sooooo much to say I dont even know where to begin. Let me first start off by saying that this has been a hell of a ride so far. The staff and trainers are incredible. It is amazing what they are able to get from some of the complete amateurs that are in the academy. People years behind the technology curve are still able to rise to the occasion. That says a lot about the skill of the operation. Michael Rosenblum is fun, exciting, engaging, and a great inspiration. He is harsh, and tough and will tell you that you SUCK you need it. But he demands discipline and perfection. I am so thankful to be able to use him as a resource and learn from him.
oh and check out his blog page about our class (of course I’m pictured hehe)
Anyway, this course is everything I wanted, and more. It has been very intense, stressful, and challenging. yet equally rewarding. I cannot think of many things I have done that can gain the same kudos.
Here is a recap so far:
DAY ONE:
After introductions, we have a “networking breakfast” at the travel channel breakroom where we get to meet and talk to several Travel Channel staff and the instructors and producers. It seems every single Travel Channel employee is required to complete the Academy! They actually get paid to attend. Lucky dogs! This is my life’s dream, and they don’t appreciate it. Regardless, the networking breakfast was insightful. I met and talked to some of the IT staff (naturally) web guys, programmers, and graphic guys, and some of the senior staff. Luckily for me, I have been able to immediately grab everyone’s attention in the building – much like I do anywhere really. Almost immediately, Sue Norton the director of short form content makes a beeline for me to settle an in-house bet that was already running among the staff about my origin. Sometimes it rules being a giant with a mohawk. Who am kidding. It always does!
After 2 brief hours of discussion on the (5) specific shots we need to perfect – we are thrown to the wolves straight away. We are given 3 hours to shoot a 20 minute documentary in a strange city, in someone’s business with no prep or lead time. Ready? Set? GO! oh no!!! We are told to expect 5-6 rejections. I lucked out. My first attempt said YES!
I shot a story about sushi. As a “foodie” this was a natural. Just my luck though, as I am shooting in the restaurant, who comes in to eat there? Michael Rosenblum. He wastes no time and starts barking orders at me on how I need to be shooting. NO! like THIS! haha I was nervous, and starving, and in a sushi restaurant getting drilled by “the man”. But in the end – he helped so much. the shot he was barking at me to get turned out to be the best framed shot of the whole piece – and I was the only one in the class that captured it. It pays to be lucky! Thanks Michael! This is what I am here for!!
After shooting our piece, we all come back to class to dissect everyone’s raw footage. PUBLICLY. in a forum he calls “public praise, public humiliation”. Surprisingly, 75% of the classes footage turned out very well! What nobody expected was that the others, a full 25% of the class were told point blank they SUCKED and were kicked out of the class straight away and told to go back out and shoot again immediately. I was one of the 75% 
In fact I was told I did very well. I gained a couple constructive critiques, and was applauded. I was also the only one in the class that performed in his own video. I was nervous about this, as I was afraid of being hammered about “ego” but Michael loved it. He laughed, and said I need to keep doing that. I added to the piece. That made my day!
DAY TWO:
I was exhausted. Day 1 was like 10 hours long, not including my 1 hour each direction in travel time. I barely ate and barely slept. Plus I got woke up by text messages from the west coast. So this day started off on the wrong foot. Luckily, today’s lesson was about post production and editing in Final Cut Pro. Something I have many years experience in. I needed the break
Like the previous day, we began with a great lecture from Michael Rosenblum. Following that, we received a great lesson about the ins and outs of the editing software from Kelly Korzan, we all dove in and began to cut our pieces up. Everyone spent the entire day clicking and cutting away, and doing their voice-overs in order to make the deadline because at the end of the day we had to screen every student’s finished & edited first piece. I went into auto-pilot and since I am quick in post production, I had my final cut piece done in plenty of time.
The screening was a great learning tool. Watching a couple dozen edited short films made by your classmates is a excellent way to learn from everyone’s successes and failures. It was remarkable to see finished pieces that resembled news pieces – from a class of students that had merely 30 hours of instruction and no camera crew or professional editors. It is a testament to the technology and the staff.
For me, I was satisfied with my first piece. In the shooting of it, I was not aware we would be crafting a story out of the shots, I was merely focused on perfecting the disciple of the specific shots required. So in the edit, when I discovered we were crafting it into a story, I was disappointed as I would have done some things different in the production of it. However, I am still happy as I kind of naturally had the shots required to craft and narrate a story. So in the end, after the screening I was satisfied when my piece received applause and a thumbs up from the staff.
DAY THREE:
Ouch. Everything that could go wrong DID go wrong for me. Today was going to be another shooting day. This time the shoot was about character development, and a couple new shots. Another day being thrown to the wolves in a strange city or pre-production time. On day 2, I got a lead on a great story from Colby – one of the trainers. A local tattoo artist that has a lot of personality and a unique character. I called him up and he was willing to be in my piece. He just had to clear it with his clients – get their permission to be filmed. He told me to call him at 10am. So at 10am (30mins before we start shooting) I called him up, and he had to decline. Apparently his clients were getting “private” regions tattooed that day and were unwilling to have the experience captured on film. UH-OH. now I am panicked.
I start scrambling in a frenzy trying to find another shoot for the day… That is character driven. Kelly suggests I go ll the way down to Alexandria, VA to a place called the Torpedo factory. It is 3 stories of independent artists that each rent little studios . Imagine a small “mall” layout except each storefront is an artist demonstrating and selling their wares. I was told there is a great subject down there that is a metal sculptor. I’m thinking – perfect. The visual nature of the mask, and the welding torch and the art would make for a good piece. And if he is not available there would be other sculptors and glass blowers and ceramic artists that would all equally make intriguing subjects.
After an hour long journey south to Alexandria, and a half hour walk to the location, I find out that nobody is working today. There is apparently some art auction going on, so nobody is really making anything. They are all in sales mode. Now I am really in a mess. I am an hour away from campus, and hit ANOTHER DEAD END… I start to rush around old-town looking for a character. Please give me something! I am not gonna quit now! This is when I throw my hail mary and meet my new star wide receiver. His name is “B”. He is a balloon craftsman down on the waterfront. One of the clown types that makes balloon animals for people. Colorful character with an attractive background setting. He turns out to be a great shoot. Great dialogue. A natural character with great soundbites. I love the way the shoot went. I watched him for a couple hours, shot him for 20 mins, and tipped him $20. He saved my day. Thank you B!
I make the long journey back to the Metro, and the long journey back to the campus. I arrive 2 hours late. Luckily – again I made up all the time in post production. But the problems kept coming. Turns out my mic was not working for 4 mins of my footage! In addition, I accidentally recorded over another 1 minute of footage! I was down to half the footage I needed! But here is another way lesson one saved the day. DISCIPLINE. By capturing the shots correctly, and casting my film properly – it did not matter I had holes in the footage. I still had enough to make a great segment that I am proud of. His awesome soundbite, and my layering of audio, and post production audio mixing manufactured a piece I will not be ashamed to show the class for my final project. I will finish the voice overs tomorrow.
That is al for now. I am exhausted and need to get some rest. Tomorrow morning comes fast! I will post my videos ASAP
Here is a map of Where I shot. OLD TOWN – ALEXANDRIA, VA
