just in time for Tech in the Bay. Immediately I was greeted by Wes and Edo, telling me that I was going to be talent and read a page and a half long segment.
Yay.
So that was an experience. The other two days were spent watching and logging old tapes, and making highlights.
I'm about to edit three hours of footage into one hour of footage, and apparently it's in Spanish, which is unfortunate as I do not speak the language.
But, that is that.
Hopefully next week I'll edit a tape in English instead.
-Eleanor
Thursday, July 16, 2009
I agree... WE DO ROCK!!
Good to be back at the Media Center. I've been out of state for a little over a week and as much as I love my home state of Idaho I must say that the bay area is a great place to be. The opportunities to be involved in media are limitless. I thought that it would be hard to get back into the swing of things here, but this has not been the case. We did our 3rd show on Wednesday and everything worked out pretty smoothly. I was behind a camera(#3) in the studio for the first time and I think I did a pretty good job. There may have been one moment of shakiness, but I don't think it caused too much confusion.
Yesterday I put a highlight together for an ice skating event, which was cool because I got to use Final Cut Pro. I have quite a bit of experience with the application, but more experience is always good! I'm also beginning to learn more about AfterEffects. I've been interested in this program for awhile because I love animation and creating special effects. Today I'm helping to setup the show "American Songwriter." I love music and I'm actually a musician myself so I'm always looking for people involved with producing/writing/performing music. Anyways... Exciting times at The Media Center!!!
~Joel W.
More MC Stuff
I haven't posted in a while and I'm pretty much alone at the Media Center right now waiting for the Ask Dr Business crew to come for our LIVE taping at 9 (8 PM crew call), so I'll type for a little bit. Wow, a lot of stuff has happened lately. We did our 3rd intern show yesterday, which turned out mostly ok, despite lack of communication between the producers (myself included.) The tempers are pretty much down, and we tried to avoid the blame game even though two parties involved ended up not so happy at another party, and I'm sure the other way around.
We shot Tech in the Bay (TiB) with the idea in mind that we would edit in post. Edoardo, Haelin, and I spent most of today working on the raw tape. Wesley helped out too, but it's primarily the 3 of us working on it. We arranged all the segments in order, but we still need to put some photos in the Wesley's segment and Haelin's segment, and Edoardo and I are nearly done putting all of the graphics in (tags, titles, websites, etc). I am working on the segment for inventor Bob Schneeveis, an amazing inventor, machinist, and Stanford Professor. The graphics for this show, since we are creating them in post, are way cool! the tags are great, titles are turning out amazingly, and everything looks really good.
Annie just left, so it's just me in the classroom and Karen upstairs.
I don't think I'm a very good writer, and now my writer's block is supporting that fact.
Anyway, I'm doing an MC show marathon, something like 7 in 8 days or some crazy number like that. I'll post again at the end of that stint.
Back to work,
-Wes
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Again?
Wow - I've been writing a lot, but I guess it's because I have a lot to say.
Today, just maybe an hour ago, we wrapped up our third and final studio show: Tech in the Bay. When I came in, the other producers were less than pleased that I failed to contact them with my script. The honest truth was: I was busy and I forgot, but I had pre-typed it and then was shocked to realize that they expected me to send my script. Since we had pre-planned it before - I was sure that they already knew about my little segment.
And so our show started out rough with constant arguments about positions and the set, and we all tried our best, but with all the disagreement, I guess tempers got a little thin. We had arguments about chairs, tables, and the back drop. Finally, when I got to directing, I found that it doesn't matter what position you have: if you don't speak up, no one's ever going to listen.
I felt as if perhaps, I should have been more outspoken on my opinion, since I was producing. But behind the fact we had so much disagreement on set - the actual show turned out pretty cool. But still, I felt as if I kind of messed this up. First because I felt as if no one really CARED about my opinion and second because I never had the guts to SAY my opinion...
Next year, I'm going to voice my opinion since I'll have the experience and I'll try to help the other people, who have less experience. Because I learned today that true leadership and teamwork means really coming together and working together - helping one another but bringing the show forward...
Today, just maybe an hour ago, we wrapped up our third and final studio show: Tech in the Bay. When I came in, the other producers were less than pleased that I failed to contact them with my script. The honest truth was: I was busy and I forgot, but I had pre-typed it and then was shocked to realize that they expected me to send my script. Since we had pre-planned it before - I was sure that they already knew about my little segment.
And so our show started out rough with constant arguments about positions and the set, and we all tried our best, but with all the disagreement, I guess tempers got a little thin. We had arguments about chairs, tables, and the back drop. Finally, when I got to directing, I found that it doesn't matter what position you have: if you don't speak up, no one's ever going to listen.
I felt as if perhaps, I should have been more outspoken on my opinion, since I was producing. But behind the fact we had so much disagreement on set - the actual show turned out pretty cool. But still, I felt as if I kind of messed this up. First because I felt as if no one really CARED about my opinion and second because I never had the guts to SAY my opinion...
Next year, I'm going to voice my opinion since I'll have the experience and I'll try to help the other people, who have less experience. Because I learned today that true leadership and teamwork means really coming together and working together - helping one another but bringing the show forward...
Friday, July 10, 2009
It's been hard
We've finally gotten the intern mock shows up, and I hate to say after three hours of toiling on Final Cut - the problem was the quicktime wasn't the right format. After that, I finally moved onto a new project: a highlight for Peninsula Under 20. I'm glad to say that this one came out quite well and I was able to edit and upload it without a problem.
Today, I went to the tape library to help with some stuff since Becky told me to come in, but I forgot to ask what I shoud do. Since I've actually never been in the tape library to work with the TAPES (I helped Becky with the database and some CD's last time instead and she told me what to do for 2 hrs.) I had a hard time figuring out what I was supposed to do. So instead, I spent a good chunk of my time on lynda.com learning specifics to live type, garage band, and final cut pro.
Our newest show: "The untitled program of the interns #3" is coming along well. After meeting with the other producers, we split up the work. Just a few minutes ago, I finished planning my part: a roll-in for "Inventions around the World..." I finished the script and found all the pictures. Now I have to either host it myself or find a host and film it beforehand. That's a lot of work so... Wish me luck!
Today, I went to the tape library to help with some stuff since Becky told me to come in, but I forgot to ask what I shoud do. Since I've actually never been in the tape library to work with the TAPES (I helped Becky with the database and some CD's last time instead and she told me what to do for 2 hrs.) I had a hard time figuring out what I was supposed to do. So instead, I spent a good chunk of my time on lynda.com learning specifics to live type, garage band, and final cut pro.
Our newest show: "The untitled program of the interns #3" is coming along well. After meeting with the other producers, we split up the work. Just a few minutes ago, I finished planning my part: a roll-in for "Inventions around the World..." I finished the script and found all the pictures. Now I have to either host it myself or find a host and film it beforehand. That's a lot of work so... Wish me luck!
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
The Golden Spatula
Host Joel Weston and former winner Edoardo DeArmas show how to season a rubber chicken.
The Green Stuff
Host Joel Weston talks with Raul Gonzalez about various adventures in the summer interns' 2nd mock show.
Transformers Movie Review
Host Edoardo Fox and his sister, guest Edwina Fox chat during one of the summer 2009 interns' mock shows.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
The Golden Spatula
Host Joel Weston and former winner Edoardo DeArmas show how to season a rubber chicken.
Monday, July 6, 2009
Edoardo's Challenge
Last friday, I was directing and doing Switcher for a show called Summer Fun. This was the first time ever that I was going to direct a real show, so I was very nervous about that, but in the other hand I also had to do Switcher because we did not had enough people. At the end everything turn out really good, and I had a lot of fun and hopefully I can do it again. :D
Week 2
Wow - the media center week has been hustle and bustle.
We had our second show a few days back - right before the fourth of July and it featured summer fun and movies to watch with safe tanning. I thought this show was really funny, but the graphics (which was my job) didn't exactly work so we had to resort to the trailers which I pulled up on youtube. Also, the color correct went wrong, so our Harry Potter trailer went from blue to green. And so we got behind schedule, but from what our viewers see, the show itself was funny, original, and pretty cool. I think it was just as good as the first one and I hope the third one goes just as well.
Right before that, I visited the tape library and I got these CD's that Becky wanted me to check over because she had no idea what program was sending her all these CD's. It turns out it was a drug prevention program and their CD's contained shows and PSA's. So now, she's airing them. :P
And then, just today, I tried to upload the Media Center Intern Mock Shows. It took me two hours, and then I realized that apparently something went wrong and the only thing you could see was little pink and gray boxes dancing around the screen making static noises. I was so annoyed because I spent so much time and then it didn't work. Because of that, I tried to re-upload them and ended up watching the Mock Shows around four times each. It got really tiring...(I'm still not sure what went wrong here... :0 ) I hope if I can fix it!
I wrote a lot but that's because there's a lot to do here! There's so much to do and so much to learn. I've learned so much. I can't even believe it's only been 2 weeks!
~Haelin
We had our second show a few days back - right before the fourth of July and it featured summer fun and movies to watch with safe tanning. I thought this show was really funny, but the graphics (which was my job) didn't exactly work so we had to resort to the trailers which I pulled up on youtube. Also, the color correct went wrong, so our Harry Potter trailer went from blue to green. And so we got behind schedule, but from what our viewers see, the show itself was funny, original, and pretty cool. I think it was just as good as the first one and I hope the third one goes just as well.
Right before that, I visited the tape library and I got these CD's that Becky wanted me to check over because she had no idea what program was sending her all these CD's. It turns out it was a drug prevention program and their CD's contained shows and PSA's. So now, she's airing them. :P
And then, just today, I tried to upload the Media Center Intern Mock Shows. It took me two hours, and then I realized that apparently something went wrong and the only thing you could see was little pink and gray boxes dancing around the screen making static noises. I was so annoyed because I spent so much time and then it didn't work. Because of that, I tried to re-upload them and ended up watching the Mock Shows around four times each. It got really tiring...(I'm still not sure what went wrong here... :0 ) I hope if I can fix it!
I wrote a lot but that's because there's a lot to do here! There's so much to do and so much to learn. I've learned so much. I can't even believe it's only been 2 weeks!
~Haelin
Summer Fun Highlight
Summer Fun show was produced by: Eleanor Greely, Raul Gonzalez, and Veronica Polivanaya. Host Eleanor Greely.
Summer Fun
School is out, and summer is here. So what is there to do? This show will tell you about the new movies coming out, entertainment events, and fun things to do over summer.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
First Week at the Media Center
My first week at the media center was very colorful. And I'm not saying that because it's a very mixed and interesting environment, I'm saying it because the walls are screaming at me. In a good way.
Seriously, I don't know how many buckets of paint were used, but the interior of the building is very sharp. I like the modern vibe.
In other, more relevant news, I've had a pretty fun first week. I thought I knew a tiny bit about broadcasting before, but now I realize I know a fair amount. I mean, yes the equipment we have here is ridiculous, but I pretty much know how it all works.
Though that didn't stop me from being unbelievably intimidated by the control room. I mean, back at Gunn we had an audio board the size of a keyboard, a switcher the size of our audio board, and a monitor that we never really turned on.
Here we have like... a lot. It's crazy.
But staring in awe at all the nifty technology is not all I've been doing this week. I also helped create a studio show (The Platinum Spatula), edited highlights of another show (The Stephanie Herman Show (it was such fun)), and stared in awe of all the nifty set stuff we have (seriously, two hand chairs? Oh, and the giant green screen is cool too...).
Suffice to say it's been a really cool experience. And while i might be a little stressed right now since I'm producing a show that we're filming tomorrow... I'm still having a great time.
(I always like to end things with corny sentiments)
Anywho, I suppose that's all I have to say right now.
I'll be back in week.
-Eleanor
MC Stuff
This has been an interesting week. I have crewed a bunch of shows, made some highlights, and produced a show last week too!
I learned how to defeat DEKO for a show! I Directed, did Switcher, and worked Graphics for "Frente Unido/ Rompiendo Barreras", when we found out that we were short 1 or 2 people. I co-produced The Platinum Spatula with Camille and Joel, and that went pretty well. Nothing major went wrong, so I'm happy. Joel's hosting was superb, as were his serving skills, and Camille directed amazingly.
I made highlights for The Platinum Spatula, which took me 4 hours! 4 hours to make 1 minute of highlights was not so fun, especially when technology hated on me as usual, but in the end I won the battle, but the war is still on.
I crewed on Everyone's Yoga Monday night, worked "Frente Unido/ Rompiendo Barreras" last night, I'm working Talk Art tonight, and crewing the 2nd intern show of the summer tomorrow, which has yet to be named. Basically, I'm on course for 7 shows in 10 days. That's a lot of hours.
I think I'm getting boring now, so I'm going to stop. Until next time,
-Wes
First thoughts
This last week at The Media Center has been quite an experience. I had no idea that we, the interns, could actually put a show together in such a short amount of time. But, we did it and "The Platinum Spatula" didn't turn out half-bad. I've been studying media at the University of San Francisco for the past year and while I've learned a lot about media theory, it's very difficult to understand what it is like to actually work in the middle of it. In one week working at The Media Center I've definitely been given a taste of what a life in media is all about.
Besides co-producing and hosting "The Platinum Spatula," I began helping to archive the Media Center's tape library on an online database. I realize the importance of having an organized work environment so I'm glad I can help the staff out in accomplishing this goal.
Of everything that I've learned at The Media Center thus far, the most challenging job that I've had is hosting our first show. The day before our show we had a chance to practice by putting on several 5 minute spoof shows. This was quite helpful, but preparing myself for the real thing was pretty stressful. I was nervous and no matter how much I tried to convince myself to calm down, relax and not worry about it, I couldn't do it. Luckily I made it through the show without too many problems. I think that more experience may help calm my nerves. I'm looking forward to learning more positions in the studio and I'm not yet sure if hosting is the right fit for me. We'll see!
~Joel W.
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