Work Experience
Work experience is important when trying to apply for a job or a career. It shows that you're up for the task and know what to expect.
For my work experience, I decided to get in contact with a friend that lives in Phoenix, Arizona, United States.
I first got in contact with Hilton Menezes when I went travelled to America in 2013. I stayed 1 week in Florida, then stayed in 2 weeks in Phoenix Arizona. Hilton got day to show us around the studio where he works, the Channel 3 TV News Studio. There was where I discussed with him about working and getting some experience working inside a TV studio.
2013 August.
My next door neighbour is relatives to Hilton, so I managed to get back into contact with Hilton in November 2014 and further discuss my work experience. Together we arranged transport and accommodation whilst he discussed about the position I would be working as whilst with him. a few days later, everything was arranged, and I managed to book air flights to Phoenix, Arizona, US.
In December 2014, I was packed and ready to travel to America.
Once there, Hilton picked me up from the airport and took me to his house where I was to stay for the next week.
Hilton works as a cameraman, filming around the Phoenix city area and outskirts. he also works as an editor, who edits the video that he films, to make it into a TV news documentary.
I was to work close with him and shadow him, follow him around with the news cast team and also learn and take notes to better my experience.
THE START - December 2014
My week started on a Monday 8th December 2014. Being Arizona, it was still a hot day, although mid winter. I was to be there for 1 week before travelling back home.
On the 21st October 2014, I received a letter from Mr. Paul Roberts confirming the dates for my stay and work at Channel 3 AZ News.
On the 21st October 2014, I received a letter from Mr. Paul Roberts confirming the dates for my stay and work at Channel 3 AZ News.
Monday 8th December (10 hours - 10 hours complete)
07:00am - To arrive in the news centre and be stationed. Introduced to everyone around the working area and to also the bosses.
08:00am - Hilton was talking to his team about a new documentary about caravans in the area.
10:00am - The team and myself went out in the news van to the location which took 40 minutes to get to. this is where we set up the cameras and the presenter.
11:00am - the presenter was talking about the story, whilst I monitored the camera Hilton was using. it was interesting to see how the cameras work, how heavy and sturdy they were, and also the price of them.
15:00pm - the presenting was finished and we headed back to the studio to sort out the clips.
16:00pm - the clips were sorted and we were ready to upload them to the computers for tomorrows editing sessions.
17:00pm - the shift was finished for the editors before the night shift editors could work. we headed back home.
Tuesday 9th December (10 hours - 20 complete)
07:00am - up again for the next day. today we will be doing the editing for the piece about the caravans. I wasn't too sure about how long this will take, but was eager to see a professional at work, editing something that we filmed yesterday.
08:00am - the clips were already sorted yesterday afternoon, but we still had to upload them to the editing software. the editing software they used at C3 was NCH Editing Software Pro. Although the technique was the same, the layout was different so it took me a while to relate to the layout and compare it to Avid Media Composer.
09:00am - the clips were only about 25% uploaded, so we decided to have a breakfast in the canteen. we wasted about 40 minutes there just talking about the job and how he got to that position. Hilton explains to me that he started out working at C3 by being a floor sweeper. he gradually worked up towards his position in the 6 years he had been working there.
11:00am - the clips were finally uploaded and we went through them all again and put them into bins, folders, and files and started a new project on NCH software. it turns out that we needed just a few ambiance clips and sounds to overlay the quietness in some parts of the 10 minute documentary about caravans and caravaneers in the Phoenix area.
12:00am - Lunch
13:00pm - Hilton and I set out to record ambiance sounds and clips to overlay the clips. he put himself on camera equipment and me on sound, with him guiding me on the equipment usage.
15:00pm - finished the recording and headed back to the studio to finish off the uploading. Hilton was slightly worried about being behind on the editing but we had plenty of time as it was going to be broad casted on the Thursday, which meant we had all day tomorrow to edit the piece.
16:00pm - the sorting and the uploading was all finished and finally ready to be edited into the documentary.
17:00pm - finished for the day.
Wednesday 10th December (10 hours - 30 hours complete)
07:00am - arrived in the studio to start the editing sequence as soon as possible. it was to be a full day of working in the tight space in his office to edit the piece before the deadline tomorrow.
9:00am - been editing the piece so about an hour now and it's already coming along quite nicely. the foundation of the documentary is set and we're just filling in the little details such as sound variations and lighting.
13:00pm - the editing has been finished and we're ready to export it. the video is only 5 minutes long but it did take a while to sort out the little details during the editing process.
16:00pm - we're all finished with the export and we're ready to hand it in via email, the news system database and also on DVD. I was told this is so that there is comfort in knowing that if 1 way fails, we have another 2 things to rely on for the main documentary. this is so that there isn't a risk of losing all the work that we've done so far.
17:00pm - Home time. Finished for the day.
Thursday 11th December (10 hours - 40 hours complete)
7:00am - arrived and went straight to the office where Hilton works. He needed to sort out some old projects and store them in a new TB machine.
9:00am - Hilton finished transferring the old projects to the new TB machine.
10:00am - The caravan documentary was ready for showing, and it was to be viewed at 10:20am.
10:20am - the show went up on live television without a flaw in the editing sequence. it was strange for me to see it go up on the main screen, but for Hilton, it was obviously normal for him.
14:00am - been just sorting out old files on the TB, and sorting it via date of creation.
16:00am - been a bit of boring afternoon, just sorting out files on the computer and making coffees.
17:00am - time to go home.
________________________________________________________________________________
It has been 4 days since starting my work experience at Channel 3 AZ News. It has gone quickly and I've learnt a lot about how busy people are in the buildings, about how the live shows go out on the television, and how the people in the gallery work when they are live editing the shows.
I have been thanked for joining the team for the past week, and I have been told that I am welcome back at any time, either for more volunteered work experience, or more hopefully, a permanent employee. I look forward til I next travel to Arizona to meet up with the staff there again.
9:00am - been editing the piece so about an hour now and it's already coming along quite nicely. the foundation of the documentary is set and we're just filling in the little details such as sound variations and lighting.
13:00pm - the editing has been finished and we're ready to export it. the video is only 5 minutes long but it did take a while to sort out the little details during the editing process.
16:00pm - we're all finished with the export and we're ready to hand it in via email, the news system database and also on DVD. I was told this is so that there is comfort in knowing that if 1 way fails, we have another 2 things to rely on for the main documentary. this is so that there isn't a risk of losing all the work that we've done so far.
17:00pm - Home time. Finished for the day.
Thursday 11th December (10 hours - 40 hours complete)
7:00am - arrived and went straight to the office where Hilton works. He needed to sort out some old projects and store them in a new TB machine.
9:00am - Hilton finished transferring the old projects to the new TB machine.
10:00am - The caravan documentary was ready for showing, and it was to be viewed at 10:20am.
10:20am - the show went up on live television without a flaw in the editing sequence. it was strange for me to see it go up on the main screen, but for Hilton, it was obviously normal for him.
14:00am - been just sorting out old files on the TB, and sorting it via date of creation.
16:00am - been a bit of boring afternoon, just sorting out files on the computer and making coffees.
17:00am - time to go home.
________________________________________________________________________________
It has been 4 days since starting my work experience at Channel 3 AZ News. It has gone quickly and I've learnt a lot about how busy people are in the buildings, about how the live shows go out on the television, and how the people in the gallery work when they are live editing the shows.
I have been thanked for joining the team for the past week, and I have been told that I am welcome back at any time, either for more volunteered work experience, or more hopefully, a permanent employee. I look forward til I next travel to Arizona to meet up with the staff there again.
