Learning to Create Media Content in the Professional World
With my internship experience, I made it my goal to learn something new everyday and to be mindful of the ways in which I could expand the horizons of my future career interests. My name is Rob Corso and I am an aspiring art director in my junior year of study — I am majoring in Advertising with a concentration in Art Direction and a Certificate in Media Arts. New Pace Productions (NPP), in Ardmore, PA is where I worked as a Production Intern this Fall 2019 and they helped me to gain my first experiences in the professional video production industry.
New Pace Productions creates a diverse range of video content for a plethora of clientele — they partner with corporate agencies, higher education, healthcare companies, non-profits, real-estate businesses, as well as tech, finance, and industrial companies. My role as a Production Intern with NPP provided me with the necessary tools to comprehend media production on a grander scale. On a day-to-day basis, I was learning about video editing, cinematography, cameras, video direction, gaffers & grips, lighting, the roles within a production team, and I even got to be model in a few productions, so that I could understand how talent is directed on a set.
All of this knowledge was extremely valuable for me to learn, because most of my studies are heavily concept and graphic design focused and I don’t see too much about the world of an art director at work with video. Most of my thoughts are about creative work and learning how to get it done, so I went to NPP with the intentions of learning how to apply my creativity to video production. My time with the production studio has really peaked my interest into the world of film and from this experience I have decided to add a Certificate in Media Arts to further my education/skills into video.
Getting to shadow such a passionate production team while they tackled their projects was everything that I needed to catch the learning-bug for film. Working with a Director of Photography, a Creative Director, multiple producers, a team of video editors, and a motion graphics artist has opened up my eyes to so many more creative tools that I aim to master in the years to come. Truly, it was an inspiring and informative production studio to be a part of — with such great people. Everyone there was kind and always happily answered my questions.
Honestly, I am somewhat sad to be at the end of this internship, but I leave with much more knowledge than I had started with and a new drive of curiosity for production. My most valued lesson from the experience is in my work as a Production Assistant — I can now effectively contribute, understand, and operate as part of a team on a live video set. This was my first internship ever… I learned that new experiences can be intimidating to go after, there is a sense of discomfort, but that’s only because the situation is new… give these things time and figure out how to add value to the company in your position and you’ll find opportunities you never even thought to be possible yet.
To those interested in video production, I’d certainly recommend taking a look at New Pace Productions, they do quality work and sincerely care that you are learning what you want to while you are there. My time and efforts were well-spent there and I love the stories and knowledge that I now have to share from there!
(Timelapse of the crew working to wrap up the mobile set after a production shoot)
