Friday, February 3, 2012



My first day went ah-mazing.

My video-log won't be ready until Monday...Wednesday at the latest. I have to re-watch all my footage, then write what I'm going to say for my reflection, then write out where I want everything placed (basically a script, one would say). The reason why it will take until Wednesday is because I'm using the school computers to edit (Hi I'm Grace and I have a PC and Windows Movie Maker). Also, some things need to be typed out instead of filmed, you'll understand why.

But here are a few teaser pictures!


My notes taken for the day (and me beginning to write out my journal on the train)
Me learning! 

Some mics

The lounge (they got some really good magazines) 

Me getting coffee like a true office worker


Jeff Bridge's doodle...fantastic. 

Peter Dinklage's doodle (his character in the second Narnia movie)
Queen Latifah's doodle (my personal favorite, you would think she would have a better doodle)
NBD just Lifetime and VH1's fax numbers...
Liam Neeson and his late wise Natasha Richardson (who played the mom in The Parent Trap)...this was their greeting card before she died...so sad.

Alright so stay tuned next week and hopefully I'll have everything ready! I really enjoyed my time today, I can't wait to go back already! 


...on a side note, I may or may not be taking a field trip to personally yell at Dan Radcliffe for making The Woman in Black so that I, as a loyal fan, would have to go see, only to end up never wanting to go to sleep ever again and crying in front of strangers. Never...again... 

Thursday, February 2, 2012

A Post About: 
My fabulous mentor: Mrs. Reilly!


A perfect picture I may add.

My mentor is Mrs. Reilly. If you don't know Mrs. Reilly, you really should. She is WONDER WOMAN. Not only is she teaching Intro to Video, Advanced Video, World of Technology, Studio 18, and Computer Applications, but she's also in charge of Yearbook. Let us not forget she's the advisor for MSG Varsity. Yeah, the woman can do it all.

Before she took Somers by storm, she worked over at this little place called...oh what's the name? Oh yes, MTV. This woman knows her stuff, whether it be editing, film making, lighting, writing, technology...everything. She also taught NYCM insurance company who's boss when they almost didn't allow my distracted driving PSA in the top 30 because we didn't have all the paperwork done.    

Ah! I only have five minutes to type this before I am off to babysit for six hours!!

Today I had my first meeting with Mrs. Reilly today, and thank goodness for the woman who gave me some excellent advice: slooooooow down. 

You see, I'm dealing with all these things are are very different from each other. So, since I start my internship tomorrow, I should sit back, and observe. What do I see? Why are they doing that? Who's that? What's going on? I will be following her advice and making notes of what's going on and you get a feel for everything. After all, I don't know what to expect which makes it all the more exciting!
YAY SO EXCITED

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

I almost forgot!


Here is a link to where I shall be gracing my presence: 


The Audio Department
The sad truth of my existence. 

Sorry I Bit You During My Job Interview. By Tom O'Donnell

One of those things where it is so incredibly simple, so incredibly obvious, and yet, so darn funny, you can't believe you didn't think of it in the first place.


Today we will blog about:
WHY.

Again we ask ourselves..where do we begin?

Why are you interning at an audio facility when you're into writing?
If you have read my first post (which you should have seeing how it is very informative) I want to go into the whole media biz. In college I am most likely interning and working with writing and studios. If my main goal in life is to do everything, why not try something different? This is my WISE project, it's time to expand my horizons, especially when it comes to the things I enjoy. Through my internship I will get to see how things are recorded, see scripts, and even see some editing. If you want to know how things work, you have to look behind the scenes.



But Grace, you won't be interning every week! What will you do?
Well, I'll be meeting with my mentor (did I mention that it is the fierce Ms. Reilly?). I also decided I would post things about writing and film. 

But why writing and film?
Well, I was always making up stories, whether I realized it or not. As a young child I was always playing pretend with either my imaginary friends, my cousin, or my toys (otherwise, I worked strictly alone). 
When I entered the 7th grade, the act of actually acting out my stories in the privacy of my room started to fade away. Twas time to pursue a new medium of story-telling: writing. But here's the thing about a 13-year-old:
Writer Leopard speaks the truth.


In the 8th grade I really began writing, although it was mostly non-fiction. 8th grade was great because we focused a lot on creative writing. I wrote a small memoir and my teacher liked it so much, she wanted me to submit it to a contest, which I did...and lost. 

After that I realized that maybe I had something going here, that maybe I'm not that bad at writing. Did I enjoy it? Yes. Yes I did.

But then came high school. 
Ugh.
Up until 11th grade I was not writing anything creatively. I wrote mostly essays and wasn't motivated to do anything more. 

But in 11th grade I took Creative Writing and rediscovered my love for writing. I looked forward to the class every day, and go really into it. I was constantly fixing my stories, striving for perfection. When I wasn't writing I was thinking of new plot points or new stories entirely. And unlike math, I was actually enjoying myself. 

I wanted to go into film, possibly be a director, but I was still unsure if I was ready to major in full-time film in college. I wanted to create my own films because if anyone were to make my stories into films, only I would want to make them (sorry J.J. Abrams, not even you). 

Since I found my writing mojo again, I want to begin by combining my two favorite things: writing and media. Both have to do with story telling. 

"When once the itch of literature comes over a man, nothing can cure it but the scratching of a pen. But if you have not a pen, I suppose you must scratch any way you can."
Samuel Lover
So if you love writing and film, why don't you write a screenplay?
You see, I thought about doing that. But I am a very busy gal. When I'm not legally obligated to attend school, I'm babysitting, working Human Rights Club, driving my siblings everywhere, doing some kind of thing for soccer, and let us not forget, sleeping. 

I have so much to learn about writing a screenplay, as well as how an entire television show is created and how a movie is made. So why not make my research part of my project? And why not apply what I have learned? Instead of doing a major piece of work on something I didn't have an efficient amount of knowledge in, I will document me gaining knowledge, and some practice pieces. 

You should just keep coming back every day, you never know what you'll find. 

So why do you love the things that you do?
Why do I love writing? Writing means something different to everyone, and for me, it's a way of releasing my emotions. Sometimes my brain gets too stuffy and crowded and we need to let things go. When I write, I am distracted from whatever is bugging me and lose myself in a story, or ways to release my emotions through a poem. It's very therapeutic. Is my spelling and grammar suckish? Yes. Am I a perfect writer? Not even close. What matters to me is that I create something new. That could be a new world completely, or a new person. Sometimes it doesn't have to be a story, any good piece of writing can do the trick.

"I just write what I wanted to write. I write what amuses me. It's totally for myself. I never in my wildest dreams expected this popularity."J. K. Rowling


Same goes with reading, film, and TV. I love getting lost into a story. A good story is one that leaves you thinking and puts something into a new perspective. That's why I love English class so much. I love reading a great piece of literature and trying to decode why the author uses the techniques that they do and what message about life they are trying to say. 

Look at this, I have written quite a lot today. Job well done Grace Michaud. Job well done. Watch, in the middle of the night I'll remember that I forgot to say something and will log on to add it. It happens. All the time. 

Tomorrow I have my first meeting with Ms. Reilly. We will probably talk about my upcoming plans and goals. After all...I start my internship in two days!

Until then...
 



  


Tuesday, January 31, 2012

My First Journal Entry of WISE EVER.
OH MY GOD.


So it is 10:37 pm. I made this blog at around 8pm. Why did it take me an hour and a half to write this? That is a very good question. At first I thought:
I AM GREAT AT BLOGGING.
LOOK AT THIS
THIS WILL BE EASY.
BLOGGER. PSH.

THEN I CREATED MY BLOG:
Oh...this is way harder than I have foreseen. 



You see, I've been Tumbling for two years now, and Tumblr is very easy to use. I COULD QUITE POSSIBLY make a Tumblr for my WISE blog, but you see, Tumblr is blocked at school and I can't mix Tumblr with school. You can't mix those two worlds together. There would be chaos. Like mixing milk with any other drink ever, there is no great combo. Just. Doesn't. Mix.

I have a lot to say. When I write I go on into tangents. Where to begin? Right. My WISE project.

My Project:
I'm lucky to have an awesome aunt:
Aunt Aimee and fabulous young me.

She works at this place called The Audio Department in New York City. Basically, they are an audio post production facility. They do voice overs for commercials, commentary on DVDs (The Jersey Shore gang came in), and voices for video games. Starting this Friday, February 3rd, I'll be interning. I'll be doing simple things like helping out, organizing things, getting coffee, but hopefully on busy days I'll be able to sit in during recording sessions as well. 

My mentor will be the one and only Mrs. Susan Reilly, who is seriously Wonderwoman. No joke. Tomorrow I'll make a post about her. We will be meeting once a week during 4th period. 

For my WISE project I wanted to be able to try something different, to do something other than babysitting every day after school. I want to get involved in the Film/TV business upon entering the real world, so I decided to utilize my connection. Plus, who wouldn't want to go to an internship in New York City?

I will be filming my days over at the Audio Department, from the journey there (I have to navigate the Subways for the first time by myself, oh boy), to all the people I'll be working with. I'll post my videos here. 

Also, I'll be using my blog. A lot. I love blogging. While I want to go into Film/TV, my main focus is to write for television and film (so far I have been accepted to Emerson College's program for Writing for Television and Film). I will be informing myself on the process and positions, and post my findings here. 

But wait! The fun doesn't stop there!  

Really? Tell me more! I implore you!














I'll be posting about writing and movies in general. I always want to write about movies for the school newspaper, but I am reminded that the school newspaper is the SCHOOL newspaper, not Entertainment Weekly. Again, WISE comes in handy. After all, it's Academy Award season people! 

Since I love to write, I will be posting about...well...anything I find interesting about writing, whether it be articles, short stories, other works, poetry, or even my own work. And Harry Potter things what. 

If that made no sense, then you should stay tuned. More tomorrow when I am not about to fall asleep at the keyboard, or when I don't have an APES quiz to study for.


LATER.