California Dreamin'

Today, in simple terms, was perfect. It would be anyone who is interested in anything in the media world's dream day, hence the title...

I couldn't be more appreciative of what Coop (professor coordinating the trip, he doesn't like when we add the "er" to his full name...Cooper!) has set up for us and done for us this week. The only negative, is now when I say I have a clue of what I may want to do in my future, I really have absolutely no clue because our next day's adventures change my mind all over again!

Today started off with a tour and lunch with Randall Winston, producer of Cougar Town and Scrubs. He was completely laid back and honest. He showed us the sets and stages let us read the script from an episode that hasn't aired yet. Also, we got to watch the unfinished episode as well which was pretty awesome. We did bump into some actors and actresses on the show. We met Busy Phillips, who plays Laurie on the show, Bob Clendenin, who plays Tom, and Dan Byrd, who plays Travis. This was extremely cool because I had never really spoken to a celebrity but also to see how they interacted with Randall was interesting. I liked seeing that it was very informal and casual. It made me want to work in production and get to know the actors and actresses. Randall is friends with his cast which I think is really awesome. This was only my first stop into more confusion...wait, it gets better.

After our visit at Culver Studios, the home of the Cougar Town set, we headed off to the Dreamworks Studio. We met with the recruitment chair who gave us a tour of some of the Dreamworks space. It was really cool to see that Dreamworks is like its own little town, it almost felt like a fantasy world. Everyone was smiling and cheerful and no one looked overwhelmed or stressed. It was almost weird to see everyone "liking" their jobs! We met with some Ohio University Alumni that are now working at Dreamworks and we had a Q & A session with them. Lauren, one of the speakers made a very good point. She said that live action is very competitive and cut throat and many people may be in it for themselves as compared to the animation world where everything is much more laid back, slower pace, mistakes are ok, and you work as a team all the time. This got me thinking...I am a fast paced person but not when it comes to projects and I do make mistakes. I don't know if I would fit into the live action world just based on those things. I have not completely ruled it out but Lauren got me to picture myself at a place like Dreamworks where the setting was peaceful and mellow. I also realized that talking to Lauren is very similar to talking to a future me. She was interested in what I am interested in now and her job now at Dreamworks is something I would totally be in to. She works in the art department and I just see a lot of similarities between her and I. This is where I got forced into my second stage of confusion. Now I'm thinking, maybe move beyond set design for live action, beyond general production, and go into animation! Wait, what? Animation? I never thought I'd be saying such a thing! I'm an art minor and if I was into set design, well hey, I can do it in animation, can't I?

After Dreamworks we headed over to the Chiodo Brothers studio. These are three brothers that work in stop motion animation, regular animation, and a bunch of other areas. The brothers actually grew up on Long island near where I'm from which from the gecko inspired me. They moved from New York to Los Angeles a while ago so why can't I do it in a few years? They have produced and directed a film called Team America, did work on Dinner for Schmucks, worked on Pee-Wee Herman's Big Adventure, and the movie Elf. They have touched on a bunch of different movies and I think what they do is awesome. They create everything they use right in their facility. They have always been into art and film so basically they put the two together and decided stop motion is what they wanted to do. They got me thinking about my 3rd stage of confusion for the day....stop motion animation maybe? I could sculpt figurines and paint them and then help animate them! It sounds like an awesome idea! The brothers were so honored that we came to learn about what they did and when we applauded them for their time they were so happy. It was almost like they had never been applauded for before this evening. To be honest, I did not really think I would be interested in what the Chiodo Brothers do but as soon as I walked into their studio I felt something. I had a moment and began to think...I could picture myself doing this too! (Gosh, I hate Coop for giving us all these great experiences for me to just become more confused at!)

After a long day, I'm still confused. Yesterday ended with me kind of knowing what I may want to do in my future and today has put me back at square one. I have no clue once again.

Arielle Busch the set designer...

Arielle Busch the producer...

Arielle Busch the animator...

Arielle Busch the stop motion animator...

Hey, I think they all have a little ring to them, but I guess we'll end today's writings with this thought...maybe tomorrow will bring my futures answer!...but I'm learning to not get my hopes up!