Ready to Rotoscope, Pt 2: This Time, It's Jersey

First up… welcome Anna Crowley to the CCM Blog! And thanks for the masterful sum-up of our mission here on ccmbts.blogspot.com.

We've both been busy on the road up here, so, for just a little more detail, let me just say that New York, N.Y., is a heck of a town.

Some people call it "the city that never sleeps."
Sometimes, our GFX team never sleeps, either.

After two days of "Professional Encounter," we've arrived in East Rutherford, N.J., ready to jump into event setup with both feet! Except, possibly, for a team of fearless individuals who have gone above and beyond to make the coming event a success.

That's right… getting notes back on the opener meant MORE ROTOSCOPING.

For most of CCM, it meant going back to the drawing board on some clips, cleaning up others, and re-doing the effect we're layering on top of the masks.

And, once again, CCM is getting it done.

Some photos of our youth-hostel turned edit bay probably look chaotic…


Yup, that's a set of lockers turned on its side as a desk


Three workstations on one bed. And the top bunk was, I believe, for quick naps.


Also, cardboard boxes make excellent workstations.

But the work that went on there was a frighteningly fast turnaround on fixes and re-workings that were finished to a professional caliber.

As Anna, our newest intrepid blog contributor, posted a moment ago, this weekend is going to be jam-packed with work, fun, and awesome opportunities to touch this generation. And you can watch it all go down on your satellite provider with GodTV, or streaming live at God.TV.

In the meantime… Our professional encounters are flat-out amazing. So far, we've had sessions with an actor/acting coach, a dance and stage movement teacher, and a producer for CNN's "Joy Behar Show," as well as a tour of NBC Studios, which means pictures at 30 Rockefeller Center. Not to mention that we've now seen Times Square, Broadway and a diner with a spectacular singing waitstaff.

(And props to Hell's Kitchen Pizza for the best deal on New York pizza in the Hell's-Kitchen-to-Times-Square area -- a prize our group actually had a little competition to find.)


CCMers show up in Times Square, ready for those flashing lights


And unlike, say, the Saturday Night Live set, this is actually BIGGER in person.

Stay tuned for more from New Jersey! "Dress rehearsal" is up tonight, with just over a day until the event goes live!

New York BattleCry...

One goal has been set for this weekend. Just one. That goal is to change the lives of thousands with an event that’s so amazing, that it can be summed up in three words. NEW YORK BATTLECRY!

It sounds simple enough, I know, I would go to these events and think nothing about what it actually took to put them on. That’s where we, Tyler and myself, Anna, come in. We are here to take you behind the scenes and show you what it takes to actually put on an event like this. Not just that, but also what it takes to put on a live broadcast of the event!

To begin with, I am one of the fellow bloggers, Anna Crowley, and here is the first of many blog entries that I hope will let you see into the world of the Center for Creative Media. As Tyler had said before we have been busy getting a few, but important, projects done. Such as the rotoscoping for the New York BattleCry event opener. From what I’ve heard we might actually be done with it! Which is quite exciting to hear, since our wonderful graphics team has been working nonstop to get this finished and also working in some unusual places to get it done, Mcdonalds and the bus being just a couple places.

Just take a second to thank those guys and gals that have been working so hard to make it possible for this Battlecry to be the best! THANK YOU!

So now what? What does it take to put on an event and live broadcast? I’m glad that you asked. I guess we could start with load in. For us this is the rehearsal time. We come to our venue, which in this case, IZOD Center, and start setting up. There are others that are here during set up that do things like, getting the stage, lights, seating and merchandise set up. As CCMers, we’re here to set up for a broadcasted event.

Things that are needed for broadcasting, a live interview room, ENG crews, B-roll camera operators, tape runners, make up artists, PAs, and of course bloggers! You might not know what some of these things are that I just listed, but hello! That’s why I’m here. The interview room is where we’ll be interviewing bands such as Unhindered and Salvador and also speakers at the event. An ENG crew is a group of 3 people (producer, camera operator, and audio technician) that go out during the event and interview teens, parents and youth pastors that are meeting with God! B-roll camera operators are the people getting camera shots of the crowd. If the speaker says something funny, sad, or just downright awesome, the B-roller is there to get the reaction of the audience. Tape runners are the people that will be recording the event so when we go back to Texas we’ll have a recording of everything in our library. Makeup artists are there to make the bands and speakers look good on camera, PAs are assistants to the people in charge, and of course the bloggers are there so you can find out what’s going on during the event!

We’re in set up mode so I’ll have to depart now and see if there’s anything that I can do around here. Maybe I’ll take some videos and pictures to show you what’s going on! Don’t worry though I will be back soon and so will Tyler. I’m so excited about this event and so ready for it to get started so I can show you the lives that it’s changing! Until next time.

Anna