Friday 10/19 (9 hours): I took the GRE this morning, and it wasn't that fun but I did survive so it could have been worse.
In the afternoon I hung out at the station for a while, and then we all headed down to Alma for the big show. It was fun because we had dinner at the Main Cafe downtown, and with all 5 of us (Jan, TJ, myself, Will (a volunteer who rocks) and Tim (my boyfriend who is now volunteering as well) dressed up in our MAC3TV shirts we looked real slick. The show itself went really good as well, I had my first experience duct-taping the cables to the floor (so no one trips or knocks the camera over), setting up the tripod and camera, and actually doing some taping aside from the caterpillar. I was in charge of one of the wide-angle cameras up in the projection booth, which was good because a) there were 2 of us, so if I messed mine up there was a backup, and b) it was easier to follow the action from a distance than it is to follow it up close. When we actually watch these tapes and start editing them I think there will be some commentary on what I did well/could have improved on while taping, but overall it went pretty good. I'm really excited that I actually got to tape something, because I'm getting more responsibilities around the station and a lot of hands-on experience. Sometime in the next few weeks Dr. Gilbert is going to come up to the station and help with the editing process so she can have a copy of the show for herself, and make sure that we're getting the important parts in the final copy. It's going to be a good time, and when it's finished I'm going to include a copy in my final portfolio as an example of my work.
Friday, October 26, 2007
10/12 through the first half of Access Training
Friday 10/12 (8 hours): We spent a while going over the tape from the dress rehersal and figuring out whether or not we should use 2 or 3 cameras for the actual shoot- we decided on 4 as it turns out. If we put two cameras up in the projection booth as wide-angle shots, we can be sure to get a wide span of all of the action going on onstage. We will also have 2 cameras on the floor, one on each end of the stage, which will give us some nice close-up shots of the action and different angles that will make the finished, edited project really nice with some smooth transitions. We also spent some time in the Gratiot studio today, working down there with the people who use the facility and still working on straightening the place up down there.
Monday 10/15 (2 hours): We had some interviews for the Gratiot position today. We're still going through the process of finding someone, because as before, Lori is still out with the eye thing and also the job had to be posted and interviewed for anyway, even if we do think she's the best for the position. We've gotten about 8 applications, even though some aren't qualified, it's nice to see some response to the posting. TJ and I made arrangements for Wednesday morning to work on getting me trained to actually use the cameras. The "official" training class is tonight (my boyfriend Tim is attending), but I have to work and so I need to get other training scheduled in to be ready for Friday!
Wednesday 10/17 (3.5 hours): At the station super early to do the first half of the camera training. Actually, it's all the training for the cameras, and then the second half of the training is the computer editing part of the program. However, we only have time for the first half, which is all I really need for this week anyway. And this really was an exciting training session, because when I went outside to do the "practice filming" I was going to tape the construction workers across the road because it's fun to make them feel nervous about why we'd be taping. However, after a few minutes of that I looked down and saw the strangest caterpillar ever, and so I started taping that instead (really, it wasn't moving a whole lot so it's just me zooming in and out a lot). Extreme home makeover turned into discovery channel. I'm the best videographer ever!
Monday 10/15 (2 hours): We had some interviews for the Gratiot position today. We're still going through the process of finding someone, because as before, Lori is still out with the eye thing and also the job had to be posted and interviewed for anyway, even if we do think she's the best for the position. We've gotten about 8 applications, even though some aren't qualified, it's nice to see some response to the posting. TJ and I made arrangements for Wednesday morning to work on getting me trained to actually use the cameras. The "official" training class is tonight (my boyfriend Tim is attending), but I have to work and so I need to get other training scheduled in to be ready for Friday!
Wednesday 10/17 (3.5 hours): At the station super early to do the first half of the camera training. Actually, it's all the training for the cameras, and then the second half of the training is the computer editing part of the program. However, we only have time for the first half, which is all I really need for this week anyway. And this really was an exciting training session, because when I went outside to do the "practice filming" I was going to tape the construction workers across the road because it's fun to make them feel nervous about why we'd be taping. However, after a few minutes of that I looked down and saw the strangest caterpillar ever, and so I started taping that instead (really, it wasn't moving a whole lot so it's just me zooming in and out a lot). Extreme home makeover turned into discovery channel. I'm the best videographer ever!
Dress Rehersal for the Emperors New Clothes, 10/11
Thursday, 10/11 (2 hours): The dress rehersal for Dr. Gilberts "Emperors New Clothes" was really cool because I was able to see both the precess of preparing for a muscial production and the preparations for videotaping such a production. This was the first day that I actually got to (kind of) use one of the cameras (even though I'm not a certified access user yet) and I learned a lot about where the cameras should be placed, how to measure for cable needed, microphone needs and also the issue between backdrops and camera ligth levels. For example, the backdrop on the stage was lit well enough for the audience to see it, but not well enough for the camera to be able to pick up all of the details. Lighting was also an issue with the mirror that the emperor was holding, because it had a lot of sparkly "gems" on the back side- the side facing the audience- which is a nice effect except for the fact that all the light reflected from the sparkles would really mess with the camera pickup and display. We spent a few hours here getting things organized for the shoot on the 19th, and I think it's going to turn out very good, which will be nice to have some evidence that a) I'm learning things, and b) Dr. Gilbert is a witness to this as well. On a related note, the sound guy at the theater complimented my handshake- BIG BONUS! because self presentation was one of the topics that I had put in the objectives to work on, and here was the first criticism that Jan had given me, and it was turned into a compliment within a few months. Just thought I'd note that, because it seems like a pretty big improvement from where I was in the beginning of the semester.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
The new news.
I haven't posted anything in the last two weeks, I guess because there hasn't really been much going on that is very noteworthy. However, I'll update with what I've got, because I have been going to the TV station as scheduled. With the posts up until 9/24 I had 37.5 hours, just for the record. Since then I've been in:
Wed. 9/26 2 hours (I've started going in between 9 and 10 on Mondays and Wednesdays)
Fri. 9/28 8.5 hours
Mon. 10/1 2 hours
Wed. 10/3 2 hours
Fri. 10/5 7 hours
Mon. 10/8 2 hours
Wed. 10/10 2 hours......... thus bringing the total up to 63. About half way to the required hours, although I'm not worried about that since we have so many extra outings to count.
Now, past the bookkeeping stuff...
We have officially posted the position to hire someone to run the Gratiot studio, because Lori (the interim) had surgery for her detached retina and hasn't been in. Even though we would like for her to apply for the job, this is proving more difficult than we first expected because she isn't sure if she's up to it. This is too bad, because she has a doctorate in broadcasting and is a retired CMU professor and would have been absolutely perfect for the position. Hopefully she'll get to apply, because while we have some other applicants I think she would probably work out the best for our purposes. In the meantime, TJ and Jan have been taking turns at the Gratiot studio- I've been going with Jan on Fridays for a while, but since I'm not yet ready to run the place by myself I can't go alone.
The other major thing that's been going on at the station is the survey to the NPO's of Gratiot county. I think we've been through at least 7 drafts of the letter and the survey questions, and today was finally the day that we sent them out. The reason these took so long was that a) we were working on these at the same time we were working on everyday tasks that need to be done around the station, so they didn't have the full attention that they deserved each time they were looked at, and b) every draft we'd make we would take some time to let it sit so we could look at it fresh later on. This turned out for the best I think, because we went from a 1-page piece that had the introduction and the survey questions on it to a 4 page mailing. The first page was a letter introducing MAC 3 TV, for those who are not familiar with how public access works. Then it explained all of the free services we offer, and mentioned the attached interest survey. The last thing it did was mention the Gratiot access center (which is the target area for these NPO's to use) and explain that we are remodeling and will soon have a Grand Re-Opening that they will receive an invitation to when the time gets closer so they can come take a tour of the center. The second page had the questions, which were pretty simple: do you ever use the Gratiot access center? Would you be interested in using it? Do you have any special/yearly events that you would like taped and on public access TV? Would you be interested in having some of your volunteers attend the free training to be certified to use our equipment and tape your event? Questions of this sort. And then the last 2 pages were part of our rules and regulations that explained about what kinds of things can be put on public access TV and such. Overall, I think it was a very simple mailing in the sense that the way we set it up will be easy for the recipients to understand what we've sent. We put the fax number on the first 2 pages, the front page is on our letterhead, and the second page it is listed at the bottom of the survey so they can return their answers without the hassle of envelopes and postage.
Another cool thing that's been going on is we've been preparing for Dr. Gilbert's performance of "The Emperor's New Clothes." We'll be taping the show on 10/19, also the same day that I take the GRE (wish me luck!). I'm excited to go and tape a live event, which is good because I'm kind of learning to use the cameras. I still need to take the official training courses, but so far they've all been on Monday nights and I work on Mondays so that hasn't worked out. However, I think we're doing a 1-day session of it before the 19th so I'll be useful during the shoot for Dr. Gilbert. Jan and I are going tomorrow night to the dress rehersal to spec out the area and see what equipment we're going to need, where to position things, how many people we'll need, etc etc. This should be good fun.
Wed. 9/26 2 hours (I've started going in between 9 and 10 on Mondays and Wednesdays)
Fri. 9/28 8.5 hours
Mon. 10/1 2 hours
Wed. 10/3 2 hours
Fri. 10/5 7 hours
Mon. 10/8 2 hours
Wed. 10/10 2 hours......... thus bringing the total up to 63. About half way to the required hours, although I'm not worried about that since we have so many extra outings to count.
Now, past the bookkeeping stuff...
We have officially posted the position to hire someone to run the Gratiot studio, because Lori (the interim) had surgery for her detached retina and hasn't been in. Even though we would like for her to apply for the job, this is proving more difficult than we first expected because she isn't sure if she's up to it. This is too bad, because she has a doctorate in broadcasting and is a retired CMU professor and would have been absolutely perfect for the position. Hopefully she'll get to apply, because while we have some other applicants I think she would probably work out the best for our purposes. In the meantime, TJ and Jan have been taking turns at the Gratiot studio- I've been going with Jan on Fridays for a while, but since I'm not yet ready to run the place by myself I can't go alone.
The other major thing that's been going on at the station is the survey to the NPO's of Gratiot county. I think we've been through at least 7 drafts of the letter and the survey questions, and today was finally the day that we sent them out. The reason these took so long was that a) we were working on these at the same time we were working on everyday tasks that need to be done around the station, so they didn't have the full attention that they deserved each time they were looked at, and b) every draft we'd make we would take some time to let it sit so we could look at it fresh later on. This turned out for the best I think, because we went from a 1-page piece that had the introduction and the survey questions on it to a 4 page mailing. The first page was a letter introducing MAC 3 TV, for those who are not familiar with how public access works. Then it explained all of the free services we offer, and mentioned the attached interest survey. The last thing it did was mention the Gratiot access center (which is the target area for these NPO's to use) and explain that we are remodeling and will soon have a Grand Re-Opening that they will receive an invitation to when the time gets closer so they can come take a tour of the center. The second page had the questions, which were pretty simple: do you ever use the Gratiot access center? Would you be interested in using it? Do you have any special/yearly events that you would like taped and on public access TV? Would you be interested in having some of your volunteers attend the free training to be certified to use our equipment and tape your event? Questions of this sort. And then the last 2 pages were part of our rules and regulations that explained about what kinds of things can be put on public access TV and such. Overall, I think it was a very simple mailing in the sense that the way we set it up will be easy for the recipients to understand what we've sent. We put the fax number on the first 2 pages, the front page is on our letterhead, and the second page it is listed at the bottom of the survey so they can return their answers without the hassle of envelopes and postage.
Another cool thing that's been going on is we've been preparing for Dr. Gilbert's performance of "The Emperor's New Clothes." We'll be taping the show on 10/19, also the same day that I take the GRE (wish me luck!). I'm excited to go and tape a live event, which is good because I'm kind of learning to use the cameras. I still need to take the official training courses, but so far they've all been on Monday nights and I work on Mondays so that hasn't worked out. However, I think we're doing a 1-day session of it before the 19th so I'll be useful during the shoot for Dr. Gilbert. Jan and I are going tomorrow night to the dress rehersal to spec out the area and see what equipment we're going to need, where to position things, how many people we'll need, etc etc. This should be good fun.
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