Daybreak TV Productions

I contacted the Executive Producer at Daybreak TV Productions, via printed letter and inquired about a potential internship with the company. My mother had worked with her for the company in the past and was the one who recommended I try to get an internship with the company since I have an interest in video production. The family connection helped me get the internship.

When I met with Claire for the first time, she asked me if there was any aspect of the company in particular to which I wanted exposure. I told her that I would like to get some experience with equipment. I told her this because I had already obtained academic experience in video production from taking video production courses and I wanted to have more hand-on experience. She was pleased to here this and agreed to it.

I enjoyed this internship because it gave me an opportunity to do more hands-on work related to video production. I could see myself doing this kind of work in the future. I recommend this internship for anyone who is interested in doing more hands-on video production work like I was.

10/30/2015 – 9:45 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. (006 hrs 15 min)

The company still uses analog equipment and sends its video productions to the TV station on tapes. The editing software currently in use is Avid, but another editing station that uses Premiere will be added later.

There was an outside location shoot near Niagara Falls for which I set up the tripod and light reflector.

11/13/2015 – 9:45 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. (006 hrs)

The production crew recorded two televised masses at a chapel today. Paula DeAngelis was the director. John Epolito and Ashley Czarnota were the camera operators. Peter Herrmann was in charge of sound. I was the one who prepared the graphics for the live production, which were edited in live by Paula.

11/20/2015 – 9:49 a.m. to 4:09 p.m. (007 hrs 20 min)

The dual monitor Adobe Premiere editing station arrived at the office today. A delivery man brought in all parts for it in multiple boxes. I helped Peter Herrmann and Bob Karaszewski unbox it and set it up in an open area that had been designated for the new station.

Peter had given me an overview of the camera and sound mixer before the editing station arrived. After the set-up for the station was complete, the camera was connected to the system and a minute of color bars and audio tone was recorded and imported into the editing program live as a test. The recording worked, but only 51 seconds of the minute were saved. Also, when the footage was put in the timeline, played, and paused, a sample of the tone kept playing over and over again. We were unable to discover the cause of these problems.

12/17/2015 – 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. (007 hrs 30 min)

The issues we encountered with Premiere have been resolved since my previous visit.

A studio shoot with Bishop Malone involving use of a green screen and teleprompter occurred. Claire, who is the one who normally documents the time codes and run times for each take, had to leave early and I filled in for her for the last take.

After lunch, Peter and I continued our Premiere experimentation and I downloaded Audacity and demonstrated how to use it for noise reduction.

12/22/2015 – 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. (007 hrs 30 min)

When I arrived, I found Andy Golebiowski watching a Christmas special the company had produced. He was checking it for errors. He asked me to watch it for errors when he had to leave the control room for a short time. I noticed a piece of audio that didn’t belong in the final video was still in it and informed him of the problem when he returned.

At 10:00 a.m., Paula, John, Peter, Ashley, and I departed from Daybreak for a location shoot. The location shoot was at Canisius High School, which was the high school I attended from Fall 2009 to Spring 2013. I was unaware that we would be shooting here and they were unaware that I had previously gone to this school, so we were each surprised in one way or another.

The video for which we shot footage was about Fr. Betti’s efforts to restore a large Nativity set, which was on display in the school’s chapel. I shot some B-roll footage of the set. (Also, when Fr. Betti greeted us, he recognized me.)

At 12:30 p.m., we returned to Daybreak. After lunch, Peter and I tried and failed to find good Blu-Ray burning software. After that, there was a staff meeting. I sat in on the meeting. After the meeting was over, Peter and I tried and failed to render MP4 video using Adobe Premiere. (The program kept rendering the video as 3gp, whatever that is.) Although I had used Premiere before at school, the version we were using was more recent and formatted differently. That’s why I was unable to figure it out.

12/29/2015 – 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. (007 hrs 30 min)

I watched some videos that were made for a Waking Up the World DVD, checking them for errors. I found none. The videos were transferred in the front room for DVD recording.

After lunch, I, at Peter’s request, checked the internet for information regarding Blu-Ray file formats. After I finished doing that, I selected all uninstalled apps in Adobe Creative Cloud for to be installed. The installation was slow.

01/13/2016 – 8:29 a.m. to 2:56 p.m. (006 hrs 35 min)

I participated in a remote shoot for the Our Daily Bread cooking show with Fr. Paul Seil. I learned how to adjust the white and black balances on the cameras and taught myself how to connect the batteries. Connecting the batteries was self-explanatory, which is a good thing because I hadn’t done it before and someone asked me to do it. The shoot was too long to be completed in one day and will be finished tomorrow.

01/14/2016 – 8:30 a.m. to 3:57 p.m. (007 hrs 27 min)

The shoot from yesterday was continued and completed.

01/25/2016 – 8:28 a.m. to 9:22 a.m. (54 min)

My availability today was limited because of my grandmother being in the hospital. I returned a questionnaire that Claire had given me after initially forgetting to give it to me. I also got an employee parking tag, which was another order of business that had initially been overlooked. I stayed for a quick green screen shoot in the studio and departed after it was over.

01/29/2016 – 8:29 a.m. to 3:05 p.m. (006 hrs 36 min)

I participated in a remote shoot for a shot-reverse shot conversation segment in a seminary library.

02/05/2016 – 9:49 a.m. to 2:12 p.m. (004 hrs 1 min)

I was introduced to the process by which footage is logged at Daybreak. After I learned how to operate the controls for playing, stopping, rewinding, and fast-forwarding the footage, I logged footage of the Our Lady of Victory Basilica.

After lunch, I was informed of the cancellation of a remote shoot that had been planned for that day. Since there were no other plans, I logged more footage.

02/19/2016 – 9:46 a.m. to 4:04 p.m. (006 hrs 10 min)

I continued logging footage I had been logging during my previous visit. I finished logging footage on the first four tapes, got three more tapes, and continued logging footage.

02/24/2016 – 10:02 a.m. to 4:29 p.m. (006 hrs 27 min)

The production crew recorded more televised masses at the chapel today. I was prepared the graphics for the live production again.

02/29/2016 – 9:31 a.m. to 4:12 p.m. (006 hrs 41 min)

The production crew recorded more televised masses at the chapel today. I was prepared the graphics for the live production again.

03/01/2016 – 8:23 a.m. to 11:46 a.m. (003 hrs 23 min)

The production crew recorded more televised masses at the chapel today. I was prepared the graphics for the live production again.

03/02/2016 – 8:44 a.m. to 4:29 p.m. (007 hrs 45 min)

I got some B-roll shots for an Our Daily Bread shoot.

03/03/2016 – 8:25 a.m. to 10:37 a.m. (002 hrs 12 min)

I typed and scrolled teleprompter text for a studio green screen shoot with Bishop Malone. Raw footage for four videos was recorded.

03/04/2016 – 8:29 a.m. to 4:01 p.m. (007 hrs 30 min)

I logged footage.

03/21/2016 – 8:29 a.m. to 4:02 p.m. (007 hrs 31 min)

I logged more footage.

03/24/2016 – 5:00 p.m. to 9:44 p.m. (004 hrs 44 min)

I set up and moved lights for a Holy Thursday mass recording. The shoot is for part of a documentary project being undertaken by Bob Karaszewski.

03/26/2016 – 10:11 a.m. to 3:21 p.m. (005 hrs 10 min)

I set up equipment and moved a light at one point for an Easter basket blessing shoot. This shoot is also for a part of Bob’s documentary.

03/27/2016 – 7:48 a.m. to 12:32 p.m. (004 hrs 44 min)

I assisted with an Easter mass shoot and helped strike equipment after it was over. This shoot is also for a part of Bob’s documentary.

04/01/2016 – 9:21 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. (005 hrs 39 min)

I logged footage.

04/08/2016 – 9:41 a.m. to 4:02 p.m. (006 hrs 21 min)

I logged more footage. At 11:00 a.m., Peter and I went to Channel 7 master control to deliver a tape of an episode of Our Daily Bread. After we returned, I had lunch and logged more footage.

04/15/2016 – 9:28 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. (006 hrs 32 min)

At Peter’s request, I researched an issue with time codes from two different P2 cards being unsynchronized after being imported into Avid. I found some information and e-mailed it to him, but because I know nothing about P2 cards, I don’t know if the information was actually relevant or useful.

Peter and I shot some test footage behind the building. I was instructed by him to test the focus and iris on various objects and landmarks outside. Andy joined us while we were doing this. There was a strange, wavy, effect on parts of the environment in the footage that resembled heat waves.

After lunch, I logged footage.

04/22/2016 – 9:23 a.m. to 2:53 p.m. (005 hrs 30 min)

I joined Paula, John, and Ashley on a location scout at D’Youville College. After we returned, I had lunch and logged footage.