Today is my last day blogging until August when i come back from snowboarding in Oregon. I will be sad to leave SMI for so long, but I know that when I come back, the documentary that the advanced group is working on and the personal narratives will be finished and looking good. Today for me was filled with finalizing the logos that will be used for SMI this year, both on the t-shirts all the participants will get at the end and for the screening promotions. The t-shirt design is the new group photo and the screening flyer is attached to this blog. Come check out what we have all done this summer Friday, August 15 at 6 PM in the studio, and enjoy a summer's worth of hard work and fun.

While I am gone I am taking a flip camera in case i find time to blog about my trip. This group will continue to have blog posts and media posted by other participants for the next few weeks, so keep checking back to see what's going on, and don't forget to come to the screening.

Finally our group picture is up! These are the participants of the 2008 Summer Media Institute (minus Julie Pan).

Summer Media Institute (SMI) 2008 kicked off yesterday at 9:30 in CCTV's studio. Twenty-three youth from the ages of 14 to 18 began their six week journey, but who will remain? ... everyone. The day started off with introductions followed by awkward silences as new and returning faces filed into the door and into the studio for an orientation. SMI was explained by the CCTV staff working as instructors and questions were answered about what working here would be like this summer.

The instructors explained that we were going to be split into three groups for the summer (or more like two and a half): beginners, advanced, and documentarians. The placements were made by prior experience or participation in the program, or for the two documentarians Julie Pan and myself, by the amount of time we are going to miss this summer. After the groups were explained and people found the right one, they split off to go talk about what was to come project-wise this summer. read more...