Ohio University
I am visiting Ohio Uniersity again becuse I havent seen it since last year when I was accepted…and then I took a year off! Thankfully, I still love it! There are so many things to do and their expanded media program is exactly what I was looking for. I can see myself going here..I may even dorm earlier to take a few summer. I am getting excite about school again (full time) in a different location. I saw an improv student comedy group tonight and a new musician..so fun! : ) who knows what extra curricular activities I might get into!
Back to blogging
I know it’s been over a year since the last time I blogged…but I decided to start blogging again because I miss it. Since California I have graduated from Tompkins Cortland Community College and earned my AD in Digital Cinema. I was accepted into 4 year schools such as SCAD and Ohio, but I decided to take a year off before I went transferred to another school. I worked full time at a daycare for the first half of this year and now am crossing some goals off of my list.
1,Finish writing my science fiction original T.V pilot
2. Take a Graphic Design class
3. Take a stand up comedy class
4. Cook more
5. Play the piano
6. Experience a different culture through traveling (So far I visited Germany and I am going to Mexico for a week in April)
7. Learn Self Defense
8. Volunteer at a retirement home (The elderly are incredibly wise)
9. Read
10. Make time to think and relax
So for the second half of this year..these have been my focal points. I’m 22 now and trying to figure out my life..cliche right? But it’s true. After hardly seeing my parents, I see them every day (I live with them). It’s different than living in the college dorms or a studio apartment…but I’m saving money..spending time with my parents..and taking time to try different things…you know before I’m too much of an “adult.”
January 20: If you’re not having fun you’re fired.
Today we had a tour of Nickelodeon! I was able to meet two ladies who won the writing fellowship. They each told their story. They talked about how it is important to understand beat sheets and have an outline that works. An outline is the tool you go back to when your story does not work. Before they write spec scripts, they watch every episode of the series. They pay attention to character development and read a script afterwards to make sure the form is correct. We received squishy Nickelodeon toys!
January 19: Music Video and The Doctors.
We saw a music video live. Extras were positioned according to the shots the cinematography needed to achieve. The producer talked about the importance of having the courage to move out to LA before it is too late. Another thing he stressed was having connections. He had a great deal on the building he rented out because of a connection. As a producer, he said the hardest thing for him to do is to believe in himself. We did not finish watching the music video because we had plans to see the show taping of The Doctors. The taping was different than Doctor Phil. The show did a lot of re-takes. I would continue, but I don’t want to spoil the show!
January 18 Dr.Phil Warner Brothers and Mike and Molly.
First, we went to Doctor Phil and had a tour. We met the director, who by the way is a female! We saw the control room and the room where they mic up the talent. Afterwards, we went on a tour of WB studios. We saw the set of The Big Bang Theory and Friends. Then, we went to a show taping of Mike and Molly. I volunteered to dance before the show started. I noticed the taping went faster than Two Broke Girls. Also, the writers did not re-write jokes nearly as much. Different shows run differently and I think that the shows that are just starting out will always need more time.
Anyone here broke?
Today we with started off with a tour of Paramount Studios. We saw the set of the show Community, but I could not take pictures (that’s why I did not post them). Every building we saw has history. Plaques on the walls of each listed exactly what movies have been produced there. I saw Eli’s office from I Love Lucy. I love that show. I learned that Desi kept a copy of every I Love Lucy episode. This started the idea of syndication because people realized they wanted to watch some episodes more than once. Lucille Ball from I love Lucy decided that she did not want to work in the industry if she could not be near her children so Paramount built a day care. It is still running today.
Another cool thing about Lucille Ball is that her co-star, Desi was her real husband. During the time period of the show interracial couples were not common. Lucille and Eli had to prove that they could still get an audience to tune into the show, and they did. The laugh track from I love Lucy is sometimes used today because the audience sounds so genuine. It has successfully remained there since.
Glee is shot at Paramount Studios. I saw a Kurt, Mercedes, Quinn and Artie from Glee!
After the tour, our tour guide talked with us about what it is like to be a page at Paramount. If you want to apply for the program you can go online. I think an important thing to have in LA is friends. I’m glad I have friends that want to go into this industry with me!
After that, we went to another tour of Technicolor (different building) and had a tour. I was able to go to the Folli Sound Stage which made me very happy. It was a playground of sounds. There was different types of flooring, a bunch of different shoes, furniture, a coat rack and a whole bunch of random things. It is important to sync up folli with the action of a character because folli sound is done in post-production and it makes the dialogue sound more realistic. I would love to stomp around in heels or sneakers in sync with a character walking on a screen. It just sounds fun! Sound is often underestimated in movies. In my opinion, it is half of the movie. It can make or break it.
After Technicolor we went to a taping of Two Broke Girls. The warm up comedian let me introduce a scene because I think that job is so cool and I was interested in it. I was giving out cupcakes and pumping up the crowd. I loved it. Oh, and the taping was awesome. I learn so much just through watching the production. I love seeing weak jokes re-written during the show and seeing the scene improve. I think Two Broke Girls will only continue to improve, seeing that it is a new show and it all ready has character development. I am wearing a Two Broke Girls shirt now. : )
January 16: Central City (Set)
Today my whole class was able to work on set dressing at Central City Studios. First, we had a tour of the whole place..which by the way was astonishing. Every floor had different sets. One set was a hospital with real hospital beds and equipment. Another set was a jail cell, another a police department. Today I dressed a living room, a secretary office and a baby room. We had a lot of creative freedom to cut fabric, carpet and use a nail gun to hang up pictures. There is a huge prop room we went through to find things to dress the set. The room has televisions, phones, keyboards, computers, decorations, paintings, desks, chairs and a lot of things you would find at a garage sale. However, I am the kind of girl who loves garage sales, so I loved being able to set dress. Central City Studios has the white room used in Bruce Allmighty when Bruce meets God. Part of Mission Impossible was filmed at Central Studios along with many other features. I saw the where Chris Brown’s Look at me Now music video was filmed. A lot of other music videos have been recorded there as well.
I think one of the biggest things I learned today is the importance of thinking like a camera when building a set. It is important to give the cinematographers options. If gives them more creative control and will keep them coming back. I also learned the importance of architecture on set. I never really thought about how expensive it can be to have a ceiling in a room. You have to be able to have sprinklers go off in case of a fire and in most cases that involves re-wiring the system. However, there are ways to fake a ceiling. I also learned how much it typically costs to shoot on top of the Central City roof for one day, 5 thousand dollars. Good thing we took a picture while we had the chance!
ID me I dare you!
Yesterday (January 15) I turned 21 years old. First, I was able to hike up to the Hollywood sign. I was happy that I could go with my class because truthfully they we are friends and as much as we drive each other crazy, we all care about each other in the end. Oh, and when my friend was talking about my birthday a few strangers heard that it was my birthday and they sang Happy Birthday to me! After our hike, we went to Mel’s Diner to eat lunch. We had a really funny waitress who is also an actress. When we were finished we went on the star walk. After that we went to downtown Burbank and split up based on what people wanted to do. Some people went to the movies, but I went window shopping with my boyfriend. We went out to dinner and I had sushi and soup (no drinks yet). After that, we met up with my cousin, Alex and his girlfriend, Robin for a drink at Gordon’s Biersch Brewing. We sampled different beers and I closed my eyes to officially decide which beers I liked best without looking at the name. Robin and I had delicious grapefruit drinks (I don’t know what the name was, but if I did I would write it here). Oh yeah, and the waitress asked for my ID (no surprise)..but I was officially 21 and the waitress gave me free cake because it was my birthday. Basically, it was a wonderful day.
