Week 13

Day 59 (14th January 2015)

To start off the day, we went to Cambridge to arrange the chairs and tables in the Social Hall. After which, we did some clean up to the doors, walls, and ledges of the rooms.

Day 60 (15th January 2015)

We were tasked to shoot an introduction video for Cambridge. To start off, we went to the studio to get some equipments, and went to Cambridge. We first realigned the mirrors, which were stuck to the wall the previous day. After which, we started to shoot the introduction video. It took us some time for the first shot, before moving on to the rest of the shots. There were still a couple of shots left to be done the next day.

Day 61 (16th January 2015)

Today, we continued with the introduction video for Cambridge. Everything went well and the rest of the shots were left to be done the following week.

Day 62 (19th January 2015)

To start off, we continued with the rest of the shots for the introduction video. We were finally finished with the introduction video.

~ Nicholas Lu :) ~

Week 13

Day 1 (12/01/2015)
We visited Expression College in Oakland in the morning where we were given a tour. I've analysed the advantages and disadvantages of the Digital Film making course that I'm interested in and listed them out.

Advantages:
Relaxing Environment
Freedom to shoot/do whatever you want in whatever style you wish
Equipment is more familiar to what I've worked with
Incorporates visual effects into its curriculum 
Equipment can still be loaned out even after you graduate

Disadvantages:
Indie style of shooting and cinematography. Not really to my liking.
The way of working is only "semi-professional"

After the tour, we went to the nearby Guitar Centre to take a look at musical instruments and audio equipment. We then had lunch at a food court nearby where my cheese dog and chocolate shake that I ordered took ages to arrive. After lunch, we went downtown to pick up a package from the Warriors office and then drove back to Silver and played around with the Steadicam, this time trying to put an EX1 on it instead of the large PMW 300. Unfortunately, it didn't work due to issues with the base plate screws not being the right size.

Day 2 (13/01/2015)
We visited the Academy of Arts University (AAU) in the morning where we were given a tour of the facilities used by the Motion Picture and Television course. Once again, I listed the advantages and disadvantages.

Advantages:
Industry standard style of working and equipment (Mole Richardson lights may be similar to the ARRIs but somehow speaks of Hollywood professionalism)
Cinematography is more to my liking

Disadvantages:
Not as relaxing as Expression College
Facilities are located all over downtown San Francisco. Requires a lot of travelling around. Although there is a very impressive shuttle bus system that they provide
Seems rather competitive although that may be a good thing.

After the tour, we had the rest of the day off and we walked around Union Square and somehow ended up in Chinatown.

Day 3 (14/01/2015)
We returned to Cambridge today to set up some tables and chairs in the Social Hall (Apparently last week was not the end of our job at Cambridge as I previously mentioned.) We also cleaned and polished the wall ledges, the window ledges and the doors of the rooms.

Day 4 (15/01/2015)
Today, we are to shoot an introduction video for Cambridge. We picked up some equipment from the studio which included a tripod, a slider, a light kit and a monitor. We then drove to Cambridge where we had to pull the mirrors that we stuck on the wall the previous day as they were out of alignment. It was then a painful process to put the mirror back on the wall with the correct alignment. 

After that, we had lunch before driving back. During the journey, I felt sick and had to throw up. I probably shouldn't have eaten doughnuts and a cup of terrible tasting macaroni and cheese before going to a buffet. 

I took a 20 minutes break in my room before I felt restless and decided to walk over to Cambridge. We started shooting the video. The first shot took a while as we were still figuring out the equipment and the 'set design', but the rest of the shots took less time and we finished enough shots for the day. The remainder of the shots were to be completed the next day.

Day 5 (16/01/2015)
We returned to Cambridge in the morning to continue the shoot. The shoot went smoothly and we were able to complete the shots that we needed to do before lunch. The remainder of the shots such as the Teachers' dining room and the mirror room were to be done on Monday as we are only able to set those rooms up on that day itself.

After lunch, I edited the GoPro time laspe footage of the English ChristmaSing setup. The editing part was easy. Its just the lag and the rendering time which I'm not really sure what the cause is but I believe it is the large file size of the image sequence. We then had the rest of the day off to go to Chinatown to buy some souvenirs for people back in Singapore.

Returning home from the Chinatown trip, I continued editing the GoPro footage and rendered it.

Day 6 (17/01/2015)
Today, we helped out in a music video shoot that is directed by Traci. She requested our help as she only had a skeleton crew for the shoot. We drove over to San Jose and picked up the equipment before driving to the location. I had the opportunity to touch the GH4 and the FS7 even though it was only a quick look at the cameras. It was probably the first camera that I touched that had internal 4K recording capabilities. 

The lighting setup was somewhat problematic as the lights kept casting shadows and the back light was difficult to setup due to cramp space that we had to put the light in. After some tweaking, the shadow problem was reduced and we started shooting. I could see that their method of shooting is different from Singapore. Its what I call the "American" style of shooting similar to what I've read in books and watched on Youtube. I of course prefer that method of shooting.

We finished the shoot and dismantled all the equipment which was quick and efficient and drove the equipment back to the company that owns it. We then return back to San Francisco.

Day 7 (18/01/2015)
Today is the final day which we are going to do the church service. For the Cantonese service, I was the Engineer and for English service, I supervised and taught kids that were in training on how to operate the equipment during the service.

We had the rest of the day off and I decided to stay in, take a nap, fix my fellow intern's laptop adapter and pack my room as well write some farewell letters to the people that I met here in SF. 

Week 13

12 Jan 2015

Good morning everyone, we started out the day by heading to expression college. I had a really wonderful time there as I got alot of insights of the college. It make me feel like studying again.

After that we headed to guitar centre, before having lunch. After lunch we head to downtown oakland to pick up something from the golden states warriors office. 

After that, we went back to sliver and reconfigure the steadicam. We tried to mount it with the EX 1 but it didnt work out because the washer was too thick to fit in so we decided to called it a day. 

13 Jan 2015

Good morning all , today we headed to AAU, Academy of Arts University to have a look at the motion pictures and televisions course. I was very impressed and was sold to their school. We also have a mini discussion with the admission office that gave us valuable insights on the course that we want to go to. It was a really a good experience. 

  

14 Jan 2015

Good morning everyone started off the day at Cambridge. We works on fixing the mirrors up, arranging the chairs and tables for social halls and lastly polishing doors. We spray a layer of liquid over it and clean it over with a dry cloth.

After lunch I headed over to sliver and have a pre production meeting with Harry and Lisoon. After the meeting I went back to Cambridge and did a location recee of the rooms we need to film for the facilities video.  After we are set, me and Alex then did some marking on wall and measure how out how we want to hang the paintings. 

We called it a day after that.  

15 Jan 2015

Good morning everyone. Today we started out with loaning equipment to shoot Cambridge facilities promotional video. We cover 7 locations and everything go smoothly despite early hiccup of the art directions and the slider which wasnt really smooth. Harry manage to solve the problem by wedging some wedges in between. After the shoot I went back and did some offline cut for it .  

16 Jan 2015

Good morning everyone. Today we started out with shooting the remaining shots for Cambridge facilities promotional video. The set up was even faster than yesterday because we have all get use to the restrictions and workflow of each other. We cover another 5 shots and called it a day. The remaining two shots we decided to do it on Monday as the Art directors need to prepare the stuff and it wasnt ready. 

After the shoot I went back and did the offline cut and make some minor changes based on the client comments.  

Week 12

Day 54 (05th January 2015)

It's the first day of January 2015! We helped out with the photoshoot for the cornerstone singers two days ago. Today, we took down the lights used for the photoshoot yesterday. After which, we packed the studio and went to purchase three metal racks. When we were done assembling the racks, we went to sort out the various items in the studio into new boxes and placed them neatly onto the racks.

Day 55 (06th January 2015)

Today we started the day by getting the required tools from the studio and trailer, and proceeding to Cambridge. We were tasked to assemble 9 bunk beds for the Cambridge dorms. It was pretty challenging and took us quite a while to assemble the first set. After assembling 3 of it, we headed back to Silver and tore some cardboard boxes in the studio and packed some remaining reels of cables.

Day 56 (07th January 2015)

Continuing from what was left yesterday, we assembled the remaining beds and fixed up some drawers. After which, we took out the new mattresses and placed them on the newly assembled beds. We then put the bedsheets, blankets and pillows in place.

Day 57 (08th January 2015)

Today we started off the day by going to Cambridge. We finished putting the remaining bedsheets in place, before heading back to Silver. At Silver, we had to work on a few more rooms, laying bedsheets, putting the towels in place. After which, we went to the studio to crush some plastic bottles and metal cans, as well as sorting them into the respective categories, plastic, metal, and glass. Tomorrow, we will be going to a recycle centre.

Day 58 (09th January 2015)

To start off the day, we went to the recycle centre to sell our recycled materials. After which, we went back to Cambridge to replace all the batteries for the clocks, and cleaned the mirrors in the hall. We then went on to cleaning all the dorms on level 3. After we are done with it, we headed back to Silver, and tidied up some stuffs in the studio. We were taught by Mr Phil on how to safely operate the Steadicam. Some of us tried it on before calling it a day.

~ Nicholas Lu :) ~

Week 12

05 Jan 2015

Good morning everyone today we started the day by packing up a part of the studio tearing up the lights we use yesterday and cleaning up the mess from christmassing and transition from studio to trailer.

Before lunch we tear down the set design at the sanctuary and pack all the christmas trees back into the store.

After lunch we headed to lowes and get some racks.

After getting those racks, we then pack our cables and stuff into boxes. We categorize them before putting them into the racks we just build.

After clearing the studio floor here is the end results all racks up with the boxes we bought and labeled in category. We call it a day after the packing. 

06 Jan 2015

Good Morning everyone , we started out the day by packing up tools and the miscellaneous stuff from studio and trailer for cambridge .

After that we headed to Cambridge with the tools . Today we suppose to build bunk beds for Cambridge dorms . A total of 9 beds .

The first one we started were pretty slow . We only completed the first bunk bed after lunch .

After lunch we manage to complete 2 more bunks . Alex decided to call it a day at Cambridge at about 3pm . He wanted us come in tomorrow and finish it up instead . We then headed back to silver .

At silver we then tear down cardboard pieces from the camera boxes and place those leftover reel from installation in the phone room and called it a day .

07 Jan 2015

Good morning everyone started out the day at Cambridge to finish up the remaining beds that we didnt complete yesterday.

After that we lay all the sheets for the bed and pillows for level three. We decided to work on level 2 tomorrow so we build the side table for some of the rooms.

The quality of the side table was really bad so make do with what we have and build 2 and intended to refund 1.

We called it a day after we finish up the side tables. 

08 Jan 2015

Good morning everyone. Today we started out in Cambridge to finish up laying the remaining sheets for the bed after that we headed to sliver to work on another 6 rooms as there is a cultural group coming.

After making the beds, we took a mini break before heading to the studio to crush bottles/cans for recycling. As is taking alot of space in the front entrance of studio so we decided to head to the recycling center tomorrow sell those materials. 

We called it a day after bagging those cans into 4 big bags. 

09 Jan 2015

Good morning everyone , we started out the day by heading to the recycling centre to sell our bottles/cans that we crush yesterday . 

We place those in bins before heading to weight stations . 

We were expecting the amount of our recyclable materials to be around $100 but in the end we only earn $40.40 

After that we headed back to Cambridge to clean up the hall mirror . 

After finishing up cleaning . We head for lunch . After lunch , me and nicholas tag team to clean up all the dorms on lvl 3 in Cambridge  . We dust off the bed and doors . After finishing cleaning it . We call it a day at Cambridge and transported some dictionary back to sliver . 

At sliver we then tidy up the some loose items that someone have donated. After tidying it up . Phi took out the steadicam and set up . It was really old school i think it was probably like one of the older generation .

After phi demonstrate to us the procedure. I went on try it . The first time i was having problem as i worn the vest to low after a reconfiguration I was able to get it right and was able to move around with it . 

After the steadicam session we called it a day . 

11 Jan 2015

Good morning everyone, we started out with Cantonese service. For this service, I set up everything for the camera / streaming and etc. After that I directed the service, I had a minor hiccup during the service. The youtube streaming hang and I lost 20 minutes of live. The whole computer just frozed. After that it continue to stream. 

Luckily we got back up recording system so we will be uploading it back on youtube tomorrow the full service. It was definitely fun directing again. 

Here is the Cantonese Service

After that for English service, I helped with the streaming and guide the new boys for engineering and remote camera operation. After that i went to learn how to do sound from nicholas. 

We called it a day after the service ended.  

Week 12
Day 1 (05/01/2015)
Today, after a long Christmas break (in which I was ill with flu and fever and I am still ill today), we started out the day by dismantling the lights that we used the previous day. After that, we went out to Lowes to buy 3 racks for the stuff that are in the studio. This time, we bought racks that are stronger and more rigid than the previous one. We then set up the racks one by one and packed up the stuff in the studio into plastic bins and placed them neatly onto the racks.

Day 2 (06/01/2015)
Today, the work we have to do is quite different from what we have done previously. We were to head to the Cambridge Site to built built and set up the beds at the dormitories there. We picked up the tools we needed and drove over. While my fellow interns were constructing the beds on the second floor, I was to carry up bags of pillows, blankets and the covers for them to the third floor. After that, I counted and put the appropriate number of items needed in each room depending on the number of beds. After lunch, I helped out in the construction of 2 of the beds before heading back to Silver to break down some cardboard boxes and carry some cable boxes and reels.

Day 3 (07/01/2015)
We continued work at Cambridge today. I was to help out in putting the covers of the pillows and blankets on the third floor. It was a really tedious and long task but working in pairs helped to speed up the process especially in putting in the blanket covers. I also used the vacuum cleaner to clean the floors of some of the rooms.

Day 4 (08/01/2015)
We started the day back in Cambridge where we continued to work on the blanket and pillow covers as well as bed sheets on the second floor. We then returned to Silver to work on the beds of 6 more rooms, laying bed sheets, putting in pillow covers, once again working in pairs to speed up the process. 

After working on the beds, we went up to the studio to crush some water bottles and aluminum cans and put them into garbage bags for recycling.

Day 5 (09/01/2015)
We went to the recycling centre in the morning to sell the bottles and cans that we crushed the previous day. Unfortunately, we did not get the amount of money we expected. We returned to Cambridge and I worked on removing the labels that were on the newly constructed beds which took quite a while as there were lots of labels, one of each part of the bed. After lunch, I continued to remove the labels and I wiped down the beds and doors of the rooms on the second level. That was the end of our job at the Cambridge site. 

We then returned to Silver to pack up some of the stuff in the studio. Phil then taught us how to set up and use the Steadicam that they had, which was a really old model.

Day 7 (11/01/2014)
Like every Sunday, we shot the Cantonese and English church service in the morning. For the Cantonese service, I was the remote camera operator and for the English service, I was a camera operator in the Sanctuary. I have not seen our boss Harry for the past few days as he is quite ill and I wish him well and a speedy recovery. I am still ill and coughing myself after more than 2 weeks, but I have given up trying to manage it and I'll just let the illness run its course. Suffice to say, I can't resist all the delicious but unhealthy food anymore.

Week 11
Day 3 (31/12/2014)
Today's evening, we had the Watchnight and Baptism service where I was the remote camera operator. We just returned from Lake Tahoe and I was still sick and coughing continuously during the service. But the shoot wasn't intense or stressful at all and I had no problems except with my upper respiratory tract.