Well, I've done it again. I started a blog that I was very diligent about for the first week, then unintentionally abandoned.
Well, now I actually have good reason to write! As you may or may not know, I started working for Disney this past Monday (Oct. 29th.) It has been great fun so far, and very overwhelming! The behind the scenes backstage world of the Disney parks is essentially its own universe; the cast members and employees of Disney are a whole community that goes way beyond anything I ever imagined. So, I thought it would be a good idea to record all the things I get to do, and all the things I am learning, because you won't find this in any book!
My first day, I arrived very early (7am) at Hollywood Studios (the actual studios on the backlot) for a film shoot. When I got to the gate, they couldn't find my name in the system as having access (I didn't have a Disney ID card yet.) So, after much deliberation, they decided to send me around to the Television parking lot of the park, where cast members park. Well, of course my name wasn't there either, so when I finally got in touch with my coworker, Dan, he ended up meeting me at Fantasia mini golf, where he picked me up and we rode over to the shoot. The shoot was very straightforward - we filmed the President of New Vacation Operations and Disney Cruise Line, Karl Holz, giving an introductory speech to the attendee of an upcoming EcoSummit (to talk about green energy for the company.) It was super windy and super cold outside so my coworkers and I tried to convince Karl's underlings that we should shoot inside so that we could light him and not have the audio issues of the wind to deal with. Apparently everyone was too scared to stand up to Mr. Holz to ask him to go inside, so we shot the piece in hurricane winds (literally :)). After the shoot, I had lunch with other members of Broadcast Production, who have lunch together every day at either Brother Bear in (what used to be) the Animation Building or Take 5 Cafe, a small cafeteria on the backlot that is just for cast members! It was really neat to step into this area of the park that I've never seen before.
After lunch, we brought the footage back to the studio at the Roy O. Disney building and set up the project for me to edit the next day. After lunch it was time for me to go out to Disney U. (Disney University - where all new cast members go to receive Disney 101 training) to get my new ID card. This area, which I also never knew about, is right behind (north of) the Magic Kingdom. The area where you get your ID was basically like a less terrible version of the DMV - they even had you take a number and get called up to then get your picture taken and a card made. For some reason, they had me in the system as Dana Miller...so I have to get that fixed later. While we were up there, Dan also showed me an area called Property Control, where cast members can go to buy discontinued or overstocked merchandise for a discount. There is even a building where they send old furniture from resorts and other areas around the parks and sell it or auction it to cast members! Part of this building also had a food market with fresh fruit and dairy products that cast members could buy for very cheap. It's part of Disney's way of helping out their cast members who possibly don't make very much money, and their way of helping to promote healthy living. It was weird - when I stepped into this building was when I really felt like I had entered a new world. On the way back I got to see the monorail garage, and the area where all the fireworks are kept for the entire park. Crazy stuff!!
 |
| Last name spelling fail :) |
My second day, yesterday, I spent essentially the whole day editing the Karl Holz piece. What was supposed to be a simple edit ended up being not so simple because of all the wind mixed in with his voice!! What a nightmare! I'm not an audio expert (that's why I stick to video and let the audio team deal with stuff) but for this piece, it was basically up to me to fix, so I spend half the day cleaning up the audio and the other half of the day finding b-roll to go with it and actually editing the video. When the systems guy came in and listened, he suggested that we send the audio to one of the audio guys here. Well, when we got it back, it sounded like he hadn't really changed anything...and actually, my supervisors decided they liked my cleanup much better!! (woot.)
 |
| Windy Audio... |
Later in the day, we heard the news that Disney bought out Lucasfilm!!!!! So the whole team and I went crazy just talking about all the possibilities that could entail. Mostly we all think they should open a fifth park that is entirely Star Wars. Just think about it: there could be Star Wars rides, shows, and even hotels!! Palpatine's Penthouse, Cloud City Resort, Tatooine Homesteads...ohhh my. But the best news is that they are releasing three more Star Wars films! Ohhh what a great day yesterday was.
Today I am finishing up the Karl Holz piece. The client, an executive over at Animal Conservation Programs, really loved it! She didn't even notice the wind (or at least didn't think it was too bad) and loved the music and b-roll. Hooray! It's exporting now, and then I'll begin work on my next piece.
Earlier today, me and the other TERP (contractor) went over to Team Disney to help two new Disney Ambassadors in training with their media training. Basically it was a session to help them get comfortable being interviewed on camera by a reporter. So some of the experienced Disney media people were there coaching them and asking them questions, and making them aware of certain techniques when being interviewed, as well as some bad tics they have that they need to stop doing :) We filmed their interviews and played them back for them so that they could see how they did. Pretty simple. Thankfully this was inside in a conference room so there was no wind to worry about!! It was good for me because it gave me a chance to get familiar with some more of the gear we have here (the Sony EX3, the wireless mics, the tripods, etc.) Now I am back at the editing station and am going to encode the videos and send them back to the client so they can keep them for teaching purposes.
I'm learning so much and am really enjoying the job so far. Even though I'm not technically a full-time Disney employee, and don't get a lot of the perks of a "real" cast member, I actually get a better hourly rate. As a TERP, I can turn down any job they call me for, and can request more hours at any other area of the park if Broadcast Production doesn't have enough going on to schedule me. So it's very flexible. Though, this week and next week they are super slammed with requests, so I am working 40 hours, basically as if I was full-time anyway! I had a good time talking with James, the other TERP, who has been one for 2 years and actually turned down a full-time position because it would have been a big pay cut after he has just received a raise.
ANYWHO! I am super excited to continue to work here and be a part of this amazing company. Stay tuned for more behind the scenes here on my blog very soon :)
.JPG)