Report on my trip to San Francisco

Here is the report!

Everyday has been fun for me and probably as well as the others. I have learnt many new skills such as, tying cables, using the switcher which is called the TriCaster, lighting and directing. Most of the things that had been thought had already been covered, but Mr Harry or any other lecturers delved deeper into the lesson and told us things which we did not know.

Our hosts were very nice and friendly and they kept us safe from the dangers of the unknown country which is called America. The people there were also friendly, amusing, comedic and very open.

The weather there was cold, and walking around in the night ain't so bad... until you wander around for more than half an hour. (Which by then, the wind would be very cold and almost unbearable.) Even wearing sweaters or wind breakers wouldn't help! You would need extra clothing underneath, but by then, you could still feel a little bit of the bitter cold wind.

The experience I had over there could not be compared to the experience I have in Singapore. Most people would say, "Of course lah! Different country mah!" I agree, but still, you would need to compare things to see the difference of each other. The thing I would like to compare with, to S.F and S.G is that when you buy an item in S.F, the tax is not included with the price, meaning, if you by an item which costs $2, it would cost probably $2.69 or something cents later, but no less than that. But in S.G, when you buy an item for $2, it would BE $2.

Not dissing the system or anything, just wanted to point it out. The reason because America has different states, and each different states holds different tax rates. Singapore has towns... no states.

Standing in the shade in Singapore, you could still feel the heat from around you, but in S.F, you would feel nothing but the cool breeze the shade has left behind. The weather is well suited for people to do lots of different sports and games outdoors. Even if they sweat in the heat, the cool breeze would be there to freshen them back up... but they still need to take a shower though, har har.

The food there was exotic and much different than SG's. Their meal mostly consists of corn, or mashed potato for their main dish, and occasionally meat and vegetables with their main. They seldom, or rarely eat rice... I think. But one things for sure, they eat with only a fork. Yes people, just a fork. How epic is DAT?!

Also, if you try and wave to specific types of people who walk the streets, you might just get an enthusiastic wave back at you. Unlike in SG, some people would totally stare at you blankly and wonder, "Siao ah dis fella. Dun noe me still wave like eye noe him." And it mostly leaves you in an awkward situation where you'll just have to walk away and laugh stupidly.

Why try and wave at people? I don't know! Be different! Maybe a smile and a wave might give a boost to a person's day. Might is the keyword here.

Well, that is all I have for the report... for now. I might add in more if I remember more things. Thanks for reading! See ya!

San Francisco Report

We took almost 14 hours from Singapore to San Francisco. Mr Harry was there in the Airport to fetch us to Cornerstone Academy. Before going there, we met Mr Harry's family. Ms Li Soon, his wife and two other kids, Mattew and Nathan. When we reach Cornerstone, we were given a small tour around the place. The first two days was to let us overcome the Jet lag.

June 11, Monday. We had a classroom session with Mr Harry as our lecturer. On that they we learnt about Live Video Production. We touch on Camera Basics. What are the types of video cameras. Common tape and media types used. We had a small activity after that. We were suppose to shoot the different camera angles. Long shot, Close up, Pan shot and so on. After lunch we learned Asthetics and setup. The main asthetics consideration in video are lighting, nose room, head room, rule of third, cut off points, high and low angles, stability and energy and selective focus.

June 12, Tuesday. We learned camera and lighting. For camera. parts of the camera, lens, CCDs, recording system, white balance, filters and attachments. For lighting we learned where we were suppose to put our lights. Key, fill and back lights. We learned about the different color temperatures of lights. What type of light are best use for either key, fill or back light. After lunch we had a camera and lighting excercise.

June 13, Wednesday. Mr Toney taught us encoding streaming for web and what are codecs. After lunch Mr Harry took us to the studio to do some Chroma Keying. We set up the green screen and also the lighting. Matt was the one in front of the green screen. One click the green screen was completely keyed. It is because the way we set up the lights. The shadows were not so visible. The lights are diffuse.

June 14, Thursday. Mr Phil taught us live multi camera video production. We went to the studio to do some excercise. We tried to operate the switcher. Switch from camera to camera and also camera to video. We can do transition too with the switcher. We controlled the camera using the joysticks. And also the sound mixer. All the camera and sounds were located downstairs at the church sanctuary. We were able to control everything from upstairs the control room which is the studio. 

June 15, Friday. We had no lesson for this day. We went to downtown for a city tour. We sat a cable car, driven by the tour guide. The tour guide brought us to different places around the city. And also the most famous San Francisco bridge which was called the Golden Gate Bridge. It was very cold when we drove across it. After the tour we went to Disny Museum. The museum showed us how Disney started. From the day Walter Elias Disney was born till the day that he passed away.

June 16, Saturday. We had a long ride to Santa Cruz theme park. We met two singaporean girls who were working there as part time workers. Deborah and Stephanie. They showed us around the theme  park. I had lots of fun there.

June 17 Sunday. It was a sunday and people were coming into the church to worship the lord. We were all upstairs in the studio preparing for it. The session will all be recorded and would be live on uStream. Finally the session ended. We all did a good job. It was a new thing i did. I really Enjoyed it. After lunch we had our own free time to go anywhere. We went downtown to buy some stuffs.

June 18 Monday. We leaned about Camera, Crew positions and roles. For crew positions we were taught on who are above the line and who are below the line. Above the line are Executive Producer, producer, scriptwriter, director, director of photography and editor. Below the line are camera operators, sound recordist, lighting gaffer and production assistant. After lunch we learned about sound. There were different types of microphones displayed on the table to let us see. There are dynamic mics and condenser mics. And also the different connectors used. XLR, 1/4inch and RCA.

June 19 Tuesday. My Harry showed us how to do story structure. Hero's Journey. How the main actor goes from the ordinary world to the special and then back again. Later we had a visit to ITVS. ITVS is place where they broadcast documentaries.

June 20 Wednesday. Ms Li Soon took us to Expression College of Digital Arts. To go there we have to go across the Bay Bridge. The facilities they have there is amazing. They had a very big green screen studio, A place for 3d motion tracking. The different sound studios they have. I have never seen such a school before. There were displays of different character models made by the students there. It was beautiful.

June 21 Thursday. There were not much things to do on that day. We just covered a little on lighting by Mr harry and discuss on our short film project.  Mr Harry, Mr Phil and Keith help to come up with the stories too. Mr Harry also help us to do the Scripting.  Afiqah is busy drawing the storyboard. She is very hardworking. She slept for only about 2 hours. Hope that our hardwork comes to a pay.

June 22 Friday. We went to Mac Building where all the mac computer, iphone, ipad was born. We manage to go in and have lunch thanks to Mr Wing Kong. His from Singapore. His job is to fix the keyboard or mouse. Then we went in the Mac shop. Mr Kean, Ms LiSoon and Fadli bought thier stuff for 15% off. All thanks to Wing Kong again. After that we went to the Computer History Museum.Where all the computers have evolve through the days. From the first computer ever invented till now the present. I was fascinated by all the computer used years ago. Some were use during military war and some were calculators. Big Calculators. I guess Mr Kean was into computers. He was in the museum for a long time taking photos of all the computers. When we were suppose to leave, we could not find Mr Kean. His Phone was left in the car so we could not call him. 

June 23 Saturday.We went to Gilroy Outlet. Its a place for shopping. Its very big. They have four sections. Each sections have different stores. Most of the shops there have discounts. Fadli bought a bag for just 20 dollars. The original price was 70 dollars. I bought shirts there too.

June 24 Sunday. Same thing we went for the live production in the studio. But this time we switch. I did the switcher. Fadli the camera and Afiqah doing the sound. I was not really good with the switcher. I am still not so comfortable with the buttons. We went to eat Vietnam food later on. Mr Harry's family bought us there to eat lunch. It was delicious.After lunch we went to prepare all the props we needed for the shoot. There were 3 stores found in the prop room. We took it out. It was a challenge to bring those 3 stores up. One of the wheel came of and Mr Harry had to fix it. Finally all the props was gathered and was ready. Actors was also decided. Fadli typed out the shots list.

June 25 Monday, 26 Tuesday. We did two days of filming. It was tough bringing all the heavy equipments around. The temperature there was cold so i did not sweat that much. Finally the shooting ended on 26 June in the afternoon. We went to the studio to injest all the footage in. Me and Afiqah rename all the shots and did a rough cut. Fadli did the scene which needed to track a holograph into the phone. After that we went to the launch of Adobe CS6 road show. They showcase all the new features added into some of the Adobe CS6 products. We headed back. We edit some more shots before going to bed.

June 27 Wednesday. Same thing edit and edit the shots. Mr Phil did the voice over with a Hong Kongish Accent which was funny. Then later we went to visit Autodesk. It was a small gallery. Inside were the things made by Autodesk. After visiting of course went back to the studio to edit again.

June 28 Thursday. Went to studio and edit. We finish putting all the shots together as one with the help of Mr Harry and also thanks to Fadli doing the sound and the ambiance. I had difficulties doing the color correcting. No matter how hard i adjust i just could not manage to match the color to the other scene. Finally the film was almost done. We went to the baseball stadium to watch the Giants play. It was cold that night. Fog was coming in. Giants won the game! All the people in the stadium were all cheering. It was something new to me watching baseball players play in an actual field.

June 29 Friday. Afiqah woke up very early to touch up abit on the sound. Then later i rendered it out before going to Lucas Film. We were given a tour around Lucas Film. The guide was very nice. He explained some of the work there well to. There were models displayed which was used in some of the films. Like Jurassic Park and of course the most famous movie which is Star Wars. Back at the dorm we were packing our stuffs before going down to the sanctuary to show our film. Sadly not many people know the weakness of the actors. But its okay, it was our first full time film project. We can do better next time. We went back into our dorm packing again when Mr Kean told us that our flight was not tonight but tomorrow night. Everyone was quite happy, we can stay another day.

June 30 Saturday. We went to watch a movie called Prometheus. After the show we went to Mr Harry's house to do some barbecue. We played Nerf guns with Nathan. It was fun. We ate our dinner together with Mr Toney and his wife. It was time to go back home to Singapore. I was sad leaving San Francisco. We gave Ms Li Soon and Mr Harry a thank you card. Mr Harry send us to the airport.

Staying in San Francisco for 3 weeks was a good experience for me. Muhammad Yunos and Joshua was right, They said that it will be fun. I have also learn a lot. I am gonna miss San Francisco and all the people there that i know. Thank you Mr Harry and Ms Li Soon for taking care of us and also Thank you Mr Kean for bringing us there. Good Bye San Francisco!!!

San Francisco (:

It's been a great experience in San Francisco. From our first to last day, there's always something for us to do. From the city tour to site visit and Cornerstone itself, we learnt new things and gaining new experience out of it. The Sunday live taping was one of the best experience for me. I managed to try the switcher, cameras and audio. Our project was challenging but we managed to complete it. Thanks to team who helped us out. Other than that, the baseball game was really fun. The Giants won when we were there! :p Oh and Thanks to Mr Harry, Ms Li Soon, Mr Phil, Mr Tony and Matt during our stay here.

Most of all, thanks to Mr Kean for bringing and staying with us here. It's really nice here in San Francisco. (:

Last week in San Francisco.

We did production and post production this week. On Sunday afternoon, we started preparing the props needed. We borrowed a couple of items from the props room. We also managed to print out the signs needed for the shoot. We started shooting the next morning. Mr Phil brought his kid's clothes and toys. We used it as the vendor's items.

During the shoot, I wasn't far away from the camera. I was helping out with the sound so I hold the boom mic. I made sure that I record each scene clear enough. The outdoor scene was pretty challenging but since it's a directional mic, it was alright. I made sure that my mic wasn't facing the wind.

I find the scene in the workshop and boiler room were interesting. We had lasers and smoke machine used in that scene. We managed to complete most of the shots on our first day of production. On the second day of production, we were left with only 5-6 shots. Mr Phil did drive Douglas and I around so that we record the traffic and ambience.

We started our post production that night right after we came back from the Adobe. Douglas and I started do the rough cut. The renaming of scenes,shot and takes really helped us a lot. We were able to find the scene and shots easily. While we were doing the rough cut, Fadli started doing the vfx for one of the scene. It was really nice. We all went back to room before midnight.

The next day was similar to the previous day. We spend the day editing. Mr Harry came to take a look at our rough cut. I wrote down the shots that needed to be edit. Most of the shot need to be cut short. Mr Phil and his daughter came to the studio. Mr Phil helped us out. We recorded his voice for a couple of scenes. It was nice. We went to Autodesk that afternoon. We continue our post production when we came back. We managed to finish editing the entire sequence that night. We went back to our room later after we decided to do the Color correct and import the scene that Fadli have been working on.

The next day, Mr Harry and Mr Phil came to the studio to take a look at our work. We started on editing the audio. Fadli and Douglas did the audio. Went they are done, I continued to editing the scenes. Mr Kean and Douglas did the ending credit. After Douglas had import the video, I got to readjust the volume for the scene. Mr Harry and Phill was there to point out which scenes were too loud. We stopped at 5pm and had our dinner. After dinner, Mr Phil took us to the baseball game. It was really awesome! The Giants won!! :p

The next day, I woke up earlier. I went to the studio at 6am plus to finish up readjusting the volume and reimport the new end credit that Douglas have re-render. Mr Phil and his daughter dropped by around 7plus. I went back to my room at 8plus. I told Douglas that I'm done editing and asked him to take a look. He went to studio and render out the video when everything was okay.

We were given a participation cert by Mr Harry and Rev. Lau. (: right after that, Mr Harry and Ms Li Soon took us to Lucasfilm! Ryan gave us a tour. He's a really nice person. We walked around to see the work done/ used in film. The matte paintings were all very nice. I love it. (: We had a farewell lunch at a Chinese restaurant. It was nice to have lunch with them.

We went back to Cornerstone at 3pm. We cleaned up our room for a few minutes. We were told to head down for our short film screening (: it was great and it feels good to see our work. At the end, we were given an award and baseball bat xD Thank you Mr Phil and Mr Harry. ((:

We went back to our room and packed our luggage and cleaned our room. Later, Mr Kean told us that our flight is tomorrow. LOL. I spend the rest of the day taking a short nap before Mr Harry and Li Soon took us out for dinner. (:

23 & 24 June.

Went to Gilroy outlet yesterday. Mrs Li drove us there for about an hour. There are 4 different sections. I walked around to see different outlet. We went to McDonalds for lunch. It's really different from the one we had in Singapore. In terms of menu n service. At the 3rd section, I finally bought something. I got each of my family member at least a souvenir.
We head back home around 5 plus. I had my dinner and went into my room to finish up my storyboard until 1am.

I woke up at 6:30 today. We went to the studio at 9:15. We did another live taping today. I was controlling camera 1-3 during the Cantonese session. After that I did the audio during the English session.
We had our lunch at a Vietnamese food outlet with Mr Harry and his family. I had beef noodle and a cup of coffee. It was nice. (: We went back to school right after that to pack our thing for tomorrow.
Firstly, we to the prop's room to grab all of the items that we need for tomorrow's shooting. E.g: basket, sword, rose, plants and ropes. Oh and moving the stall was a challenge. One of it was broken before we can pushed it up the slope. The wheels came off. While Mr Harry went to grab his stuff to fix the stall, we pushed the 2 other stall up to the entrance. We came back to the broken stall to help out. Mr Harry n Mr Kean fixed it. After we had gather all the props, we went to the studio to do all of the cutting n pasting for our signs etc. Fadli typed of the shots list. Later, Douglas and I went to gather the equipment for tomorrow. We had most of things done for now. Hopefully we'll manage to complete the production tomorrow.

22/06/2012

22/06/2012We went to the Apple building to meet with Mr Wing Kong. He gave us a sticker with our name on it and showed us around. Most of the people there uses MAC. He brought us straight to the cafeteria and we had lunch there. I had salmon sandwich, which was quite tasty and a coke zero for my drink.

Mr Wing Kong had  to attend a meeting, so he dropped us at the apple store and let us look around or buy stuff until he's done with it. I bought a hat for my uncle and a key chain for my auntie. Mr Wing Kong helps to gives us discounts. Thank you MR WING KONG!

After that, we went to the Computer History Museum, the world's largest history museum for the preservation and presentation of artifacts and stories of the Information Age located in the heart of Silicon Valley. The computers were used in many different events such as wars, space programs, marketing, games or simple daily equipment such as a car's breaking systems and or phones.

After the view of the museum, I went to the gift shop to buy yet another key chain, for my self, and a necklace for my sister.
We lost Mr Kean in the museum, so we went to search for him. We found him, but we lost Douglas next. When I found him, I told him that Mr Kean had already been found. I hoped it wouldn't be an endless loop cycle of missing people and to my relief, it wasn't.

We retreated back home, safe and sound. Had dinner of some very delicious fried rice. Packed them for tomorrow's breakfast and then went to rest in my dorm.

Second Week Friday

We went to Mac Building yesterday. Where all the mac computer, iphone, ipad was born. We manage to go in and have lunch thanks to Mr Wing Kong. His from Singapore. His job is to fix the keyboard or mouse. Then we went in the Mac shop. Mr Kean, Ms LiSoon and Fadli bought thier stuff for 15% off. All thanks to Wing Kong again. After that we went to the Computer History Museum.

Where all the computers evolve through the days. From the first computer ever invented till now the present. I was fascinated by all the computer used years ago. Some were use during military war and some were calculators. Big Calculators. I guess Mr Kean was into computers. He was in the museum for a long time taking photos of all the computers. When we were suppose to leave, we could not find Mr Kean. His Phone was left in the car so we cannot call him. Thats all. We went home after we find Mr Kean.

21 & 22 June.

Yesterday, we went to the studio. Mr harry showed us a couple of the stage lighting. One of it is Par Light. It's one of the brightest. A couple of the newer version on lights have the input/output channel. The brightness of the light can only be controlled on the computer. After lunch, we head back to the classroom to continue on our project. Mr Phil took us around the school to check out the props and location. They have cool props at the basement. We went back to class to continue our project. I started doing the storyboard till the rest of the day.


This morning, i woke up at six and called home since I give it a miss last night. It was a very short conversation though. Today, we went to Apple and the Computer Museum. We had our lunch at Apple. We walked around the apple store after that.

At the computer museum, we walked around to see how computer have been invented in the early years. The technology in the past were also very different from now.

Thurday june 21

Today not so much to do. We just covered a little on lighting by Mr harry. After that we went to discuss on our short film project. So far we came out with the beginning, middle and the end. We are still planning on our props and also the actors. Mr Harry, Mr Phil and Keith help to come up with the stories too. Mr Harry also help us to do the Scripting. I have plan a little on shots list. Afiqah is busy drawing the storyboard. She is very hardworking. She slept for only about 2 hours. Hope that our hardwork comes to a pay.

Day 10

Day 10


Today we had a lesson about story writing and something called 'The Hero's Journey, The Archetypal Story', by Joseph Campbell. Archetype is simply just a pattern such as a character or a story, repeated in a literature. It is the oldest story on the planet, even older than the pyramids or the cave drawings.

The function of a story is to entertain and to inspire. The Hero's journey is a metaphor itself.

There is two worlds in the Hero's Journey: The ordinary and the special world with both having 12 stages of events. The hero himself must cross the threshold into the special world and finish his objectives or mission there before he could return to the ordinary world. He must face lots of hardship and meet many allies or even enemies along the way.

After the lesson, Mr Harry brought us to ITVS (Independent Television Service.) They are the people who  funds and presents documentaries or dramas on public television and does the weekly series Independent Lense and Global Voices on PBC. We were shown different kinds of trailers and videos from people who had filmed them. Most of them were about lifestyle and culture of the different people.

After thanking the person, whom I had forgotten his name, Mr Harry and Mrs Li Soon drove us to a place called 'The Cheesecake Factory.' Matt also joined us! Funny man!

I had steak! Chargrilled coulotte steak! Delicious!

We then ate the different cheese cake. I'm not a cake fan so I only tasted them once.

The cakes were rich and creamy, very delicious. But we were already full. "I'M FULLLL!" - Matt

After dinner, we walked around the mall, seeing many stores which Singapore does not have. We then retreated back home thanks to Matt who drove us back. We unintentionally got a view of the area as we were... 'lost'. We returned back to Cornerstone safe and sound. Thanks Matt! See ya!

Expression college

Mr Li drove us to Expression college school of Digital Arts yesterday. We came to this place to see what they have inside here. We were guided around by a lady name Sally. The facilities they have is amazing. Some are the things which we do not have in school. I was amaze by the green screen studio. The green screen was HUGE!. Another thing that fascinates me was the motion capture studio. Its was the first time i saw it personally. Normally it is always on the computer. There were many beautiful sculptures made by the students there too. Some character sculptures was use in some movies like Toys Story. There were many recording studios too. Each room has different mixers. Some recording studios is huge while others are small. There were many short film posters hanging on the wall. Each with awards stick at the bottom of the posters. I can still remember the one with the most awards was the film titled "Elegy". They say it is on vimeo, but i could not find it cos there were many videos called Elegy too. We walk to the opposite of the building we were in earlier on. That building was more on visual effects. I did not really see many people doing vfx except for a few. There were game design classes too. One of them uses Autodesk Maya to model the pieces they need in their games. Sally also talks about scholarship and also gave us a piece of paper. Inside was sort of like what they do in different years. Freshman year, junior year and senior year. We biryani  for lunch. I ate lamb biryani. It was delicious. We head back to class and Mr harry and Mr Phil helped us to come out with a character background for our project which we were gonna film. So far we have done the beginning and the middle of the story. We still have not figure out how we can end the film. Keep a look out for a film. Probably we are gonna post it in youtube like the other group did for their film too.

Expression College of Digital Arts, 20 June

This morning, Mrs Li took us to the Expression College of Digital Arts. When we reached at the college, one of the Admission Representative, Lissa Sherman, took us around the school for a tour. It's a really good college. The facilites are awesome. They even have a big space for green screen and motion capture facilites. Lissa told us that there are 10 students per class. I walked around to see the students artwork. All of the art work are very beautiful. It really shows how creative the students are. I saw an artwork that was hang way up together with different art work from the diferrent department. Its really beautiful. It's an art work from the Game Art and Design Department. Its something like an artwork for Enviroment Design. I'm not sure if it's created using Photoshop or Maya.

After the tour, we went for lunch at Wazwan Indian Cuisine. We went back to Cornerstone right after that. at 230, we went down to the classroom to discuss about our project. We have to make 3-5 minutes short film. Therefore, we discussed about the characters. We created 3 different characters. The genre of the film :Action Comedy. During the discussion for the storyline, I only manged to give a couple of ideas. However, we manged to complete the rough idea of the story. Before I left the room, I wrote my ideas for the ending on a piece of paper and gave it to Fadli.

Lesson no.6 , 19 June

Today's lesson was about Story Structure. Mr Harry taught us about The Hero's Journey. It was created by Joseph Campbell.

Basically, a main character will be involve in two different world. The ordinary world and special world. There are 12 stages that a main character will go through in a story. We also learned about the different types of characters. Example: A Hero, Mentor, Shapeshifter and etc.

In the afternoon, Mr Harry took us to the Independent Television Service (ITVS). ITVS provides fundings and promotion of independent filmmaking for public. I saw a couple of trailers. There are more documentaries show. It was submitted by independent film makers around the world.

For more info: www.itvs.org

In the evening, Mr Harry and Mrs Li took us to the Cheesecake Factory. It was a really nice place. I had Fried Shrimp Platter, if I'm not wrong. (: Matt also joined us for Dinner. After that, we walked around the mall for awhile. Overall, I had a wonderful evening/night (:

Day 9

Day 9


Wassup world! Another day another blog!


Straight after prepping we went down to do more lessons about sound by Mr Philip. He showed us many different microphones, and I myself got a little excited just by seeing them.

Then after the lesson we did an interview shoot which I did not have the pictures for. I was busy okay?! I was busy with the lesson.

After the lesson, Keith, I think that's how it is spelled, brought CAKE! I'm not a fan of cake, but if he brought it.. then no choice but to eat it.

After that, we went to the conference room to watch Star Wars! Then we retreated back to bed! See ya!

Day 8

Day 8

Wassup world! Alright, the first thing we did was do some live shooting. The first shoot was in Cantonese so I manned the audio systems. The second was in English. Mr Kean, Douglas and Afiqah went down to man camera Four, Five and Six. I handled the switcher. It was tough at first, but I got the hang of it quickly. Mr Harry instructed us and I'd like to say, he's a pretty patient guy. =) Thank you Mr Harry!

After the live shooting, we went out to the fisherman's warf to do more shopping! I bought more clothes for my family than myself and a hat for Brandon Ong. I wonder if I got the hat right. If I got it wrong, I'll just pass it on to my family. Douglas lead us back to Corner Stone, but we got lost on the way there. Not really 'lost' just... mislead or... confused about the streets, that's all. I'm still impressed though, he brought us back safe and sound. That is all. After that we returned to watch karate kid. The New Karate Kid. See ya!

2nd week Monday

We learnt about, production position. It is sort of like a rank. Who is the highest and who is the lowest. Executive to the lowest, Camera Operator, Lighting Gaffer and Grip at. We also touch on sound. The different Mics they have and also the different connectors. After first lesson, we ate lunch. After lunch we had a little exercise of shooting 2 people having a conversation. We set up lights, cameras and also the boom mic. for the conversation, they had to read a script. The script was funny. It was meant for a couple but our talents are boys, Keith and Mr Phil. Mr Harry wants 3 different angles. Establishing shot and then a medium shot on Mr Phil's face then on Keith's face. First establishing shot, Fadli was the sound person and Afiqah was the camera man. Shot on Mr Phil's face, Fadli was still the sound man and i was the camera man. Shot on Keith's face, Afiqah was the sound person and Fadli was the camera man. It was dinner time and we had salmons. I did not really like eating the salmon cause its spicy. I prefer not so spicy food. After that Fadli and me had a little game on Ping Pong. We watched Star Wars after that and went back to sleep.

Sunday Live Broadcast

Everyone went to the studio early morning and we prepared and on all the equipment for the morning Cantonese service in the chapel. I controlled all the camera. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6. Fadli was controlling the sound and Afiqah controlled the switcher. (Tricaster) Everything in the chapel will be recorded into a DVD and it will be live in uStream. The Cantonese service ended and only a few hiccups happened. Not so much of mistakes. We still also had to do the English service. Afiqah, Mr Kean and I went down to the church and  controlled the 3 cameras from there. We had a walkie attached to all of us so that we could hear what the director says and want. Which in this case the director is Mr Harry. We do as he says. Finally its over. We had lunch then Mr kean, Afiqah, Fadli and me went out to go shopping. We took a bus to Bart Station, then took a train our destination. Mr Kean wanted to go to a shop that a friend of his recommended him to try their food. But unfortunately its close on Sundays. We decided to walk to Fisherman's Wharf. It was quite a distance. While walking we came a across the famous crooked road. We have to walk up a steep road which was very tiring. Mr Kean was already sweating. Finally we reached the top. The cars turn left and right, left and right, left and right until they reached the bottom of the crooked road. You need some driving skills to be able to do that. We walked down to Fisherman's Wharf and bought some souvenirs. i then lead them back home using a map. We took the bus and we went back home.

Fifth Lesson, 18 June

Today's lesson is about Sound and Production Positions. I learned about the Production Crew. Basically, there are 2 linr positions. Above the line and Below the line.

Above the line are for Executive Producer, Producer, Asst Producer, Director and Scriptwriter.

While Below the lines are where the Actors, Director of Photography? Production Assistant, Editor, Camera Operator, Lighting Gaffer and Grip at.

However, it's all about teamwork. A production needs more than one person.

Sound

For Sound, we were taught by Mr Phil. He showed us the different mics and cables. I came across a couple of new mics that I've never seen before.

After lunch, we continued a little more about Sound. Right after that, we were to set up a set. Mr Harry let us try the different position as a camera operator and sound operator. I did the first scene. It was nice. I find the difficult part is how to get a smooth shot. Right after that, I help Douglas with the camera . Lastly, I got to operate the sound. It was kinda heavy but overall, it was really fun.

After we are done, we packed the equipment. Mr Harry showed us a couple of videos that he had done a few years back. The stories are all good. Later, we head back to the studio to put some of the equipment. I managed to ask Mr Harry about the stage lighting before leaving. (:

Oh and Mrs Li Soon got us a water bottle today (: whoo. XD

Broadcasting, 17 June.

Today was a long day. I woke up at 6. We went to the studio at 9. After Mr Harry came up, we started turning on the monitors. There was a Sunday service going on and we broadcast the event live ustream.com. It was my first broadcasting experience. I had to control the Tricaster known as the switcher. I was very nervous but I'm glad that Mr Kean was there to help me out when Mr Harry was directing. There are also a couple of mistakes that I did. I wasn't that alert and my transition was on when i'm supposed to put it on fade.

Second program, I was in the Santuary with Mr Kean and Douglas. We were controlling the live camera. I was controlling camera five. It was less intense than controlling switcher. Overall, it was really a fun experience for me.

After we are done, we had our lunch in the pantry. We head out for the free and easy period. We took the public transport. We had a very long hike up one of the hills. Then I saw the zig zag road that I've seen on movies. It was a beautiful though. (:

We woke up early at around 6 and we got ready to go to........... THE THEME PARK!!!. I love theme parks. The journey there was about 2 hours. Half way, we drop off at a organic fruit market, and Mr Kean bought some very sweet fruits. I tried some and it was tasty especially the red colored peach. The strawberries were tasty too but some were quite sour. We finally arrived at Santa Cruz Beach. The amusement park was beside the beach which make it even more cooler. Cooler as in the the way it looks not the temperature. LOL. Two Singaporean girls, Stephanie and Debra ( I forgotten name, i copied Afiqah's one) was one of Mr Harry's friend. They came here to work. We all went in the amusement park for free and was showed around by Stephanie and Debra. We rode the Giant Dipper first together with Matthew, Stephanie, Debra, Fadli, Afiqah, Mr Kean and me. The Giant Dipper was one of the oldest wooden roller coaster. The ride was so fun!!!!. Next we went to the FIRE BALL ride. Afiqah and fadli did not one to ride so the rest including me rode it. Fire Ball is a ride which swings from side to side while spinning. The ride almost hit more then 90 degrees at its highest point. I have never rode that before. I was so nervous just by looking at it. Finally its our turn. WOOOO!!!! I can feel my blood rush downwards when going up and rush upwards when going down. It was so fun! Matthew and Nathan paid for the mission impossible thingy. You must walk through the maze without touching the red wires. It will increase the time when you touch it. Matthew went on medium and he completed the mission. Nathan went second on easy. He became the second place for it. We then rode the ride which just turn round and round on a swing. I almost puke when sitting that. I was so dizzy lol. Next was the ride of my time. Debra and i rode the ride which shoots you upwards and drop you down. I forgot what the ride was called. I was so so nervous because it looked scary, scarier then the Fire Ball.  Both of us sat on and 3, 2, 1, wooooosshhhhh!!! UP WE GO!!!!!!. A few seconds later, WOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! Down we go. I literally flew out of my seat. It went up and down twice, and the ride finished. It was AWESOME!!!!!! I wan ride again!!!. The next ride was with Fadli, we went to the haunted house. It was not so scary but more on funny. We make jokes out of the scare. The last ride was the hurricane roller coaster. It just turns you round and round and it was fast and bumpy just like a hurricane. It was not as fun as the Giant Dipper. Finally its time to take a long ride home.

Day 7

Wassup world! It's Saturday! Another day another blog post!

So today, right off the bat, Mr Harry his family and us down a coastal road to get to an amusement park in Santa Cruz. Oh man! YEEAH! Excitement!

We got to a spot called 'Farmers Market' where they sell many organic fruits and vegetables! No dogs allowed though!

We continued on our way down the coastal road to stop at a historic surf museum.

We continued and stopped at another coastal edge.

Until we finally reach... Santa Cruz!

Then we ate at a store called Ghirardelli. A nice chocolate store where they also sell ice-cream!

After that, we Mr Harry dove his kids and Ms Li Soon back to their home. He also drove us back to Corner stone where we watch Karate Kid 3!

Now, all is done, it time for bed! See ya!

Santa Cruz and Monterey, 16 June

We had a long journey to Santa Cruz today. I get to see mountains, cow,ducks, farms along our way. It's nice. We drop by to this organic market for awhile when we're in Santa Cruz. We bought strawberries. Mr Harry then drove nearby the sea and we also went to a lighthouse. Since I'm not feeling that good, I just set in the car with Ms Li and her kids. They are very cute and smart boys by they way.

After that we went to Santa Cruz Beach Broadwalk. It's like an amusement park. There are roller costers, haunted house, arcade and many other game booth. There's also a beach on the other side. It was my very first time going to a theme park. Therefore, I cannot compare this theme park with the one we had in Singapore. We met Stephine and Debra if i'm not wrong). They are from Singapore too. They are very friendly, They also get us free passes for the rides.

First, we took a roller coaster ride. The tracks are made of wood. It's one of the oldest roller coaster if I'm not wrong. I set beside Debra. Went the train started moving, the first thing it went into a tunnel. I see nothing and can only hear people screaming. The rest of the ride was scary yet fun. I felt as if I'm about to fall out of the train went it move downwards. After the ride is over, the rest of them went to the next ride except Fadli and I. We went to the toilet instead. On my way, I saw Ms Li. She told me that she's sitting at one of the shelter. I went to look for her right after that. She told us that we should try out this water slide. I went to try it out with Fadli, Mr Harry and Nathan. It was awesome, especially on that last slide.

I walked around that area after I was done with the water slide. There are alot of interesting rides. I wasn't feeling that good, so I went to the restroom and back to the shelter. I sat there and watch little kids playing soccer. The beach is crowded. I've never seen something like that before. Again, some stuff that I've seen here can never be seen in Singapore. Some where later, Fadli and Douglas asked me if I wanted to follow them to the Haunted house. I wasn't up for it and I felt like playing the water slide again, but they didn't want to get wet. So, I walked around, in and out of the restroom and walked around to find a payphone. I saw a toal of 3 payphone around that are.

I noticed that there are not many payphone around here in San Francisco. However, there are more mail drop off box. Hmm.

After that I walked back to the shelter. Later, Mr Kean, Fadli, Ms Li and I took a ride on this cable car. The view was really nice.Oh and I did talked to Ms Li while we were on that ride. She's very caring and since we got here, she really took good care of us. (:

We left the place around 3 and head for Monterey. I was another long ride from Santa Cruz. It's another beautiful place. We walk around there and went to this chocolate store. I had a hot chocolate while Mr Kean and Fadli had an ice cream. It was a large one.

We went back to Conerstone right after that. Since I wasn't feeling that well, I fall asleep for a  awhile during our ride back form Monterey to San Francisco. It was a really long ride. I don't know how Mr Harry can stay awake and drive us all the way, but he did it. (:


Afiqah.

Day 6

Wassup world! It's Saturday! I know I missed a day of blogging but don't you worry, I'll write them down.

Day 6


Okay, in the morning we had breakfast. I had eggs and waffles. Then we went out to take a tour bus with a tour guide name Greg. We circled around San Fransisco and eventually headed out to the Golden Gate bridge, which spans about 1.7 miles. It is a nice, international orange and once you get up there, the wind blows really cold.

We also entered a building quite below the GGB. It's a building that holds cannons, memories and soldier equipment from the old wars.

Then we went to eat at a place called In and Out. It severs burgers and refillable drinks!

Then we went to Disney's History Museum where it tells you about Walt Elias Disney's past. We couldn't take pictures inside so we only took one picture of the whole place.

After that, we retreated back to Cornerstone and we watched Karate Kid 2! After that, we went to bed.