Three days ago marked a third of our internship program completed. We can never really get over how fast time flies. It's already been a month here.
The last couple of weeks saw us in the studio working on a short film called "Thankfullness" (spelling "Fullness", it's not a typo) and elements for an upcoming production called ChristmaSing. The film will be screened over three weekends as part of the program for the Thanksgiving Dinner event. Last Saturday was our first audience, and although the film had its noticeable flaws, it was pretty well received. With some minor tweaking it will be ready for the next two batches of audiences in the coming weekends.
Our working environment in the studio remains unchanged, so there isn't much to blog about when we're working in the studio on our usual routine. Let me jump to where things start to pick up, which is last Friday, where we set up our equipment in preparation for the first round of Thanksgiving Dinner.
Our mission: Setting up a row of lights for a temporary stage
This is something new and interesting for me, as it's the first time I got to see how it was done. Many times before during other events I look up at the light fixtures, beams and bars and wonder how they managed to bring everything so heavy high up in a few hours. Helping to set up this rig gave me a lot of insight.
Using two very strong motors that can support a LOT of weight, they were hooked up to the ceiling, where they would eventually pull up the entire set up to the ceiling and keep it in place. Once we cleared the hard part of securing the bars for the big lift, the next thing to do was to install the stage lights, tricky part here was to use some estimation and aim the light's direction, otherwise when it's up in the ceiling and realise that the lights are pointing in the wrong direction then we would be greatly inconvenienced. That said, when the entire setup was brought up to the ceiling some minor adjustments had to be done. Not to mention the heavy amount of checks carried out to make sure nothing malfunctions during the event.
Here're some pictures of us at work placing the lights where they should be.
With a little touch of DVEMG humor while at work...
These scaffoldings you see here were essential to the success of our mission. Because of a very high ceiling the use of a ladder proved extremely dangerous, and the need of a stable working ground with some mobility justified the use of a scaffolding. We learned how to assemble and disassemble one on our first week here. Now it's child's play :D
In addition, we set up our 'home base' at the side of the hall, where the audio mixer, vision switcher and the other equipment will be. This is a rather typical setup, except that the purpose of the cameras and the vision switcher this time, was not to do it as a show, but rather, image magnification.
There is a difference, as the whole point of image magnification was to provide audiences at the far end of the hall with a clearer view of what was going on. In a way, wide shots dont really help much in this situation, and I had to direct with mostly close up shots this time round. It was weird at first, but thankfully, I got used to it somehow by the end. Not quite like my other vision mixing experiences, but I've grasped the idea of image magnification.
The Sunday that followed had me assigned to a camera for the first time. Being in a non-camera role for all of the multicam productions I've been in so far, I finally know what it feels like to be on the ground as a cameraman on such a production. It is a task that requires alertness at all times, and attention to which camera was live at which moment. But with the iris and white balance settings left to the crew up above to handle, it was much easier to pay attention to zoom, focus and framing.
Moving on to the recreational portion, we had a day off on Monday, which also happened to be Kenneth's birthday. We took the time to visit the famous Alcatraz Island. A high-security prison for notorious criminals. It is also labeled as one of the most haunted places in America as well as America's most haunted prison.
I've never had luck with ghosts, so you'll be disappointed to hear that I did not have a paranormal encounter with the spiritual realm. I did, however, leave the island with a lot of knowledge. The cellhouse audio tour was very well done, using narrations from actual prison officers and prisoners themselves and sound effects to tell the story. There was also a segment on 'Hollywood Alcatraz", which debunked false facts the many movies portrayed about the island. Secret tunnels, for instance, do not exist. With the island being so close to the San Francisco mainland, the view was spectacular, watching it from the prison cell house made me understand why there are such elaborate escape attempts. Freedom looked as if it was right there, so near, yet so far. Who, in a desperate bid, wouldn't make the attempt?
Now, I can go back home, and give an account of how a prison looked like. It's not everyday people get to visit one, and I must say that we were fortunate to be given such an opportunity. The weather was a downer though, many photographs of the outdoors showed dark skies over the magnificent city skyline and bridges, which damped the mood a bit, not to mention that I left the battery for my camera back at the apartment. Oh the mistakes I still make at times....
Huge onion rings, served like this. Never seen it before.
Kenneth's birthday was celebrated at Red Robins, and there, we had our first real culture shock. The waitress was extremely perky and cheerful, if it were back in Singapore, we would've said that she's being totally deliberate. Which brings me to talk about the restaurants here. There isn't a hint of pressure and urgency at all, even with the long queues. Most people stay cheerful, and even if they don't like what they're doing or are in a bad mood, it's hard to spot one with a "what-am-i-even-doing-here" or "i-hate-my-job" face.
The Starbucks here is different as well. By that I mean the atmosphere. Starbucks back in Singapore are turning into crowded coffee shops. But here, even in the city, it still appears as a quiet, calming environment where one can enjoy his/her coffee while reading a book or surfing the net with no hurry.
Anyway, I ordered the Royal Red Robin burger from Red Robins. This is what it looks like, with bottomless fries and root beer, meaning that it's refillable. I didn't make it past the first one, but the burger was awesome. Can't help but keep comparing things between here and back home. Slowly opening my eyes to see the bigger world out there each time I go away from my home country.
That's all for now, stay tuned for the next post.
Shawn Ang, Signing off.
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