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Ah, the things we can do with technology these days. Just got the new Droid Incredible the other day and installed the WordPress app.
Today, I helped my dad cleanup the backyard and we got rid of my childhood jungle gym (see pic). Kinda sad.
This weekend I’ll be busy finalizing the DVD yearbook and senior video. It does feel like I’m entering a turning point…
The homepage of Times Beacon Record Newspapers, northshoreoflongisland.com
As the first Multimedia Intern for Times Beacon Record Newspapers, a local community newspaper that distributes papers I’ve been making short video packages highlighting events in the community. This weekend, I went to Stony Brook University’s campus and filmed their Earthstock Festivities. The video was featured on the paper’s homepage.
I’ll be working with TBR through the summer to create more videos, help develop their webpage, and learn more about the newsroom.
This upcoming weekend I’ll be filming The Twelfth Night at my school. This is the third play that The Ward Melville Players performed this year that I’ll be filming.
Like last year, I’m creating DVDs of these shows and they’ll be on sale in the lobby of upcoming shows.
I had finished editing both two-camera shoots and have spent this past weekend putting together all of the DVDs.
So it’s been over a week without a post and I’m beginning to just face the fact that I will never be a good, consistent blogger. It’s demanding. If I’m allowed to make excuses for myself, I have been on vacation in Florida for the past week visiting the grandparents and hitting up Universal Studios.
I did manage to spend a good portion of my time with Final Cut working on the Senior Video for the Three Village Swim Club, among other projects. Last year, I was hired to edit pre-filmed footage for our school’s swim team’s senior video. Like last year, I met with a couple of the members of the team to transfer footage from their camera onto my computer. We met in the very cliche location of Starbucks which, although I despise coffee, is the perfect meeting spot for these types of things.
The job is not an especially hard one, I put clips in order, clean them up, add titles, the occasional special effect, but it’s a job that I enjoy doing for the end result. I take footage filmed–with no offense to the team intended–with minimal videography skills (shaky camera, poor audio, etc.) and make it look good. I also just love the idea of a large audience getting to see something that I helped shape.
The least popular issue of the 5th Grade Gazette. The word art is missing but keep in mind, we were never looking to win any layout competitions.
Best of all, this project is a reminder of my #1 Rule: People Love To See Themselves. I learned it in 5th grade when my friend and I created the 5th Grade Gazette. My first venture into journalism was a huge success because my classmates loved seeing their pictures and reading what their classmates said (generally on topics such as the quality of the school’s food). I always remember that the least popular issue was one where I did a story on myself and two other friends that helped 1st graders pick out books in the library. While I thought it was interesting, I wasn’t keeping my target audience in mind (and writing about myself isn’t exactly good journalism).
The Rule applies to everything though: video, photo, news…I guess that’s why wedding videos are so popular.
One moment in particular that I always look back on when my graduating Jr. High School class watched the 9th grade video that I made in the auditorium. I was shaking the entire time, nervous, afraid that they weren’t going to be interested (and I should have remembered Rule #1) but by the time the video faded to black and everyone applauded I felt a tremendous sense of pride. It’s definitely in my top ten moments.
iCon Video on the homepage of NorthShoreOfLongIsland.com
Oh, side note: The first video that I produced during my internship for the Times Beacon Record Newspaper was on their homepage for a few days. It’s a short montage about iCon, a science fiction convention, that I filmed before leaving for vacation. Notice how many people will get to see themselves!
Earlier this week, I was inducted into the National Quill and Scroll Honor Society for journalism.
Yesterday, I began a multimedia internship at The Three Village Herald. I’ll be producing my first video this weekend.
Today, I found out that I was named a Communications Fellow at Elon University.
It’s been an eventful week!
