Blog Question #1- What did you learn from your first week at your internship? Did anything surprise you or make you excited? Were there any challenges? Did you make any connections with co-workers? Did you engage in any code switching?
During my first two weeks of this internship, I learned patience. Through the Youth Group, I worked with other youth group members and Heart and Hand youth to create an anti-bullying video. Although I was lost at first due to the fact that I had never used any of the equipment before, one of the older youth members showed me the ropes. During my first day at the Youth Group, we worked in small groups to create a video that was focused around ending cyber bullying. After creating a plot with a climax and resolution, my group utilized the Learn Lab space and hallways to film. Clark, the older youth, taught me different techniques to make a film more realistic and professional by using different angles and distances. On my second day of Youth Group, Clark taught me the basics of Adobe Premiere Pro to edit our short film. This taught me that filmmaking is a long process, which requires a close attention to detail. Aside from the Youth Group, during my shifts as an Intern, I learned how to be patient. The first day they had me and another intern use a computer to check out equipment for the employees of DOM. In addition to this, we cleaned the screens in the computer lab. On the second shift, I wrapped cords and I was supposed to learn how to schedule the radio station, but the employee teaching me disappeared before he could. After sitting in the computer lab for 50 minutes, I went to find him. I didn’t learn much from these tasks, and I was honestly surprised that we were left doing nothing for almost an hour without anyone teaching us how to schedule. This became a challenge because after we found the gentleman helping us, he went on his lunch break and we had nothing to do for the next 40 minutes. Also, checking out equipment was difficult in the sense that I did not know what most of the equipment was and I didn’t get much help in learning what it all was.
Connections with co-workers has also been a little bit of a challenge. The people at DOM are all friendly, but also are extremely busy. I only have spoken to the leader of the youth group a couple of times, however, I did make connections with some of the other youth in the group. After working in a group with Clark, he has been tremendously helpful and friendly. Furthermore, working with the two interns during my shifts was useful.
During my time at DOM so far, I have engaged in some Code Switching. When speaking with Co-workers and other employees at DOM, I present myself in a professional manner as if I was speaking to a professor. I do not speak to any one at DOM as if they were my friends or family. In order to do this, I have been patient, poised, and collected in order to work efficiently and get along with everyone.
(Words: 502)
Blog Question #3 – How do your actions affect your workplace? Are you able to be mindful and bring a good attitude when you come to your internship? Do you contribute positively? Do you feel like you have a good work ethic so far? How do your co-workers actions affect your internship? Are you beginning to develop any work place friendships?
Working at Denver Open Media has been interesting. By helping out in the cage and checking in/out equipment for the employees, I know I have been contributing and helping out the the employees at DOM. However, I have not worked on any projects or assignments due to the fact that I have mainly been cleaning if I am not working in the cage, which effects the cleanliness of DOM. During my time there, I have worked hard to bring a positive and mindful attitude. The work I have been doing is not the most exciting, but I understand that it is a part of an internship. I am hoping that I will be able to contribute positively by helping out with projects.
So far I believe that I have had a good work ethic. No matter the task that I have been put to complete, I have done it, even if it is not interesting. Also, I have not completed the official internship training there and I was unsure as to who my supervisor was, but when ever I came to DOM, I jumped into any place that needed help. My co workers there have helped me out by teaching me the ways of the cage, but I would not say I have made any friendships on my shifts yet. However, I am starting to bond with a couple of Youth members and I have been growing my friendship with Laurel Campbell, whom I know through school. My goal is to make more friendships and work with my supervisor to have a more meaningful and insightful internship by working on projects instead of just working in the cage.
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Blog Question # 2: What co-workers did you interview? Did your co-workers study art after high school either through higher education or internships/apprenticeships? What recommendations did they have for what you should try to learn as an intern in this field? Did they have any advice on how to begin your creative career? Did you learn anything interesting about your co-workers that was non-work related?
For my blog this week I interviewed Jesse Lockwood who occupies himself by volunteering at Denver Open Media. Jesse has been studying art his entire life, and calls himself a life time student of art. In college however, Jesse did not take any art classes, he learned his art skills mainly through private instructors, online courses and experimentation.
Jesse’s first job within the creative industries was at a recording studio in California. He was lucky enough to know the owner which allowed him to hang out there and learn the ropes of recording. This lead him to have his first job in the creative industries. Later on, Jesse became an intern at Denver Open Media at the television station where he focused on learning how to shoot the camera. This involved how to frame things up and how to be a camera person. Once he had mastered those skills, Jesse started to make his own films and he found his true passion in directing. Jesse found that he has a real rapport with actors and was able to relax people so that they could deliver what ever it is they needed to complete smoothly and confidently.
Some advice Jesse has for young artist and myself is that you need to learn yourself first and foremost. This means that you need to learn and understand what inspires you so that when you are deciding what particular path you want to take, you are able to listen to the inner voice and to help you find out if that is something that you really want to do. This is important so that you don’t just make up some path for yourself that you don’t actually want to pressure. Jesse has found that it is much more rewarding to do something that your good at rather than struggle at something that sounds like the thing that you want to do.
The advice that Jesse gave Laurel and I was very helpful and beneficial. It helped me understand that I need to follow my passion and interests, and something good will come of it. Unfortunately, I did not have enough time to ask Jesse any questions that were non work related.
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Blogs #4 and #5: N/A
Blog Question #6 End of the quarter check- in. OK to do 150 words this week. Please do an inventory of your hours completed up until now and make sure your electronic time card is updated coming into the end of the quarter. How are you doing so far on completing your hours? Do you have the amount of hours complete that you should have at this point in the internship? If you are behind on your hours, what is your plan to make up the hours you are missing? How are you doing with the challenge of maintaining your intern work schedule? Are you using your google calendar to keep track of your intern schedule and homework assignments? Is there any other challenge you feel the Internship Program Director should be aware of at the end of the first half of your internship?
By this time in the quarter, I have competed around 30 hours of my internship. So far, I am doing pretty good with compelling my hours, and I believe that by the end of the semester I will be able to get all of my hours completed. So far, I have been managing my internship work schedule pretty good. I go every Wednesday and Friday for about two to three hours, which has been a good amount of hours. I have to skip some of my other obligations to attend this internship, such as my lacrosse practice, but it has been working out alright. If I am being completely honest, my google calendar has not been helping me. Instead, I have been using my personal planner to help me keep track of everything. In addition, I have not been able to figure out the online time cards, so I have been keeping track of it on my note book here at home. One challenge for me is that currently school and other obligations have been getting tougher for me, so it is becoming a bit harder to keep track of everything.
(Words 191)
Blog Question #7: What is your favorite part of working on personal art projects? What challenges do you face on personal art projects? What have you learned about working in a creative business? What is your favorite part of working in a creative business? What is the difference between working on personal art and working in a creative business?
My favorite part of working on personal art projects is that it helps calm me down and allows me to let my creativity flow. I love the feeling I get when I finish a project I was working on while listening to my favorite music. Of course, as any art would, I do have some challenges that I face when I work on personal projects. Often times I can’t figure out a good idea or I can’t figure out a way to put my idea onto the paper or whatever media I am working with. Also, sometimes it is hard for me to get it to be exactly how I want it to be. After having worked in a creative business, I have learned that not all projects will turn out exactly how you envisioned them. Many times projects will take different routes than you planned, but they cant turn out just as great or even better. My favorite part of working in a creative business is seeing that creativity can be turned into wonderful projects and other things. It is cool to see that my passions can be influential and just as beneficial as other industries. The difference between working on a patronal art project and working in a creative business is that in my personal project, I have full control and only my ideas, but in a business, you are collaborating with others and your projects can be different from what you imagined- in a good way.
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Blog Question #8: How is your internship project going? Describe the progress of your project. How did the conversation about your project go with your sponsor? (If you haven’t discussed the project with your sponsor yet, how do you plan to do so?) Did they have good insights into how to improve or expand the project? How does your project bridge what you do at your internship and what you like to create for yourself? Has your relationship with your sponsor evolved as you have engaged in a creative dialogue about your project? Are there any challenges you are experiencing planning or doing your project?
My internship project is going pretty good, but there are many components that my partner Laurel and I need to get organized and complete. Once our project is completed, it will be a music video produced, edited, and shot by Laurel and I with music written by our friend Nick Lyon and performed by our friend Aaron Caine. I personally did not have the conversation about the project with our sponsor, because Laurel had the conversation. Laurel informed me that the conversation went smoothly, and that our supervisor Lina gave us many templates to help us organize our shots lists, time slots, and locations. I am not entirely sure if Lina had any insights on how to improve or expand our project, but I do know that she approved of it. Our project bridges some things that we do at our internship such as using the equipment that we check in and out of the cage and set up for events. It also is helping me personally create a video which is something I have always wanted to do with professional equipment. Even though the project will be a great experience for me and my partner, there are many challenges we will face in trying to complete it. So far we have had some difficulty recording the song due to everyones busy schedules. It has also been difficult finishing all the organizers for the locations, shots and times. Once we complete the organizers, the filming process will most likely be difficult, due to the fact that we have multiple locations with dozens of separate shots. In addition, the editing process will be difficult because we will have to make sure that the shots line up with the recording and make sure that the cuts are clean and the transitions are smooth to ensure a well made video.
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Blog Question #9: What have you seen or experienced in your internship that has inspired you the most on your own artistic journey? Has this experience changed your artistic ambitions? How? Have you used this experience to diversify your skill set? What skills have you added?
During my time at my internship, I have seen and experienced youth and other young adults complete projects that include important topics in todays society that inspire me to think creatively. Through the youth group, I work with the youth and other employs to make PSA videos to bring light to issues in todays day and age which have inspired me to use my creativity to make positive impacts in my community. After seeing what the youth can complete, I am inspired to use creativity to bring light to these topics, and to bring my ideas in college to present them in new and interesting ways to captivate the public. This experience has changed my artistic ambitions slightly, because it has made it more clear to me that I want to presue video production as well as more design. It has helped me realize that I enjoy coming up with the concepts more than the editing of videos. I have tried to use this experience to diversify my skill sets by learning about film equipment and by learning how the editing and video process goes. Now I have some skills in video production and editing, as well as concept creating. In addition, I have some skills in checking in and out professional equipment for video production. Even though I have not mastered these skills, I am a little bit more familiar with these skills which include the basics of film making which I can bring with me into my future jobs and experiences.
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Blog Question # 10: Has this experience been a rewarding one for you? Why or Why not (keep it positive, if you had negative experiences, focus on what you learned- make yourself look good!)? How has the reality of your internship matched or contrasted with your expectations? What is the most important learning you did during your internship?
Even though I had difficulties with this experience, I would have to say it was a rewarding one for me in other ways than I expected. I came into this believing that I was going to learn everything about video production and I thought that I was going to be able to work on many film projects, however this wasn’t the case. I mainly worked in the cage, where I checked in and out of equipment, and I would occasionally clean or schedule the tv channels. This was not what I was expecting, but now that I have completed this internship, I have come to the realization that I did learn and gain new skills that I did not have before. Though this experience, I have learned how to time manage by working on my internship project, I have learned how to make professional relationships with adults in the work place, and I have gained a better sense of responsibility and patience. During my time at DOM, I had to work with the other interns and employees of the organization, which has given me experience so that I am more prepared for the future. I have never had a professional job before this one, so this experience has really helped me learn what that encompasses. In addition, I would say that I am more comfortable with advocating for myself in a work place, and I now understand for place expectations better than before. This will be extremely beneficial for when I get a professional job in my future, and I will be better prepared for my experience. The reality of my expectations for my internship and the reality do not match up, but it worked out in ways that I didn’t imagine when I started.
(Words 295)