Intellectual Autobiography

Julie Ast
Sanja Trpkovic
Understanding Media Studies
3 October 2009

Intellectual Autobiography

The media industry has always captured my attention. When I first arrived in New York City to attend college, I was drawn to my school’s journalism department. I enjoyed interviewing and gathering information for stories and presenting the material in a well-written manner. New York City, as the home to major media conglomerates, was the perfect setting to experience the media industry. Through internships in public relations and writing for my college newspaper, I worked on creating cogent, creative and sometimes persuasive copy. Although I focused mainly on print media and publishing during my undergraduate studies, upon graduating I decided to try out a different media medium as a sales assistant at NBC Universal. My intellectual and academic history seemingly clashed with my new choice of profession. Ultimately, the polarity between the two gave me a harmonious vision of communications that helped direct me toward defining my niche in the field.
On the surface, I took the largest leap by switching from a print to a television medium, but in reality working on the business side of the media industry was the most challenging. I still focused on media content, but instead of creating it, I helped sell it by promoting programming to advertisers. Although Marshal McLuhan wrote in his book titled, Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man, “that the medium is the message,” I found that what aspect of the message I was working on, whether selling or creating, carried the most meaning.
After working at NBC Universal I decided to return to creating media, but this time for a television medium. Viewing television from an advertising perspective helped convey that television content is strongly influenced by advertisers who financially support the company. This dispelled my belief that television is purely creative since advertisers are a large part of determining the focus of production.
A colleague at NBC was instrumental in leading me into the field of production. A producer on “The Today Show” explained to me that writing pieces and finding original segments to produce was the main focus of his job. Working on a idea from its conception to its completion as a visual story on television appealed to me. I began to look into jobs and graduate schools that would allow me to become involved in the field.
As I was researching production, I became interested in reality television. The relatively new genre was under a lot of scrutiny for how “real” the shows were. I learned that producers have more creative input on reality programs than on scripted series, where writers determine the plot. After talking to friends who worked in the business, I learnt that many reality shows were really virtually scripted by producers. I had an inkling that this was true, but not to the extent that my colleagues described. One of these friends mentioned that on her reality show more difficult but still talented contestants were the first to be kicked off the competition at the behest of producers.
At this point in my studies, I want to look into what qualities make reality television so popular and how producers play the role of writers in unscripted series. Some articles of note that I found discuss how reality televisions shows do not live up to their monikers and are only quasi real. An article on MSNBC.com titled, “Just How Real are Reality TV Shows,” reports that producers might form a rough plotline for contestants to follow. From a career standpoint, producers in reality television have different responsibilities than their scripted counterpoints. The New York Times in,“ Television Fledgling Keeps it Real,” discusses the logistical difference between being a production assistant on a scripted series and on a reality program, where shooting schedules are shorter and producers create the show by editing footage into a storyline.
In order to learn how to edit footage and produce segments, I decided that going to graduate school would invigorate my creative vision while honing my technical skills. Before choosing The New School, I looked at a communications program at New York University. The program mainly taught media theory and 50% of the students went on to receive PhDs. On the opposite end of the spectrum I considered a television production program at Boston University, which focused on technical production, but didn’t offer any media theory classes. The New School’s focus on the dichotomy between the intellectual and the practical pursuit of media ultimately made me decide to enroll in the program.
Although understanding media critics and being familiar with media theorists is important, I’m interested in how understanding media theory will influence my creative and professional production of media. Telling a story through visual elements has a certain vivacity that print publications lack. I am excited to learn the technical production tools taught in the film forum tract. I’m really enjoying my media design class and am looking forward to expanding and pursuing more within film studies.
I am currently working as a production assistant on a reality competition show hoping to work my way up to having a larger hand in the production of the show. I can also see myself working on smaller more independent productions where my creative vision can be more fully realized, but I’m excited about experiencing a larger production now. Being on set has allowed me to observe the interactions between the crew, talent and directors. On a smaller production, I might have a larger say in the creative development of the show, but watching more experienced media professionals and being part of the crew is a learning process on its own.
When I started to write this paper, I reread my admission essay to remind myself how I looked at the program when applying and if those feelings have changed. My initial essay talked about my former experience and how The New School could help me develop my theoretical and practical media knowledge. Already, I have made some headway on those goals. My Media Ideas class has introduced me to Marshal McLuhan and the competing Frankfurt School. In Media Design our class is working on Photoshop and In Design followed by photography and film in the coming weeks. It is impossible to say where I will be in five to ten years. I hope to work my way up at a production company and learn how to make well thought out sellable media productions. I am positive that I will grow and learn in the field and be able to create my own media.