My Last Blog

Today is April 29^th 2013, my last day as an intern for The Jackson Group Interactive. While my ride at JGI might be over and my larger journey just beginning, my time at JGI will always be remembered as fondly as any. The people here at JGI have been absolutely wonderful to me and I have learned so much in the process. From the first step I took in the building to interview for the internship until my last step out today, my semester working at JGI has been absolutely wonderful. My bosses have given me responsibilities which I hope I have fulfilled. I always took every assignment as seriously as I could. I heard a saying once, it goes, “show me an intern that only triples your work and I’ll give him or her a kiss.” I hope that was not the case with me. I worked as hard as I could to try to make as great of work as I possibly could have while I was here. The tough part is balancing learning (which I have done a heck of a lot of) with production. I don’t think I could’ve gotten such an experience elsewhere. Whether it was working on a video projects for clients like Williams-Sonoma, or Catawba Valley Community College, or getting to sit in on a meeting discussing projects for clients. Seeing how true professionals go about their work has been such an amazing opportunity and learning experience. I know that there is no possible way that I could give everyone at JGI as much as they gave me.

The lessons I have learned have been beyond description. The most important lesson I have learned though, is how to make videos for other people. Before I came to JGI, I made videos for myself. Whether it was for school, or outside projects, I had one person to satisfy, me. I say this because if I was satisfied with a video, then everyone around me was too. Making videos for others means you are not looking to satisfy yourself. You want to make someone else’s vision come true. Making videos for other people is a new style entirely. I learned that although I might be satisfied with how something looks, it might not be what a client is going for in that particular video. And as an aspiring filmmaker, that is very important. Recording podcasts was always a highlight of my day-to-day work at JGI. From Chick Chat, to Footcandle Films, to CAHPS Cast to News Mesh, I thoroughly enjoyed every recording session. Seeing the highly skilled people at JGI, and how much they enjoy their work has been an affirmation. The spirit at JGI is contagious. I’ve never worked with such generous people before. My bosses inspired me to work harder than I ever have, because they inspired me to try to make any projects worthy of the JGI name. To see a video through a different pair of eyes. To make sure the cut was in the right place on a video. They have shown the patience of saints as they explained their world to me. And even more patience as I fumbled around trying to figure out which microphone number was which. But most importantly of all, I have learned to love what I do. JGI gets ahead because the people I work with love what they’re doing. They make it easy to work hard, and to push myself harder. The spirit is contagious.

I don’t know what the future holds. But I do know that I will always look back on my time at JGI with a very warm fondness. The countless lessons I have learned have given me a base of experience to work off of. No matter where life takes me in the future, I will be the best prepared person in the room because of how closely I got to work with JGI and The MESH.

Nick

As I sit here on my last day of interning, I look back a couple months ago and think about all the stuff that I’ve learned while I have been here at JGI & The MESH. My final blog will be short and sweet because that’s how I would describe my time interning here. It’s been extremely short, but at the same time, I feel like I’ve been here forever. It’s most certainly been sweet as well because all the 70-cent candy that I ate in Ron’s store.

I’ve learned an abundance amount of important skills that will eventually help me in the real world like: learning to write detailed press releases, how to direct a simple video like the Harlem Shake, and how a podcast network works.

This internship has been an experience that has gradually trained me how to behave and work in the “real” world. Everyone that I’ve encountered with on a daily basis has been super helpful and I thank you for that.

One thing that I will miss most: My comfy office couch.

Over and out

Kaitlyn

Intern work has ratcheted up. For the past week I’ve been working on two exciting yet time consuming video projects. I have been very determined to get the job done in a manner befitting the Jackson Group Interactive title. The process has been hard, and I’ve certainly learned a lot along the way.

The first assignment that was given to me was for Williams-Sonoma. On my second day as an intern, I got to tag along with the group to a Williams-Sonoma factory. There, we shot the building of a piece of furniture. My assignment was to put together a short video on building a couch. My first attempt did not go as well as I would’ve liked. The possibilities for these videos are endless. What I came up with was a little jarring for the audience. But my brilliant bosses helped me see what they thought the video should look like. After a few days of tweaking and some notes, I feel like I finally have a product that is worthy of showing. And a better feel for how videos like these should be made.

My second video was also a challenge. In February, Catawba Valley Community College celebrated Black History Month with a ceremony on its campus. This was shot with two cameras. So I got to get my first crack at multi camera editing. Editing is an art form. Single camera editing, while time consuming, is my backbone in the video/film industry. Multi camera editing is a completely different art form. Choosing which angle to go with, not knowing if someone might walk in front of the camera, or if the camera is going to shift is an interesting and completely different way to edit. It was painfully slow for me at the beginning. I really try to make things as clean as possible. But in a situation like that, clean takes time to find. I had to go back and change angles many many times. But after a lot of trial and error, I finally found a good formula and made my way through the two hour ceremony.

Getting to edit videos like the ones I was assigned is a fantastic challenge. I feel very grateful that the people above me allow me to do work like this. In return for their trust, I try my absolute hardest to try to return with a video that fits in to the professional, and clean videos produced at Jackson Group Interactive.

Nick