Big Year Comes to a Close... 2014 Here We Come!

Well damn... 2013 was quite an adventurous year - graduated college, started my first career full-time job, and moved to the Big Apple!

The first half of the year went according to plan, arrived back to Ithaca to finish my last semester at college. Throughout that time, I remembered and relived the most incredible four years of my life; realized how lucky I was to have those incredible times in Ithaca - learning so much, tears of joy and sadness, many (and many more) drinks, different ups and downs, gorge jumping, TCAT riding, wandering the streets of Ithaca, making the best of friends, and just loving life. After those four successful years, I graduated from Ithaca College's Park School of Communication and was ready to take on the media industry!

After I graduated, I thankfully found a summer job - in my intended career - and started right away, producing media content for my summer camp I have attended since sixth grade! I quickly then interviewed for a full time position, a Media Production Technician via crew agency at the United Nations, and got offered it then started very shortly after. I moved to New York City then started to settle in, relearning the subway system, exploring new neighborhoods of the City, and loving it all.

On that note, happy new year... here's to 2014 being just as successful, fun, and awesome as 2013

Thesis Project: Screening

The Senior Media Thesis screening happened Thur/Fri, May 2-3 and it went well. In front of a full Park Auditorium, The Book, received a round of applause and great acclaim from both peers and professors.

After a long semester of hard work, we finalized the film and exported for viewing. Since the project was part of my college credit, the professors frequently checked in with us and requested us to keep journals on our work, what we learned/how we used it, our feelings/thoughts/problems during the project, etc. Overall, it was a great learning experience.

If you would like to view the piece, please contact me.

Thesis Project: Final Stages of Post

Today, we are exporting a picture-locked film and sending it off to our sound editor/mixer. For the past few days, I have been working very closely with the two producers to finalize the editing process -- reviewing all of the scenes, double checking for continuity, setting up transitions, creating the credits, etc.

Although it is nice to be your own boss, it is often helpful for someone else to oversee / review your work. I like to think that the work I produce is top notch and the best it can be; obviously that is not always the case, which is why having a second (or third) set of eyes to review the edits is incredibly effective. This film, I have the luxury of having two producers who have been double and triple checking my edits to ensure everything actually is, the best it can be!

Dates for the screening has not been officially announced by the Park School; once announced, I will post about it!

Ithacan: Dan O'Shannon Discussion

Every year, the Park School and Park Foundation hosts an individual from the professional communication industry to give course lectures, lead mini-courses, and present their knowledge/experience to a campus-wide audience. This year's Park Distinguished Visitor was Dan O'Shannon, executive producer and writer for the hit TV comedy Modern Family, who visited campus April 4.

Click here, or watch below:

Thesis Project: Post Production

Shooting has completed and we are well into post production. As the primary post production editor, I have the responsibility of making everything look and sound good. I working most closely with the video editing and syncing all the dialogue. There is another student working with us, specifically doing the audio editing and mixing.

The rough cut has been exported and currently being reviewed by our professors and peers, providing essential feedback to make the best final project we can. We hope to have the video locked and ready for sound mixing by the end of this week, so look out for another update soon!

Thesis Project

I have been quite busy these past few weeks with various events, shoots, and school work! Here is the update you all have been waiting for, well maybe not everyone... but here it is!

The Book is the project I am working on, as my senior thesis project. Although not one of the creators or producers, I have taken on a large role in this production, master editor. In essence, I have been working to digitally piece together the different scenes and make everything look good. We have already shot and edited, very roughly, almost half of the film. The crew is getting ready to shoot the last few scenes this weekend.

Another update will be when shooting completes and editing goes into full gear!

Production Stills from Day 1

Ithacan: Kruger Brothers' Concert

This week, I was able to attend part of the local bluegrass festival for a concert with world-renowned bluegrass band, Kruger Brothers. Originally from Switzerland, this is their first visit to Ithaca and sat down with the Ithacan after the concert. 

Click here, or watch below:

Ithacan: 1 on 1 with Sean Rossi

I frequently produce the popular "1 on 1" sports video, which features an IC athlete from different sports each week. This week, we sat down with Sean Rossi '13, point guard and captain of the IC Men Basketball team, to discuss the all-time D3 assists record, teamwork, and more.

Click here, or watch below:

Ithacan: Culture Shock

Another video I produced this week was a feature on two students who went on a Taglit-Birthright trip to Israel. Throughout the year, the Taglit-Birthright organization provides free trips to Israel for Jewish individuals from around the world.

Click here, or watch below:

Ithacan: Safe Zone

It is the first full week back at IC and I am already getting back into the swing of things. In addition to my regularly scheduled classes and work, I back to shooting and producing videos for the Ithacan.

One of this week's video was about the gun control issue and gun violence in the Ithaca community.

Click here, or watch below:

The Last Semester Begins...

This is it... today begins my last semester at Ithaca College. I will be taking three classes, one of which my college thesis. I will be working with a group of my peers in the class to create a TV show, documentary, or short film. I plan to continue working for the Ithacan and certain shows at ICTV throughout the semester.

So, check back here frequently to see the latest updates of my thesis and Ithacan/ICTV work.

Goodbye ICLA!

As everyone was leaving by Dec 9th, I was packing to move into my new apartment for the week. I was able to stay at the Oakwoods and continue my CONAN internship for a few more days, until I actually leave SoCal on Thursday!

Monday at Conan was the best day of the internship -- I was walking through the office with a new intern when we ran into Conan, he held the door open for us and after the new intern introduced herself, I shook Conan's hand and before I could even say hi or anything, he said "oh I know who you are, Andrew!" It was so awesome. The rest of the week was relatively quiet with the same 'ole intern tasks ... Wednesday evening was the end, I had to make my final goodbyes. After (almost exactly) four months in beautiful LA, it's all over!

Now, off to a relaxing vacation in another warm place (Florida). Soon enough, I'll be re-packing and getting ready to move back to Ithaca for my last semester.

Me at the CONAN sign at the Guest Entrance

The Last Week

Last weekend on Dec 1, the program Director hosted a holiday party for ICLA and all IC alum. It was a bit overwhelming with so many people, but nice to see everybody dressed up and looking nice!

The remainder of the weekend was set for paper writing and completing final course assignments. For the two papers, I was able to write about youth culture in media influences its viewers (Senior Seminar) and how technology has improved sports' broadcasting on American television (Electronic Media Criticism). Both of which research papers were quite interesting and I actually learned a lot about each of those topics.

At my last week of Authentic, I continue transcribing and logging footage for the two sets of shows I am working on -- My First Home (on TLC) and the two IGN shows (Geek Love and Next Game Boss). Friday was my last day at Authentic; I got a delicious free lunch out of my producers and I just didn't want to leave, at all. I was sad.

I was able to take off one day of internship and work as a talent escort for the CBS holidays' show -- A Home For the Holidays. It was a lot smaller and more intimate, compared to the Mexican Billboard Awards in October; I did have a similar task though, to guide my assigned talent (Jillian Michaels) through the backstage and press areas for the show. Other stars who were featured on the special were Wayne Brady, Kevin Frazier, Phillip Phillips, Rascal Flatts and a few others -- all of which, at one point, I was within arms length from. The one-hour holiday special will air Dec 19th at 8pm, on CBS.

Thursday at CONAN would have been my last day here, but luckily I am able to stay a few extra days and continue the internship. Unfortunately, it was the last day for many of my classmates/coworkers; it was bittersweet! Besides the bittersweetness of the day, nothing too crazy happened behind the scenes, on stage, or in the office.

Getting Ready to Leave

It is crazy to think that the semester is almost over... just two papers (well one, since I already finished one -- yea, go me!) to go and that's it. Besides the "emotional" reaction to the end of the semester and leaving LA, everything has been normal the past few days -- continuing to discuss relevant topics in class, familiar routines at my internships, and still dealing with the worst public transit system in the nation.

As stated, I am still doing familiar tasks at Authentic (transcribing interviews, logging chyron sheets, creating VO scripts, researching various this for the Development department, etc) and CONAN (sorting and distributing mail, writing late night and research summaries, running on equipment errands for crew, answering phones, etc).

Friday evening/night (it gets so dark, so early!) was Authentic's annual Christmas party; complete with festive music, yule log on the monitors, egg nog, Christmas tree (sorry for the bad picture quality), and just overall fun times!!

Thanksgiving Week

As many of my fellow ICLA friends went home, traveled, or simply took off work, I went into my internship office at Authentic for the full day of Monday and Tuesday. Since CONAN was on hiatus, there was no need for any interns to sit in the office.

Monday and Tuesday were odd, since I generally do half days (since I have class the other half), I was not used to staying in the office for two full days after the other at Authentic. Even though it was days before a major holiday break, there was plenty of tasks for me to do; mainly transcribing more interviews for various shows, one of which was being worked on as a pilot about the cake-making business (it made me really want a cake). For Game Boss, I was assigned to find pieces for their new set -- which was being built over the following weeks. Although my time at Authentic is winding down, I got really excited about the opportunity to help out on a makeshift-studio shoot in the next week or so.

Since some of the ICLA kids stayed back in Los Angeles for the holiday break, the program coordinator helped us organize a group potluck Thanksgiving dinner. Although I had plans with a close friend for a traditional Thursday turkey dinner, my roommate and I stopped into the program's potluck dinner Wednesday night and enjoyed delicious food, drinks, and company with some awesome people.

Week 13: Authentic Fun + Weird CONAN Schedule

Authentic has been good lately, been able to see more of the post-production work of various shows -- mainly My First Home, Geek Love, and The Next Game Boss (GBS). For Geek Love, I continued logging b-roll footage and transcribing event interviews; for MFH, I was assigned to create a "blur list" (where the editors blur out parts of logos, faces, license plates, etc) as well logged more production stills, created the VO script, and Chyron log. The Next Game Boss is a new show I started working on, as part of the new IGN line up Authentic is doing. Much of the pre-production and pre-interviews have been completed, now I am reviewing the interviews and logging important topics, while transcribing it at the same time.

CONAN shows for Wed and Thur have previously been taped; Conan was not in the office, nor was half of the staff. Some of the staff are at a TV conference and the staff on site are working on various segments for online or future episodes; us interns have fewer things to do, because of the lesser staff in the office. One of the tasks, I haven't done in the past, is completing a guest summary for the research department. For this task, we have to review the past show tapes of an upcoming guest and summarize the interview -- so they know what to talk about on the guests' next Conan appearance. Since the show is on hiatus next week because of Thanksgiving, the staff hass slowly but surely headed out of town -- leaving the office pretty much completely empty!

Week 12: MFH Lock Cuts and Visitors

Monday and Tuesday went by quick -- completing VO scripts and chyron logs for the air-ready episodes of My First Home, such episodes are the "locked cuts."

Wednesday came around and as part of the fun non-academic programs of ICLA, we were given the opportunity to win something on The Price is Right. Unfortunately, I did not win anything, but it was so much fun to be a part of the studio audience! Because of TPIR taping, I was unable to go into my internship for CONAN.

Later on Wednesday, I picked up a friend at the airport who came into town for the rest of the week and full weekend... I turned into a tourist and took her around LA/Hollywood, we had a great time catching up and relaxing throughout the weekend.

Now, back to work -- four weeks of internship, two research papers, and one presentation until ICLA ends :(

Week 11: Meeting the Owners + Fun times at CONAN

This week was has been fun -- at Authentic, I got to (along with the other interns) meet the founders and owners of the company and ask them anything I wanted about the media industry and their company! That was a really cool and interesting opportunity; the only downside to this was: they preached to us, the interns, the basic advice and tips on "breaking into the industry" -- which, personally, I already knew and am sick of hearing it. The more interesting aspect of the discussion was the part when we were able to ask about the company they created and have seen evolve over the past decade -- with changing technologies + audiences + staff + programming and everything else about the company. Following the discussion with the owners, I got back to work updating VO scripts and Chryon logs for My First Home, also logging more b-roll footage of Comic Con for Geek Love.

CONAN was the same 'ole stuff -- on Wednesday, I was assigned to the talent entrance where I checked talent guests' in and escort them to the green room, where they hang out and watch the show. On Thursday, I had an worth-while morning; I discussed the TV industry and the opportunities around it with one of the veteran stage managers and it was great so hear how she has seen the industry change in her time. I then wandered the stage and ended up sitting in the control room chatting with some of crew and other intern for part of music rehearsal, it was cool to see a different side of the production. I was able to sit in the audience during the taping; as usual, it is quite fun to watch the show from the seats -- a whole different perspective.

Week 10: Cornrows and COMICON

This week went by quite quick, didn't go in on Tuesday -- but had long days on Thursday and Friday. Monday and Friday I was assigned to complete VO scripts for My First Home then finish transcribing pre-convention interviews for Geek Love and after all this, begin logging and finally started to edit together six different camera angles during the sci-fi speed dating event at NYC ComiCon. All of these were lengthy and demanding tasks, but well-worth completing.

CONAN on Wednesday and Thursday was generally normal; besides on Thursday, Conan was decked out in a full spray tan and his hair done in cornrows, which was pretty awesome to see! General office duties occurred throughout other times (including answering a phone call from CHELSEA HANDLER, herself - not her staff or assistant, it was actually her!) and during the Thursday taping, I was able to sit backstage with Conan's assistant and other staff while watching the show, as well as stagehands bringing props and talent onto stage.

Week 9: Billboard de la Musica Mexicana

As my parents left early Monday morning, I quickly got back to work at my Authentic internship Monday and Tuesday. As various Authentic productions have more episodes shot and more post work needed on them, I have been given more tasks related to post -- Chyron / graphics logging, transcribing interviews / voice overs, searching for various clips, and other such tasks.

CONAN was usual on Wednesday (coffee runs, standing in for rehearsal, answering phones, etc) -- Ellie Goulding was on the show -- which was sweet, she sang her new single and it was awesome!! I also was assigned to organize, order, and pick up the editing staff's dinners; since the editors stay later into the night to ensure the show gets air-ready, the company pays for their dinners and I picked it up with another intern.

Now, you might be thinking why the title has something to do about Mexican music? Well... I got an email a few weeks ago about an opportunity to be a TALENT ESCORT for "a Telemundo event" -- it turned out it was the Billboard Mexican Music Awards! In essence, I escorted my assigned talent (Conjunto Primavera) from their vehicle to the red carpet to their seats, then to the dressing rooms, onto stage, throughout the backstage press area, and finally back to their seats. The whole experience was quite unique because I have never worked crew/escort on a live truck-broadcast event, based on a stage (like this awards show). Although I could not sneak a peek into the broadcast truck, it was all really interesting to see how everything else was set up backstage and in-house.