The fourth day was a little nerve wracking because I was presenting my ideas for the events to Ricardo. The first thing I said was that I did not really have anything for the Copidrogas presentation but that I had a lot for the Biotoscana one. On the brief that Ricardo had given me the day before about the event, he said it is going to be a conference for doctors in Panama where they will introduce a new product. Since it is during the World Cup they wanted to have that as a theme or include it somehow. The first thing I proposed, which was Ricardo’s and my favorite, was that to introduce the conference and the product there should bea video. The video should be like the begining of a soccer game where an announcer is announcing the games and the players and they could make the products the player and introduce the new product like the awesome new player. I also proposed to have Greek and Colombian appetizers for the soccer game Colombia-Greece and to take the doctors out to the Panama bridge and to a restaurant nearby. Before I talked about the other event, Ricardo stopped me and said to work on it again that night and to remember never to tell a client that you could not come up with ideas, ever!
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Third one’s the charm
Just kidding it is not, at least not this time. On the third day I went to the office and Andres, another worker in the company, asked me for help with a translation. PCN was doing an event for a company in Sao Pablo and they had to send emails to the customer in Spanish and English just to make sure everything was understood. After that, Ricardo gave me homework. That day after work I had to think about creative ideas to present to two customers: Copidrogas and Biotoscana. In the afternoon I went with Camilo to check out a conference room in the JW Marriot Hotel for an event. I thought the room was not spacious enough for 280 people, but the customer was happy with it. We took measurements to make sure what kind of equipment they should bring and what size of banners and posters they should bring. After the visit was done I went home and thought about my assignment.
First day
On my first day as an intern in PCN Publicidad I met the company’s owner outside a building, but I was really nervous because I did not even know what he looked like. Once I met the owner, Ricardo Bonilla, he took me to three meetings with different customers. First we went to SHIRE and Ricardo introduced and talked about his company and what they did. I heard the whole conversation and after the meeting was done Ricardo told me he was introducing his company to SHIRE to see if they would be interested in their service.
The second meeting was with Copidrogas and this meeting was a little different. Copidrogas already knew PCN and in the meeting Ricardo was presenting ideas for a conference Copidrogas will be having about how to renovate pharmacies. After that we went to the last meeting that was at HEEL. In this meeting he also presented ideas, HEEL wants to do a video for veterinaries on how to apply drugs on dogs and Ricardo gave them options on how to do it. After those three meetings, I went home with a notebook full of notes!
The downside?
On the second day of work I went to the office and stayed there the whole day. At first, I was not really doing anything but then work came my way. Not the kind of work I was hoping for, but I had to do it anyway. I spent three hours researching hotel event rooms and then calling those hotels and asking more questions about the room and their availability. It was not my favorite task to do, but I learned what questions to ask when looking for a room to hold an event in! After that, I was asked to look for cheap flights and hotels in Bucaramanga for four days and three nights. Definitely not a heart racing assignment but it had to be done.
Internship
For my senior project I went back home to Bogota, Colombia to intern in an event planning company. My project was supposed to be two weeks long, the first two weeks of march, but as soon as I got home I had to get my wisdom teeth taken out. I ended up doing one week because the owner could not make more time to have me around, but it still was an awesome experience to have.
Back at School- Reflecting
It feels weird to be back. I have been gone for ONE month, and it seems like everything is different. For years, my mother has been telling me and my three siblings that family is the most important thing. And now I fully see how true that is. For the majority of my trip, I didn’t even communicate with my friends at home because I was so busy cooking, looking at pictures, and hearing stories. I went days without even looking at my phone. It didn’t matter because I had the most important people in my life around me for the duration of my trip. Who you are related to will never change, and although we all may sometimes wish it did, it means the most to understand and appreciate what everyone has done in their lives and what they do for you. Each family member has a different story, different struggles, and a different outlook on how to be a better person.
Beijing
Nia hao ma!
Upon returning home from China and reflecting on the experience, I have come to realize that it was nothing like my expectations. The country and the culture surprised me in so many ways. Our journey began in Beijing, and the moment we stepped off the plane and walked outside we encountered a gray and smog filled sky. We were told that some of the children had never look up and saw blue!
During my time spent in Beijing there were definitely a few highlights. One of my favorite places we visited was an area known as the 798 Art District that was filled with galleries, sculptures, graffiti, cafes and people selling handmade things. We also found the cutest dog on the street there that we all wanted to take home.
My second favorite part of Beijing was climbing the Great Wall. We all walked 1000 steps from the base to reach the Wall. Once we reached the Wall we were able to gaze out on the amazing view it provided and walk along it stopping at different watchtowers along the way while local people tried to sell us snacks. When it was time to leave we all tobogganed down to reach the bottom which I must say was scary and exhilarating all at the same time.
The food in Beijing was nothing like Chinese food back home. They served a lot of meat such as pork, beef, lamb, duck and chicken. They also served a good amount of greens, tofu, rice, soup and almost always gave us sprite, coke, 7Up and water. It was hard being a vegetarian over there but somehow I was able to survive thanks to the white rice and soy sauce! We were able to come across some American food places including Starbucks, McDonalds, KFC, DQ, and Subway.
Before we left Beijing we visited an orphanage for the visually impaired. The children were young, between 3-8 years old and some were taught by a high school student who was a missionary. We were able to bring them diapers and other daily necessities thanks to donations by friends and family of mine back home. It was an eye opening experience to see the joy on these children’s faces despite being in unfortunate circumstances.
Lastly, the people in China were not what I expected. Everywhere we walked we would see people spitting (we often had to dive to get out of the way!) on the streets and smoking cigarettes both in and out of restaurants. They would also drive on the sidewalk and honk at you if you were in their way. Sam would sometimes randomly dance on the streets and crowds would gather around and stare at him. People in China were extremely friendly and despite communication not being the easiest, we were usually able to exchange our ideas and convey what we wanted to tell them through a mixture of Chinese and English.
Until next time,
Meili
It All Comes Together
Hello!
Week three was the finale of my internship, and what a week it was! I have a lot to cover, so I might as well just jump right in. Here it goes!
The biggest change that happened this week was that I switched residences from my relatives in New York City to my relatives in Plainsboro, New Jersey. Although this meant that I would have to learn a new route to and from my internship, I welcomed the change since I knew that it would be a good experience that would teach me more about commuting into New York City. Although the daily commute by train was somewhat longer (roughly an hour each morning and evening), it was still pretty simple and allowed me to see some new parts of the city when I traveled to and from the train station.
Now, if you read my post about the first week of my internship, you might have gathered that there was a bit of a learning curve in terms of transportation. My new commute by train actually went quite well. There was only one time when something went slightly awry and it was out of my hands. On Thursday, the train I was taking into the city was heavily delayed and stopped at a station on the outskirts of New York City. The conductor announced that it would likely be 30 to 40 minutes before we started moving again, so if we needed to get into the city quickly we should use the express subway that also stopped at this particular station. I didn’t want to be late for my internship, but I also had no idea where the express subway would let me off and if it would be anywhere near Jigsaw. After some thought, I decided that I would rather take a chance and see where the express subway would take me as opposed to waiting for the train to get moving again. I exited the train and got on the subway, intent on checking which stops were available. However, only about 30 seconds after I got onto the subway and started looking at its stops, I heard the telltale hiss of the train, as it closed its doors and drove off, well before the announced, “30 to 40 minutes” of delays. Fortunately, through the kindness of some New Yorkers and some careful observing, I found that there was a transfer subway that would take me very close to Jigsaw. And so it all worked out in the end.
My work at Jigsaw Productions went very well during my final week of the internship. For the most part, I was continuing my work with photo logging and scanning pictures, but I also was able to take part in a few more activities throughout the week. The newest sort of activity was shooting some B-Roll footage for one of the other Jigsaw documentaries. B-Roll is used to overlay footage when people are talking for extended periods, and it isn’t necessary to see them speaking the whole time. For instance, if somebody is talking about Babe Ruth and how he was the Home Run King for many years, the editor may choose to show footage of Babe Ruth hitting home runs and scoring while this person is talking so that the viewer can visualize what the speaker is saying, as opposed to just seeing them tell their story. Anyhow, the B-Roll that I was helping to shoot was of a paper ball being thrown at a trash bin full of crumpled paper, which would result in several pieces of paper falling out of the bin. Now, this may sound incredibly easy and simple to you. You may be thinking that this sort of footage would only take 5 minutes, at most, to shoot and have ready to present to the editors. In reality, this process can actually take much longer. There is a lot to think about when framing any shot, and this B-Roll was no exception. From a technical stand point the lighting, angle of the shot, background, and position of the object all have to be taken into account before the footage can be taken. Then, it is important to consider how the shot will look to the viewer. Should the ball travel with an arc towards the trash bin, or should it be thrown directly at the bin for greater impact? Is there a way to make the shot more dramatic by changing the lighting, angle, or focus of the camera? How would the shot look in slow motion? All of these factors were very important to think about, and as a result, taking this seemingly simple B-Roll actually ended up taking around an hour to shoot. This was one of my favorite experiences from week three. It really helped to show me just how much work goes into every shot of a film, and how much care was put into even the simplest of tasks.
The other amazing experience I had during the final day of my internship was that I had a chance to see the rough cut of the documentary that I’d been working on. Rough cuts of a film are essentially what they sound like, versions of the film in which the editors test out various constructions of the story to see what works and what doesn’t. I felt very privileged to see an edition of the film that nobody else would ever view, and to see where my work had been going. I saw some of the pictures I’d logged being put to use in the film, and how the story went together. It felt like a true culmination of everything I’d done over the past three weeks.
In addition to taking B-Roll footage and seeing the rough cut of the documentary I’d been working on, I also got to work on filming my own short documentary. I wanted to capture some of my experiences on film by interviewing the staff at Jigsaw whom I’d worked with to ask them why they joined the film and media industry, where they’d learned the most, and what advice they had for aspiring film makers. It was awesome to get some personal experience filming my own short film, and I’m excited to start editing and putting together my footage.
Now that my Senior Project is finished, I look back on the past three weeks and realize just how much I’ve gained from my experiences. I learned so much from everyone I worked with over the course of the project. Whether it was only for one day or for the entire three weeks, each person taught me something different about the film and media industry that I hadn’t known prior to my Senior Project.
Although my Senior Project may be finished, I will take these lessons wherever I go. They helped me to learn more about where my interests lie, and about an amazing industry that I am very excited about. It’s been a wonderful three weeks that I will never forget. Thank you to everyone who made it possible! I cannot tell you how much I appreciated this opportunity. You have my deepest gratitude.
Cheers!
Geoff
The Pace Increases
Hello!
My second week interning at Jigsaw Productions went very well. This week started off with an interesting adventure. On Sunday I decided to visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art, one of the coolest places in the city. When I had gone as a child, I was not able to appreciate all that the museum had to offer, unless you want to count the Arms and Armor display as the entire museum. Being older, though, I was excited to see the museum on a grander scale. All in all, the visit began well enough. I started by viewing the Egypt exhibit, followed by the Sculpture, 18th Century Home, American Artwork, Arms and Armor, and Exotic Instrument displays. When I finally ended up in the European Paintings exhibit, I realized that I had no idea where I was in relation to the exit. I had forgotten to pick up a map on the way in, so I had no way of knowing where I was in the sprawling Metropolitan Museum. Normally, this wouldn’t have been much of an issue, but I knew that it was getting close to closing time, so I wanted to be cognizant of where I was so that I wouldn’t still be wandering around the exhibits while the museum was being closed down. I enjoyed the challenge of finding my way out of the museum well before this became an issue, so I didn’t end up in a situation similar to Claudia and Jamie from The Mixed up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. Though I’ll admit, that would have been fun as well.
Apart from this minor incident, my week went exceptionally well. Unlike the first week, transportation never proved to be an issue. This took a weight off my shoulders, which allowed me to put my full energy into my work. This week, most of my activities were focused on scanning and photo logging. The consolidation of my work allowed me to perfect my skills in both, and to get into a working rhythm. It felt exhilarating to constantly challenge myself to work at a faster pace, while still creating the same high quality product. I was also happy to know that the people I was working with were appreciative of my work. Throughout the week, I had a chance to have lunch and trade jokes with them, which allowed me to get to know them better. This made working with them even more enjoyable. I also gained a lot by just listening to them, even when they weren’t talking to me. From their conversations I learned about the various processes that surround getting the rights to archival footage and pictures. I can’t tell you any specifics due to my confidentiality agreement, but I can tell you that there is much more thought and planning that goes into this process than you would imagine. Hearing about the complexities that surround this process was fascinating, and it really helped to broaden my understanding of the how a documentary is made.
Speaking of the process that documentaries undergo before completion, I was able to attend a meeting at which the Jigsaw staff members who were leading the project I was assigned to met with their adviser and editors. During this meeting, the adviser and editors would ask for updates on certain tasks, cancel others, request footage, begin inquiries, and discuss other various topics. This provided a context and helped me better understand the importance of what I was doing when I logged and scanned photos. These photos fulfilled the various requests and needs of the editors and advisers. It helped make my work more enjoyable and meaningful to me, since I had a more exact idea of the purpose of my work.
Before I even knew it, the week was already over, and I was very happy with what I had accomplished thus far. I was completing my assignments efficiently, gaining more and more knowledge of the city, and constantly building confidence as an intern. At this rate, week three will definitely be the best of them all. I can’t wait for it to start!
Cheers!
Geoff
Last Stop: New Orleans
I know I said I would update you when I got to New Orleans, but I have been busy and exhausted since my arrival here on Tuesday. We have been exchanging stories with my mom’s cousin, Robyn and her kids, Beth and Jen. Although Robyn didn’t grow up here, Beth and Jen did so I thought it was also important to try some of their favorite, native foods. Robyn isn’t much of a cook; when she was living with my mom when they were in college, she was boiling eggs and forgot about them. The water evaporated, and the eggs went flying, smashing into the ceiling. Robyn has become a better cook since then, but she wants to learn Momma Bubb and my mother’s recipes. That reminds me… here is Momma Bubb’s brisket that my mother and I made with Aunt Billie when we were in Miami.
I had never made brisket by baking it either, so it was interesting to know how much easier it was to make this way and to see how well it turned out. I think I will stick to making my brisket on the stove though, because you cannot cut out all the fat if you are baking it. And I hate fat. On a side note, I found out that Bob, Robyns husband makes brisket is a Crock Pot. Anyways, I also told you that I was going to be making tzimmes. Tzimmes is like sweet matzah balls with candied carrots. When I told Robyn’s family about it, they cringed at the thought of it. But it was delicious!
The tzimmes, like the brisket was also Momma Bubb’s recipe. We looked at pictures of Momma Bubb and Daddy Bubb, and even found a picture of their wedding at Aunt Billie’s house.
It was crazy to see all these people who I never have and never will meet. It pains me that I never was able to meet Uncle Fred, Aunt Billie’s husband before he passed away over the summer.
It really made me glad I was doing this project now, and that it isn’t too late to start caring about this. In fact, my mom and I are trying to make plans to go see my other second cousin, Briahn at her Bat Mitzvah in June. She is Aunt Billie’s granddaughter, and I think it will open me up to a lot of my other family who I have never met before.
Anyways, since I have been in New Orleans, my mom taught Robyn how to make chicken pot pie, one of her specialties. It turned out delicious, as I would expect despite the fact that we made SIX pot pies at once. If you are not a cook, multiplying a recipe by six is a little risky.
And we were able to make Momma Bubb’s potato kugel! No one, with the exception of Momma Bubb has been able to make it before. She uses words like keep adding whatever until it feels “right.” And for once, with the addition of another egg, it was able to come out just the way she made it!
We are going to continue to teach all them these recipes, and get the few recipes Robyn does have to put into my cookbook. Robyn and Bob have been living in New Orleans for over thirty years- the food here a big part of their life. And I need to make sure it is included in my cookbook! This might be my last post until I get home on Monday to reflect upon my trip. So have a nice weekend despite any horrible weather…. I know its pouring here right now, but at least I have a cup of coffee and the brisket aroma to keep me warm today.
Westtown Senior Projects' Blog 