I have well established that my summer with Double R is no ordinary internship experience, which leads to many opportunities. Rosemary is passionate about the separation of families at the border and reminds us that we can help. Our regular Monday meeting was concluded with a challenge. Rosemary urged the staff to brainstorm ideas for a Public Service Announcement (PSA) concerning the topic that had flooded the news. I expected to assist everyone’s effort, but I never anticipated having the freedom to write my own script. Within hours, Rosemary and I were expanding on my ideas and she was pushing me to move forward with the project.
With the initial thrill of an independent project, I jumped into my work. I began by mastering AVID, the non-linear editing system. With dozens of stock photo options, I laid out my first sequence and started experimenting with zooms, pans, and other effects that AVID provides. I consider it a wonderful success that I only hit undo about 10 times. I finished the visual aspect of my PSA and moved onto more unknown territory. I have always struggled with audio, however Woojae was patient enough to answer every question. Despite thousands of options, I selected background music, yet I was unsure what to get into next. At this point, Rosemary checked in and suggested I recruit a staff member to record the script. Paul was kind enough to lend me his talents for the voice over. This meant a trip to the Whisper Room, a special audio recording box constructed specifically for voice recordings. In less than 5 minutes, we had recorded the audio and I was adding it to my project.
My PSA is still a work in progress, but the progress I have made is undeniable. With Double R, I am brainstorming, pitching, and working on my own projects. I have the opportunity to get feedback from my experienced coworkers and learn from my own mistakes. Every time I think I am finished, I find something else to fix, but I guess that is the process of production.
Briana Shriver
Summer 2018