Learning from this semester

My name is Michayla Rose Savitt and this semester, I reached my breaking point. What was I thinking? Simultaneously doing production design for TWO films, one of which I co-wrote & developed? I should have known that doing all the production design for my fiction field 2 film would be too much, since I have a tendency to throw my whole self into every project I do (not a bad quality in all cases, but not great when you also have a thousand and one other obligations).

I also took on a large role in post-production by transferring/logging all the footage, re-writing the script supervisor's notes for our editor, and marking half the sound cues to foley in. And because I was so invested in other parts of pre-production, I don't think the production design was as spectacular as I dreamed it would be. This was super disappointing for me when I thought back to my original goals for my independent study in production design.

Over the break 12 hours total driving time to and from home, I had a lot of time to reflect on the semester thus far. A big reason that I end up going to sleep super late all the time is because I have too much going on during the day with planning for extracurriculars/having one too many radio shifts. The clarity was nice, but slightly upsetting. I realized that I need to discontinue more extracurriculars than I originally thought. I've written about this before, but I think I need to say it again for my own sake so I actually follow it. 

While this is an easy thing to say in theory, it's not easy in practice. I already made the tough decision to discontinue my involvement with the online radio station after this semester, since I have become more involved with the FM station. And like i've mentioned before, I am no longer on the producing team of After Hours. So two things that have been a big part of my life for more than a year, but I think I've gotten all that I can out of them and need to move on.

I'd really like to focus more on the art department side of things now that I have more experience under my belt. I made the decision to only take on positions related to art (aka already said no to producing someone's senior cinema thesis) because I want to further enhance my skills in that department. So far I've been recruited to working art crew for a media thesis, and also for this year's David Ames winning script. So i'm excited for both of those.

After rambling for 5 paragraphs, I'll leave you with some tips about how to stay calm when it feels like everything is about to swallow you whole:
-listen to music that makes you happy
-talk to a friend who can sympathize
-make time to exercise. it helps you blow off steam.
-journal about frustrations
-take 10 minutes out of your day to meditate
-make a list of stressor and number them in order of what's most important to worry about/what is actually under your control.
-hug a friend!!!!!!
-BREATHE.

That is all. Good luck this week, friends.

My Favorite Place On Campus

This semester I'm working as talent coordinator for VIC radio, which is by far the best job I've had. (Even though we only get paid about 5 hours a week.) Some of my responsibilities include training and air-checking our talent, creating the permanent and weekly schedule, attending all of our exec and gen staff meetings, all while creating a welcoming presence to our new DJs.

Chris and I awkwardly Emceeing at Apple Fest.

The station manager and I updated our training program to be implemented this semester. I was really proud of our work, even if it was just adding a short orientation to the training, I believe it made the newbies feel a lot more confident and excited (instead of clueless and terrified) to join our station. A few other goals I have for the semester is to make short tutorial videos and a VIC handbook.

Rush Night. The doors were PACKED.

One thing I really love about the job is getting to know our new DJs. I didn't feel as welcomed my first few semesters on the station, and it was mostly because of the exec. staff at that time. Since then I've always wanted the position so I could make a difference to those newbies and all of our staff. 

Honestly it makes me so proud to see our DJs grow and really find their voice. Since I'll be going to LA this spring, it always makes me super sad in realizing this is my last semester with VIC. I've met some of my best friends here doing radio and we really are our own little family.  I've been involved since freshmen year by picking up shifts, volunteering at events, emceeing and working on my own DJ personality. Now that I'm on exec staff I want to leave VIC knowing I made a huge positive impact for future semesters of playing 'the best of what's next.'

Making our "hipster" rush night video.

*cough cough* If you ever want to listen in, my shift is Wednesday from 12-2pm as well as my specialty show, Under the Covers, Friday from 4-6pm. You can listen on vicradio.org, itunes and coming soon we'll have our own app! 

The Super Not So Secret Gathering of the Technologically Savvy: The National Association of Broadcasters' Convention

Recently, my dad invited me to go to the annual National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) show in Las Vegas this April. Every year, the NAB (Not to be confused with the NBA), holds a convention dedicated to introducing new technology, techniques, and ideas related to the field of broadcast media.

 < < < <  National Association of Broadcasters (NAB)

National Basketball Association (NBA)   > > > >








Every year, over 100,000 industry professionals flock to Las Vegas to participate in the interactive exhibits, on-floor education sessions, and hundreds of product introductions. Apparently, the participation is so great that the size of the show floor is equivalent to that of 19 American football fields.

Here's the "sizzle reel" to get you pumped up about the convention:




Last year, attendees of the 2013 NAB Show got a behind the scenes look at the production of both "Oblivion (2013 film)" and "Oz the Great and Powerful." The Television Luncheon, hosted byNancy O'Dell, featured the induction of American Idol into the Television Hall of Fame with an appearance by Randy Jackson and a live performance by Chris Daughtry. Furthermore, there was a sneak peak presentation of Adobe's (then not yet released) Premiere Pro CS6 editing software and so much more.

The NAB convention not only was the first place to successfully hold a HDTV broadcast, it was also where the Red Digital Cinema Camera was first presented. Representatives from companies worldwide gather in Los Vegas to learn about the newest technologies. Some of the most famous companies with booths include:

Although from the photos below of the event, you can see that these are just a few of the hundreds of companies packed into the convention center. 

 The National Association of Broadcasters, or NAB, is an organization that acts as the voice of the nation's radio and television broadcasters. As the premier trade association for broadcasters, NAB advances the interests of members in the federal government; improves the quality and profitability of broadcasting; encourages content and technology innovation; and spotlights the important and unique ways stations serve their communities. They deal a lot with the law and work to inform policy makers of the primary issues affecting the radio and television broadcast business.

Gordon H. Smith is the current CEO of the NAB as well as a former Oregon Senator. I just want everyone to see how nice and handsome he looks in this picture.

Gordon H. Smith CEO of the NAB

All in all, I'm pretty excited to get a chance to take a look at all the latest industry gadgets as well as do my fair share of networking. I might even get myself a suit.

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

For Fall Break, I went to visit my friend who is studying abroad in Montreal and awkwardly tagged along with her class when they went to visit the CBC, the main broadcasting company in Canada, acting as the national radio and television broadcaster. It was formed in 1936 and is the longest running media corporation in Canada and hosts the most radio and news shows, airing in both English and French.

To start off the tour, we had to put on a fake newscast in a very realistic studio setting. They had students working in the control room and being both news anchors and reporters, the recording lasted about 20 minutes and had 5 segments. Unfortunately, I somehow got roped into being a reporter (because you can't just hang back when a frenchman calls you out) and ended up reading on camera as an automotive expert, and Shanghai reporter, Wong Lee. Complete with fake backgrounds, scripts and external video, it was a completely student run "broadcast" (Sorry for the bad quality of the pictures, they were taken from a phone).

After stumbling our way through that, we took a quick tour of the building, starting off with the main newsroom. They have approximately 200 people constantly monitoring news around the world and maintaining the CBC social media. In the same room they were filming a splitscreen for that evening between an anchor and a reporter on the other side of the room. We then went to go check out on of their main radio studios where they usually air live music and group interviews. While one of the guides played some dramatic background music on the piano, the other explained how the uneven stature of the walls prevented echos and created a very clean and quick sound. The very last stop on the tour was to their main television studio, which is the third largest studio in North America (about 6 times as large as Studio A here, minus the green curtain). They tend to film live studio shows here with an audience, but even then, they only take up about three fourths of the studio. They also mentioned that even with platforms or rugs down, the never show the floor in their studios, and thats how you tell if shows, especially soap operas, are filmed in a studio.

It was very similar to the BBC, which I toured when I studied in London, except the BBC put much more emphasis on their fiction shows, whereas the CBC is mainly news and radio. Also unlike the BBC, CBC employs commercial advertising in addition to it's federal funding, with the exception of radio. The building itself is a very prominent figure in the landscape, with a very futuristic feel to it on the inside.