Author: marygraces591

This morning I had an amazing opportunity to sit down with the post-production producers and editors and observe them edit a real television show (Bringing Up Bates) for a season premiere. What a great way to end my work experience!

I had no idea how picky people could get when it comes to television shows. First, I sat in the audio room and watched as the producers nitpicked every single sound bite possible while the editor was quickly trying to edit it long the way. The producers pointed out the smallest things that I would never notice. For example, at one point during one of the interviews on the show there was a small coughing sound made in the background which all of the producers immediately pointed out. I was so focused on the show I had no idea there was any background noise at all! The entire audio editing process took about an hour and a half for a 22 minute episode. I never knew you could spend so much time on the audio for such a short episode!

Next I moved with the producers onto the visual edits. That was a whole extra two hours itself! We rewatched the show, this time observing for any visual edits needed. I lot of it was blurring faces and license plates, cropping out anything unnecessary, and correcting the lighting in the pictures. Again the producers nitpicked almost every detail. Most of the problems they pointed out I never even noticed (and I don’t think the viewers would notice either to be honest), but nevertheless, they continued to pick at the show until everything was finished. They were not going to leave until the show was nearly perfect in their eyes. Overall, I had an awesome work experience and internship. I learned a lot of new information and found out many of my likes and dislikes. I definitely feel more informed and prepared for college and the industry!

Before today I did not have much previous experience with the post-production side of the film and television industry. The only experience I had was editing my own short films on CA’s software (Final Cut Pro). Unfortunately for me, Trailblazer uses Avid, another editing software, which I had never touched before. Because of this, the most stressful, yet exciting, part of my day was attempting to figure out how to use Avid. I spent most of the day shadowing various post production editors who gave me lots of resourceful information about the industry and even college. Even though I did not do much today, besides shadowing various editors, I still learned a lot from talking with the professionals. Any experience and knowledge they have to offer me is incredibly useful. Also lunch today was super yummy (it was beef tacos), and I had an extra long hour lunch which was great.

Today at Trailblazer Studios I followed around Kristin Genszler, one of the companies directors. We were shooting a Pro-Bono film for the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle’s new website. There was a lot going on, which was to be expected, but I had no idea I was actually going to get to work with the cameras and equipment. The highlight of my day was getting to work the slate (the black and white board that you always see in behind the scenes movies). While standing in front of a camera yelling “Inter-Faith Food Shuttle, Chef Terri, Take 3” does not seem all that amazing, it was pretty fun for me just because I had never done anything like that before. The entire crew was very nice and offered me a lot of advice. I even got to move a lot of heavy equipment around (yes I know it is not the most glamorous job ever but it was nice just to do something). I never thought of myself as the director type, but today I really felt like it was something I could tackle and possibly even make a career out of. I cannot wait to see what tomorrow brings in the post-production department!

I was really looking forward to working at Trailblazer Studios because they focus on the television network side of the industry not the news and journalism side. Since, as of right now, I want to be a television producer, Trailblazer is the perfect place for me to get some exposure to companies working closely with top networks such as HGTV, Food Network, TLC, and A&E. I had no idea what to expect, but as soon as I got there I knew this was a great place for me to get some fun experience. One of the best parts about the day was the development producer I was shadowing, McKenna Czap. She explained her job to me and everything it entailed, and on top of that, she actually let me do some research on possible show ideas for a Food Network pitch they were going to make later that week. She gave me a lot of freedom and listened to all my ideas (even the not so good ones). I really enjoyed researching ideas. My favorite one was an idea for a show that follows around local coffee shops and the business style they run to compete against big-corporate brands like Starbucks. I spent the rest of the afternoon researching mom-and-pop coffee shops in Raleigh and across the United States. It was nice to finally get to pitch some of my own ideas and get feedback on them.

I started the morning bright and early at 6:30 am Friday morning. The producer wanted me to see one of the earlier shows to give me an idea of just what I was getting myself in to in the television industry. I was even more mortified to hear one of the directors say his shift started at 3 am. Despite my early start (I’m really not a morning person at all), I still had quite an enjoyable day. My favorite part of the day was shadowing a studio director for an hour. I got to be live on set while the anchors were on television and I got to watch the show first hand. Another entertaining moment was when I had the opportunity to sit in the control room and watch as the directors called the entire show. It was so fast paced and loud, definitely an area I thrive in. If there is anything I have learned so far from my work experience it is that you have to be flexible, creative, and confident in the television industry.

Today I shadowed Steve Elizondo at Fox50 again. We continued to shoot and edit the same footage as yesterday for the FCC. The most exciting moment of the day for me was actually getting to edit some of the shots from yesterday. I did not expect to work hands-on with professional software. On top of that, I learned lots of new tips and tricks from real experts. When we finished edited the video that is being sent to the FCC, Steve and some other team members gave me some other B Roll to edit on my own time. After I finished editing that, I received a lot of helpful feedback which I am sure to take back to my own personal work.

Another entertaining moment of the day was going back to the television towers to shoot a time-laps of the towers and clouds. Before today I had never worked with time-laps on a professional camera, so it was a neat experience and the footage turned out amazing.

Today I shadowed Fox50 Video Producer Steve Elizondo. The day started quickly as we went straight to a shoot first thing at 9 o’clock. The project for the day was a lobbying video for the FCC. Elizondo and his team were assigned to create a video explaining the negative effects of a new law the FCC is attempting to put into action. The team and I went down to Garner to the local broadcasting towers to shoot the scenes. The towers were very impressive (over 2000 feet high), and I even got to help film some scenes pretty high up. We spent the majority of the filming dialogue and getting B Roll, but as the day continued, we moved to the editing suites to put the footage together. It was a neat experience to get to film something that might actually make a difference for our entire country. I can’t wait to go back tomorrow to see what else is in store.

Today I had the privilege of shadowing WRAL Crime Reporter Amanda Lamb. The day was much busier than I anticipated, but that made it even more exciting. We started the day at the Raleigh Courthouse going through the recent arrests and search warrants from the past week. We snagged all the stories that were interesting enough for TV and took them back to the WRAL Newsroom. The Newsroom was a new experience for me. I had never sat on a live set before like this one. After touring around the fascinating facilities, we hoped in a WRAL van and went down to Garland, NC for our headlining story of the day. I sat and watched as Lamb interviewed a 9-year-old burn victim who recently lost his mother and brother from a car crash in April. After getting all of the footage needed for the story, we headed back to Raleigh to write and edit the video together. The whole experience was very interesting for me. I got to see the entire process from start to finish. It was amazing to see something I was a part of blossom into a full on television headline by 6 o’clock.

Here is the story we worked on today:

http://www.wral.com/nine-year-old-survivor-recovers-after-fatal-i-40-wreck/16732861/