Midterm Reflection
Prior to this semester (Spring 2014), my experience was limited to the bounds of volunteer work conducted amid my late high school and early college years. Coming from little work experience, I initially thought adjusting to a more professional workplace would be challenging. Working with the Sunscreen Film Festival proved to be quite the contrary, presenting a more relaxed and casual environment. Most of the work is conducted via telecommunications, whether it is through texting, phone/conference calls, emails, etc.
My work with Sunscreen has centered around one unique opportunity: To screen and appraise films submitted by international filmmakers for this year’s festival. After reviewing a film, I give my assessment in the form of a short survey through Google Docs. This has been beneficial to my communication skills, requiring my writing to be concise, ideas to be thoroughly determined, and feedback to be pertinent. In addition, this combined with my education in Humanities at The University of South Florida has assisted me in sharpen my analytic skills to a new degree. All comments are saved on a spreadsheet, to which adjustments may be made by those with permission to access the document. This has offered familiarization with creating and maintaining spreadsheets by extension.
Aside from film evaluation, I maintain the Sunscreen Film Festival website by editing and updating the information on the website. I often post news items pertaining to updates for the upcoming festival or any other events hosted by/in accordance with Sunscreen, such as the recent John Jackson Actors’ Workshops. On more than one occasion, I have had to collaborate with the other interns to post a news item, waiting for their task to be completed so that I can use the link to their web project. During the first event Sunscreen was invited to this semester, a fellow intern and I advertised a sign-in board I had built for MUSE@MFA. Team work, as well as punctuality and time management skills, have proven to be essential. I also have the capability of updating the Sunscreen Film Festival Facebook page, creating event pages, uploading pictures, and updating any necessary information.
I have been fortunate to work within the entertainment industry, an industry in which I've held an interest since my youth. Though my introduction to this industry was through music, branching out to film has been nothing but constructive. I have been able to enrich certain skills such as analysis, setting goals, developing evaluation strategies, and communication outside of the classroom. Sunscreen has sparked a new passion within me for film, the arts, and working with and organizing events.
My work with Sunscreen has centered around one unique opportunity: To screen and appraise films submitted by international filmmakers for this year’s festival. After reviewing a film, I give my assessment in the form of a short survey through Google Docs. This has been beneficial to my communication skills, requiring my writing to be concise, ideas to be thoroughly determined, and feedback to be pertinent. In addition, this combined with my education in Humanities at The University of South Florida has assisted me in sharpen my analytic skills to a new degree. All comments are saved on a spreadsheet, to which adjustments may be made by those with permission to access the document. This has offered familiarization with creating and maintaining spreadsheets by extension.
Aside from film evaluation, I maintain the Sunscreen Film Festival website by editing and updating the information on the website. I often post news items pertaining to updates for the upcoming festival or any other events hosted by/in accordance with Sunscreen, such as the recent John Jackson Actors’ Workshops. On more than one occasion, I have had to collaborate with the other interns to post a news item, waiting for their task to be completed so that I can use the link to their web project. During the first event Sunscreen was invited to this semester, a fellow intern and I advertised a sign-in board I had built for MUSE@MFA. Team work, as well as punctuality and time management skills, have proven to be essential. I also have the capability of updating the Sunscreen Film Festival Facebook page, creating event pages, uploading pictures, and updating any necessary information.
I have been fortunate to work within the entertainment industry, an industry in which I've held an interest since my youth. Though my introduction to this industry was through music, branching out to film has been nothing but constructive. I have been able to enrich certain skills such as analysis, setting goals, developing evaluation strategies, and communication outside of the classroom. Sunscreen has sparked a new passion within me for film, the arts, and working with and organizing events.
FINAL REFLECTION
The opportunity to work with Sunscreen Film Festival was exciting, engaging, and exclusive. I discovered Sunscreen to be a philanthropic non-profit organization, supporting and promoting local talent. I have supported local and Internet-based
artists of various mediums for years, building personal libraries of music and
art prints, but never have I had the opportunity to work with films. I have
been watching films since childhood; the Harry
Potter films remain to be among my favorites. Working with Sunscreen
would give me a different way to interact with the entertainment industry.
Aside from acting as a film screener for the 2014 festival, Sunscreen taught me how to consciously edit and maintain a website, to communicate with and act with professionalism towards colleagues, and to work as a teammate to develop this year’s festival. Sunscreen has given me skills that I would not have otherwise been able to obtain through school. I worked as the webmaster, maintaining and updating the company’s website. I deleted all of the information posted in 2013, making room for the necessary information relevant to the 2014 festival in St. Petersburg, FL. I did have to familiarize myself with HTML coding. Nothing extensive; I merely had to figure out how to create and organize tables in order to post the final film selections in an organized manner.
As the festival approached, I had to set up event pages in Ticketleap, the ticket distributing website Sunscreen now uses for events. I had to coordinate the information I put into Ticketleap with the festival’s schedule. Ticketleap’s interface is incredibly user friendly so becoming acclimated to a new website was not difficult. The work, however, was time consuming. I had to create a new Ticketleap event for each schedule block.
The 2014 Sunscreen Film Festival was an incredible experience. I was able to meet, work alongside, and interact with different companies and members of the film industry. In preparation for the festival, I worked with Antony Francis, CEO of Head of Lettuce Media, and composed a tweeting schedule for the SSFF Twitter account. I became familiar with the Head of Lettuce website platform, reading through the social media trends and statistics for all SSFF accounts. For the remainder of the festival, I worked with guests and attendees as the main contact for the festival. I answered any questions and offered my assistance to anyone who needed it. I worked in the ticket booth set up at one festival location, The Studio@620, handling money (both physical and digital through an iPad app), overseeing volunteers, and ensuring the days' events were flawlessly executed. I also assisted in the set up and dismantling of the venues chosen for the festival.
I was able to attend an event hosted by Sunscreen Film Festival. Tony organized two-part acting workshops; the guest speaker was casting director John Jackson (Nebraska, The Descendants). They took place in a film studio located in St. Petersburg, Florida, and my role was larger. Prior to the workshops, I had to contact all of the attendees, confirming their attendance and answering any questions they may have in regard to locations, schedules, and general information. I worked alongside Tony, making sure the workshops ran smoothly and providing John Jackson with any necessary materials. I did clerical work, such as making photo copies of scripts for John, as well as some tech work, making sure the equipment worked properly.
I am proficient and confident in my communication skills, and am able to discern professional rhetoric from colloquialism. I have developed adequate research skills, enabling me to find, thoroughly read, and comprehend the information necessary for an assignment. Complimenting my research skills is my creatively and the implementation of those ideas. Working with Sunscreen Film Festival has allowed me to further develop my teamwork skills and my own work ethic. I take care to listen to others' ideas, doing my best to collaborate and compromise.
Aside from acting as a film screener for the 2014 festival, Sunscreen taught me how to consciously edit and maintain a website, to communicate with and act with professionalism towards colleagues, and to work as a teammate to develop this year’s festival. Sunscreen has given me skills that I would not have otherwise been able to obtain through school. I worked as the webmaster, maintaining and updating the company’s website. I deleted all of the information posted in 2013, making room for the necessary information relevant to the 2014 festival in St. Petersburg, FL. I did have to familiarize myself with HTML coding. Nothing extensive; I merely had to figure out how to create and organize tables in order to post the final film selections in an organized manner.
As the festival approached, I had to set up event pages in Ticketleap, the ticket distributing website Sunscreen now uses for events. I had to coordinate the information I put into Ticketleap with the festival’s schedule. Ticketleap’s interface is incredibly user friendly so becoming acclimated to a new website was not difficult. The work, however, was time consuming. I had to create a new Ticketleap event for each schedule block.
The 2014 Sunscreen Film Festival was an incredible experience. I was able to meet, work alongside, and interact with different companies and members of the film industry. In preparation for the festival, I worked with Antony Francis, CEO of Head of Lettuce Media, and composed a tweeting schedule for the SSFF Twitter account. I became familiar with the Head of Lettuce website platform, reading through the social media trends and statistics for all SSFF accounts. For the remainder of the festival, I worked with guests and attendees as the main contact for the festival. I answered any questions and offered my assistance to anyone who needed it. I worked in the ticket booth set up at one festival location, The Studio@620, handling money (both physical and digital through an iPad app), overseeing volunteers, and ensuring the days' events were flawlessly executed. I also assisted in the set up and dismantling of the venues chosen for the festival.
I was able to attend an event hosted by Sunscreen Film Festival. Tony organized two-part acting workshops; the guest speaker was casting director John Jackson (Nebraska, The Descendants). They took place in a film studio located in St. Petersburg, Florida, and my role was larger. Prior to the workshops, I had to contact all of the attendees, confirming their attendance and answering any questions they may have in regard to locations, schedules, and general information. I worked alongside Tony, making sure the workshops ran smoothly and providing John Jackson with any necessary materials. I did clerical work, such as making photo copies of scripts for John, as well as some tech work, making sure the equipment worked properly.
I am proficient and confident in my communication skills, and am able to discern professional rhetoric from colloquialism. I have developed adequate research skills, enabling me to find, thoroughly read, and comprehend the information necessary for an assignment. Complimenting my research skills is my creatively and the implementation of those ideas. Working with Sunscreen Film Festival has allowed me to further develop my teamwork skills and my own work ethic. I take care to listen to others' ideas, doing my best to collaborate and compromise.