Get Your Hands On A Camera!
Your mini-guide to experience in film production.
It is time to think about preparing for your future. One of the best ways to plan for the future while you are still in college is to become an intern in your major or field of study. After all, that is what you are here for, right? Internships are helpful because they give students a chance to gain job experience and learn what career they might enjoy the most after graduation. Internships can also be a good way to start networking. Finding them is often the problem.
If you are a film student, you have probably already begun to think about finding an internship. For those of you who have not begun the grand search for internship opportunities, it is good to be aware that some internships for film students are competitive and may require more experience for their interns. In short, planning is a two-step process. The irony is that often you need experience before you can become an intern, which is the second step of experience.
At this point you might be asking, “How can I get experience in film production before getting an internship meant to give me experience in the first place?” That is why you want to finish reading the rest of this article. First, I provide a list of classes you can take at UCSC to familiarize yourself with the production process. Second, I include three illuminating interviews with UCSC film students who talk about their film internships and offer some ideas on how to start this process.
“Get Your Hands on a UCSC Camera!”
Here is a comprehensive list of all the production classes UCSC offers:FOR ANYONE:
- Community Studies 119 — “Banana Slug News” (2 units)
Learn basics of Electronic News Gathering (ENG). Students produce their own news story.
FOR THOSE WHO HAVE AN INTEREST IN DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKING:
- Community Studies 70* — “Video Laboratory” (2 units)
(Must be enrolled in Community Studies 80L.)
Learn the techniques of documentary filmmaking. -
Community Studies 72* — “Audio Laboratory” (2 units)
(Must be enrolled in Community Studies 80L.)
Learn the techniques of documentary audio production. -
Community Studies 80L* — “Social Documentation” (5 units)
Description taken from UCSC Catalogue 2006-08:
“Examines works from various media recognized as being drawn from ‘real life.’ Through film, photography, oral history, and other examples, develops critical understanding of social documentation as a process with implicit theories and conventions. Students create beginning documentaries in production collectives.”
FOR THE ADVANCED FILM STUDENT IN THE FILM & DIGITAL MEDIA MAJOR AT UCSC:
- Film 170B — “Fundamentals of Film and Video Production” (5 units)
(Admission by application and entrance essay.)
See Page 266 of UCSC Catalogue 2006-08 for details…
* See page 161 of UCSC Catalogue 2006-08
Interviews
Interview #1
Ryan McDuffie
Hometown: San Rafael, CA
Film & Digital Media Major (UCSC)
Production Concentration
Sony Pictures, Screen Gems division
10202 West Washington Blvd. Suite 3900
Culver City, CA 90232,
Phone: 310-244-4000
http://www.sonypictures.com
What was your experience like at Sony Pictures?
My experience there was absolutely great. Every day I loved going to a working movie studio. It was awesome witnessing films being shot and being in that environment. A big highlight for me was getting to see some of the activity and shooting on Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (Steven Spielberg, 2008, United States). My time there was mostly spent reading scripts, doing various tasks for executives and/or their assistants, and making deliveries around the lot. It was cool getting to have a say in what scripts they should turn into films. Everyone there really did value and want your opinion, even though you're just an intern.
What was the working environment like? What did you learn?
Everyone I worked for was incredibly friendly and approachable, even all of the executives. It really destroyed any notions I might have had that everyone in Hollywood was uppity. I learned how to write coverage on screenplays, and about the inner workings and office-work that goes into producing and acquiring films.
Interview #2
Aaron Joseph
Hometown: San Diego, CA
Film & Digital Media Major (UCSC)
Concentration in Critical Studies
Thesis: Student-Directed Seminar on Modern Cult Television in Spring '08
New Line Cinema - Post Production
825 N San Vicente Blvd
West Hollywood, CA 90069
HR Department: (310)-967-9681
http://www.newline.com/internships.html
How did you find the internship with New Line Cinema?
Sometime in the winter of my junior year I began madly applying for internships hoping to get some recognition from all different kinds of independent and larger organizations that focused on film, television, and Internet media in general. I happened to see a list of studios that were hiring interns on www.mandy.com [which seems to be nonexistent now]. I broadly applied to all of them while tailoring my cover letter to each one specifically. About two months later, I got a call back from New Line Cinema and they scheduled a phone interview. I got a call in a few weeks from them and had a great chat with then Assistant to the VP of Post-Production, Carl Deo. He asked me about Santa Cruz and told me that they had never had an intern from California in the post-production studio. I told him that blew my mind and it was a shame that there were plenty of students at UCSC who could use New Line as a resource during or straight out of college. We talked about Comic books, film, television, and everything a media geek would want to talk about in such an informal way — I almost felt guilty it was an interview. The one thing that struck me specifically was that he asked why I was doing Critical Studies at UCSC rather than production. I honestly answered him that I was learning so much about industry history and critical theory about film that it was easier to apply my knowledge to production rather than doing smaller student productions where I would basically rely on self-taught knowledge. I think he admired that and gave me the benefit of the doubt that I was able to handle this kind of internship. Later that week I got a call back and was accepted into the program!
What were your responsibilities at the company?
Before I had earned their trust, I was doing paperwork and more menial tasks for lots of different people in the office. Unlike a lot of the other interns I worked with, I actually enjoyed doing these smaller tasks because it built a sense of responsibility and trust that each individual would then attach to me when I came back for more work. Eventually I was put to work on things that were more technical in nature because of my pre-disposition to technology. I would set up new computer hardware like computers/monitors and anything that required some effort to install on the machines. Once I had proved myself there, the higher Post-Production coordinators began sending me out on jobs with the employees where we would do Quality Control on movie prints. This would entail watching new films (or theatrical trailers) that hadn't been released to check for dust/scratches and audio problems of both domestic and international releases.
From there came the progression to actually going out to post-production facilities where we observed the stages that a film went through from production to release to home video. I learned immediately that the way the studio produced content allowed them to finish the film and the DVD relatively close to the release date in theaters. That way it could be released at their leisure with the addition of some bonus material on top of the production.
With Rush Hour 3 (Brett Ratner, 2007, United States), I was present for the cutting of the international trailer going out to Japan. I sat in a room with a bunch of the producers and noted what they "required" to be in the trailer as well as what more was necessary to market the film to that audience. I did experience some mildly crude generalizations about the audiences in these regions, but I chocked that up to the fact that these things were part of their job as masters of the 'demographic'.
For Hairspray (Adam Shankman, 2007, United States), I learned the general functions of how a high-grade color corrector works and the differences between the amateur efforts of Final Cut Pro's color correction and the real way that the professionals do it. Here I was allowed to give suggestions about what I thought and the advice was taken in but not always used.
For Shoot ‘Em Up (Michael Davis, 2007, United States), I was able to see an actual list of notes from the CARA (the ratings board, similar to MPAA) about what was suitable content for the unrated DVD, the TV version, and the theatrical release. I was present when they were re-cutting for the DVD and they showed some amazing abilities to hide swearing and violence in the audio to make the film TV ready.
I watched and took notes as the editor for Pride & Glory (Gavin O’Connor, Est. 2009, United States) showed me some of the final cuts he had done on the film since it had been in production for over two years. We then moved to the theatrical mix stages where the director, editor, and sound mixers would all congregate and make democratic decisions on how a specific scene would sound for the final mix. The interns were allowed to sit in on the process and see what worked and what didn't. I ventured a little boldly and began introducing my opinion when I saw something that I thought would work better or worse for a scene. While I have to admit that it was intimidating to question the director’s stance, I felt it necessary to make these moves and, once again, my initiative was appreciated.
There were many more actual tasks that I participated in but it would be too hard to list them all here. What I would like to stress, though, is that there was a balance between time out at these facilities, and time in the office. Office time was just as valuable to me mainly because I was put next to an employee who turned out to be a great resource and mentor as well. He was Rodney Brown, Vice President of Digital Media and Coordinator of International Releases. He was the one dealing with all the different channels of media and distribution that went out on the many different venues. Television, Internet, and Theater Distributors across the globe contacted him about how to get New Line films and in what formats worked best with their country's regulations and procedures. I had interesting discussions with him every day about movie piracy, technology, and film in general and where he thought the future was. He put me in charge of organizing New Line's entire collection of piracy samples from the past four years as the company had decided to start cataloging the areas where pirated movies were coming from the most as well as the price they were being sold at.
What did you learn from this experience?
I think the most important thing I learned at New Line Cinema was that the experience really gave me hope about actually working in the Hollywood industry and to know (as I previously stated) that people there are not so much the huge stereotype that had been perpetuated all my life. Most of the individuals I encountered were not (for the lack of some better words) “superficial assholes.” Just about everyone I talked to was really nice and encouraging about what I should pursue and what I was doing right/wrong when talking to people who were in positions of power.
Interview #3
Michael Mann
Hometown: Los Angeles, CA
Film & Digital Media Major (UCSC)
General Major
Fox Interactive Media
1440 S.Sepulveda Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90025
http://www.foxsports.com/
What were your responsibilities as an intern?
As an intern for FIM, one of my responsibilities was editing videos for Mobile TV. On the third floor of the Westwood (California) office building there is a production studio. Sports anchors sit behind the desk with one large blue screen. Foxsports.com uses the studio to produce, a number of sports shows including The Fox Wire and The Jay Mohr Show. Star athletes and celebrities such as Baron Davis of the Golden State Warriors come to talk with foxsports.com sports anchors. After a few hours of editing the interview, I would then post the video so viewers could interact via cell phone and online. Some other shows I edited include Wind Tunnel and In My Own Words. I also captured video feeds from different regions and posted media on foxsports.com.
What did you learn at Fox Interactive Media?
I learned about an emerging new medium of online broadcasting. This is very interesting and is opening up a wide range of possibilities for advertising and marketing.
