Tag: Video Production

On my final day here at Trailblazers Studio, I went through the audio department: the final stage of video production. I started the day by sitting in on a meeting with a client. They had brought in a woman to record a voice message to be played on the phone when the client’s company is called. To be honest I always assumed the messages on the phone were computers, but they are actual people. The woman recording had the most soothing voice imaginable and was very professional. The entire meeting and recording only lasted about 30 minutes. After the client and the talent left, I watched Michel edit the audio and ship it off to the company. The whole process was quick but the final piece was perfectly put together. After that I went around the audio department and talked to people about music, casting talent, and actually editing audio. I ended the day with watching a short documentary regarding the Salem witch trials. Sound effects and reenactments played a big role in the show and put it all together. Finally, the day was over and we said our fair-wells over Duck Donuts (because it was national donut day). Overall, I had a great time at Trailblazers and learned so much about the industry

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Today I shadowed the post-production team. This entails slicing footage to put together, editing scenes, color correcting, and so much more. I went through and talked to almost everyone in the post-production team and learned so much. First of all, it takes an insane amount of time and energy to simply organize all the footage that was captured. There are two people on staff whose only job is to download and organize all the footage. Then the offline editors (the ones who put the show together) have to watch hundreds of hours of footage to find the exact parts they want to use. Then once the network approves the “cut”, the video is shipped off to the online editors who add graphics, fix colors, blur faces/logos, and make everything coherent. The time and manpower that goes into the post-production was unimaginable. I also noticed how weirdly dark every editing room was. After talking to everyone, I watched a full episode of a show they produce and edit to see the final product. I never realized how much effort goes into putting the video together. Tomorrow I will spend the day with the audio team and sitting in on a meeting with the studio and their client!

Today I moved onto the second stage of video production: producing. This morning I traveled to WakeMed to observe a live shoot for a commercial. It was crazy at times, boring at times, and pretty cool overall. The commercial was to promote a new section of the hospital. Since WakeMed is a working hospital, we were right in the middle of a hallway full of doctors, nurses, and patients. There was chaos all around the shoot and practically nowhere to stand. Because of the ensuing madness, Rebecca (a managing producer) and I drove back to the studio. Once back we participated in a live murder mystery game with the production team. Even though it was tons of fun, it was still for work. The team was determining how the game would work best for a reality TV show they produce. Spending hours simplifying and perfecting the game, the production team finally figured out the best way for the people in the show to play the game. I was amazed to learn how much the production team is really involved in the reality shows. Everyone knows reality TV is fabricated, but it’s way more fictitious than we know. I had a great time learning about the crazy schedules and brainstorming sessions that go into making our favorite shows. Tomorrow I will dive into the world of editing!

During my first day of the Work Experience Program, I started out at Trailblazers Studios. Trailblazers is a video production studio that does everything from developing ideas to editing material. Today started at the first stage of video production: development. Going in, I didn’t know much about this stage in the process. What exactly did the development team do? I shadowed Makenna and Sydney, who are part of the development team at Trailblazers, to find out. As they shared different reals and clips they had put together for pitches, I learned that their job is to come up with ideas for different shows, documentaries, etc. Once they find people or concepts that fit the bill, they conduct interviews and gather footage to put together a short clip to pitch to different companies who might want to put the show on their platform. They put in all this work and most of the time their ideas are turned down. It’s a unique field because they have to do a little of everything: they have to create the idea, produce some film, edit the film down to a real, and pitch the ideas to different companies. I learned that the two women in the development office that I shadowed spend most of their days brainstorming by scouring the internet. They collaborate and stay very busy with multiple projects at one time. Today we spent most of the day looking at different projects they were working on. I even got to help find people that would be willing to be on a specific project Sydney was working on. This particular example was a short 5-minute-long miniseries that would air on Snapchat if approved. Overall it was a great first day full of learning and laughs.