I have now been working at CMT for about three weeks, and I times I still can't believe that it is true. It is so much more than I would ever have imagined before I began working here. I have taken film classes so I know that a lot of work goes into making films and TV shows, but what we get accomplished in short spans of time amazes me.
In one week, the prep work and script writing take place and on the start of the next week we are shooting the next episode. Or as was the case last week, we shot one episode on Monday and then another on Friday. Leaving a shorter amount of time for preparation. My job involves long hours spent on the internet doing research for the writers. The show I work on "CMT Top 20 Countdown" highlights the top 20 music videos of the week. A pretty simple concept if you think about it. However we don't just say what order the videos are in and leave the show at that. We like to provide little tid bits of information about the artists or about what went into the making of the video. This is where my research comes in. My research gives the writers the newest information about the artists that they can work in (sometimes humorously) into the script.
However, this is sometimes easier said than done. Because we prepare the research about a week before the show actually airs you have to find information that will still be interesting when the episode airs. That was difficult this week. Because the CMT Music Awards and the CMA fest are next week, most of the music news this week revolves around those two events. The news stories are about who will be playing at what time and so forth. However, when this particular episode airs, most of these events will be over. There is no point mentioning something that will have already happened. One thing that would be cool to note in this episode would be who won what awards. However, since we are filming before the winners are announced there is no way we can include this information.
So that in a sense is the 'boring' part of my job. But I enjoy it. While it does get a little monotonous and tiring sitting in a cubicle all day looking up information on the internet, I enjoy it. Why? Because I get to find out the newest information right as it hits the public. I like being 'in the know'. It is cool to go home to my roommates and tell them about what I found out during the day. One of my roommates basically does the same thing I do all day (for the radio station) so sometimes we have seen the same piece of news, but it is nice to be able to talk to someone about it.
The really cool part of my job is to sit in on the tapings of the show. When you watch the show on TV everything is edited together and flows perfectly, but in the taping we jump all over the script and things don't always go smoothly. It is an interesting experience to sit in the production room and watch take after take and see how it all comes together. Plus I get to hang out with the host of the show on occasion. (Who is a really cool guy by the way). Plus, everyone treats me like a full member of the team even though I am just an intern and am not even getting paid to be there.
It is really nice that I actually WANT to go to work everyday and it isn't something that I HAVE to do. I think that makes all the difference really. And if I like it this much when I'm not getting paid, I think it more solidifies that this is definitely something I could do in the long term. This kind of work could be what I choose to do with my life. I could live my life, excited about going to work everyday. It doesn't even bother me that I have to get up early, because when I get there I know that I will enjoy what I will be doing, and that is a great feeling.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Friday, May 28, 2010
Poem for Memorial Day
-----------------------------------------------------
JUST A COMMON SOLDIER
(A Soldier Died Today)
By: A. Lawrence Vaincourt, Copyright 1987
-----------------------------------------------------
He was getting old and paunchy and his hair was falling fast,
And he sat around the Legion, telling stories of the past.
Of a war that he had fought in and the deeds that he had done,
In his exploits with his buddies; they were heroes, every one.
And tho' sometimes, to his neighbors, his tales became a joke,
All his Legion buddies listened, for they knew whereof he spoke.
But we'll hear his tales no longer for old Bill has passed away,
And the world's a little poorer, for a soldier died today.
He will not be mourned by many, just his children and his wife,
For he lived an ordinary and quite uneventful life.
Held a job and raised a family, quietly going his own way,
And the world won't note his passing, though a soldier died today.
When politicians leave this earth, their bodies lie in state,
While thousands note their passing and proclaim that they were great.
Papers tell their whole life stories, from the time that they were young,
But the passing of a soldier goes unnoticed and unsung.
Is the greatest contribution to the welfare of our land
A guy who breaks his promises and cons his fellow man?
Or the ordinary fellow who, in times of war and strife,
Goes off to serve his Country and offers up his life?
A politician's stipend and the style in which he lives
Are sometimes disproportionate to the service that he gives.
While the ordinary soldier, who offered up his all,
Is paid off with a medal and perhaps, a pension small.
It's so easy to forget them for it was so long ago,
That the old Bills of our Country went to battle, but we know
It was not the politicians, with their compromise and ploys,
Who won for us the freedom that our Country now enjoys.
Should you find yourself in danger, with your enemies at hand,
Would you want a politician with his ever-shifting stand?
Or would you prefer a soldier, who has sworn to defend
His home, his kin and Country and would fight until the end?
He was just a common soldier and his ranks are growing thin,
But his presence should remind us we may need his like again.
For when countries are in conflict, then we find the soldier's part
Is to clean up all the troubles that the politicians start.
If we cannot do him honor while he's here to hear the praise,
Then at least let's give him homage at the ending of his days.
Perhaps just a simple headline in a paper that would say,
Our Country is in mourning, for a soldier died today.
JUST A COMMON SOLDIER
(A Soldier Died Today)
By: A. Lawrence Vaincourt, Copyright 1987
-----------------------------------------------------
He was getting old and paunchy and his hair was falling fast,
And he sat around the Legion, telling stories of the past.
Of a war that he had fought in and the deeds that he had done,
In his exploits with his buddies; they were heroes, every one.
And tho' sometimes, to his neighbors, his tales became a joke,
All his Legion buddies listened, for they knew whereof he spoke.
But we'll hear his tales no longer for old Bill has passed away,
And the world's a little poorer, for a soldier died today.
He will not be mourned by many, just his children and his wife,
For he lived an ordinary and quite uneventful life.
Held a job and raised a family, quietly going his own way,
And the world won't note his passing, though a soldier died today.
When politicians leave this earth, their bodies lie in state,
While thousands note their passing and proclaim that they were great.
Papers tell their whole life stories, from the time that they were young,
But the passing of a soldier goes unnoticed and unsung.
Is the greatest contribution to the welfare of our land
A guy who breaks his promises and cons his fellow man?
Or the ordinary fellow who, in times of war and strife,
Goes off to serve his Country and offers up his life?
A politician's stipend and the style in which he lives
Are sometimes disproportionate to the service that he gives.
While the ordinary soldier, who offered up his all,
Is paid off with a medal and perhaps, a pension small.
It's so easy to forget them for it was so long ago,
That the old Bills of our Country went to battle, but we know
It was not the politicians, with their compromise and ploys,
Who won for us the freedom that our Country now enjoys.
Should you find yourself in danger, with your enemies at hand,
Would you want a politician with his ever-shifting stand?
Or would you prefer a soldier, who has sworn to defend
His home, his kin and Country and would fight until the end?
He was just a common soldier and his ranks are growing thin,
But his presence should remind us we may need his like again.
For when countries are in conflict, then we find the soldier's part
Is to clean up all the troubles that the politicians start.
If we cannot do him honor while he's here to hear the praise,
Then at least let's give him homage at the ending of his days.
Perhaps just a simple headline in a paper that would say,
Our Country is in mourning, for a soldier died today.
Friday, May 21, 2010
Life in Music City
I really can't not believe that I am here. It feels so odd to me that I am actually living in Nashville, TN. The home of country music and home to some of the biggest names in music. The place where Johnny Cash and Elvis recorded. I live only two blocks from Broadway street home to all the bars and honky tonks where many of today's leading country artists got there start. That I am right around the corner from CMT and that I am actually working inside it's sacred halls.
A few months ago it was still just a dream. My application was in the mail and I was awaiting reply with batted breath. And then I receive phone calls and interview with several different departments, all in the hopes of joining their ranks. And then I get the call saying that someone wants to hire me for the summer. To teach me their trade. And I am ecstatic dancing around my room and I began making plans. I search and search and search for a place where I can live. We try friends of friends, craigslist, we search apartment complexes. We make multiple trips up to Nashville and look at dozens of places but none of them fit. I began to give up hope of ever finding something. I make reservations at a hotel. Then the (almost) impossible happens. Two other interns are looking for a roommate. It is like the answer to prayer. I go to orientations on Monday with a renewed sense of hope. I will get to look at the place when I get done that day. All day my stomach is a mass of excitement. 1. because I am walking the hallways of CMT seeing where all the magic takes place and 2. my dream apartment could be awaiting me when the day is done. I finish early. I meet up with one of my (possible) new roommates. I see the place. It is a dream come true. It is perfect.
I tell her I will move in Wednesday, the day I check out of my hotel and the day my mom was planning on coming to Nashville to help me move in somewhere, anywhere. I go home that night back to the hotel more excited than ever. Not only will the next day be the first FULL day of work at CMT, but I have found a place to live. Everything is coming together so nicely.
This experience has more solidified that GOD knows exactly what we need and he will show it to us when the time is right. It may be frustrating, waiting on a plan because you can't see how it will pan out, but GOD always knows. And when you rely on him to guide you, things turn out better than you could ever have planned them yourself. This summer is going to introduce me to so many amazing opportunities. And hopefully some doors will be opened as well. Who knows, maybe I will be back here again this same time next year, but instead of looking for something for the summer, I will be looking for something permanent. Maybe my career will start right here in Nashville. This place is filled with so much opportunity. You can feel it in the air as you walk down Broadway and listen to the sounds of what could be the next big thing or as you casually pass by a star and give them a head nod and a casual hey. Passion and opportunity. This summer will be filled with it.
A few months ago it was still just a dream. My application was in the mail and I was awaiting reply with batted breath. And then I receive phone calls and interview with several different departments, all in the hopes of joining their ranks. And then I get the call saying that someone wants to hire me for the summer. To teach me their trade. And I am ecstatic dancing around my room and I began making plans. I search and search and search for a place where I can live. We try friends of friends, craigslist, we search apartment complexes. We make multiple trips up to Nashville and look at dozens of places but none of them fit. I began to give up hope of ever finding something. I make reservations at a hotel. Then the (almost) impossible happens. Two other interns are looking for a roommate. It is like the answer to prayer. I go to orientations on Monday with a renewed sense of hope. I will get to look at the place when I get done that day. All day my stomach is a mass of excitement. 1. because I am walking the hallways of CMT seeing where all the magic takes place and 2. my dream apartment could be awaiting me when the day is done. I finish early. I meet up with one of my (possible) new roommates. I see the place. It is a dream come true. It is perfect.
I tell her I will move in Wednesday, the day I check out of my hotel and the day my mom was planning on coming to Nashville to help me move in somewhere, anywhere. I go home that night back to the hotel more excited than ever. Not only will the next day be the first FULL day of work at CMT, but I have found a place to live. Everything is coming together so nicely.
This experience has more solidified that GOD knows exactly what we need and he will show it to us when the time is right. It may be frustrating, waiting on a plan because you can't see how it will pan out, but GOD always knows. And when you rely on him to guide you, things turn out better than you could ever have planned them yourself. This summer is going to introduce me to so many amazing opportunities. And hopefully some doors will be opened as well. Who knows, maybe I will be back here again this same time next year, but instead of looking for something for the summer, I will be looking for something permanent. Maybe my career will start right here in Nashville. This place is filled with so much opportunity. You can feel it in the air as you walk down Broadway and listen to the sounds of what could be the next big thing or as you casually pass by a star and give them a head nod and a casual hey. Passion and opportunity. This summer will be filled with it.
Saturday, April 24, 2010
time is a funny thing....
I'm sitting on my couch, looking around at my half packed up dorm room. There are suitcases and boxes everywhere and I find myself contemplating the past school year. As I get older time seems to pass by so much more quickly than it did when I was a kid. As a kid, time seemed to pass by so slowly. You were always counting down to the weekend because there was no school and you can hand out with your friends. Plus who could forget Saturday morning cartoons. I remember getting up EARLY just so that I could watch the good cartoons. Now getting up before 10 on the weekends is like some kind of torture. Now, the weekend comes and goes in a blink of an eye and you haven't even made a dent in your list of to dos so you begin the next week already behind on whatever it is that you were working on. And remember that due date that you circled about when your term paper was due. At the beginning of the school year it seemed so far away, so you procrastinate starting the research until about two weeks before it is due and then the night before it is due comes and you stay up all night to finish. And it is like that date just snuck up on you. One day you look at your calendar and there it is staring you in the face. That circled date marking the day that 35% of your grade will be determined.
Yeah, that definitely happened to me this semester. But it wasn't just one project. Nope I had like 4 or 5 projects all due in the same 48 hour period. So I worked my ass off for about a week getting it all done, some of it early, just so I could do it all. And my film still came down to the wire. We finished editing it about 6 hours before the film festival, after spending 14 hours straight editing it. I was definitely up for about 36 hours. I slept so much the next two days after that. Now this week has been exams. And it has FLOWN by. Seriously. I've had enough time to study and write my take home exams, don't get me wrong, but now I am looking at these boxes that I have started packing and it really hit me. I am finished with another year of university. It is CRAZY!!! I still sometimes feel like I have only just begun. I can still picture myself as that scared little freshman, stepping out on her own for the first time. Yet, here I am. I just emailed my last take home exam off to my prof. I am officially done with my THIRD year of University. OH MYLANTA!!! Next year I will be in my FINAL year of university. THen I will have to go out into the real world. Find a job. Find a apartment. Find a husband (after a few years of course). This scares me a lot more than it should.
I feel like I still rely on my parents for so much. Yet next year when I graduate I will no longer be able to rely on them. I will have to forge my own path in this world. And although I know that I am 'prepared' I just don't know if I am fully ready. University has been such a great experience. I have learned a lot and made friends that I am sure I will be friends with for LIFE! But sitting here I am just thinking that at this time next year I will be leaving this chapter of my life behind. We will all be moving onto bigger and better things. And while I know that we will remain friends and remain connected....Skype anyone?..... it still makes me think. Think about how far we have come and how far we still have to go. I have known these people for three years, yet I am still learning new things about them. I have been at this university for three years, yet there are still profs I have yet to have teach me (that I want to learn from), so many experiences I have yet to experience.
Time just keeps racing by, never stopping. I have this feeling that one day I am going to wake up and find myself in my graduation gown with my whole university career behind me. I hope that when that time comes I feel fulfilled. Because right now, although I have thoroughly enjoyed my university career thus far, and the people whom I associate with there is still something missing. And I'm not sure what it is.
Yeah, that definitely happened to me this semester. But it wasn't just one project. Nope I had like 4 or 5 projects all due in the same 48 hour period. So I worked my ass off for about a week getting it all done, some of it early, just so I could do it all. And my film still came down to the wire. We finished editing it about 6 hours before the film festival, after spending 14 hours straight editing it. I was definitely up for about 36 hours. I slept so much the next two days after that. Now this week has been exams. And it has FLOWN by. Seriously. I've had enough time to study and write my take home exams, don't get me wrong, but now I am looking at these boxes that I have started packing and it really hit me. I am finished with another year of university. It is CRAZY!!! I still sometimes feel like I have only just begun. I can still picture myself as that scared little freshman, stepping out on her own for the first time. Yet, here I am. I just emailed my last take home exam off to my prof. I am officially done with my THIRD year of University. OH MYLANTA!!! Next year I will be in my FINAL year of university. THen I will have to go out into the real world. Find a job. Find a apartment. Find a husband (after a few years of course). This scares me a lot more than it should.
I feel like I still rely on my parents for so much. Yet next year when I graduate I will no longer be able to rely on them. I will have to forge my own path in this world. And although I know that I am 'prepared' I just don't know if I am fully ready. University has been such a great experience. I have learned a lot and made friends that I am sure I will be friends with for LIFE! But sitting here I am just thinking that at this time next year I will be leaving this chapter of my life behind. We will all be moving onto bigger and better things. And while I know that we will remain friends and remain connected....Skype anyone?..... it still makes me think. Think about how far we have come and how far we still have to go. I have known these people for three years, yet I am still learning new things about them. I have been at this university for three years, yet there are still profs I have yet to have teach me (that I want to learn from), so many experiences I have yet to experience.
Time just keeps racing by, never stopping. I have this feeling that one day I am going to wake up and find myself in my graduation gown with my whole university career behind me. I hope that when that time comes I feel fulfilled. Because right now, although I have thoroughly enjoyed my university career thus far, and the people whom I associate with there is still something missing. And I'm not sure what it is.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
The start of spring also brings stress...
As much as I love the spring for its nicer weather and the realization that summer is right around the corner, I also hate this time of year. This is the time of year when I realize that all the procrastination that I employed at the beginning of the semester, when the rainy weather made me want to do nothing but stay in bed and watch movies, is starting to kick me in the ass. All my projects are going to be due soon and I have done barely anything. All of this causes me a lot of stress just thinking about it. Now that the nice weather is here I don't want to be stuck in my room or the library working on projects and papers that may never really affect me in the real world anyway. And the one project that does affect me in the real world (my short film) doesn't seem to be becoming a reality. I wrote the script for my screenwriting class, not really meaning for it to become a film I would actually produce in class. My original idea was that it would be set in NYC but my prof wanted me to film it for class. So now I am trying to work all the details out while still trying to do all my other projects and papers. I can see already that I will probably not get a lot of sleep in the next three weeks.
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