What I liked
This summer I participated in the Training Internship at AbelCine in New York City. I began the program during the last week in May and it continued until the second week in August. I was the intern for the Training Department, which meant my responsibilities fell mostly under that section of the company. However, on slow days, I was able to work in the Rental Department or help out on the showroom floor as well. For the majority of the summer I worked two days at Abel; however, they would often ask me to come in for an extra couple paid days for various shoots, classes, events and productions. I usually worked 9am to 6pm at their facility in Industry City, but some days I would be asked to come in early or to stay late when classes or shoots went longer than expected. The Training Department, for the most part, only worked with the digital cinema cameras and then also ran all the cinema training courses that AbelCine offers. I was able to become very comfortable on almost every camera they offer to clients, including the ARRI Alexa Mini, Alexa LF, EVA-1, FS7, C300 and most the RED systems. AbelCine was also extremely generous with the training interns when it came to taking out equipment for personal use. I was able take out high end cinema cameras for my own personal projects, free of charge. It was also just a great experience being able to work and live in New York City for three months. Being put in a real life situation for that amount of time was a great way to figure out if I could realistically live comfortably in New York City. I do think the most valuable experience I had at AbelCine was being able to partake in their Bronze Steadicam course. Before starting at Abel I knew that I wanted to go into the camera department, but now I am fairly certain that I would like to become a Steadicam operator. I also am now proficient and certified on professional Steadicam rigs like the M1 and the Zephyr at a Bronze level. I was also to assist and sit in on their DaVinci Resolve Course, On Set Media Management Workshop, Wireless Video Intensive, REDucation, Zeiss Lens Certifications, as well as Quick Start workshops for the ARRI and RED cameras. All of these courses were incredible learning opportunities and my technical knowledge has increased dramatically. Even though I was the Training Intern, the camera specialists who taught the classes allowed me to partake in all the activities the students paying for the class got to participate in.
