There is no such thing as a “dull moment” when being a production intern, at least in my experience. Within my first week interning at CROP Creative Media, I had done more than I could have imagined doing at any internship. With these experiences, I have so far learned different aspects of pre-production, production, and post-production, and I am eager to learn more with my remaining time here.
Being a Production student, I had a general idea of what it was like to work in a production company. I knew the overall roles, different job positions, and I thought I knew what it was like to be involved in an actual production of something (having participated in different productions before). However, within my first week here, I realized that things are way more complex than what I had learned.
I got the chance to be a part of a commercial shoot and was able to experience first hand what an actual production of a commercial is like; all the people involved such as lighting crew, set production crew, director, DP, camera man, etc. To be able to work hands-on with the people on set was truly a rewarding experience.
CROP has also taught me about deadlines, budgeting and estimating the value of a production – something I was completely clueless about. I had the opportunity to envision my own production of a commercial and estimate a budget for that production. After sitting down with the Senior Producer here at CROP, I learned that MANY things have to go into consideration when creating a budget, which was extremely helpful.
Post-production is another aspect that I have been working on at this internship. I became more familiar with Final Cut (since I had only worked with Premiere before) as well as Adobe After Affects and Illustrator. These were programs that I had not worked with before and I was able to learn the basics quickly as an intern. So far I have been exploring all different aspects of a production company, and that’s exactly what I expected when I came here – to experience the different positions to eventually find my path.
People always told me that I should be prepared to get coffee for people and do “boring” office work during my time as an intern. However, as a production intern at CROP I have not had a single day where I wasn’t thrilled to be doing what I am doing. The people at CROP treat me like I am part of their team, and have the patience to work with me through every process that I am learning about. Not one day here has been the same as the other, and being an intern here is showing me that I chose the right career for myself.