Mud, Camera… Action!

My friends participating in a Tough Mudder jump

We live in a time where people want to share their experiences with more than words; they want to share them in photographs and videos. And they want to share it with more than just their friends and family; they want to share it with the world. Technology has allowed us to do just that. This was evident to me when I was a spectator at a Tough Mudder event recently.

I saw several participants with GoPro cameras attached to their heads. No doubt they were going to share footage from these small, HD cameras on an online platform such as YouTube or Vimeo. I think that’s pretty cool, especially since I would never participate in such an extreme event, to see what it’s like to complete these mud-covered obstacles from their point of view.

I spot some GoPros!

I also saw some other cool video and audio technologies on my first day of my internship. After filling out some paperwork and signing in, I was shown around the offices, storage rooms and studio. There were cameras, computers, microphones and switchboards. There was a lot of things new to me, too, so I don’t remember what all the equipment and systems were called. I haven’t done any work yet, but it sounds like I will be doing some editing soon.

In my Post-Production class, we’re learning how to work in 3-D space in Adobe After Effects. You can create layers, say, with city skylines, and zoom through the space between them. You can also take flat images, give them depth and animate them. I’m working on a project with an After Effects icon I built in the program for practice. It’s really awesome to picture something in your head and create it in a program exactly how you imagined it.

Speaking of brining a concept to reality, we’re learning the beginning stages of how to do just that in my Pre-Production class: Taking an idea and turning it into something visual. During our last meeting, we looked at commercial scripts and learned how to line them. This is what you do to plan what shots you need. From that, you can build a storyboard. Our assignment this week requires us to do these activities on our own.

Between homework, classes, the internship and work, I’m trying to get some friends together to play disc golf at the West Bend campus. I played for the first time last year and it was a blast. I figured we should do it now while the weather is good enough to enjoy being outside. Let’s hope I can squeeze it in soon because it looks like Mother Nature might race through the fall season.

My Labor Day with the President of the United States

Ticket to see the president's speech

I had the whole day free. No class. No work. So when my dad invited me to march with his union in the Labor Day parade in Milwaukee, I said yes. And after I said yes, something exciting happened.

It was announced on the news that President Obama was going to be speaking at Laborfest. How awesome, I thought, but I was sure that people would be lined up for miles to get tickets. I probably wouldn’t see him. But then I heard on the radio that those marching in the parade would receive tickets to hear the President speak… That meant me! I was going to hear the President of the United States speak in person. Wow.

We left early that morning because we figured security was going to be tight. We wore shirts with the union logo and carried flags. They provided us with ponchos when it started to rain right before we lined up. But as it was time to start walking, the rain let up and we were able to take our ponchos off and march down the streets of Milwaukee. Our marching took us down to the Summerfest grounds where the President was to speak at one of the stages.

Lining up for the parade

As the ticket had explained, we went through airport-like security. They checked our tickets, our purses, and I walked through a metal detector. Surprisingly, we got there early enough to sit on the benches. I was glad to have a seat after marching quite a distance in what had now become a very hot, sunny day. We weren’t very close to the stage, but not very far either. In fact, we were near the cameras that were set up on a platform. Since I am studying video production, I took notice of the camera crew getting situated while we waited two hours for the President. We knew he was on his way soon when we saw his airplane fly over.

It was an exciting day and well worth the sunburn across my face and arms.

Taking my seat before the speech

Security

The camera crew setting up

The president speaking on stage