chopper 8

On Friday, I was given the assignment to ring up the traffic news reporter. Usually the person should be on a helicopter but that day the chopper was going on maintenence. So I basically learned all the terms, lingo, and timing to talk to the reporter. Another notch up on my learning belt. I was to let her know what footage we'll be broadcasting, and get information from her about the kinds of graphics we'll use.
Other than that, school is starting its pressure point. I am in the verge of running from downtown san diego to san marcos to do school work, since my computer is the time killer. Also, my 16mm film class in community college is at the deadline of the first film. FILM, FILM, and FILM has never been such a pain.
The project is a 3-5 minute film shot on 16mm, and to do this correctly you have to be organized. At this time of typing there are so many things going on inside my head, but this is where the philosophy of "doing what you have to do" comes in. Stop thinking, because this is one of those rough weeks in the Fall semester of 2008. End of entry.

The Teleprompter!!!

Super scary day for the teleprompter today, I'm saying as if it was an actual living thing, this was because I had ran it for the noon news show. I was given the ultimate opportunity to operate it live like a theater performance, but this time it was a wide audience. It was not easy because it was the first time and the fear of making a mistake. But of course I had that saying in my mind about "you learn from your mistakes". It all works out. So in the mistakes that I made, I accidentally rolled the teleprompter too slow making the two anchors having to improvise what they had to say. It was funny at first, but getting the show to look bad is no laughing matter.

I hate to have to cut it short today, but I have so many things to do. I have to finish a music video I started back in May, and at the same time I have to start on a new music video for my friend's band: The Upstarts.
Also I have to finish a two page essay for a scholarship application. Super hard. But I speak from the mind and heart it should go smooth. Also, there's a short film I have to prepare for this weekend. If it was video it would be easy, but this time there's a crew and its going to be on 16mm FILM!!!! Alright thats it for now. peace.

At last I might work in the Studio

ST ST Studio. A little segment from Phil Collin's song. Anyways today was nothing special, but to be honest it is a real big step. I'm going to be headed towards working in the studio more often since the second intern is also doing writing. What that meant was that in the newsroom, they can't take more than 2 intern writers since the producer only needs one intern. I happened to ask about how to obtain more knowledge on the studio operations. It's a must for me since I love the hands on work.

So today I met Kenny, who happens to be floor director for the 5:30am, 6:00am and 12 noon news shows. At noon its a little more quiet so I had a chance to see more within the studio behind the scenes. I've seen it all, but I still feel there is much to learn non stop. Cutting to the chase, the floor director was talking with me about hobbies and such and where we are from and i mentioned about being a photographer/filmmaker/designer, we had opened a door to a new conversation for he is a photographer himself. We both opened our flickr accounts showing each other our awesome pics and just totally getting stoked on photo knowledge. So today after talking to him, I felt like enhancing my skills because of his line of work.

Well, today's a typical monday so I'll leave more to talk on the next blog.

a breeze

I have to admit that, when you happen to enter a place with awe it deteriorates gradually as time goes by. Well this internship is starting to feel like work. I don't mean boring, but more like the fact that I'm starting to know a lot more people from the station. It's great, people say their greetings and we move off to work. It's almost non stop, I love it. Ultimately the duties as an intern don't seem as challenging, at least yet. I'm working on the quickness of a newswriter and the flow of a production assistant. By the way, I've tried to talk my way in to doing some production assisting and in a news room that means running the teleprompter setting up some wires.

My intern coordinator Sara is good at setting up these things and it makes my stay feel worth while. I can't say it'll get worse, but I can't say it'll get better either. I'm on a boat and riding the energy of the ocean. I must follow the direction, but not follow it. Never the less I am still learning, not as much as I wanted today but its going to get there.

I have to mention though that the printing and script checks are intense. Let me explain; after all the news writers write out their script for a show like the noon show for example, we take all of it and print it out with the show's rundown or schedule. Then my job is to check off if we have any missing scripts that were part of the show or if any reprints have to be made. Real awesome. I know I'm excited on the little things but thats how stoked one can get, about his future especially. So I'll mark off the scripts there and circle the ones missing or having any problems. This sounds straight forward but with the speed and quick pace energy from a news station its intense.

Besides doing this internship I've still concentrated on my hobbies of filmmaking and photography. I put those two together since the art concepts of design or composition are the same. Speaking of design, I won't be able to mess with as much graphic design as I'd like to but it'll sneak in some where, so my work in the graphic arts will keep moving on up. Alright for now, I'll have to go.

Editing?

I put the question mark after editing because I have stepped into my own arena of video editing. Except there was a slight difference... NO FINAL CUT STUDIO or any brand name video editors. They use a program called NewsEdit, it's standard in most of the San Diego local news stations. I have to not forget that on Monday I missed out on my internship because I LOCKED MY SELF OUT.

GOING BACK IN TIME TO MONDAY:
It was another dumb action made by me, but it could always be prevented. That Monday morning I didn't. So I would really like to take you to 6:45 am, where I woke up naturally even before my alarm. This of course seems like the good sign that I'm all prepared today. I woke up so early that I even had time to work out! And during the busy school semester that is impossible. Anyways, I ate a decent breakfast and jumped to the shower before I left for "work"/interning. I got time to prep the business casual clothing and try out my new shoes from my girlfriend who got me 2 pairs for my b-day. I usually don't ask for gifts but thats another story to tell later on. Anyways I got all ready had the snacks in my backpack, pens, paper, notes, and the journalism dictionary guidebook ready to go. I stepped out about 2 minutes after my mom left and as soon as the door started to close or maybe at the 1 inch point I felt iffy about something, then when the door finally closed I locked myself out. This was real bad, I thought I had left home all ready but I wasn't. I left my keys and my cell phone in a pair of shorts I was wearing in the early morning to use the pool bathrooom near my home. Just a quick reference; I live in an apartment conversion home or "condo" but really its just an apartment that you can purchase. But we have 4 people living there and 1 bathroom. We had to find a solution and the pool next to the house was the best one. Anyways I left my keys and phone there, telling myself not to panic. I was still on a bad morning trip right there, I decided to run to a business center across the street from my home which had nothing but optometrists, dentists, oral surgeons, and baby doctors(i cant think of the name right now). I felt weird to go in at first, cause i didnt want them to think im some weird killer with a fake allibi. I forgot about that stupid thought and just went to the baby clinic and told the receptionist/nurse lady my story and she let me barrow the phone. I called the News8 studio, but unfortunatly I had to go through the lame lobby phone first. At any station or TV place or entertainment industry area I'm going to assume that it's always busy, so I'll expect a 5 minute wait at least. It was bad though, I was waiting with rings on the phone while I felt bad for holding up the phone lines in the office. After I got through, I could only get through a message machine for the newsroom so I went ahead and left the message.

I got back home relaxing now since there was no other thing to do. I waited on my truck bed since I dont need keys to get on it. I took a good nap, and when I woke up the sun was on my face and it sucked. But I woke up to see a tree above me high in the air with bees and birds. I sat up and a ladybug flew on me, I saw it coming straight at me as well. I guess I heard that its good luck, but whatever it was I was enjoying nature around my house. So I officially waited about 2 hours till I could get back home, since my brother had just come back from school to open the door. I called to the studio as soon as I got in, and the intern coordinator said "don't worry just take the day off." I felt guilty and relieved at the same time, thinking wow, I wanted to show you guys my dedication but that was easy. So thus explains my skipping a blog on Monday. But I made it up.

Back to today, I had stepped out of the news producing department and went to the editing department. I talked to a few of the "photographers" who are really just video camera people who are constantly on intense capturing at news locations. But one of the guys Bruce had felt really hopeful on interns since he was one himself at this same station. That was a booster, but I told him I have a different goal than what he had, but not trying to boast. Just telling him the honest truth. So I guess I'll be back on Friday to add another good post. At least its good to me.

1st story that aired for me

Today was not a typical Friday, if I remember correctly I usually do nothing. But today I really took the news thing seriously. I didn't realize though I needed to be more punchy. Anyways, the story I wrote that got aired was about Michael Jordan and some other former NBA stars hitting it off at a celebrity poker tournament. It was awesome. The story was simple, but to have it aired was a great feeling. A first time excitement feeling. Well, I'll have to tell you more on Monday. I want to rest up, because it is my birthday on September 13. Peace out.

2nd day's past.

Well, it wasn't hard to realize that my bad writing skills was catching up to me. But what I did not realize was that after my "analysis" of my story writing skills, my Intern mentor didn't give me bad vibes. My writing skills actually worked out. Now all I have to focus on is the punch up's which is to spice up my writing skills. I have to not just write, but I have to work on writing like a journalist.

It's pretty awesome to learn a new skill set even if it's a challenge. I'm pretty sure this skill set of journalistic writing can add some more variety in my screen writing skills as well. The day seemed to go faster since there was another intern signing on the crew. She is a USD student and said she had fallen in love with journalism. I guess from a conversation with her, I can see passion for work like this. It's going to get repetitive, but I don't see it that way with media, film, or any creative artistic job. It's an evolving process, and that means you must evolve as well. I'll admit I have evolved some more just by doing this awesome line of work.

Still, don't get me wrong because I still am nervous in the newsroom. If I make I mistake, it might pass on TV but for the people inside they might get pissed. Fortunately, I've given up on that fear of making a mistake because being nervous is better than having fear. I hope that makes some sense, but I'll have to sign off for now. Thanks for reading.

Intensity in a Newsroom.

I arrived to the station at 9 o clock, and while I walked in the front lobby I kept it casual. The receptionist in the front recognized me from last Monday's encounter and I quickly made a joke about "this time its for real" that my internship is officially starting. She went with my joke, making the Monday morning a great start.

So without wasting time, she dialed in the internal phone system to call out the internship coordinator. As I waited for my start, I went ahead to look at the lobby TV and saw some pretty lame TV shows. I figured, its a Monday, and its morning so theres a guarentee that the shows are going to be dope. So she finished the phone call, and the intern coordinator Sara, wasn't in yet. So I was instructed to wait in the lobby for a bit until I am sent in the studio.

I thought to myself, "this is dope, I get to chill a bit before this intern adventure starts" so I went ahead and sat on the couches took a magazine off the coffee table and went ahead to read anything interesting. Of course this wasn't possible, I happen to be in a CBS station so the materials they provide will be about their network.

I did notice something real interesting in all the mainstream American television networks from looking at one of these CBS mags. Within NBC, ABC, CBS, and FOX, CBS has shows that look like they cater towards elder folk. And I don't mean the senior old folk, but any body but 1-24. The actors and actresses have a certain look. Well this is just a hypothesis that the network executives have the most power but have the worst choices.

So before I got to finish the magazine, the intern coordinator was ready and waiting to get me started.

I walked in past the security door and followed the coordinator to the "newsroom". As I was breezing through the hallways, I noticed more promo stuff; posters of tv dramas , sitcoms, and future shows. So the last poster I saw was an upcoming show called Flashpoint which looked like an action drama.

So the beginning door of my career path has opened, almost like the first level of a video game. I walked in glancing at all I can in a blink of an eye noticing the setup. It was awesome, exactly as it is in the movies, or how a newsroom is. Cool electronical equipment, computers, and televisions that are tuned in to every channel that has news coverage. So Sarah the coordinator led me to me mentor, who happened to be in the News production department Simone. After the introductions to the mentor and her employees, Sara wished me good luck and there it was... Intensity in a Newsroom.

The story of today doesn't end here, as soon as Sara left back to her area the intensity had started. ON THE FIRST DAY!

At first, Simone seemed kind of a hard ass, since she got me introduced to so many procedures of an intern. It was like throwing a kid who didn't know how to swim in a deep pool. But this kid Garvin, likes the pool or the ocean, so I went ahead and swam right along. She brought me to the office supplies room, grabing the most important tools for the intern; a notepad and pen. What was real unusual was that the pen was all not ball point pens. It was the same type of pen as markers. She said it had drove her crazy, but I thought to myself, I could get used to this or bring a ball point pen next time im here.

So we went back to the newsroom area, and I swear she spit information that would take a whole day to explain in 5 minutes. Basically I was to learn how to write news stories for anchors and produce a newsshow. In addition to my introduction, she wanted to find out what I really wanted to do in the newsroom.

Here was my excited answer: "Well, since I studied film, video, theater, photography, and graphic design I would love to do the technical stuff. Anything with cameras, control boards, anything techinical, even if I have to setup wires for the studio I am more than willing to."

Her reply was: "Oh good, I'm surprised, usually all our interns want to become reporters or anchors, thank goodness."

I thought in my head: "Whoa, this is gonna be sick, I'll really get to do a lot more with my career now. Now with broadcast TV journalism, I can fill my empty cup with more dope knowledge."

But before all that, I must learn what is on the intern agreement, I must learn to write shows or segment stories in a given time by the show producer, run the teleprompter and assist the directors and anchors.

It was on. By the first hour, I was instructed to write 3 test stories from other news sources. Basically I was to write about stories as I would tell to my friend but in something appropriate for TV. This I thought was a good way to work on my writing skills for film. But I have to understand that this is a different style of writing, its journalism. Still, I believe that this is a form of storytelling which film is a form of doing.

So towards the end of the first day, I had been asked to check out a LIVE NEWS SHOW. It was like theater, but catered towards a wider audience and the atmosphere was do good or mess up. Sucks to mess up, but it happens. Any ways I was introduced to the control room, with the craziest equipment and procedures for a show. There's a technical director, a show director, and a producer. It was like an action movie, so exciting and things weren't too foriegn to me. The video terms, graphics were all like the back of my hand, all recognizable.

Well that ends the first day, I might not write this much, it was just a really cool fun first day at my internship.

The First Day- 1 hour and 15 minutes before I start.

For the official start, I thought it was actually a week before. Unfortunately it wasn't and I was stoked and ready for it. Getting in the news room is a whole new experience for me, its away from film/video production which might be a good thing. Different environment and experience will probably strengthen my skills in terms of media creation. Either way I will keep neutral about learning and working hard. The cup must be half full in order to poor more water.

Anyways I had to mention this, this morning I had a rude awakening from my brothers stupid alarm clock ringtone because it had woken me up 2 hours earlier then what I set my alarm to. I lost an hour of sleep, but its cool cause I took a 20 minute power nap. Well, thats one motivation to move out so I won't have to share a room with my annoying brother. HARD WORK TIME.