The Fun Day and then Some Other Stuff

Friday was our fun day.  We left the hotel at 10 for the world famous UNIVERSAL STUDIOS.  Not to be confused with Disney Land, Disney World, or the Florida Universal Studios.  There was no Harry Potter ride. 

There are two levels to Universal, upper and lower.  To get to the lower level, you have to go down 4 massive escalators built into the side of a hill.  It was incredible and an amazing view.  We could see all of Los Angeles from those things.

We went on a few crazy "rides."  The Mummy Tombs was fun; you thought you were just gonna bop along the ride until BAM there's a million foot drop and my stomach came out of my head.  The Jurassic Park ride was also fun; it was mostly through water and since little Angela got picked to sit on the end of the cart, she was the one who got soaking wet.  It only took about 4 hours for my butt and thighs to dry completely.

We took the Universal Studio tour, which lasted about an hour.  They take you around on trams so you don't have to walk it, and lots of the sets that they have set up are extremely recognizable.  My favorite was probably Wisteria Lane from Desperate Housewives.  I had no idea that the houses and street were all practical sets, meaning that there's an exterior for show but also an interior where you can film. 

Gabby's House :D

Lynette's House

The Desperate Housewives set was cool, but what was even cooler was the crash scene set from War of the Worlds.  They showed the scene up on the tram screens so we could watch it and pick out where each shot was on the actual set.  It was SWEET.

We went on a couple more "rides" and things after our tour was over.  I went into the House of Horrors and nearly crapped my pants; remind me to never do anything like that ever again.  There's just something about mummies and monsters chasing you around with a chainsaw that's so unsettling.  We went down City Walk, which is a bunch of different shops and stores and eateries all clumped together.  It was pretty cool.  I had my first ever Yogurtland experience.  Red Velvet Cake Batter Yogurt?  Yummmmmy.

And that was literally our Friday!  A really nice and relaxing way to end our week.  I am so happy I partook in this trip.  It opened my eyes up to so many things and reinforced the things I already knew.  

1: I will be crapped on.  I have accepted that and plan to move on with my life.  Like I said in an earlier post, I don't expect to come into the industry as a 22-year-old and tell everybody else to move out of the way.  I know there are still some people my age who think they're going to do that.  That's gonna bite them in the butt, I think.  

2: I know I still want to be below-the-line!  There are above-the-line and below-the-line jobs.  Above and below don't mean better and suckier; more money and less money.  Above simply means you're working in production, whether it be producing, directing, supervising, etc.  Below means you are part of pre or post production.  Script writing, camera work, sound mixing, EDITING.  

3:  I am more than 1,000,000% sure that I want to be an editor.  Thank you Life and Careers project that introduced me to this job field in 8th grade.  Seriously.  That was the day I knew I wanted to do this and it hasn't changed since.  

4:  I have never been a conformist and don't plan to start now.  L.A. just doesn't seem like the place for me to start off after I graduate, especially because I want to be close(r) to home and have a husband before making such a drastic decision like driving 3,000 miles in my car that I don't have.  New York, here I come.

Observation side note:  I know I'm somewhat of a hopeless romantic, and I hope you don't think I'm creepy by observing this, but out of the 60 or so people that I met this week, I think I counted 9 with wedding rings on their fingers.  That was freakish for me to witness especially because I was that 8-year-old planning her wedding.  It was a bit of a wake up call that it's a tricky thing in this industry to maintain a healthy work life and relationship at the same time.  But again, I've never been one to conform.

5:  I must get an internship.  For some reason, the internship concept has never appealed to me as a student, but now I see the importance of it and how significant it can be while trying to find a job.  Employers just trust so much more when they see a resume with an internship or two on it.  They know you've had experience, and besides other traits like being proactive, a spunky personality, confidence (but not too confident) and knowledge (but don't know too much), experience is what's gonna get you the job.

6:  Yes, this is a competitive industry.  But working together with people on projects is actually the best way to get jobs.  I'll refer you here if you drop my name there.  It is still every man for himself, but not as much as I actually thought.  My competitors can be my friends too.

I think I'm just slightly worried because I've told about 100 people now that I'd dedicate my first movie to them.  I don't remember who all those people are....