Here's the DL, homedawgs. I have this wicked sweet internship this summer with a theatre festival near where I live. Here's what's gone down for the three days I've worked so far. I'll be updating every day. Or every other day. You get the picture. Enjoyyyy :)
June 28, 2010First night of festival prep. Helped with the layout for festival passes. Printed and cut out 2-week and 4-week passes; numbered them; laminated them. Completed a total of 81 passes. Met the soundboard guy, the light panel guy, and the production manager.
At the very beginning of prep tonight, I received a compliment from my mentor, David. I had suggested a way to keep all the icons on the festival pass while keeping all font type at a legible size, which he and Graeme could not figure out. When on the phone with another festival coordinator, David said that his intern (meaning
moi) is a genius and saved them from getting in trouble with a sponsor who almost got left off of the pass because of layout. (GIRL POWER!) A few minutes later, David basically said that I was talented and that talented people are really helpful to have around. Brownie points for me.
The majority of the night found me putting the passes together. Yes, it was somewhat tedious. But never did I find cutting and laminating not enjoyable. In fact, I was surprised how quickly 4+ hours of paper work went by. I'm the type of person who loves making sure I'm doing things "just so"-- getting lines straight and air bubbles out and whatnot-- so this very necessary part of the festival preparations fit me perfectly. I was able to use my OCD tendencies for the greater good! When I left, I gave David the 81 passes I had completed. Tomorrow I shall conquer the remaining 54!
June 29, 2010Second night of festival prep. Laminated festival passes. Updated festival contact sheet. Made photocopies of contact sheet, theatre floor plan, rehearsal and performance report templates, cue sheets, and 5 of the scripts involved in the festival.
Once again, I experienced the “office side” of theatre. Behind every great show is great organization and preparation, and I’m coming to find that I love being part of the behind-the-scenes side. First, I quickly completed the remaining passes. Next, David asked me to take the contact sheets for four of the companies and compile them onto the festival's master contact sheet in the same way the production manager had arranged the already-compiled company contacts. I felt super duper tech-savvy, being able to copy and paste from Excel into Word with ease. Ha. Needless to say, I finished the contact list much more speedily than my soon-to-come photocopying assignment.
While pushing buttons is amusing, I quickly discovered that photocopying is only fun if you find diversions while waiting for myriad sheets of paper to print. So, as per usual, I hummed the RENT soundtrack to myself and had intrapersonal conversations, among other similar pass-times. At one point, a piece of paper jammed itself into the machine, and so one of the crew members helped me fix the problem.
Everyone is so friendly. Really. Graeme remembered my name right away, and says “hi” to me every time he sees me. Alett is so easy to work with. David is really chill, yet has everything pulled together. Russell, Amanda, and Ken seem nice, too, though I rarely interact with them. Alec sounded really snobby yesterday (silly member of the class of ’10), and we didn’t exchange any words today, but I’m trying (kind of) not to pre-judge him seeing as I don’t really know him.
In conclusion, I love the casual, artsy, able-to-joke-around-while-getting-work-done atmosphere!
June 30, 2010Last day of festival prep. Made photocopies of one more script. Folded curtains and put them in bags. Cleaned the box office; put it in order. Touch up painting on the walls of the theatre.
My time at the theatre once again began with a deluge of rain and an early arrival of 10 minutes ‘til 5. “Darn” and “Yay”, respectively. Kenneth and I got to have a small conversation before everyone else arrived, chatting about college and whatnot (he just graduated from university. Snaps for crew bonding!). He reminds me so, so much of my cousin—their mannerisms are spookily parallel, plus they have the same hair color and similar facial features. OH the oddities of life.
Around 5, the production manager got me the last script to photocopy, so I finished that... not without some photocopier problems, though. Page 10 just getting jammed in the rollerthingamabobber. STUPID MACHINES! GAH! (This mayhap with the photocopier proved to be the only aggravating part of my day).
Amanda (the other intern) and I then folded unused curtains and put them in bags. I had never worked with curtains before, so this was a learning experience. I learned I would not like to work with curtains as part of my future job.
Then, she and I cleaned the box office, a space akin to a second home since I had been photocopying and laminating in it for the past two days.
"Hi, my name is Ellen aaaand... I like to party (like an office worker)!" Hot Rod...ish. (Hm... I think I just sounded lame.)
Amanda and I bonded over cloth folding, rearranging of precariously placed boxes, and discussion about the unnatural nature of how superfluously pasteurized milk needs not be refrigerated (the last of those three having to do with the stash of milk boxes for the theatre's day-time kiddie campers. Gross. The milk, that is... not the kiddies).
Alas, the box office did not need much “cleaning”, so she and I headed back to the theatre, where Graeme duly handed us paintbrushes and a can of glossy black paint. Painting over scuffs and worn portions of the walls provided yet another time of bonding for Amanda and myself. Crew bonding is a wonderful thing.
One piece of information—I suppose you could call it information—which I gained today did not come so much from the work I was doing but from the person with whom I was working. When talking about college, Amanda told me that she had to decide whether to major in drama or biochemical engineering (her university wouldn’t let her double major). This reminded me that I have ample options available to me, that I have choices to make, but that I can be multifaceted. Currently, I don’t know whether to major in theatre, psychology, or education... maybe even graphic design. I know I want to double major for sure, but that requires narrowing the list to two majors,
non? Our exchange of words and anecdotes set firmly in my mind that I will not attend a university if it does not permit me to double major in the fields I wish to pursue. I want (and for the sake of my sanity, need) to keep as many doors open as possible.
But getting back to my internship...
At 7, the powers that be did not have any other tasks for Amanda and me to work on, so she and I were released early.
On a side note, I take back yesterday's statement about Alec being snobby. After making an effort to communicate (*Alec sits a seat away from Amanda and me.* Me: “We don’t bite.” Alec: “Well, then I’ll sit next to you.”), I feel as if our co-working will go swimmingly. Huzzah!
* * * * *To conclude this first post on my new bloggieboo...
HAPPY CANADA DAY, LOVES!
What a wonderful reason to have a party,
eh?
A bientot,-eleanor
