My Visit to the Sesame Workshop

Tremors shivered up and down my spine and butterflies fluttered in my stomach as I clutched the phone tightly in my hand. It rang and then I heard my mother’s voice on the other end.
“Hello?”
“Hi, where are you?”
“Driving with your Memama.  We’re about to do some Christmas shopping.”
“Okay, well you might want to pull over or something.”
“Why?”
“I’ve got some big news.  Do you have me on speaker?  Put me on speaker!”
“Hold on. ……Okay, you’re on speaker,” my mom says.  Then, after my grandmother gives me her hello, I take a breath,
“Hi! Well, it looks like I’m heading to Sesame Street!”
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That’s how I broke the news to my family after I received an e-mail stating that my submission for the 2014 Sesame Puppeteer Workshop had been accepted back in December. Immediately there were exclamations of joy from my mother and grandmother, and we soon shared the news with other members of the family.

The Count, Telly, and Me!

I’ve loved the Muppets ever since I was a kid. I mean, who hasn’t? Their characters are hilarious and timeless, heartfelt, and imaginatively realistic. Since their debut, they’ve practically been a part of everyone’s family, for every generation. But my love of puppetry extended beyond the Muppets. As a child, I had puppets of Charlie Horse, Lamb Chop, and Hush Puppy whom I often lifted up to the TV as I tried to mimic the performances I saw on “Lamb Chop’s Play Along.” I even took an interest in ventriloquism when I was about 9, and did shows for my local church and local school.

My love only grew as I became intricately interested in not just the performances, but the foundations of the stories and lessons that the puppets conveyed to their audiences.  By the time I was 11, I knew that I wanted to be part of a movement that had a great, positive impact on today’s generation. I knew I wanted that impact to be educational and entertaining.

Before long, I had written and illustrated my first children’s book, Quack-a-Doodle-Doo: Do it Like Dave.  After its success, I immediately began formulating a plan to incorporate my puppetry into my hobby of writing. I had done a few on-camera puppetry performances already. But I thought,

“Who better to help me hone my educationally-entertaining puppetry skills than the masters at the Sesame Workshop, a corporation who has breathed life into the edu-tainment industry since my parents were kids?”

With that in mind, when I heard about the open-call for puppeteers to send in their videos to the Sesame Workshop, I knew I had to take my shot. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and there was a one-in-a-million chance that I’d get in. But at least if I entered, I’d have a chance.

The video  that I sent in for my submission can be viewed below:

As I shot the video, I recorded my part first. Then, I recorded my Muppet’s part. When I went in to edit, I merged the two scenes together, utilizing skills I’d learn from the Video Production courses I’d taken at the University of West Georgia.

Needless to say, when I informed my family that my application had been accepted, they were thrilled and gave me their full support…(and when I say full support, I mean FULL). Before I knew it, I had two aunts and a grandmother exclaiming that they, “wanted to go to New York too!” I practically had an entourage geared up to travel with me to The Big Apple.

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My family and I decided to travel by car. It was a long trip, but we entertained ourselves with several movies we had brought along for the ride. By the time we reached Maryland, we realized that a pretty heavy snow storm would be coming along our path. So we decided to bunk at an Inn for the night. We woke up early the next morning, and pulled out around 9 AM to finish up the rest of the drive. We ended up reaching NYC around noon, giving us plenty of time to check in to our hotel. I then made sure I had my materials ready before heading on over to the workshop, which began early that afternoon.

Walking into the workshop, I was surrounded by pops of color and the kid inside me was giddy with excitement! As I turned the corner into the meeting room, I met some of my fellow puppeteers. Before long more people began to trickle in. We all signed in, put on our name tags, and all chatted for a while as we eagerly waited for our mentors.

It wasn’t long before…they entered.

There was an air of cheeriness and positivity surrounding all three of them: Martin P. Robinson, Peter Linz, and Matt Vogel.

Everyone was beaming ear to ear as a bubbling wave of eagerness washed over the room. We all went around and introduced ourselves. Then, after we were given a rundown of what the workshop would entail, we were split up into our groups for the day.

Overall, the workshop focused on the basics such as eye focus and bold characterization. We did several exercises to help enhance our individual strengths and techniques throughout the workshop. There was also a great deal of versatility, both in terms of our groups and the puppets that we worked with. In the end, it all culminated into several fun skits that we did to gauge how much we had learned over the course of the workshop.

On the last day, we all make sure that we gathered each other’s contact information. My family ended up leaving NYC at about 4 AM after the last day, and we made it back home by that night.

I took away a lot; but one of the greatest aspects of this experience was the fact that I got to meet a lot of fabulous puppeteers, whom I hope to work with again at some point in the future.

I wouldn’t trade my experience at the Sesame Workshop for anything. I feel like a part of me is still in NYC; it all ended way too soon.

But it will definitely be marked as one of the best experiences of my life!

Me with my mentors: (left) Matt Vogel, (center) Peter Linz, (right) Martin P. Robi

The West Georgian Newspaper Articles: Written by Brittany L. Reid

The following are samples of articles that I've written for The West Georgian newspaper.

"Dr. Sewell Awarded for Multiple Accomplishments on Campus"

**Note - For this article: 1) Click the link. 2) When the article comes up, click on it to expand the text.

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"New Student Fees Help Bring UWG Football Stadium to Life"

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"Construction on Campus Leads to Exciting Future"

**Note - For this article: 1) Click the link. 2) When the article comes up, click on it to expand the text.

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 "The SGA Corner- With Brittany Reid"

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"Alpha Lambda Delta Hosts Campus Wide 'Trick-or-Treat for United Nations Children's Fund"

**Note - For this article: 1) Click the link. 2) When the article comes up, click on it to expand the text.

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The Affect of Social Media on the Film Industry

By: Brittany L. Reid

Social Media has become a predominant trend for today’s generation. Everyone is able to connect to other people around the world just by reaching out and talking to them through social media websites. One business that has been greatly affected by the rise of this trend is the film industry. Not only are movies becoming more available for online viewing, but they are also being produced and distributed with the help of voices on social sites such as Youtube, Facebook, and Twitter. These voices are really movie fans who guide producers in how they should promote and distribute films. The voices are so powerful that they have the potential of serving as the essential, driving force behind the very existence of the film industry in the near future. Movie fans who are users of social media sites influence film marketing, film production, and the success of film distribution.


Film Marketing

According to the article "Top Social Media Websites for Film Marketing," many of today’s most popular websites are the same venues through which directors and producers interact with their audience in order to market their films. These websites are used to generate traffic and buzz about movies in different ways, whether the films are in the planning, pre-production, production, or post-production stage (Chaitanya, 2010). An article on Blog.complete.com entitled, “Finding Watchmen: Why Social Media Matters in Film Marketing” focused on the most searched sites people visited to look up information for movies. The sites were tracked between November 2008 and February 2009 and revealed that about 18.5% of searchers went directly to the film’s website, while about 18.4% visited Wikipedia.com, about 6% visited IMDB.com, and about 4.8% visited youtube.com. These numbers can be attributed to the fact that visitors travel to various sites for various reasons (Baird, 2009). For example, Youtube is the primary source used to promote trailers and clips for a variety of films. People comment on the trailers and give their opinions on the scenes, characters, and their expectations of the plots. The movie audience can also track the production of those films through sites like Facebook if the movie company continuously updates their page with new information. Facebook also utilizes new modern trends such as cross-platform storytelling and getting fans to promote their films.

Onedegree.com explains how cross-platform storytelling is a beneficial marketing strategy for directors. In the article, “How Social Media is Empowering Independent Filmmakers,” it is explained that the basic concept, “Allows the story’s character(s) to live in other platforms before the film is released to give them a broader life and further help with the film’s publicity” (Hamburg, 2009). For example, directors could make Facebook pages for the film’s characters, in which they live their own lives until the film’s release date. Fans can then interact with the characters and get to know more about them, as well as gain insight to their role in the film before its debut. Through this interaction, fans connect directly with a variable that is significant to the functioning plot of the film.

In addition to this, whether the fans are visiting Facebook, Youtube, or another social media site, there is no doubt that they will forward links and messages of the film’s statuses to their friends, contributing to the marketing of the movies. Fans can also donate money and promotional materials such as posters, banners, t-shirts, etc. in order to help with the marketing of the films. Directors also utilize social media sites in order to help with film production (Hamburg, 2009).


Film Production

The production of a film consists of many variables such as casting, funding, and searching for shooting locations, costume designers, makeup artists, and more. These different aspects can be easily accessed through the usage of national and international social media websites. Today, directors have taken advantage of the social media trend to create their own versions of popular sites such as LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. An article entitled, “Social Networking and the Film Industry” explains how these newly created sites are essentially a type of networking created specifically for the movie business (Halfon, 2008). The sites are beneficial because they expand to the national regions of the globe and are created in many different languages. So if movie-makers wish to produce a film in a foreign country, they can connect with costume designers, makeup-artists, and look for filming locations in that country by using social media sites made specifically for the movie business. Several of these sites include KinoRezo, which is the French equivalent of LinkedIn; CineFriends, which is the French equivalent of Facebook; and Canes2010, which is the English equivalent of Twitter. Yet professionals are not the only ones who can utilize these sites. Anyone who has a general interest in making movies can use these sites, as well as a network on TriggerStreet.com, in order to promote their material.

TriggerStreet.com allows anyone who has created movie-scripts, screenplays, trailers, clips, comics, or anyone who simply likes to critique films, to gather in one location. The website is essentially the film industry’s version of Facebook, Youtube, and Twitter all merged into one place. The positive thing about TriggerStreet is that both professionals and non-professionals are aware of the site. So, people can make connections and gather the contacts of those looking to become big-time film directors, and help them along the way. However, even though people can follow professional directors on social media sites like Twitter, the problem may lie in the fact that those professionals may not be the best means of trying to achieve renowned recognition in the film industry.


(Click here for link to PBS article: "Can Social Media Chatter Predict Oscar Winners")


Film Distribution

Even though prospective movie directors attempt to seek out middleman distribution companies to help them with their movies, their search is not always successful. Many movie-makers attempt to send their movies to film festivals in hopes that a big company will see their films and opt to help fund, promote, and distribute said films. However, a very small percentage of movies shown at film festivals are actually chosen for funding and world-wide distribution. An article entitled, “Film Publicity 2.0-Part 1” displays a video which reveals that about 2% of films being made are accepted into top film festivals, and even then not all of the movies viewed at the festivals are distributed to movie audiences (Hamburg, 2009). Instead, directors should consider self-distribution by communicating with their audiences directly. This can be done by promoting and showcasing movies on their own film-websites, on sites such as TriggerStreet.com, or even on social networking sites like Facebook or Youtube.

Even when it comes to delivering special features to the audience to enhance the marketability and successful distribution of their movies, directors may soon be able to avoid costs that come with distributing film on dvds altogether. In the article, “Social Media-Social TV and Building Audience Communities Online,” it is revealed that a new technology is in the works that will allow the TV audience to accesses special features of programs they have just viewed from the comfort of their own home. In other words, the features will be available on the same technology that they just used to watch the movies: their television screen (Papworth, 2008). In the past, people have relied professionals in the film industry to contribute to the success of their films both in cinemas and in terms of critical reception after distribution. However, it is now getting to the point where those professionals may not be needed at all.


Conclusion

Social networking has now become the equivalent of a movie’s pre-screening before it reaches the final draft, is edited, and is ready to ‘print’ for the big theaters. Today, there is more one-on-one interaction with the film audience in every single stage of creating a movie. It is very possible that soon, film festivals and movie-cinemas, like the print industry, may become endangere and that the entire film business may be conducted wholly online. According to “Filmmaker Magazine Summer 2008: When The Audience Takes Control,” many sites are already opening the path for this, such as: Tangler.com (forums), Tv.com, BlogTV.com, Ustream.com (for live streaming which allows filmmakers to communicate with their audiences), Ning (a free service that enables you to easily create your own social network for your film with the same features as site like Myspace and Facebook), and more (Weiler, 2010).

Facebook Experience

My past experiences on Facebook has been beneficial, and efficient.

I first signed up with Facebook during my Freshman year of college because it was a requirement to join the group that the West Georgian had set up on the site. Writers for the paper were told to check Facebook for updates on meetings and events/articles that were available to write about, and to know what stories were already assigned.

After I joined Facebook, I was immediately hooked. One thing that I absolutely love about that site is that I have been able to reconnect with several friends and family members that I have not seen in a long time. Many of the people that I have found or who have found me are people that I thought I would never hear from again, so I’m thrilled that we’ve found each other once again through the advancement of a modern technological site like Facebook. One friend that I have found moved away from my home-town when we were in the fourth grade. I hadn’t heard from her since, and I just found her on Facebook last year! We were both very excited and we did a lot of catching up in talking about old times! The site makes it much easier [than it was in the 90s] to maintain connections with those who live far away. Also, I am part of a variety of groups that help to enhance the social networking that is necessary in order to progress in today’s society.

Many of the groups I have joined of Facebook correlate with larger, national groups (The National Society of Collegiate Scholars, Alpha Lambda Delta, etc.), and I know that any information presented on my profile pages and on my account represents who I am as a person. I know this will serve as a great asset if any employer decides to check out my profile page to analyze my interests, as well as my membership and standing in various professional organizations. I like the fact members can control how they present themselves online, and that profile pages serve as excellent representations of people if someone of high status were to come across their Facebook pages. Another feature that I love about the site is that some professional organizations have actually made their own groups for people to join, and that increases the chance that a post made within the group could make a good impression on executive member if they happen to check the group for updates.

Currently, I have taken advantage of every social-networking benefit provided by one of the most popular sites on the internet. I have even made a Facebook group for my Reid’s Reel Review program that airs on the UWG campus. Family and friends have both joined the group, and I hope that the membership only continues to grow within the next few years. I am ecstatic that Facebook has made communication, as well as social networking as a whole, much easier and more beneficial for today’s society.

It is because of this that Facebook is currently my primary mode of technological communiction on the internet.