That's right! I finally have an internship! Though I'm pretty sure the people that actually read this already knew that. Nonetheless, it deserves a post.
Actually, I've had an internship for about a week. And I technically have 2 internships. Mondays and Thursdays (for those of you keeping track), I spend my day at Focus Features in the marketing department. It's pretty cool because I get to meet with people and work on movie posters and read scripts and stuff. It's on the Universal Lot, which is cool. Thursday was my first day and I got to go on the lot to get my ID picture taken. Indiana Jones (the 4th one...that was just for you) is being filmed on the lot. So is Desperate Housewives. And I can use a golf cart during my lunch break if I want. I hope I get to go to a screening.
My Fridays are spent at Film Independent, which is a non-profit organization that helps indie filmmakers. They have screenings, workshops, cheap equipment rental, etc. And Friday's are free lunch day! And last Friday, it was someone's birthday, so we had cake (carrot cake!), which was great.
I don't really do much at either place. Just the general making copies, helping mail stuff, burn DVDs, and surf the internet. I hope they give me some more responsibilities soon. It's boring to sit around for 9 hours basically doing nothing. I mean, it's nice because I get a chance to do my homework, but after I get that done, I still have about 7 hours left.
But don't get me wrong. I like the people that I'm meeting and getting to make connections and learning about the business. I hope I get to do something exciting that would actually warrant another post.
Fingers crossed...
Showing posts with label internship. Show all posts
Showing posts with label internship. Show all posts
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Thursday, July 26, 2007
The Good, The Bad, The Mundane
This is a little something I wrote up and for some reason didn't post it right away. It is from June 21. So here it is (the first part is a little ironic):
*********************************************************************************
I am supposed to be chronicling my internship. Oops. I haven't really done a bang up job yet. So I will try to do better now.
Susie Shellenberger, editor of Brio Magazine, was guest hosting for Kim Jefferies while Kim was out of town. It was a very interesting thing to observe because Susie was doing the show from Colorado Springs, but everything else was run from the KTIS studio like normal. The music. The breaks. Even the calls. Every time there was a call, Karl the Call Screener would e-mail Susie so she would know. This got a bit confusing if the call got dropped, but it wasn't too bad. I got to observe in the studio, which was fun, but weird because there was no host in the studio, so it didn't even really feel like a show was going on. They have a really sweet board in the studio. I mean, of course they do, but still, it was just nice to look at. Yep, I'm that big of a dork. (I did some of my regular audio editing, but really nothing exciting at all, so I'll just leave it at that).
That was all on Tuesday. But Susie was still guest hosting today (Thursday) as well. I did some editing. I really like making bumpers. Kelly Lynn, the producer of the show, had me make some bumpers. I made a Snow Patrol bumper, which, for some reason, was really cool. I guess I just figured, it's KTIS, of course everything used on there HAS to be Christian. And Kelly Lynn liked it! That was pretty cool.
For a guest on the show, Susie had Bob Waliszewski (Focus on the Family's Director of Media and Culture...he's in charge of Plugged In, which reviews movies [among other things] in print, on the radio, and on the web) on the air talking about movies that are coming out soon or have just recently come out. So I'm sitting in the work room, minding my own business, just editing away, when Karl the Call Screener comes over and says "Kelly Lynn wants you to call in and ask a question, okay?" I go into the production room, but I tell Karl the Call Screener that I have no idea what to ask. I talked to Kelly Lynn and she told me to ask something about Harry Potter. I told her I don't know anything about Harry Potter. She asked me what I watch on TV. I told her I don't really watch that much TV. So she tells me to forget it and just have Karl the Call Screener call in. Well, Karl the Call Screener says okay and calls into the show. He was on hold with himself for over a half hour (with himself because, if you notice his name, it is Karl the Call Screener). I found this quite amusing. Especially because Karl the Call Screener stumped Bob W. (I believe his question was something along the lines of "How much should we wade through to get redeeming value out of a movie," his example being the movie The Shawshank Redemption, which I have not seen, but want to).
Basically the conclusion that was drawn about media in general was "If you were watching/listening with Jesus in the room, would you feel comfortable? If not, then don't watch/listen to it."
After the show was over, we (we being Kelly Lynn, Karl the Call Screener, Aaron White, Art something or other, me, and...I think that's it...oh, except Lauryn White came over eventually too) went over to Caribou for free coolers because it is the first day of summer. So I not only had an decently eventful day, but also got off early and got a free cooler. Can't beat it.
*********************************************************************************
I am supposed to be chronicling my internship. Oops. I haven't really done a bang up job yet. So I will try to do better now.
Susie Shellenberger, editor of Brio Magazine, was guest hosting for Kim Jefferies while Kim was out of town. It was a very interesting thing to observe because Susie was doing the show from Colorado Springs, but everything else was run from the KTIS studio like normal. The music. The breaks. Even the calls. Every time there was a call, Karl the Call Screener would e-mail Susie so she would know. This got a bit confusing if the call got dropped, but it wasn't too bad. I got to observe in the studio, which was fun, but weird because there was no host in the studio, so it didn't even really feel like a show was going on. They have a really sweet board in the studio. I mean, of course they do, but still, it was just nice to look at. Yep, I'm that big of a dork. (I did some of my regular audio editing, but really nothing exciting at all, so I'll just leave it at that).
That was all on Tuesday. But Susie was still guest hosting today (Thursday) as well. I did some editing. I really like making bumpers. Kelly Lynn, the producer of the show, had me make some bumpers. I made a Snow Patrol bumper, which, for some reason, was really cool. I guess I just figured, it's KTIS, of course everything used on there HAS to be Christian. And Kelly Lynn liked it! That was pretty cool.
For a guest on the show, Susie had Bob Waliszewski (Focus on the Family's Director of Media and Culture...he's in charge of Plugged In, which reviews movies [among other things] in print, on the radio, and on the web) on the air talking about movies that are coming out soon or have just recently come out. So I'm sitting in the work room, minding my own business, just editing away, when Karl the Call Screener comes over and says "Kelly Lynn wants you to call in and ask a question, okay?" I go into the production room, but I tell Karl the Call Screener that I have no idea what to ask. I talked to Kelly Lynn and she told me to ask something about Harry Potter. I told her I don't know anything about Harry Potter. She asked me what I watch on TV. I told her I don't really watch that much TV. So she tells me to forget it and just have Karl the Call Screener call in. Well, Karl the Call Screener says okay and calls into the show. He was on hold with himself for over a half hour (with himself because, if you notice his name, it is Karl the Call Screener). I found this quite amusing. Especially because Karl the Call Screener stumped Bob W. (I believe his question was something along the lines of "How much should we wade through to get redeeming value out of a movie," his example being the movie The Shawshank Redemption, which I have not seen, but want to).
Basically the conclusion that was drawn about media in general was "If you were watching/listening with Jesus in the room, would you feel comfortable? If not, then don't watch/listen to it."
After the show was over, we (we being Kelly Lynn, Karl the Call Screener, Aaron White, Art something or other, me, and...I think that's it...oh, except Lauryn White came over eventually too) went over to Caribou for free coolers because it is the first day of summer. So I not only had an decently eventful day, but also got off early and got a free cooler. Can't beat it.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
On Call...
...screening, that is.
That's right. Call Screening. So here's how the story goes:
Karl the Call Screener is going on a semi-vacation this week. I say semi because he is still going to be at KTIS, he just picked up someone else's shift...and I think he might be taking Friday off...not really sure what he's doing. But I do know that he's not going to be there, and I know what I'll be doing.
Kelly Lynn asked me to fill in for him.
I am the new Karl the Call Screener. Only I'm Bethany the Call Screener. The plan was for me to shadow yesterday (Tuesday) and then actually start on Thursday.
But did that happen? Of course not. I begin my day (and continue it for the first two hours I am there) by editing, as is my usual gig there. Soon, Kelly Lynn comes in and gives me a rundown of the day, informing me that I will be call screening today, for practice. I tell her I am nervous. She expresses her confidence in me. I tell her that I appreciate that, but am still nervous. But I go back to editing and try not to think too much about it, for fear that I will become even more nervous. Later, Kelly Lynn comes in and asks me to find a couple of songs and make bumpers out of them. I find one song with ease, and have difficulty on the next song. After much looking, I deduce that KTIS does not, in fact, have a CD with the song "He Knows My Name" on it, despite having several CD's from several artists that have recorded that song. Oh well. What can you do? (At some point between Kelly Lynn giving me a rundown of the show and asking me to do the bumpers, she came in and told me a humorous story about her life as of late. She began with "You're a girl. I can tell you this." I put this in here mostly for my own benefit.)
Then the show begins at noon. I sit in the studio with Karl the Call Screener and listen, watch, and learn. He asks if I have any questions about call screening, which I do (how do I set up the phone? how do I put someone on hold? etc etc). We don't get many calls the first hour, and mostly just talk and go on tangents from what the guest, Rob West, says (he was talking about kids and spending their money wisely and mentioned the old "have envelopes for everything" budget, including an envelope for clothes. Karl the Call Screener and I discussed how potentially unwise it is for parents to trust their kids to buy their own clothes because you know that the boy will buy a cape and goggles and the girl will buy one expensive, sparkly dress...okay, so that's a generalization, but you get the idea).
Anyway, the second hour rolls around, and Karl the Call Screener informs me that it is now my turn. My first assignment: call the guest and make sure he is good to go for the next segment. So I call Steve Russo, author of What’s the Deal with Wicca?
Next task: wait for the callers. We don't get too many, which is nice for me. Then the first call comes in. I take a deep breath and answer. "Along the Way. Your first name please." Matt from Chanhassen is my first caller ever. Congrats to him. He has a very simple question, so it is an easy first call, which is extremely nice. Congrats to him too because he wins one of Steve's books for being one of the first few callers. Task two complete.
Then I receive another call, this time from Greg. After I ask the general questions and get to his comments, the first thing he says is "I think that Harry Potter is from hell," and the first thing I think is "Oh crap, I'm going to have to screen this guy out." Then he keeps talking a little and asks a very good question about wondering how to get his step-daughter from reading them (this is a bit tricky because, while I say it was a good question, that is, of course, relative. It was a good question to ask, though I'm not sure I agreed with trying to keep your kids from reading things. Aren't those just good opportunities to discuss real issues with them? But that's just one Call Screener's opinion). So I tell him that that was a really good question and that he should ask that, then I put him on hold. Being able to steer people toward good conversation pieces: task three complete.
All was right with the world. I was able to get those few calls up and it, though a little rough, went surprisingly well.
Then, Kim asks a trivia question: What is the one prayer God always answers with a yes? The calls come pouring in. Okay, maybe not. But we do get at least 5 at one time (which is our limit, I think). And, of course, the first call I get is from one of the people on our "look out for these callers" list. I don't know what to do, and slightly panic (my panic consisting of looking at Karl the Call Screener frantically and asking him what to do). So I put her on hold and then go down the list of other callers. They all just want to answer the question, but it is still a challenge to get to all of them, get their names and make sure they are ready to go on air. I eventually go back to Francine* and jot down her question to pass on to Kim. But not before she gets on air during the question asking time, making it awkward because then Kim had to be all "Well, we're not on that right now, but hold on and I'll be happy to talk to you about that after the show." Craaaap. Weeding out the bad callers while dealing with an onslaught of other callers: task four complete, though not necessarily completed well (click the link on the above words "second hour" to hear the second hour of the show and the awkwardness, and to hear the answer to the question because, sorry, but I was a tad preoccupied with my 5 callers to hear the answer myself).
Then, the show is over. Sigh of Relief. I ask Kelly Lynn if that call with Francine was my fault, what with her getting on the air when she wasn't supposed to have been and all. She says it wasn't at all. Bigger Sigh of Relief. Karl the Call Screener assures me that I did a good job, especially for it being my first time being Bethany the Call Screener.
But the daunting task of being Bethany the Call Screener by myself, without any help, still looms before me. God have mercy on my soul, and the soul's of all those calling in.
*name has been changed to protect the identity of the caller
That's right. Call Screening. So here's how the story goes:
Karl the Call Screener is going on a semi-vacation this week. I say semi because he is still going to be at KTIS, he just picked up someone else's shift...and I think he might be taking Friday off...not really sure what he's doing. But I do know that he's not going to be there, and I know what I'll be doing.
Kelly Lynn asked me to fill in for him.
I am the new Karl the Call Screener. Only I'm Bethany the Call Screener. The plan was for me to shadow yesterday (Tuesday) and then actually start on Thursday.
But did that happen? Of course not. I begin my day (and continue it for the first two hours I am there) by editing, as is my usual gig there. Soon, Kelly Lynn comes in and gives me a rundown of the day, informing me that I will be call screening today, for practice. I tell her I am nervous. She expresses her confidence in me. I tell her that I appreciate that, but am still nervous. But I go back to editing and try not to think too much about it, for fear that I will become even more nervous. Later, Kelly Lynn comes in and asks me to find a couple of songs and make bumpers out of them. I find one song with ease, and have difficulty on the next song. After much looking, I deduce that KTIS does not, in fact, have a CD with the song "He Knows My Name" on it, despite having several CD's from several artists that have recorded that song. Oh well. What can you do? (At some point between Kelly Lynn giving me a rundown of the show and asking me to do the bumpers, she came in and told me a humorous story about her life as of late. She began with "You're a girl. I can tell you this." I put this in here mostly for my own benefit.)
Then the show begins at noon. I sit in the studio with Karl the Call Screener and listen, watch, and learn. He asks if I have any questions about call screening, which I do (how do I set up the phone? how do I put someone on hold? etc etc). We don't get many calls the first hour, and mostly just talk and go on tangents from what the guest, Rob West, says (he was talking about kids and spending their money wisely and mentioned the old "have envelopes for everything" budget, including an envelope for clothes. Karl the Call Screener and I discussed how potentially unwise it is for parents to trust their kids to buy their own clothes because you know that the boy will buy a cape and goggles and the girl will buy one expensive, sparkly dress...okay, so that's a generalization, but you get the idea).
Anyway, the second hour rolls around, and Karl the Call Screener informs me that it is now my turn. My first assignment: call the guest and make sure he is good to go for the next segment. So I call Steve Russo, author of What’s the Deal with Wicca?
Next task: wait for the callers. We don't get too many, which is nice for me. Then the first call comes in. I take a deep breath and answer. "Along the Way. Your first name please." Matt from Chanhassen is my first caller ever. Congrats to him. He has a very simple question, so it is an easy first call, which is extremely nice. Congrats to him too because he wins one of Steve's books for being one of the first few callers. Task two complete.
Then I receive another call, this time from Greg. After I ask the general questions and get to his comments, the first thing he says is "I think that Harry Potter is from hell," and the first thing I think is "Oh crap, I'm going to have to screen this guy out." Then he keeps talking a little and asks a very good question about wondering how to get his step-daughter from reading them (this is a bit tricky because, while I say it was a good question, that is, of course, relative. It was a good question to ask, though I'm not sure I agreed with trying to keep your kids from reading things. Aren't those just good opportunities to discuss real issues with them? But that's just one Call Screener's opinion). So I tell him that that was a really good question and that he should ask that, then I put him on hold. Being able to steer people toward good conversation pieces: task three complete.
All was right with the world. I was able to get those few calls up and it, though a little rough, went surprisingly well.
Then, Kim asks a trivia question: What is the one prayer God always answers with a yes? The calls come pouring in. Okay, maybe not. But we do get at least 5 at one time (which is our limit, I think). And, of course, the first call I get is from one of the people on our "look out for these callers" list. I don't know what to do, and slightly panic (my panic consisting of looking at Karl the Call Screener frantically and asking him what to do). So I put her on hold and then go down the list of other callers. They all just want to answer the question, but it is still a challenge to get to all of them, get their names and make sure they are ready to go on air. I eventually go back to Francine* and jot down her question to pass on to Kim. But not before she gets on air during the question asking time, making it awkward because then Kim had to be all "Well, we're not on that right now, but hold on and I'll be happy to talk to you about that after the show." Craaaap. Weeding out the bad callers while dealing with an onslaught of other callers: task four complete, though not necessarily completed well (click the link on the above words "second hour" to hear the second hour of the show and the awkwardness, and to hear the answer to the question because, sorry, but I was a tad preoccupied with my 5 callers to hear the answer myself).
Then, the show is over. Sigh of Relief. I ask Kelly Lynn if that call with Francine was my fault, what with her getting on the air when she wasn't supposed to have been and all. She says it wasn't at all. Bigger Sigh of Relief. Karl the Call Screener assures me that I did a good job, especially for it being my first time being Bethany the Call Screener.
But the daunting task of being Bethany the Call Screener by myself, without any help, still looms before me. God have mercy on my soul, and the soul's of all those calling in.
*name has been changed to protect the identity of the caller
Friday, June 8, 2007
No Introduction Necessary
One week down at the internship.
I didn't do much the first day. I received a tour and met a ton of people whose names I do not remember. Except David. I remember David because he likes to be called DAVID and not Dave, just like I liked to be called BETHANY and not Beth. My job for the day: find 15 clean jokes that can be used on air for "Clean Joke Day" (no, there is no "Dirty Joke Day"). I was not a good person to do this because I generally don't think jokes are funny anyway, so I just looked for ones that either were a bit clever or so bad they were at least chuckle worthy.
I listened to Along the Way with Kim Jeffries, the radio show that I am interning for, for the first time. A couple of the jokes I found were used on air. I got to sit in the actual studio for the second hour of the show. Karl got me access to KTIS. Word.
Day two of the internship was much more eventful, mostly because day one wasn't really eventful at all. I began editing the only show I had heard up until that point. Anita Renfroe was the guest. Basically my job is to take out the mess-ups, the long pauses, the "ums," and the like for re-broadcast. That's right. One of those wonders of radio is that the re-broadcast ones sound IMMENSELY better than the original. Or at least I'm supposed to make them sound better. Hopefully they do. I also created a bumper from the songs Good Life and Let My Love Open the Door from Audio Adrenaline's album Underdog. I sat in on the show again. Right before the show started, Kelly Lynn (the producer of the show) says to Karl something to the effect of "we need a bleep for the expletive story." One of the news shows Kim was covering for the day was the FCC ruling regarding expletives. So I helped Karl try to find an appropriate bleep (get it? appropriate?). I found one that I really liked, but I guess it wasn't the right kind of bleep for the show. We ended up not using it (and not needing it either).
Next on the internship agenda: more editing. My third day was consumed by that. I have a lot of shows to edit for re-broadcast, so I jumped right in. Karl came to me almost right away with a CD and asked me to make a bumper. So I did. This one was harder than the Audio Adrenaline ones. It was Let's Go by Mark Schultz. One of the shows I edited got messed up a little, but it was just a copy of the show, so I can always make another copy from the original. No worries. I began by editing the show with guest Woodrow Kroll ("Dr. Woodrow Kroll is President and Senior Bible Teacher for the international media ministry Back to the Bible." Back to the Bible's website). He said:
"Getting ourselves between the covers is what we need to do."
He went on to say:
"No one will ever read the Bible out of guilt. I mean, we tried that for 2000 years and we have not been successful."
And that has, so far, been the best moment of my internship. Ah the glories of taking things out of context.
I didn't do much the first day. I received a tour and met a ton of people whose names I do not remember. Except David. I remember David because he likes to be called DAVID and not Dave, just like I liked to be called BETHANY and not Beth. My job for the day: find 15 clean jokes that can be used on air for "Clean Joke Day" (no, there is no "Dirty Joke Day"). I was not a good person to do this because I generally don't think jokes are funny anyway, so I just looked for ones that either were a bit clever or so bad they were at least chuckle worthy.
I listened to Along the Way with Kim Jeffries, the radio show that I am interning for, for the first time. A couple of the jokes I found were used on air. I got to sit in the actual studio for the second hour of the show. Karl got me access to KTIS. Word.
Day two of the internship was much more eventful, mostly because day one wasn't really eventful at all. I began editing the only show I had heard up until that point. Anita Renfroe was the guest. Basically my job is to take out the mess-ups, the long pauses, the "ums," and the like for re-broadcast. That's right. One of those wonders of radio is that the re-broadcast ones sound IMMENSELY better than the original. Or at least I'm supposed to make them sound better. Hopefully they do. I also created a bumper from the songs Good Life and Let My Love Open the Door from Audio Adrenaline's album Underdog. I sat in on the show again. Right before the show started, Kelly Lynn (the producer of the show) says to Karl something to the effect of "we need a bleep for the expletive story." One of the news shows Kim was covering for the day was the FCC ruling regarding expletives. So I helped Karl try to find an appropriate bleep (get it? appropriate?). I found one that I really liked, but I guess it wasn't the right kind of bleep for the show. We ended up not using it (and not needing it either).
Next on the internship agenda: more editing. My third day was consumed by that. I have a lot of shows to edit for re-broadcast, so I jumped right in. Karl came to me almost right away with a CD and asked me to make a bumper. So I did. This one was harder than the Audio Adrenaline ones. It was Let's Go by Mark Schultz. One of the shows I edited got messed up a little, but it was just a copy of the show, so I can always make another copy from the original. No worries. I began by editing the show with guest Woodrow Kroll ("Dr. Woodrow Kroll is President and Senior Bible Teacher for the international media ministry Back to the Bible." Back to the Bible's website). He said:
"Getting ourselves between the covers is what we need to do."
He went on to say:
"No one will ever read the Bible out of guilt. I mean, we tried that for 2000 years and we have not been successful."
And that has, so far, been the best moment of my internship. Ah the glories of taking things out of context.
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