Blogstar Memoirs

Halfway Through The Week (Work Experience – Day Three)

Happy first day of summer everyone! That is if you could even classify this weather as ‘summer’, it’s bucketing rain outside! definitely NOT summer weather. I got to the Rockstar  office a little later than I usually do but at least I got here on time so it’s not a big deal When I got to the Rockstar Office there were a few more people I haven’t met before but a few that I recognised from the past two days. Amelia welcomed me back into the Rockstar office, it was really nice to see her after her day off. Just  like yesterday, as soon as I got to the Rockstar office I went straight into the world of video editing. With a few of the videos pretty much done all I had to do was add some touch ups on the ones that I edited yesterday, this included editing the sound just to boost the volume a little bit. Next I had to export the videos (which Dane helped me with) which was quite a nuisance considering we had to find files we could delete to make room for the videos but with all that said we had to get the work done anyways and so we did.

Remember when I mentioned that when I came in to the office this morning there were a few unfamiliar faces? Well one of them was Michael S but later on he came up to me and asked me to brainstorm ideas for a design of a ‘Trellum’ catalogue for university students. It was quite challenging to come up with a way to attract a university audience for this catalogue but once again, it must be done. I must say though, to be asked to pitch in a few ideas for a  product that will be put on the market was both an honour and a little daunting, I got a little bit nervous here and there..

I suppose that is all for this rainy Wednesday at the Rockstar studio. Au Revoir for now and I shall see you later

Final Cut 101 Day (Work Experience – Day Two)

So it’s my second day here at the Rockstar office and needless to say, it has not declined in awesomeness over the past 24 hours. Today is yet another cloudy day which consequently means that the public transport was  late due to wet roads and much to my dismay, my bus came 10 minutes late but it turned out alright because I still got to the Rockstar office 20 minutes early (YAY!).

When I opened the glass doors to the Rockstar office, I was greeted by some familiar faces and some unfamiliar faces. As I scanned the room I couldn’t find Amelia anywhere but that was fine because today I practically dove into the world of video editing. When I walked into the other Rockstar studio Dane had already set up the MacBooks for us to start editing the yearbook videos on using Final Cut Express. I’m sure Anita has ellaborated on what the videos are about but basically Rockstar Memoirs makes a short little videoclip about the yearbooks they have recently made and Anita was lucky enough as to write scripts for the video but I was lucky enough as to edit them which was actually pretty interesting and fun. To be quite honest with all of you I have NEVER used Final Cut Express before today, I mean I have previously made videoclips however they were much simpler and I used Windows Movie Maker which is by far much user friendly for begginers but nevertheless Dane helped me out alot which was much needed and much appriciated. Dane if you’re reading this, thank you so much for putting up with me and the many questions I had today It’s thanks to you that I now know the basic tricks of Final Cut Express and just FYI, you’re awesome. I never knew that video editing could be so time consuming and complicated at times (especially when you’re running out of free disk space!) but at the end of the day the hours of slaving away in front of the computer was definitely worth it.

Did I ever mention that time goes by so quickly here at the Rockstar office? Because if I haven’t, now I am. I started editing videos as soon as I walked through the doors of the Rockstar office (aprrox 9.45am) and before I knew it, it was lunch already! The lovely Rockstar crew took me out for lunch today which maybe to them was an everyday thing but to me it was something new, after all i’ve never had a job before therefore i’ve never gone out for lunch with a whole group of co-workers. If any of the Rockstar crew are reading this… thank you for taking me out for lunch, I would’ve had no idea where to go if I didn’t have you guys and although I was quite at lunch today, I really did enjoy it I was just feeling a little under the weather as all.

When lunch was all done and our stomachs are satisfied it was back to the office and back to work. Dane and I kept working on the videoclips, I think it took a little longer than expected because we would stumble on so many problems and glitches along the way starting with having to render every single video to trying to find space to save files in the very jam-packed hard drive of the MacBook. While I was editing videos Nathan decided to turn on some music in the studio with my iPod and played Hannah Montanna (haha, shame), I think it was harder to convince him that I don’t like Hannah Montanna rather than actually editing videos on a complicated program like Final Cut and incase you’re wondering why I even have Hannah Montanna in my iPod in the first place, I was eleven, self explainatory? haha. Oh and today I got to go out and navigate through the streets of North Sydney for a post office (well, I didn’t exactly roam around… I had a map ) where I had to mail a CD, it was fun to run a few errands outside the office while getting some fresh air  after sitting infront of a laptop screen for alot of the day and before I knew it, it was already 5 which meant it’s home time for me.

I can’t believe it’s already Tuesday! Which means that in only 3 days my time here at Rockstar will come to an end and I don’t want it to end. I never thought that there were any jobs out there where you can meet so many amazingly talented people who share the same passion as you do until I walked into Rockstar, it gives me chills (the good kind ). They say that when you love a job you literally wake up every morning excited for what you are about to do up till the point where you practically fly out the door to do it, well thats how I wake up every morning for the past two days. So that is all for now, Adios Amigos.

Becoming a Rockstar (Work Experience – Day One)

Hi there, I’m Nisa, the easiest way to describe me in a quick sentence is  ”I’m yet another photoshop enthusiast”. I’m currently at the amazing Rockstar Memoir office to complete my work experience hours and loving every minute of it. Just an interesting fact (if you could call it that) I’m very close friends with  Anita, who was here doing her work experience last week.

Below is a summary of my very first day here in the Rockstar office (PS I think they call the place Rockstar because everyone are such Rockstars at what they do! and yes, that is a good thing )

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As soon as I woke up this morning, I looked out my window to find a cold and rather murky morning (definitely not something to expect when it’s only a matter of days away till its summer) and although for most people a cloudy day like today symbolises a bad day for me a dark, rainy day symbolises a good day, I know it’s crazy but no, i’m not joking. It was 9.30 when I set foot in front of a building with a huge ’247′ street number on it, I could’ve walked straight in but instead I stood outside the Rockstar building looking down on my black dress. I kept questioning whether the dress made me look too formal or far too casual, I practically spent an hour yesterday night going through my whole wardrobe to find the perfect thing to wear and I told myself that I shouldn’t spend another hour questioning my decision in front of the Rockstar office just because I was nervous  so I took a deep breath, walked into the building and up the stairs to the Rockstar office. When I opened the glass doors to the office, I introduced myself to a room of unfamiliar faces then Amelia, one of the Creative Consultants here at Rockstar came up to me with a smile on her face, she introduced herself  and the rest of the team. I instantly felt so much better and I laughed a little to myself, “What  was I so nervous about? everyone is so nice and welcoming”.

Rockstar is my second work experience place, last week I did my work experience at a vet and although it was interesting, I didn’t feel like I belong as much I did when I first set foot on the Rockstar office. I’ve wanted to be a graphic or interior designer as far back as I could remember, art has always been apart of my life and ever since I was a part of my schools yearbook committee (yes, we were and still are Rockstar’s client) I have been so excited for today, the day I get to do my work experience here.

Amelia gave me my Program and this trusty Mac laptop that I’m typing away on before letting me browse the internet through all the Rockstar websites and setting me up with my very own Rockstar password (ahh, feeling like a Rockstar ). I pretty much lost track of time just going through… wait this deserves a drum role please… *drum role* Adobe Photoshop CS4 and Adobe InDesign *people cheering in the background*  and when I looked at the time, it was already lunchtime . WOW!  Chris and Sabina was so lovely as to take me out for lunch (If you’re reading this, THANK YOU! ). Then it was back to work, well… back to FUN! I got to go through the Rockstar library which was very inspirational, I would’ve spent my whole day there if I could but unfortunately there are not enough hours in a day. Next I went onto the yearbook ideas website and commenced blogging about tips on making a yearbook and right now… well I’m blogging to to you Oh actually, before my blogging streak Nathan came up to me and gave me some very wise and much needed words of wisdom about the work and the team.

Surprisingly this isn’t all that I’ve done today but it’s almost 5 which means I have to go home  because my bus comes once every 45 minutes and it’s bucketing with rain outside but anyways it has been such an amazing day here at the Rockstar office and I can’t wait for more! Ciao and see you all tomorrow.

My Last (Work Experience//Final Day)

Super Retro Fun Harry Potter Prop Styled Mood Board Thursday! (Work Experience//Day Four)

I went on about how I started my blog entry on the day, and felt really pleased with myself that I was entering it on time, yet I still didn’t post it until the next day. Haha. Nice.

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Today, is unique, because I’m actually starting my blog entry in the premises of Rockstar Memoirs!  Finally found some time and managed to set up my temp. account on Blogstar Memoirs, which is a little late…

Problem is, it’s still 10.15- I got in about half an hour ago, so I haven’t really started anything too serious. I expect I’ll be doing some yearbook filming any moment now though. I hope I don’t stuff it haha…

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I finally managed to (in an act of ‘bravery’) film a couple of pieces for the yearbook videos. Actually, it wasn’t so bad- for the most part I was able to film them in one take, aside from one particular book that took me three attempts. After a couple of tries, it’s easier to be comfortable in front of the camera- but I didn’t look over the footage, so I probably look silly. xD

The night before I had a random burst of inspiration for a yearbook theme, so I worked on creating another mood board for a couple of hours (leaving my minimalism one….untouched). I really love the prop designs for the Harry Potter movies, especially with the various retro/ vintage styled leaflets and posters they use as props. So that sparked the idea for this mood board, once again granted with my terrible naming skills.

So this is the ‘Vintage Harry Potter Prop-Styled Thingy’, promoting flat, pastel colours in a retro/vintage style. Cross-posting it to my (lonely) Deviantart account- having problems uploading it here anyway, so if you want to see it, visit it here. Ignore the (very embarrassing) username, it was created a loong time ago, and I can’t explain it either.

Aside from working on the mood board, I can say today was pretty quiet. Ran a couple of errands to the post office as well, which was a good opportunity to stretch my legs. Time passes really quickly here at Rockstar- I’m having so much fun. Dreading tomorrow though; it’s my last day D:

Midpoint (Work Experience//Day Three)

The events of Wednesday

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Day 3, and I can certainly say that I’m still having a blast.

After implementing a quick-edit of the cover I designed yesterday (and gosh were the client’s instructions confusing), as well as making a short trip to Officeworks to pick up printing paper with Amelia, Nathan set me up to work with Dane on the filming of the yearbook videos. Remember my little task on my first day, with writing scripts? That’s what I’m talking about.

Anyway, my job was to sort out and locate the yearbooks needed to film, like how a teacher would call the roll. Except I had a couple of ‘truants’. Tut, tut, tut. A couple of books were missing, but that was okay in the meantime because there were roughly 65 other books to film. I’m being accustomed to the Rockstar library (of Fame xD); I can recognise schools and link to their covers now (Wow, what a great achievement…). Also had to help plan out guidelines to scripts, because yep, everyone in the studio was subject to mandatory filming~

I think I just made it sound really harsh and intimidating, but it really isn’t bad in real life! No, I haven’t done a piece myself, but I’m doing it tomorrow!

We set up an empty space to film with a couple of comfortable chairs+ saggy beanbags, as well as additional (random) props. The whole point was to make the videos as creative and lively as possible, so we had everything from the PS3 Rock Band guitars, to a real guitar, a pirate sword, hula-hoops, a costume lion head… you name it. Oh, and we had a plant. And a watering can. We’d film unique pieces each time to prevent it from being repetitive (something inevitable if you ask me, but there are always ways to solve that), so some ideas that came up included superimposing random and quirky shots in addition to the feature work on the yearbook. As we weren’t able to complete all sixty-something yearbooks in the short timeframe of 3 hours, that’s probably be something we’re doing tomorrow.

And so the rest of the day proceeded as forth: bring person in, quick-brief them on the sorts of things they had to mention, film, mark of yearbook, and repeat all steps. Might sound tedious but I found it to be really enriching and enjoyable. Each person had their unique quirk in their presentations, which brought many smiles (and laughs) to the room.  I also witnessed the first thing I ever found and Ipad to be useful for (other than the epic apps)- we had to give kudos to the yearbook committees of the different schools in the videos, so we were using it to search a database on all the respective names. Gasp! Amazing!

Even though I’m technically only half-way through my program, it’s hard to believe that my time at Rockstar is coming to an end so soon. I’ve had so much fun these past few days; such that I’m actually dreading Friday. You’ll be hearing me ramble on and profusely offer my thanks then, Rockstar.

Thank you to Dane, who everyone should know is awesome. I hope my help…helped.

Run Out of Inspiration For A Blog Title Already (Work Experience//Day Two)

My entry for Tuesday. I remember being especially tired when I returned home (probably because I literally spent the whole day in front of the computer screen).

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Today I arrived even earlier than last time- the traffic wasn’t as bad. Anyway, I initially began on the set task for today according to my handy dandy program- which was to research and brainstorm new and innovative ideas for templates and themes for potential yearbooks. I would then use this research to create mood boards for three different ideas/ themes.

Was looking forward to this part of the program, as I would be able to play freely around with Photoshop and other Creative Suite programs. So I sat at my workstation, and began pondering over some ideas. Haunted sites like DeviantART as well as the Rockstar website for inspiration; for little snippets that sparked a whole creative process. I was only able to get started on the mood board for one of them though (minimalism/ minimalist…didn’t really have time to come up with a better name), because Michael S. put forward an opportunity for designing the front cover of a school’s yearbook!

The beginnings of what could have been a nice-ish mood board.

Kind of ironic that I was bent on making a mood board full of ideas and information on the theme of ‘Minimalism’ though.

I’ll be sure to finish this off.

I really didn’t expect to be tasked with such a real and serious job on my second day. It was a pleasant surprise I guess you could say. No, an Epic Pleasant Surprise. Yes, it needs capitals. I very much valued the opportunity, and welcomed it on as a challenge, so thank you Michael! I was glad to help!

The school particularly wanted to emulate the cover of another school’s yearbook (really more ‘I want it to be just like this other yearbook but in *insert colour here*’), hence I had to work and reference from previously existing resources. I had a number of questions and queries while starting the cover (e.g. What’s the protocol for beginning a job like this?), which I believe were mainly fuelled by self-inflicted pressure of my new ‘responsibility’. However, my own instincts and Nathan’s words of advice carried over like some sort of omniscient narrator in my head (trial and error baby. He didn’t say ‘baby’ though) and I just tried working through it myself before voicing my troubles (if needed). It wasn’t too hard, just needed a couple of Google searches .  My main concerns were setting up bleed and spine allowances so that I could keep track of them- which turned out just being a simple process of setting up guidelines. And here I thought there was some funky tool in Photoshop that specifically inputted that.

It is often said that taking the first step in something is always the hardest, and no matter how clichéd it sounds, it’s completely true (ha, even that part sounded clichéd). After settling my doubts of page size and quality, working on the aesthetic components of the cover wasn’t especially difficult.  I didn’t get to use the Wacom tablet though (damn, and I’m pretty sure they had the Intuos 3 too…), so I had to rely on the mouse. Thank goodness I didn’t need to draw anything.

Working on the cover ended up consuming most of my time today, so I didn’t really get up to much aside from that. I did get to meet more Rockstar employees though, whom were all lovely characters. The people make the workplace, and just being able to be part of this amazing studio, though it’s for a week, tends to rid the nerves one can get with working in a new environment. I get to do something I love, and everyone is easily approachable, so I didn’t feel particularly uncomfortable about anything.

Looking forward to tomorrow

Anita and the Rockstars (Work Experience//Day One)

NB:

Hi, I’m Anita, currently completing my work experience hours here at the fantastic Rockstar Memoirs! I only managed to get my guest WordPress account activated today (i.e. Thursday). A little late, seeing as how my work experience shift is almost over, but that’s ok! Hopefully.

Thus, every single crazy thing I’ve rambled on about below was from Monday. Previously it was sitting in a little Word document… xD

Excuse my lame title (and my general cheesy, lame writing).

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So, I’m standing in front of 247 Pacific Highway, straightening out my blouse. I idle around the building, deciding on the perfect time to enter. It’s 9.40. I’m 20 minutes early, and I still don’t know how the hell I managed to arrive on time- my mind flashbacks to only an hour before, when an ATM decided to swallow my key card (great timing, I know).

However, I decide to brush away my slight nerves- after all, I was ecstatic just the day before- and make my way up the stairs.

To be honest, I have never worked before, so I had absolutely no idea what to do once arriving at North Sydney. How should I walk in the studio? Name card clip or no name card clip? It didn’t take a genius to realise that the working world was vastly different to school life. Even though if it was just for a moment, my ‘foolproof’ plan of “I’ll-get-around-to-working-after-my-commitments-to-school” didn’t seem so bright. I couldn’t help but wonder how my other classmates were doing at their respective work placements. Then again, the whole point of work experience is to learn. No?

Here begins what would no doubt be 5 days of awesome.

After a very warm welcome from Amelia Walkley, one of the Yearbook Consultants, I was introduced to the rest of the team at Rockstar Memoirs. I had most certainly picked a busy time to drop into the studio, as this time of the year was full of finalisations of the many yearbooks the company had under its wing. Nevertheless, I was still greeted with a smile and an orientation to Rockstar HQ. Everyone seemed friendly, and I must say, there was a great atmosphere going around. Must be the smell of all that creativity. Or the freshly printed yearbooks. Loved the music though haha. ‘Twas a nice touch.

After passing through that initiation of sorts, I was granted the use of a magical Mac, bestowed my own Rockstar account, and received a program sheet, which outlined what I would be carrying out throughout my tenure at the studio. They were small notions (ok, maybe they weren’t small), but they still made me feel rather welcomed to the team, and I appreciated them very much.  After spending some time browsing the intranet, which covered various topics, from the usual OH&S regulations (I’m pretty sure the whole social-alcohol thing doesn’t apply to me haha), to links to new inspirations. I found myself poring through those, and even took some notes along the way, especially with the baseline grid and start up tips in Adobe InDesign.

I was then introduced to the Rockstar library! It was amazing how many clients the studio had, and gave me the chance to understand how wide the scope of the company was. Rockstar has clients from all over Australia, and combined with actually seeing how hard everyone was working first hand, I had a rejuvenated and strengthened appreciation of the work that is completed here. It’s just brilliant. I could come up with a whole metaphorically reinforced elaborate phrase to describe it, but that might be a little cheesy.

Unfortunately, the library, I was told, was in desperate need of rearrangement. A mission, it was! So I set forth, sorting samples from those already inducted into the Rockstar Library (of Fame), DIY projects from Rockstar designed projects, and whatnot. And can I tell you, there were a lot of yearbooks. During my time sorting I also had to familiarise myself with the library, and pick out interesting aspects and themes of the different yearbooks. This would later link to my next task, but first I went out for lunch with Amelia. Teriyaki chicken obento, yum! Thank you for that

Content with my midday meal, I returned to the studio and was able to take a break with sorting yearbooks, and sit in on a meeting with Amelia and Chris on one of the yearbooks they were soon to complete. Talks of pagination and HDDs immediately brought me back to the enriching experience I was able to be part of last year as a member of my own school’s yearbook team (working together with Rockstar), but observing the process from the side of the designers rather than the clients proved to be…fascinating. It really broke down that wall between the client and employer that is so often present in many workplace situations. I used to be a client, and now I was able to peer at it from the other side. I saw the issues that could arise from delivery, with communication, and just how much designers have to juggle- finishing off a yearbook isn’t the only job they carry at one time. Often the designers and freelancers are also university students or are participating in other commitments, and also are contracted to other design jobs, so you could really take in just how much work and dedication working in this field can be. I kowtow to you all!

Also, Chris’ wallpaper was epic. I didn’t mention it at the time because I noticed it halfway through the meeting, and didn’t really want to interrupt the productive flow they had going on, but if you ever read this Chris and I still haven’t gotten around to telling you: Loving the wallpaper 8D.

Rockstar makes it a point to vlog each and every yearbook they produce. It’s just a short, thirty second to a minute presentation on the look of the yearbook and any interesting aspects. Amelia wanted me to write short scripts for some of the yearbooks, and if I wanted to, even film some of them. I haven’t gotten around to the filming, but that should be entertaining!

I spent the remainder of the afternoon browsing through lists and yearbooks, trying to sort out unique and creative design aspects from a number of yearbooks, taking notes along the way. I wrote out a number of scripts, a task that I may have slightly underestimated, because coming up with new and innovative ways to say ‘Well done!’ is harder than you think! Not sure if scripts are a little long though- I think I’m going to review them again.

The close of the day came around soon enough, however I felt like I barely did anything by then! Nathan also graciously took the time to give me a couple of words of support and welcome to the studio, which I greatly appreciated! Thank you Nathan- I can tell you are an amazing leader and truly are a passionate and reliable member of the team!

Once again, I would like to thank everyone for being so welcoming and cordial for agreeing to host me for this week! Can’t wait for the rest of the program!

Gosh, I wrote a lot.

Australia’s First Lip Dub! – Baulkham Hills Class of 2010

Filmed on September 8, 2010, we present The Baulko Class of 2010!

Also a little video mix we put together. Music by DJ Earmworm.

Now Printing…

Currently on our presses: 6,175 yearbooks, from 25 year 12 and school yearbook projects! It’s been a busy week.