Makin' that cheddar cause I love mac n cheese

So this week was a very good week. I found out that my free internship is actually going to pay me. Score.
Nothing else really to report. I did have an altercation with the copier. I could not figure out how to change the paper size from letter to legal. And I know that sounds totally lame. But I felt really stupid. It turns out on that particular model, all I had to do was change the paper tray. Who knew?
I also fucked up on the phone today. I didn't ask who the caller was before I passed the phone to the owner of the company. So then I had to take the caller off hold, ask him who he was and then put him back on hold to tell the big guy the name. I pretty much looked like an incompetent loser. And I didn't even tell you about the embarrassing music event. And it will remain unsaid.
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This past week

Not much to report on this front. On Monday, i worked on legal binders. And yesterday, Tuesday, i continued to work on legal binders. The plus side of yesterday was that i got 95% completed on Ep 03 and started the music queue sheet for Ep 04. It took about three to four hours and i am almost done with it completely. I am thinking another hour, maybe hour and a half. So that's where i am right now.

Also, due to popular demand i have posted two more pictures. These are the houses that i look at on my way to work. It seems very, Gilmore Girls Emily and Richard's House. All these mansions in the same community, looking similar but each one different. I wonder if they pick these kinds of houses or if the contractor built them and then they came in and bought the one they liked.

Day Five

Today was a much better day. I got to use, pause for dramatic effect, the copier. but no, my day did not end with the copier, i also got to use the label maker. Now, to some of you "not in love with the industry" would call this "bitch work", just like my sister did at dinner. I call it common ground and a giant leap toward my assistant job.
(I felt alittle like Buster from Arrested Development, when he was allowed to go to the construction site and everything was really exciting even though it was very basic.)

But back to the post, I figured if i can work the copier, label maker and the phone, i will be in great shape for a job as someone's assistant. My main task today was to put together a production book. (To be honest, i don't know if that is the technical name for what the book is but it mainly is an organized collection of all the releases, contracts, insurance, etc. documents that are used in the show.) Producers and production companies put together these books just in case someone wants to argue that they are featured in a show but never signed a release. It is very legal. My task, as i said, was to build Episode 03's book today. But did i just make one, no, i made two. One for Nat Geog, and one for another international company that picked up the show. Also, eventually i will make another book for our archive.

Now, the phone is getting trickery. Today, i was the first person in the office at 9:30 in the morning. And the phone started to ring. I finally answered it and took the message and wrote it all down and rocked that phone. What a good day, overall.

Yesterday was Day Four

Yesterday was tough. I had to work on two final scripts, which is not a big deal. The problem lies when my editing programs does not work and i can not view the show, leading me to not finishing the second script. Which made me feel like a crappy intern. I was bummed. It was a depressing day.

The Hills are alive with the sound of music

Today i got to fill out a music queue sheet. I went through episode three ("its becoming my favorite episode" he said sarcastically) and filled out an excel sheet which included the title of each song, time in, time out, and the total time it played. After that task, which took about the first half of the day, i had to look up every song in a database and record the composer, publisher, where to find it in the database, the volume number, etc. That took close to the rest of the day. After I finished the music queue sheet i started on the computer graphics sheet. Which is basically the same thing but instead of music i write down computer graphic, such as maps and diagrams. Lucky for me there was only one map in this episode so that job was very quick and easy. Let's see, what else did i do today.
I found out that Peter (one of the two brothers the show follows) came into the office on Friday. I wasn't there to talk to him but my boss assured me that him and his brother will probably be in some time in the next couple of months.
that's all for right now. tomorrow i will be working on episode four. be excited for me.

Pictures are worth a thousand words

Here are two pictures. The one of house is where i work. The offices are in the lower level. The other picture is of my desk. See my phone, the fax machine, the paper towels. Exciting stuff.

Internship Day 2

Today was divided into two parts. My morning was spent researching Scotland and the Cowal Highland Games. For those of you who don’t know these are the games and competitions that Scotland is famous for creating and annually celebrating and it similar to America’s strongman games. The most recognized is the Caber Toss. That is when you throw the big log called a caber and want it to land straight up. It is judged by the angle in which it lands on the ground. I researched into the history of the highland games. And then I researched the specific games and tried to find what their history was like. The reason I am doing this is because we are producing a show when American strong men will go over to Scotland and watch and learn and possibly partake in the events.
After that I had lunch. I brown bagged my leftover Chinese food.
After my lunch I was given the dialogue script to Lost in China, episode three. I was then sat in a back room with three editing stations. Two little ones and one big one that is connected to the HD big screen. I watched some footage being edited as it was played on the tv. That was so clear and amazing I couldn’t believe the clearity. Yes, back to my station. I sat there with the show on the editing station and the script on my laptop and proceeded to make sure that each word of dialogue spoken in the show was correctly transcribe in the script. And then I also had to place time sequences on every other scene. Now what all that means is when one guy started talking I had to note the time in the show so that when these shows are sent to other countries and need to be subtitles the translated words will appear with what is being spoken from the guys. Not too exciting but the four hours it took me went by kind of fast. There was a problem with a whole paragraph missing and some notes from Nat Geo. Apparently you should say “developing” instead of “third world.”

PS Also, the dead dog, that took place in Harbin, China.

First day of internship

So today I started my internship at BASE Productions. I work for two associate producers, K and F. That is Gossip Girl style. To start off the day I got to watch two episodes of "Lost in China with the Hutchson Brothers". This show has not aired but will on National Geographic International Channel later in the year. Right after the Oymplics I believe. So anyway, the show follows these two brothers who lived in China when they were younger and now are returning to see their "old stomping ground." Needless to say I learned lots about chinese culture and just to put to rest, yes, some parts of china do eat dog. The city in the northeastern region, I can't remember the name right now, does in fact have dead dog for sale to eat.
So after that, we went to lunch. We being my boss K and J maybe. Can't remember that guy's name either but he drove a new Passat. Sweet ride. We ended up at this little place called Alibi. It was a little place run by anna and her husband. Nobody really knows why it is called Alibi. I think they were involved in a murder and said that they could be suspects because they were opening a restaurant in haymarket. Thus, it is their alibi.
After that I read some National Geographic handbook of Standards and Policy. Let me say that I Nat Geo does not screw around. If it airs on their channel those words and images are facts. Checked and verified by my bosses. After I finished that I watched the third episode of the show and got leave after that. My day was not hard. I share my desk with the fax machine, though. I feel like whenever I get a fax I need to deliver it. My boss usually takes it from me and delivers it himself but still, its getting delivered. Overall not very exciting but not stressful either. Tomorrow should be more hands on.
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Internship

So that interview turned into an internship. I start tomorrow morning at 9:30. It is very exciting. Look forward to pictures and some stories about my life as an "office" production assistant.

Interview

I have an interview on Monday with BASE Productions. They are based outside on Washington DC in Haymarket which happens to be like fifteen minutes from my house. Score. If i get this internship i will hopefully work Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. And if i get this internship and do a great job hopefully they can transfer me to the Los Angeles branch and that way i will have a job when i move out there.

This is what I get to stare at for the next 12 hours. Jealous?

So this is what I get to look at. The open road. "Highway to Hell", well more specifically Carson City, which on reflection one might call Hell. Not me. But someone.
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