Okay, so I've told you guys a lot about my experiences in the city. But now I'm switching gears and telling you more about what I am doing with my time at Shine Global.
Again, a brief summary of my position: I'm the character designer & animator for a pending Flash game called "The Harvest" which goes along with a documentary movie of the same name which Shine Global is producing. The movie and the game are intended to promote awareness about migrant workers in the US - specifically, children.
Who am I working with?
+ Two other art interns who are both doing background design.
+ The Executive Director of Shine Global
+ The Assistant Executive Director of Shine Global
+ A Game Designer from entertainment company Worldwide Biggies
+ An Art Director from Worldwide Biggies
This group meets once every week and discusses our progress thus far and decides which direction to head next. The other interns and I get most of our direction from the Art Director.
The first assignment was to design six characters: Hispanic children between the ages of 11-16, which will be the player characters of the game. These characters needed to be pretty realistic and not at all cartoonish, because we had to be respectful of the community for which these characters were based.
I started out by building different body types in Flash - Two standard bodies, two "heavy" bodies, and two "lanky" bodies. At one meeting, people expressed being iffy on the lanky bodies because most farm workers are standard-to-heavy build, that and it looked slightly cartoonish. However, I modified them slightly, so that they were only slightly leaner than the standard build, but enough to still be distinguishable from the others. After that I sketched out a few different styles of faces as well as many different possible outfits. Again, during the meeting we selected our preferences (often the least complex of the designs).
When all these things were selected, I put the characters all together, making sure that each of their parts were seperate so I could animate them later. After getting them all approved, I moved on to coloring (I came up with a few different versions), and then, at last, animation!
Animation is by far my favorite part of this project. I do enjoy designing characters, but in this particular situation I didn't have very much freedom at all. However, bringing the characters to life was way fun as usual. There are only three simple animations I need for each character, and each involves harvesting crops. 1 - Harvesting something by reaching up, 2- Harvesting something by bending down, and 3 - Harvesting something in the middle. I divided these each into 3 parts - Starting from neutral, going in to grab the object, then a loop in which they harvest the object, and then returning to neutral. It is time-consuming, of course, but the progress I make is always fun to see. I don't ever replace any symbols (for those who know what this means) - I pretty much treat the character like a puppet and control & modify each of its parts as needed.
Whenever I finish an animation, I often watch it looped over and over and over...it's kind of hypnotic, hehe.
I can't wait to see these in the game interface. That will be awhile yet though! Anyhow, that's what I've been doing.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Phantom of the Opera on Broadway
Okay...needless to say, I've given up on documenting every day of my time here. Now I'm just going to write about experiences I think people will be interested in hearing about.
Last night, Tuesday 11/02/10, I went to my very first Broadway play - the Phantom of the Opera! Since I've seen the movie many, many times and hold it among one of my very favorites, I couldn't pass up seeing it live in NYC. Would it be as good? Better? I would find out.
I bought the tickets online a week in advance, and I knew exactly where to go since the theater was not very far from where I work. After nearly an hour in the subway, I arrived half an hour early and was directed to my seat, which was on the balcony, center and third from the front. It provided a great view.
The play began exactly like the movie, with each line the same. I didn't get really excited until the minor-key organ theme began and the chandalier started rising - that was when I started to get shivers. Grey curtains drew back to reveal ornate gold statuing around the stage - of course, this wasn't quite as cool as the movie when the operahouse undergoes a full transformation from old, grey, and tattered to shining and new. But still pretty cool.
The best parts of the play:
+ The rooftop scene where Christine and Raoul sing together. The set had a fantastic 3d look to it, with a faint cityscape in the background and a starry sky above, with statues all about. And of course the cool part where the Phantom emerges from on top of one of them and sings with his hands stretched out even as it rises way above the stage.
+ When the Phantom first takes Christine to his underground layer, leading her down stairs, across ledges, and then rowing in the "boat" through the mists as candles rise around them.
+ Near the end when the Phantom watches Christine and Raoul row away from beyond the caged door of his lair. He holds out a hand sadly, ignored as they sing to each other. Then he retreats into a mirror, leaving his mask behind.
+ And of course the very last part, right after that. Meg climbs into the lair and finds the mask ...all lights go out except a spotlight on the mask as she holds it up.
Differences between the play and the movie:
+ Lots of lines that were spoken in the movie were sang in the play.
+ There were a few extra scenes & songs, such as a reprise of the "notes" song after the masquerade ball.
+ When Christine snatches the Phantom's mask for the first time, he writhes on the floor hiding his face even as he yells at her. (This version of Phantom seemed a bit more "pathetic"...)
+ During the masquerade ball, the Phantom appears wearing an actual giant skull on its head - complete with a jawbone that moved when he talked - rather than just a mask designed to look like a skull.
+ There is no swordfight scene at the graveyard. Instead, the Phantom just stands on top of the crypt and shoots flares at Raoul.
+ The scene which explains the Phantom's backstory is not there. Madame Giry just utters a line about how he was once part of a circus that featured disfigured humans, but that he escaped. (In the movie, she helped him do it.)
+ The Phantom was not Gerard Butler. :(
Overall, I enjoyed the experience. Did it rock my socks as much as the movie? No. I didn't feel so closely connected to the characters of the play as I do in the movie - of course, camera angles and close-ups might have something to do with that. But I don't regret buying the ticket - and I might consider going to another one before my internship here is over.
If I do go to another one, I might go to Wicked. I am reading the book right now and find it pretty intriguing - though admittedly I can't imagine how they could make a musical out of it. I imagine it is probably very, very different. Have any of you seen it? Thoughts? :)
Last night, Tuesday 11/02/10, I went to my very first Broadway play - the Phantom of the Opera! Since I've seen the movie many, many times and hold it among one of my very favorites, I couldn't pass up seeing it live in NYC. Would it be as good? Better? I would find out.
I bought the tickets online a week in advance, and I knew exactly where to go since the theater was not very far from where I work. After nearly an hour in the subway, I arrived half an hour early and was directed to my seat, which was on the balcony, center and third from the front. It provided a great view.
The play began exactly like the movie, with each line the same. I didn't get really excited until the minor-key organ theme began and the chandalier started rising - that was when I started to get shivers. Grey curtains drew back to reveal ornate gold statuing around the stage - of course, this wasn't quite as cool as the movie when the operahouse undergoes a full transformation from old, grey, and tattered to shining and new. But still pretty cool.
The best parts of the play:
+ The rooftop scene where Christine and Raoul sing together. The set had a fantastic 3d look to it, with a faint cityscape in the background and a starry sky above, with statues all about. And of course the cool part where the Phantom emerges from on top of one of them and sings with his hands stretched out even as it rises way above the stage.
+ When the Phantom first takes Christine to his underground layer, leading her down stairs, across ledges, and then rowing in the "boat" through the mists as candles rise around them.
+ Near the end when the Phantom watches Christine and Raoul row away from beyond the caged door of his lair. He holds out a hand sadly, ignored as they sing to each other. Then he retreats into a mirror, leaving his mask behind.
+ And of course the very last part, right after that. Meg climbs into the lair and finds the mask ...all lights go out except a spotlight on the mask as she holds it up.
Differences between the play and the movie:
+ Lots of lines that were spoken in the movie were sang in the play.
+ There were a few extra scenes & songs, such as a reprise of the "notes" song after the masquerade ball.
+ When Christine snatches the Phantom's mask for the first time, he writhes on the floor hiding his face even as he yells at her. (This version of Phantom seemed a bit more "pathetic"...)
+ During the masquerade ball, the Phantom appears wearing an actual giant skull on its head - complete with a jawbone that moved when he talked - rather than just a mask designed to look like a skull.
+ There is no swordfight scene at the graveyard. Instead, the Phantom just stands on top of the crypt and shoots flares at Raoul.
+ The scene which explains the Phantom's backstory is not there. Madame Giry just utters a line about how he was once part of a circus that featured disfigured humans, but that he escaped. (In the movie, she helped him do it.)
+ The Phantom was not Gerard Butler. :(
Overall, I enjoyed the experience. Did it rock my socks as much as the movie? No. I didn't feel so closely connected to the characters of the play as I do in the movie - of course, camera angles and close-ups might have something to do with that. But I don't regret buying the ticket - and I might consider going to another one before my internship here is over.
If I do go to another one, I might go to Wicked. I am reading the book right now and find it pretty intriguing - though admittedly I can't imagine how they could make a musical out of it. I imagine it is probably very, very different. Have any of you seen it? Thoughts? :)
Friday, October 15, 2010
Week 2
Wow, I'm getting really behind with these blog posts...it's almost two weeks later than the days I'm talking about. Maybe I'll start being a bit more concise in my description of daily events... ;)
Sunday, 10/3 - Okay, there's one thing that happened this day that I have to talk about. On this day, Mrs. Crews & I took her dog Scooter to a special "Blessing of the Animals" service at this Episcopalian(?) church. I have heard of these before, but what made this one special is that it took place within the sanctuary of the church. And so, we walk in and the pews are lined with dogs and their owners! Dogs of every sizes and breeds had come for a blessing - some calm, some fidgety, and some barking intermittantly throughout the service. Overall, it was very cute. In the middle of the service, each pet owner led their pet up to the front for a blessing. The vast majority of the pets were dogs, but I also spotted two (brave) kitties, and a little beta fish in a vase. Yes, even the fish got a blessing. Scooter was very well-behaved and just sat on his mommy's lap the whole time.
Monday 10/4 - If I remember correctly, this is the day I went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I took the subway as usual, then after that, boarded a bus which stopped right in front of the building. And then I spent nearly the whole day exploring there! I began in the Ancient Egyptian art corridor, made my way through the Chinese section with the lovely replica of an actual Chinese garden, and just continued to explore all sorts of interesting art from a long stretch of eras. Of course, I had to pay tribute to the Art History class I took during my senior year of college by identifying work by many of the painters we learned about (such as David, Goya, and many more). One especially noteworthy part of the museum is this big open area with a fountain and lots of lovely sculptures. I was able to climb to the second and third floor and gaze down at this area from above.
The last place I visited was the gift shop, but although it had many interesting wares, all were way too much money than I would be willing to spend on a soveneir. In any case, I really enjoyed my time there and would say that the Met is a must-see location for any NYC visitor.
Tuesday 10/5 - On this day, I visited a place that I enjoyed just as much as any tourist attraction I'd visited so far. That place was the Barnes & Noble located near Lincoln Center. At 5 stories high and with escalators that led from each floor to the next, this book heaven re-awakened the dormant reader inside of me (I hadn't been able to do much reading for leisure during my college years although before then I would rarely be spotted without a book with me). After making sure to explore each floor, parusing through the best-sellers and the artbooks from some of my favorite animated movies, I found a table of "former bestsellers" that were going for only $4 each. Since I was in dire need of something to occupy me during my long rides in the subway, I picked up two of these that sounded interesting from the backs. I left very satisfied. :)
Wednesday 10/5 - I don't remember what I did this day which meant I probably just did some work and then took it easy.
Thursday 10/6 - My second day working at the office. This time I brought a sandwich with me so I didn't have to spend so much money on food. I finished my first girl character and was very excited to see what people would say about it during the meeting the next day.
Friday 10/7 - The day of the meeting! On this day, I met Susan, the director of Shine Global who is behind the whole project. I also met Tim, an art director from Worldwide Biggies who would be commenting on our art.
As it turned out, since I was given little to no direction the week before, the two characters I had built over the last week didn't really fit what they were looking for. For my next assignment, I was instructed to come up with lots of varying body types, face styles, outfits, etc. for them to decide upon for next week. I was glad to recieve such specific directions and hoped that next week they'd be pleased with what I came up with. I also liked seeing the art of the two other interns who were doing background design. Tim was incredibly helpful in guiding us all and telling us exactly what to work on.
Also, last Monday I had found out that the annual event New York Comic Con / New York Anime Festival was taking place this weekend. I normally would not have wanted to go to this all that badly, but one of the events was a screening of Vocaloid Miku Hatsune's virtual concert video!! Anyone who knows me well knows that I am a HUGE Vocaloid fan, and seeing Miku would be a dream come true for me. However, the only way I could see her is if I bought a ticket for the entire convention, and so I spent the next few days mulling over whether or not I wanted to go. On Friday night, I finally decided I wanted to - after all, when again would I have the opportunity to see such a thing? Plus there would be tons of fellow artists as well as people who just love art and animation like I do. And of course, Miku. <3
But as you may have guessed, deciding to go the night before the event wouldn't work out. I went to the website and found out that tickets were sold out. I was a bit bummed. But I'm sure Miku knows I still love her.
Saturday 10/8 - This day, I went around town with Mrs. Crews. She was interested in visiting a few yarn shops and I came along just to get out. However, mostly it was just a looooot of walking and sitting in buses and subways. I did learn something, though. It seems most grocery stores in Manhatten double as cafes, and what you do is order food from whatever area you want a meal from, and then you bring your plate to the check-out along with everything else and pay there. There is a dining area on the second floor.
More NYC adventures to come.
Sunday, 10/3 - Okay, there's one thing that happened this day that I have to talk about. On this day, Mrs. Crews & I took her dog Scooter to a special "Blessing of the Animals" service at this Episcopalian(?) church. I have heard of these before, but what made this one special is that it took place within the sanctuary of the church. And so, we walk in and the pews are lined with dogs and their owners! Dogs of every sizes and breeds had come for a blessing - some calm, some fidgety, and some barking intermittantly throughout the service. Overall, it was very cute. In the middle of the service, each pet owner led their pet up to the front for a blessing. The vast majority of the pets were dogs, but I also spotted two (brave) kitties, and a little beta fish in a vase. Yes, even the fish got a blessing. Scooter was very well-behaved and just sat on his mommy's lap the whole time.
Monday 10/4 - If I remember correctly, this is the day I went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I took the subway as usual, then after that, boarded a bus which stopped right in front of the building. And then I spent nearly the whole day exploring there! I began in the Ancient Egyptian art corridor, made my way through the Chinese section with the lovely replica of an actual Chinese garden, and just continued to explore all sorts of interesting art from a long stretch of eras. Of course, I had to pay tribute to the Art History class I took during my senior year of college by identifying work by many of the painters we learned about (such as David, Goya, and many more). One especially noteworthy part of the museum is this big open area with a fountain and lots of lovely sculptures. I was able to climb to the second and third floor and gaze down at this area from above.
The last place I visited was the gift shop, but although it had many interesting wares, all were way too much money than I would be willing to spend on a soveneir. In any case, I really enjoyed my time there and would say that the Met is a must-see location for any NYC visitor.
Tuesday 10/5 - On this day, I visited a place that I enjoyed just as much as any tourist attraction I'd visited so far. That place was the Barnes & Noble located near Lincoln Center. At 5 stories high and with escalators that led from each floor to the next, this book heaven re-awakened the dormant reader inside of me (I hadn't been able to do much reading for leisure during my college years although before then I would rarely be spotted without a book with me). After making sure to explore each floor, parusing through the best-sellers and the artbooks from some of my favorite animated movies, I found a table of "former bestsellers" that were going for only $4 each. Since I was in dire need of something to occupy me during my long rides in the subway, I picked up two of these that sounded interesting from the backs. I left very satisfied. :)
Wednesday 10/5 - I don't remember what I did this day which meant I probably just did some work and then took it easy.
Thursday 10/6 - My second day working at the office. This time I brought a sandwich with me so I didn't have to spend so much money on food. I finished my first girl character and was very excited to see what people would say about it during the meeting the next day.
Friday 10/7 - The day of the meeting! On this day, I met Susan, the director of Shine Global who is behind the whole project. I also met Tim, an art director from Worldwide Biggies who would be commenting on our art.
As it turned out, since I was given little to no direction the week before, the two characters I had built over the last week didn't really fit what they were looking for. For my next assignment, I was instructed to come up with lots of varying body types, face styles, outfits, etc. for them to decide upon for next week. I was glad to recieve such specific directions and hoped that next week they'd be pleased with what I came up with. I also liked seeing the art of the two other interns who were doing background design. Tim was incredibly helpful in guiding us all and telling us exactly what to work on.
Also, last Monday I had found out that the annual event New York Comic Con / New York Anime Festival was taking place this weekend. I normally would not have wanted to go to this all that badly, but one of the events was a screening of Vocaloid Miku Hatsune's virtual concert video!! Anyone who knows me well knows that I am a HUGE Vocaloid fan, and seeing Miku would be a dream come true for me. However, the only way I could see her is if I bought a ticket for the entire convention, and so I spent the next few days mulling over whether or not I wanted to go. On Friday night, I finally decided I wanted to - after all, when again would I have the opportunity to see such a thing? Plus there would be tons of fellow artists as well as people who just love art and animation like I do. And of course, Miku. <3
But as you may have guessed, deciding to go the night before the event wouldn't work out. I went to the website and found out that tickets were sold out. I was a bit bummed. But I'm sure Miku knows I still love her.
Saturday 10/8 - This day, I went around town with Mrs. Crews. She was interested in visiting a few yarn shops and I came along just to get out. However, mostly it was just a looooot of walking and sitting in buses and subways. I did learn something, though. It seems most grocery stores in Manhatten double as cafes, and what you do is order food from whatever area you want a meal from, and then you bring your plate to the check-out along with everything else and pay there. There is a dining area on the second floor.
More NYC adventures to come.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Week 1 (part 2)
Okay, beginning where I left off.
Wednesday, 9/29 - I started on my assignment this day, by creating a sketch of a boy character.
I also went on a walk with Mrs. Crews and Scooter, getting a little taste of Riverdale, which is the section of the city they live in. It is part of the Bronx, just north of the Harlem river which separates the Bronx from Manhattan. Needless to say it's not nearly as hectic as it is down in Manhattan. Nonetheless, it's still very different than what I'm used to - rows of apartment buildings to one side and a commercialized street on the other!
Thursday, 9/30 - This was my first day coming in to the office to work. After taking the bus, then subway, then walking down to their location on 45th street, at 10:30 am I was shown to a computer and pretty much told to get started however I wanted. Unfortunately, I didn't really get to work with anyone, since none of the other interns were there - only Alex, who had a lot of other things to take care of for Shine.
However, I did get to listen in on the going-ons around the office as I worked, which was interesting. Shine actually occupies a very small part of the place, most of it belongs to employees of Worldwide Biggies. The artists and animators worked in a different room, so unfortunately I didn't get to see any of that, but I did get to listen in on the management side of creating games. It was a different experience.
Since I got caught up in my work as usual, it wasn't until 2 pm I realized I should go and get some lunch. Alex suggested a diner just a block away, so I visited the place. I ordered a burger there, but I really wouldn't say it was worth the $6 I paid for it - plus the staff wasn't very accomodating, and I got the feeling I annoyed them somehow. I decided I wouldn't be returning there.
I returned to the office for another 3 hours of work, getting done at 6. Honestly, I have never worked that many hours straight before, and I felt mentally drained by the time it was over. However, the boy character was completely finished - colored, shaded, rendered, 100%. Back on the subway & bus I went, not arriving back to the Crews' apartment until 7:30, which was just in time for dinner as they always eat quite late.
Friday, 10/1 - Still quite tired, I thought I would just stay at the apartment and start working on the girl character. I did this for awhile, but then Mrs. Crews decided to go to the New York Botanical Garden and I accompanied her. Now I know next to nothing about plants, but she knows a lot - so as we walked through, she explained to me what everything was and her experiences in planting them, etc. I learned quite a lot! Not to mention it was pretty, of course.
Saturday, 10/2 - This was the day I decided to take a break from working and have my first personal exploration day. My destination of choice was the Central Park Zoo. I was told that the zoo was quite small and would take me no time to get through, so I decided to also explore the park and visit other sites there. Little did I know that the map I brought with me would not save me from getting very lost...
When I first arrived at the park from the subway, I did not care too much where I was and figured I would just wander around and take in the sights. Right away I saw all the bicyclists -- so many! -- and all the pedicabs riding around on the streets there. There were also lots of horse-drawn buggys! It reminded me of the scene in Enchanted where they have a musical number in Central Park - they really did a good job capturing many of the park's elements. I took out my camera and took a few shots of the park with the cityscape in the background. I figured my wanderings would eventually take me to the zoo.
After my wanderings took me to anywhere but the zoo, I finally took out the map at the statue of Shakespeare in hope of getting my bearings. I did -- for then -- but after a bit more wandering I was once again clueless. Luckly I spotted the Children's Zoo, which is just before the main zoo, so ended up finding my way in. The entry fee for the zoo was $12. That seemed a bit much but then again, when else would I be able to come to the Central Park Zoo? So I paid it and began to view the various areas.
First I checked out the tropical area, which had lots of birds, bats, & snakes. There were also a few lemurs - however, I've seen lemurs before quite a few times at Como Zoo in St. Paul, so these weren't that exciting. The next area housed penguins, fish, and their two polar bears. For a long time I couldn't find the bears - but then I saw a crowd of people and figured they had found one. So I waited for them to thin out a bit and spotted one's sleepy head poking out. In the last area of the zoo, I saw a red panda, a black stork, and some swans - the latter which I didn't take any pictures of because they were in such an awkward pose that they didn't look like swans at all... what good is taking a picture of swans if you can't identify them? However, I never saw the snow leopard, which was dissapointing since it was one of their main exhibits -- but apparently the snow leopard is very elusive.
Once through with the zoo, I was hungry and considered stopping at the cafe in the zoo - but their prices were pretty insane. Instead, I returned to the main pathways in the park and picked up a $2 hot dog from one of the many, many stands all over the place. After that is when I got truly, truly lost. I kept pulling out my map, thinking that I had determined where I was, and then heading on only to find that I was going completely the other way! Before long I couldn't think about how cool the park was, but only about how much my feet hurt and how painfully terrible my sense of direction was. Countless times I sought out a bench to rest. Yeah, it was pretty sad. Only at long last did I make my way back to where I had come, and proceeded to board the subway again. So I spent a total of 6 hours at the park, and yet I didn't get much farther than the southern corner. To my credit, though, Central Park really is huge - practically the size of a town. Just look at a map of Manhattan if you don't believe me.
One site I thought I would check out that day was the Metropolitan Museum of Art which was in Central Park, but that didn't happen, so I decided to visit there another day!
More to come later. :) Sorry about the lengthiness - I'm always really wordy, I know. >.<
Wednesday, 9/29 - I started on my assignment this day, by creating a sketch of a boy character.
I also went on a walk with Mrs. Crews and Scooter, getting a little taste of Riverdale, which is the section of the city they live in. It is part of the Bronx, just north of the Harlem river which separates the Bronx from Manhattan. Needless to say it's not nearly as hectic as it is down in Manhattan. Nonetheless, it's still very different than what I'm used to - rows of apartment buildings to one side and a commercialized street on the other!
Thursday, 9/30 - This was my first day coming in to the office to work. After taking the bus, then subway, then walking down to their location on 45th street, at 10:30 am I was shown to a computer and pretty much told to get started however I wanted. Unfortunately, I didn't really get to work with anyone, since none of the other interns were there - only Alex, who had a lot of other things to take care of for Shine.
However, I did get to listen in on the going-ons around the office as I worked, which was interesting. Shine actually occupies a very small part of the place, most of it belongs to employees of Worldwide Biggies. The artists and animators worked in a different room, so unfortunately I didn't get to see any of that, but I did get to listen in on the management side of creating games. It was a different experience.
Since I got caught up in my work as usual, it wasn't until 2 pm I realized I should go and get some lunch. Alex suggested a diner just a block away, so I visited the place. I ordered a burger there, but I really wouldn't say it was worth the $6 I paid for it - plus the staff wasn't very accomodating, and I got the feeling I annoyed them somehow. I decided I wouldn't be returning there.
I returned to the office for another 3 hours of work, getting done at 6. Honestly, I have never worked that many hours straight before, and I felt mentally drained by the time it was over. However, the boy character was completely finished - colored, shaded, rendered, 100%. Back on the subway & bus I went, not arriving back to the Crews' apartment until 7:30, which was just in time for dinner as they always eat quite late.
Friday, 10/1 - Still quite tired, I thought I would just stay at the apartment and start working on the girl character. I did this for awhile, but then Mrs. Crews decided to go to the New York Botanical Garden and I accompanied her. Now I know next to nothing about plants, but she knows a lot - so as we walked through, she explained to me what everything was and her experiences in planting them, etc. I learned quite a lot! Not to mention it was pretty, of course.
Saturday, 10/2 - This was the day I decided to take a break from working and have my first personal exploration day. My destination of choice was the Central Park Zoo. I was told that the zoo was quite small and would take me no time to get through, so I decided to also explore the park and visit other sites there. Little did I know that the map I brought with me would not save me from getting very lost...
When I first arrived at the park from the subway, I did not care too much where I was and figured I would just wander around and take in the sights. Right away I saw all the bicyclists -- so many! -- and all the pedicabs riding around on the streets there. There were also lots of horse-drawn buggys! It reminded me of the scene in Enchanted where they have a musical number in Central Park - they really did a good job capturing many of the park's elements. I took out my camera and took a few shots of the park with the cityscape in the background. I figured my wanderings would eventually take me to the zoo.
After my wanderings took me to anywhere but the zoo, I finally took out the map at the statue of Shakespeare in hope of getting my bearings. I did -- for then -- but after a bit more wandering I was once again clueless. Luckly I spotted the Children's Zoo, which is just before the main zoo, so ended up finding my way in. The entry fee for the zoo was $12. That seemed a bit much but then again, when else would I be able to come to the Central Park Zoo? So I paid it and began to view the various areas.
First I checked out the tropical area, which had lots of birds, bats, & snakes. There were also a few lemurs - however, I've seen lemurs before quite a few times at Como Zoo in St. Paul, so these weren't that exciting. The next area housed penguins, fish, and their two polar bears. For a long time I couldn't find the bears - but then I saw a crowd of people and figured they had found one. So I waited for them to thin out a bit and spotted one's sleepy head poking out. In the last area of the zoo, I saw a red panda, a black stork, and some swans - the latter which I didn't take any pictures of because they were in such an awkward pose that they didn't look like swans at all... what good is taking a picture of swans if you can't identify them? However, I never saw the snow leopard, which was dissapointing since it was one of their main exhibits -- but apparently the snow leopard is very elusive.
Once through with the zoo, I was hungry and considered stopping at the cafe in the zoo - but their prices were pretty insane. Instead, I returned to the main pathways in the park and picked up a $2 hot dog from one of the many, many stands all over the place. After that is when I got truly, truly lost. I kept pulling out my map, thinking that I had determined where I was, and then heading on only to find that I was going completely the other way! Before long I couldn't think about how cool the park was, but only about how much my feet hurt and how painfully terrible my sense of direction was. Countless times I sought out a bench to rest. Yeah, it was pretty sad. Only at long last did I make my way back to where I had come, and proceeded to board the subway again. So I spent a total of 6 hours at the park, and yet I didn't get much farther than the southern corner. To my credit, though, Central Park really is huge - practically the size of a town. Just look at a map of Manhattan if you don't believe me.
One site I thought I would check out that day was the Metropolitan Museum of Art which was in Central Park, but that didn't happen, so I decided to visit there another day!
More to come later. :) Sorry about the lengthiness - I'm always really wordy, I know. >.<
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
NYC: Week 1! (part 1)
Okay! So, brief intro. My name is Mal, but in cyberspace I'm known as One-Wing. I'm a 22-year-old from Wisconsin. After graduating from college with a degree in Digital Media Arts, I had been applying for jobs and internships all over the place, and I finally landed one - a Game Artist internship in New York City!
The details - The company is Shine Global, a non-profit that specializes in raising awareness about various social issues concerning children by creating documentary films - one which won an Emmy for "Best Documentary." This time, they're doing something new - partnering with Worldwide Biggies, an entertainment company that has the same co-founder, they're making a Flash game to go along with their latest documentary "The Harvest." The game is a simulation, where a player will play as one of the migrant worker children. The goal is to graduate high school while still keeping up with all the harvesting and migrating with the seasons.
My job is to design the characters for the game. There are two other Game Art interns which are in charge of background design. Personally, I think I have the more fun job! Tenatively we will have six girl characters and six boy characters - all Hispanic children between ages 11-16.
The only downside of this position is that it is unpaid. Luckily, a very kind couple who are related to some friends of my parents have allowed me to stay with them for the term of my internship. So that's where I am!
Now, to describe the events of my week.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Monday, 9/27 - The day the adventure began! When I got up at 4:30 am, my heart was already pounding hard. Two hours later when we arrived at Minneapolis Airport, it was worse - I was so nervous that I was struggling to breathe right. I sent away my two check bags, said goodbye to my parents, and then went past security all by myself. But as I sat waiting for my first flight to arrive, my nerves began to calm down. I started to accept what was going to happen - and became confident that I could get through it.
And so I boarded my first flight! As it took off, a favorite song of mine called "Flying" played through my head. It made me very calm - and I remained calm as we flew all the way to Chicago and landed to let off some passengers and let more on. It wasn't until we arrived at Baltimore that I had to get off. I got myself a roast beef sandwich at an Arby's in the food court and then noticed that my next flight to LaGuardia airport was delayed for an hour. But I finally got on that and it wasn't long at all until I arrived - I was at NYC at last. I managed to find the lady I was staying with, Mrs. Crews (I had seen a picture of her, but she hadn't seen a picture of me) and all of my luggage...and so she drove me to their apartment, where I got settled in.
Tuesday, 9/28 - It was this day that I had my first meeting. At first, Mrs. Crews was going to come with me on the subway to make sure I was not late. However, she had a doctor's appointment that would keep her from arriving home in time - so instead she drove me there and gave me directions to take the subway back.
So I arrived a bit early and at last met Alex, the girl who had been in touch with me via email for so long and who had conducted my phone interview. I also met the game designer and the two other art interns. We watched a portion of "The Harvest" documentary, went over the game design outline and the work schedule, and finally each of the interns got their first assignments. I found out that because they had limited office space, I would only be able to come in one day a week, and then again for a meeting on Fridays. My first day would be Thursday, and my first assignment was to design two characters - one girl and one boy, age 12. Of course, I would be able to work on these even when I wasn't at the office. I was still a bit dissapointed that I wouldn't be able to come in that much though.
After the meeting, I chatted a bit more with the other interns as we walked to our various subway stations. I found out that they were both college grads also, and that one girl had been graduated an entire year without finding a job or even an internship until now! They had both gone to schools in NY so they weren't new to the place like me. We talked about how difficult it is for a new grad to get a job since everywhere wants someone with experience already. It was kind of nice to hear that I wasn't alone in feeling so helpless about job search. They also asked me about Wisconsin. Hehe, such an exotic land...
Anyway, eventually they went their separate ways so I was left alone to find my subway station, which was in Times Square. But as most of you may know, Times Square is not hard to find!! Flashing billboards and shiny skyscrapers line the streets. It was a lot to take in, but at the same time, not as overwhelming as I expected. The scarier part was finding the right subway to board... but once they announced that our next stop was 50th street, I knew I was on the right one and was relieved. What I didn't realize was that the ride ahead of me was going to be very long. After all, I was in midtown Manhatten and my stop was in the lower Bronx, across the Harlem river.
Nearly 50 minutes later, I got off only to board a bus and take that the rest of the way back to the apartment. Just my second day in NYC and already I had a big taste of the public transportation system. It was something I would have to get used to!
Wow, already so much writing and that's only my first two days. I think I'll write about the next few days later. In any case, thanks for reading! Hopefully you now have somewhat of an idea of what I'm up to here. :)
The details - The company is Shine Global, a non-profit that specializes in raising awareness about various social issues concerning children by creating documentary films - one which won an Emmy for "Best Documentary." This time, they're doing something new - partnering with Worldwide Biggies, an entertainment company that has the same co-founder, they're making a Flash game to go along with their latest documentary "The Harvest." The game is a simulation, where a player will play as one of the migrant worker children. The goal is to graduate high school while still keeping up with all the harvesting and migrating with the seasons.
My job is to design the characters for the game. There are two other Game Art interns which are in charge of background design. Personally, I think I have the more fun job! Tenatively we will have six girl characters and six boy characters - all Hispanic children between ages 11-16.
The only downside of this position is that it is unpaid. Luckily, a very kind couple who are related to some friends of my parents have allowed me to stay with them for the term of my internship. So that's where I am!
Now, to describe the events of my week.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Monday, 9/27 - The day the adventure began! When I got up at 4:30 am, my heart was already pounding hard. Two hours later when we arrived at Minneapolis Airport, it was worse - I was so nervous that I was struggling to breathe right. I sent away my two check bags, said goodbye to my parents, and then went past security all by myself. But as I sat waiting for my first flight to arrive, my nerves began to calm down. I started to accept what was going to happen - and became confident that I could get through it.
And so I boarded my first flight! As it took off, a favorite song of mine called "Flying" played through my head. It made me very calm - and I remained calm as we flew all the way to Chicago and landed to let off some passengers and let more on. It wasn't until we arrived at Baltimore that I had to get off. I got myself a roast beef sandwich at an Arby's in the food court and then noticed that my next flight to LaGuardia airport was delayed for an hour. But I finally got on that and it wasn't long at all until I arrived - I was at NYC at last. I managed to find the lady I was staying with, Mrs. Crews (I had seen a picture of her, but she hadn't seen a picture of me) and all of my luggage...and so she drove me to their apartment, where I got settled in.
Tuesday, 9/28 - It was this day that I had my first meeting. At first, Mrs. Crews was going to come with me on the subway to make sure I was not late. However, she had a doctor's appointment that would keep her from arriving home in time - so instead she drove me there and gave me directions to take the subway back.
So I arrived a bit early and at last met Alex, the girl who had been in touch with me via email for so long and who had conducted my phone interview. I also met the game designer and the two other art interns. We watched a portion of "The Harvest" documentary, went over the game design outline and the work schedule, and finally each of the interns got their first assignments. I found out that because they had limited office space, I would only be able to come in one day a week, and then again for a meeting on Fridays. My first day would be Thursday, and my first assignment was to design two characters - one girl and one boy, age 12. Of course, I would be able to work on these even when I wasn't at the office. I was still a bit dissapointed that I wouldn't be able to come in that much though.
After the meeting, I chatted a bit more with the other interns as we walked to our various subway stations. I found out that they were both college grads also, and that one girl had been graduated an entire year without finding a job or even an internship until now! They had both gone to schools in NY so they weren't new to the place like me. We talked about how difficult it is for a new grad to get a job since everywhere wants someone with experience already. It was kind of nice to hear that I wasn't alone in feeling so helpless about job search. They also asked me about Wisconsin. Hehe, such an exotic land...
Anyway, eventually they went their separate ways so I was left alone to find my subway station, which was in Times Square. But as most of you may know, Times Square is not hard to find!! Flashing billboards and shiny skyscrapers line the streets. It was a lot to take in, but at the same time, not as overwhelming as I expected. The scarier part was finding the right subway to board... but once they announced that our next stop was 50th street, I knew I was on the right one and was relieved. What I didn't realize was that the ride ahead of me was going to be very long. After all, I was in midtown Manhatten and my stop was in the lower Bronx, across the Harlem river.
Nearly 50 minutes later, I got off only to board a bus and take that the rest of the way back to the apartment. Just my second day in NYC and already I had a big taste of the public transportation system. It was something I would have to get used to!
Wow, already so much writing and that's only my first two days. I think I'll write about the next few days later. In any case, thanks for reading! Hopefully you now have somewhat of an idea of what I'm up to here. :)
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