Day 17- 01/22/2020

Well, I guess you've heard the saying all fun things must come to an end, well today is that day. While being out in California I learned so much and met so many new people and connections! I would like to thank everyone who allowed us to tour their studios and sets, and for all of the people who have taken time out of their busy schedules to teach us things we didn't know before this trip! I am so thankful for being able to experience something as amazing as this trip was and it truly did help me to push myself further into this industry and make all of the connections possible! Thank you to everyone following me on this journey and I hope you enjoyed reading about my experiences just as much as I liked being able to make them my memories! Lastly, I would like to thank Chris and Melonie for asking me to come on this trip and for pushing me to be the best person I can be both academically and personally! Here are some more of the pictures that haven't made it into the rest of the blogs!

   

 

 

 

Day 16- 01/21/2020

Even though today was our last day of meeting connections and learning more about the industry, I personally loved what we got to do today! For our morning we headed to the set of NCIS and boy was I excited. I love watching crime shows and to be on a set of one was an absolute dream! I would like to thank Scott Williams who took quite a bit of time out of his day to give us a tour of the set, and for lunch and even giving us scripts from the show! As someone who is into interior design, I found it interesting that each room had its own uniqueness and feel to it as though you were in different places when in reality you were on the same lot, and walking from set to set, one example of this is of the character Gibbs. Gibbs' office setting versus his basement setting has two separate looks! His office looks very clean and precisely organized, whereas his basement is quite messy and looks like an older man's basement full of tools, wood and even has a water heater! The lighting is also different wherein the office the lighting is very good, but then once you are in the basement it is very dark and dimmed down. The technique of finding the perfect lighting and design of each individual set is very fascinating and I think that this is something that interests me and would love to do in the future! This will play a roll in the broadcasting television major because it helps to show that the smallest detail can be shown in something so if one thing is off, it could mess up the whole production!

 

Lastly, we went to Encore courtesy of Asa Fox, a former student of Tompkins Cortland, and now colorist! We learned quite a bit of information at Encore and got to meet a few different people that each has different jobs. Josh is an Avid Editor which means he works on the Avid software program whereas Jason who is a Flame editor which does about the same things but through the Flame program. These editors use the programs to match timeline references, make sure that that there is nothing in the shot that shouldn't be there like boom mics, body parts, etc.. They also do stuff with green screens and some special effects! Then after we got done with the editing we went to Asa's colorist room. He taught us quite a bit about becoming a colorist, for instance how to work with your clients and realizing you work with what your clients want. Asa also shared some information about how in this industry you're not really going to make it on the first try of getting what you want, and possibly starting small or maybe even go back a step to help develop skills and that will eventually help to push you that one step further than where you were at before and he stated, "What happens is what you make happen." This relates to this major because it's real and shows that this industry is tough and if you want to succeed you might have to take that step back to realize you will better yourself by taking the time to go up the stairs and learn a lot more rather than trying to wait for an elevator to take you to the top when the elevator could potentially get stuck.

Day 15- 01/20/2020

Today was one of the most interesting days of this trip in my opinion. To start our day we went to Creative Character Engineering (CCE)! CCE is a business that does special effects makeup and they create wardrobes for movies and television shows. Established in 1991 by Andrew Clement, he shared with us that people who are involved in the production of making these costumes and coming up with makeup concepts come from a background of making and creating things. I found the makeup process a little more interesting because I enjoy normal makeup but when you can create something as crazy as Deadpool and Freddy Krueger looks, this just amazes me! The process behind the tattoos is fascinating to me as well. The way that they can take a blank canvas and then place a piece of work on the person getting the tattoo and make it look so realistic is surreal! I think that if the route I want to go down now is not the route for me, I can definitely see myself becoming an SFX makeup artist because I love art and creating things and I believe this would be a nice fit for me!

After we finished up with the nice people at CCE we got to go to the movies and watch the new war movie 1917! This was one of the best war movies I have ever seen! Once you have seen a lot of behind the scenes work of production, it opens your eyes to what really is being put together on the big screen. I found it extremely difficult to not see some of the stuff that I have learned while on my visits from each studio, but it gave me a true appreciation for the credits at the end of the movie! The single-shot format that the director had for the film was so unique and cool because it is so against the usual cuts between characters and really opened up to new tricks and ideas for future films!

To end the night we headed up to an exclusive view of the Hollywood sign with Sargent Bob! Although it was quite a twisty, curvy road we made it to the top and boy was the view worth the drive up! This was an experience that most people don't get to do so I want to thank Sargent Bob for being so nice and offering us this opportunity!

 

Day 14- 01/19/2020

It was on this day we had free reign to do whatever we wanted at Disneyland! Although it was a fun-filled day, I still was able to look around the park and see some things that pertained to my broadcasting degree. Just like in the industry people who worked at the park had to be very good at communicating and had to have good people skills. I also noticed that each of them, no matter where they were used a walkie talkie to connect with people who are a distance away from each other, just like P.A.'s do! And much like studio design, each piece of the park needs to be designed to match a certain theme that they have going on. For one instance I was looking around the Star Wars piece of the park and while observing I noticed that the theme carried from the buildings/structures down to the concession and garbage cans! This is important because it not only goes with the rest of the theme but it makes the people that are fans of these films feel as though they are actually walking through the Star Wars Universe of Galaxy's Edge! 

   

While learning/ observing I also had a lot of fun with my classmates and professors! We got to ride a ton of rides and even got soaking wet on some of them, well Lucas and I did anyway! It was an experience I will never forget and I am so grateful I was asked to even go on this trip in the first place!

    

Day 13: 01/18/2020

Today we started with a full day planned! To start we headed to the California Eatery to have brunch with Michael Kehoe who is a director/ writer! As of right now he is working on the Disney+ streamed show, The Mandalorian and informed us on a lot of the technological side of shooting. He explained that technology has helped out in so many ways and now these actors have the advantage of being able to use an LED Screen that can change depending on what scene they are in to get a feel of what they're acting against instead of being in front of a blank wall. I found this interesting because I always hear of these actors having to use a tennis ball or having to just think that whatever they're shooting with is around them, but now that technology has been improving, its cool to see how successful these new things are working.

After finishing up with Michael Kehoe we then headed to our Paramount Tour! I learned quite a lot while on this tour thanks to our tour guides' Devonte and Nina! One of the many things I found interesting was the blue parking lot. This was interesting to me because they use this parking lot at a water tank to use when they are filming ocean or beach scenes! This tank takes up to 950,000 gallons of water to fill and takes 24 hours to fill and another 24 to pump out the water. This was cool to learn because there are always rumors going around that movies that deal with water are filmed in giant pools like the Titanic but in reality, they built a parking lot just for the movie to fit a life-size titanic boat in it!

Another piece that I really enjoyed from the Paramount Studio Tour was the New York Backlot! The way that it looks made it seem like you were actually walking down the streets of New York. The purpose of this was instead of going to New York every time they were filming something that had to do with the city, they built up their own city in their backyard you could say to fill the void of having to travel back and forth, and it saves them money as well. The detailing of the city was quite fascinating to me! Although it looked as though there were brick buildings filling the streets, it was actually fiberglass sheets that were made and painted to look like bricks. The streets also had that city look as well with the cracking and the dingy looking sidewalks, and the cars during filming also could drive around the streets of this lot because they made such a large set that it makes it look more realistic when they drive around the corners. Lastly, on this tour, I found it cool that in the New York Backlot they made subway stations but at the bottom of the stairs of the station there would be changing spots so that when backgrounds walk down the stairs, they can walk back up them looking like completely different people and it would cost less on the production team!

    

To end the night we went to a Charlie Chaplin silent film called The Gold Rush! The film was very funny and I would highly recommend to anyone who has not seen this type of film before! After having visited a colorist I focused on the contrasts of the picture and noticed that's truly what the creators had to go off of since it was a black and white film. When the film was over we had the opportunity to go up to the control room of the theater and see how they made this showing possible. They used these very large film cameras that had to have the film on a wheel and placed on the wheel, and after a certain amount of minutes they had to be quick and switch over the film to make the film seem continuous even though it was into different strips. 

   

Day 12- 01/17/2020

Today was quite a fun learning experience! To begin our day we headed to Universal Studios to go on the Studios Backlot Tour! I learned a lot while on this tour and even before we got on the tour. When we walked into the park we got to see a hot set, which means they are filming something. There were many spots throughout the park that had this type of set and made sure that nobody that didn't belong in the shot was there.

 

The tour itself was very interesting! On the stage tour, I noticed that not many people were walking from place to place, rather they were using golf carts and moving to where they need to be a lot faster so they're available. I learned that a lot of the town and city sets are reused in different shows so they don't have to keep recreating these buildings! I also found it quite interesting that instead of having two houses right next to each other when the shot is only of one house, they create a siding of a house to make it look as though there is a second house there. My favorite thing from this tour; however, was learning how they create rain. I have always wondered how they create rain in a scene and I learned that they have an overhead sprinkler system that is above the actors' heads out of shot to make it look as though it is raining in the shot.
 

  

To start off I would like to give a huge thank you to Caleb Bomysoad for getting us into this part of Sony! After getting done at Universal Studios, we made our way to Sony Animation! This at first was a little confusing to me because I've always found animation exciting and cool, but the process of it was never something I thought about. I learned that a lot of storyboarding has to go into working on one of these projects and a lot of the time the writing process correlates with the story-boarders. We were told to always put down the ideas that you may have for a movie or show even if it is bad because a bad idea is still an idea and you never know when a spark of creativity can come from that. An animator does a lot of research and exploring to find the right look for the characters! I also learned that each animator gets a clip from the movie and works on the whole scene until its finally complete, then those are all put together to get the final sequence.

 

To end the day we went to Olive Garden and had dinner with a TC3 Alumni, Andrew Inglin. Andrew is a director who is known for his FabFitFun commercials and being a photographer. During dinner, we got to ask him questions on what it is like for him to be a director and what advice he can give to all of us aspiring to become something in this industry. To begin, he told us when and wherever we start as a P.A. to always be hardworking and do anything we can do on set to stand out. He also showed us what the true struggle of this industry is like and even though a lot of people in this industry do fall to always remember what we started doing this for and to keep pushing for what we want! He also shared with us that as a director you kind of get all the control of what you're working on so everything is a little more lenient, which is such a perk, but only if you work hard!

Day 11- 01/16/2020

Today was a very important and eye-opening experience for me! To start the day we headed to Malibu to meet Kathy and Amy Eldon the founders of Creative Visions. This all started when Kathy’s son and Amy’s brother, Dan got stoned to death while on the job in Somalia at the young age of 22. Dan Eldon was a photojournalist who was an adventurous and outgoing young man who only saw the good in the world! After his passing, his mother Kathy and sister Amy wanted to share his story so they started some passion projects, including Dying to Tell the Story and The Journey is the Destination. 

  

Kathy stated that if we were going to go into this field of work, and really want to motivate and make some true change you as an individual need to dive deeper into the issue at hand and by going deeper and getting the better understanding, this allows for you to then be able to expand wider and make more of an impact. When watching her documentaries on Dan it was very eye-opening and she also stated that in anything you do you need to be in the now and allow yourself to experience all that life has to offer! Dan also showed this through his work and journals! This relates to broadcasting in so many ways but the major one is because it is such a demanding industry, you can sometimes get too focused on a job that you forget what you're doing the work for in the first place. Don't forget to take a step back and look at what you're doing it for and see the beauty in all that you're doing!

 

After going and visiting Creative Visions we headed to the taping of Carol's Second Act produced by Pamela Fryman. I focused in on the sound during this taping. I found it interesting that the boom mics were on these crane-like things and how the people controlling them use the mics. I noticed that the person controlling the boom mics were always moving it back and forth to be placed over each of the characters heads and had a lever to move left and right when the rest of the crane was still so that each character sounds the same and not like one is further away. This is important to notice because you never know when you're going to need to be able to work one of these machines for a production that is being filmed or any other boom mic for that matter and you need to be able to know how to get the best sounds. 

Day 10- 01/15/2020

Just like any other one of the days, it was an adventure! We headed to The Price is Right bright and early this morning! When arriving on set it was very colorful and bright, which made the audience very lively! They also had very positive and energetic music to get people excited about the taping, and then continue to use that music between shots to keep that same energy throughout the whole show! There was also a woman who got the crowd up and cheering when needed and that helped the whole production become a little more seamless when it airs which I find very interesting! I was also relieved when they told us something went wrong with the mics and then proceeded to tell us about another taping when the lighting was off. As bad as that sounds, it’s nice to hear that even though this show has been running for so long, they still have those technical errors and that it can happen to anyone at any time!

This is important to the broadcasting major because it allows for people to have that maintained energy whether you’re in front of the camera or behind the camera due to the fact that it’s exciting to see the final outcome of the production so if you have that energy while doing the taping, it will help to relay that when the piece is aired. Then to top that all off, people will continue to watch the show more and more if that energy is high and kept at that level! The energy was high when we got there and even better when we left!

Day 9- 01/14/2020

On today's excursion, we went to see the taping of Dr. Phil and go on the set of The Last Man standing. I learned a lot about the background production on both sets! On Dr. Phil's set, there were 7 cameras and each one of them had separate jobs. The one camera that caught my eye the most was the overhead crane camera. The operator was behind the crowd and moved the camera back and forth, left and right without any stutter. When a shot was over not just one camera moved to a new angle but for the most part, all of them did. The one that stayed the most consistent was the camera that was a close up of Dr. Phil himself. I was also very interested in this specific camera because it was not only right in front of us but you could see the work that the cameraman is doing as well. I noticed that they had a little screen on the side of the camera in black and white, at first I didn't know what it was for but then later learned that it is to see the shadows and contrasts of the shot, which I found quite cool. Then after the show, we got our picture taken on a very cool stage!

After having finished up on Dr. Phil set, we went to The Last Man Standing! Although we did get talked to about being millennials not laughing like a mad man at every joke, I did see a lot on what happens behind the scenes of this production! I noticed that most of the people behind the scenes were men and only a few women was there. They also had everyone watching the taping while on the set of MOM everyone was backstage and not really on the set besides the camera people. After talking to Symon Mink, I noticed that there are more people on camera rather than just the one person that I thought there was! After talking to these people in the industry, they have opened my eyes up a little more and I can see more of the production rather than just the outcome of the production. This is important for my major because the point behind this trip is to see what goes on behind the scenes in-depth rather than only seeing the main roles of the production process, and I have!

Day 8- 01/13/2020

Today learning wise was such an experience! To begin our learning journey today we headed to the Sony creative center to take a prop/ stage tour and then we had a presentation with Tony Saccoccio, the VP of Production and a few of his team members, including Devin and MJ, the editors, and Adrian, who is also a producer. On the tour, it was a once in a lifetime experience! The props that we saw were all from our favorite movies and television shows and was neat to see them in person! The lots were another thing to excite me personally! It was awesome to be on a hot set because we were able to see what the actors work with while shooting! The set design work was intriguing because since we are 2020 now, but the scene is set in the 1980s the designers needed to get the perfect props for the scene to make it feel like the person watching is also in the ’80s. (Room not pictured)

    

The presentation was also something that caught my attention! I really enjoyed the piece on the episodic promos from Devin! This was interesting because I know from experience that I will be scrolling through social media and see a promo from a new show or movie and find myself watching it if whatever the promo is about catches my eye. It was cool to see the breakdown of that and their process of what to chose for these promos. I also found it interesting that they make these promos for the following days after the episode airs because it allows people who missed the episode or haven’t watched the show yet, get an idea of what it’s about and can catch up! This helps with the broadcasting degree because you never know when you’re going to have to edit up something. They told us that it is very important to know all the tricks of the trade!


The next place we went to was Technicolor! At Technicolor, we met up with Chris Donovan and Helena Hall. While on this in-depth tour we listened to Jake, an editor, and then we went downstairs to see David, a color corrector, and lastly some VFX things. To start, Jake went through and showed us some technical stuff with editing. First, he went over the basics of importing the materials needed for editing. He taught us about split screening and what that does for production. This is important for broadcasting and film because it allows for if one of the actors doesn't do as well as another that they can split-screen them and it won't take that many takes for them to become in sync or masked together. When we went down to David's workspace this was like walking into a whole new world.


David showed us how color correcting works and all of the stuff you can do with it. The most interesting piece for me was when he taught us about how certain shows have a specific color to them. This caught my eye because I never really thought of shows having their colors but the way David explained it, it made a lot of sense. Some shows are more action-based and deep so they're going to need a darker look and color to them meanwhile another show can be a comedy and all happy which means it'll look better with keeping the scenes lighter in color. Lastly, we headed over to watch a VFX presentation. VFX is another term for visual effects, and has a lot to do in the movies and television industry! For instance, if someone needs to play an older role than what they are in real life, this can be difficult on the makeup artist to make them look 30 years older without making it look too fake, so they take the shots that-that actor/actress is in and modifies their skin to seem likes its aged. This is important to learn for this degree because you never know when you might get asked to color correct or need to make someone look older or younger or many other things that can be CGI'd.

Day 6/7- 01/11-12/2020

These two days are combined for many reasons and one of those being since we were at P.A. Bootcamp. This at first was pretty nerve-racking seeing as I didn't know what I was getting myself into, and I didn't want it to change my idea of coming into this industry because I enjoy what I have done this far. Day one of boot camp was very simple and we learned the basics of becoming a Productions Assistant. We learned the terms needed and how to build up a kit, which was very cool in my opinion because I like organization and this one really helped me to understand the point behind the kits. We also learned how to read call sheets which at first was a little hard to follow but after a while I caught on and it got easier!

On the second day, it was a little more exciting and practical seeing as we sat around yesterday learning the basics. We got to go outside and talk on the radios and go over call sheets and pretend like we were actual P.A.'s. Although we got yelled at earlier in the day because we were not saying things loud enough we ended up passing the boot camp! This was very important for broadcasting and cinema because it allows everyone else and I to get a big understanding of our job as P.A.'s and how we will be working on future sets and projects. The stuff that we learned will not only help us at the beginning of our careers but stay with us throughout our whole career.

Sunday night was also very exciting! After boot camp, we got to go to dinner with a focus puller named Symon Mink. At the dinner, we got to ask questions and he answered them for us. As a focus puller, you find the most perfect shots and then make sure that they are in focus before taking the shot. He also taught us from experience with his newest project that timing of the production is not based on you, it will change on you multiple times, you have to roll with it and go from there. Symon taught us a lot during the dinner and it really opened my eyes to follow the camera route if the on-camera sports broadcasting doesn't work out for me!

Day 5- 01/10/2020

Our morning was a pretty open one compared to the other days so we did some running around for groceries and things that we would need for the rest of the trip. In our travels last night it was dark by the time we got back to the hotel so this morning we were able to see our view and man was it beautiful!

Later in the day, it was time to go to the Taping of MOM at Warner Brothers Studios. This was very cool for me because I have never been on a set or anything like that other than the musical I was in, in high school, and of course, that was something small compared to this. We weren't; allowed to take pictures so we weren't able to have those to look back on; however, we were able to see all of the work that goes on behind the camera and behind the scenes of the shows we love to watch. I was very interested in the studios' design and the detailing between each of the sets. I found it interesting that in the scene with Alison Janney and Jaime Pressly when Janney's character was telling Pressly's character that she stole her silverware that there was a different colored item compared to the rest of the items in the shot. I learned that this dull vase did not fit in this shot with the rest of the silver vases because since they needed to break it, and may need multiple takes, they can't rebuild the vase so they use cheaper/ breakable ones with easy cleanup!

Day 4- 01/09/2020

Day four was a little less exciting than the other days because we traveled from San Fransisco down to Los Angeles. Sleeping most of the time in the car was nice to finally catch up on a little bit of sleep but going to Hearst's Castle was the overall highlight of the day! After having watched Citizen Kane in Xaver's Mass Media class helped me understand the background and everything to help it all make sense. The house just on the outside was gorgeous, but once you stepped foot on the inside it was like stepping into a little bit of a history book. The detailing behind all of the stuff within William Randolph Hearst's home was very precise and cool to learn about. I learned that he liked to collect things from way before his time, like books, and pottery. I find this quite relatable to myself because I also like to read and collect things! Hearst's home relates to the broadcasting program because just like set designing/ dressers, everything needs to be perfect for the needs of the production, and in this case, the production was William Randolph Hearst's home for himself.



 After we got done at Hearst's home we headed across the street to Elephant Seal Beach. It was such a cool and interesting place because going to any other beach you don't get to see any wildlife besides birds and the occasional crab or shark that gets to close to shore. We got to see an elephant seal sleeping and every time he moved it was a little nerve-racking because it was also pretty funny to see Meghan run away when he snored. Although it may not seem like it, this can also relate to my major! The Elephant Seal is much like the higher-ups in the industry, you don't want to poke at them too much or they might eat you, and in the production piece, the seal is the director and if you annoy him he will fire you!

Day 3- 01/08/2020

Today's adventure was my favorite out of the days we have been here so far! It was a well-mixed day of fun and learning. For the agenda this morning we went to Twitch studios where we met up with Robert (Our amazing tour guide) and he taught us a lot of the ins and outs of the studio. I learned that they are very engineering-based and are working every day to keep up and ahead of their competitors. We were also informed by Robert that twitch employees search for the best of the best students to work for their company. It was very interesting to see how some of the stuff behind the scenes of Twitch, just because you think of it as just an app or site that allows people to stream and you think that they do all the work when in reality none of that would be possible without the people behind the scenes that work with this company.

We also went on some Segways to end the day. This was a very cool experience because we got to tour the city while also had time to overview our days' activities. Just like the competitiveness of riding Segways against your friends, this corresponds with my major because it helps to show that this industry is a very competitive environment and if you want something you need to show out and go get it or else it will go to someone who worked harder and earned it!