COM Ambassador Blog

Taylor: November Has Me All Shook Up!

Boston is a melting pot filled with thoughts and experiences of a lifetime, and it has me constantly in BURNING LOVE. I could not have imagined myself in any other place than this Commonwealth during the 2012 elections. The amount of canvassing and advertising, the sheer thrill of being near the headquarters of a presidential hopeful, and the diverse ranges of opinions are elements that will forever resonate in my thoughts.

At the Boston Public Library interviewing voters about their candidate choice for a journalism assignment.

This month I’ve had the great opportunity of making my BU on Broadway debut in an Elvis Presley inspired musical “All Shook Up” directed by COM Ambassador Tom Schrank. The experience of working with such an awesome directorial team and cast is indescribable. Not since I landed in Boston have I felt more enthused and excited about the future. Stepping on stage again after staying inactive freshmen year reignited my passion of performance and storytelling.

Whether you enjoy solely conversing about politics or singing a few measures within a song, it is never too late to get involved in a campus activity. The experience is so worthy!

It’s Now or Never,

Taylor W.

Sarah: Production 1

Now a first semester junior, I have been putting off Production I for some time. I’ve had quite a bit of experience with production in the past, but always as a production assistant. I observed first-hand how much work goes into directing your own film. I’m currently enrolled in Production I and shot my final film this past weekend. It was even more difficult than I thought it would be, but in the end, it was a totally gratifying experience.

Originally, I thought the class was about learning all the technical aspects of making a film. But really, it is about learning to make a film, start to finish. While the technical side of the class is important, the biggest take-away for me will be learning how to coordinate a production. There is an incredible amount of planning that goes into it. Unlike most films you will ever make, Prod I requires you to make them on your own. Well, not entirely on your own. If you’re lucky like me, you’ll have a few stellar friends and classmates willing to help you out. But, you will call all of the shots. Literally.

A note for anyone taking a production class next semester – pre-production is key! I dealt with a million and one problems before I started shooting –actors dropping out, locations falling through and unavailable equipment, just to name a few. I found out 5 days before I my shoot that one of my actresses was a union member. Using her in my film would require paperwork, signatures and a $50 deposit – all due one week before filming. Oops! Luckily, I settled things with a very understanding woman at the SAG office. Because I was able to deal with these problems beforehand, the actual shoot went smoothly.

That’s not to say production won’t yield its own complications. Murphy’s Law is in full effect on most film sets. A pair of socks I bought as the focus of my film ended up being too dark to be seen on camera. My crew spent an hour in one scene trying to light them. My advice is to schedule yourself plenty of time to shoot. As my professor always says, shooting will take you three times longer than expected. I scheduled using this rule, plus added an hour in between location changes. I expected to be ahead of schedule all day, but I barely maintained it.

So even though I don’t plan on continuing with production, this class was an invaluable lesson in planning and budgeting (time, not money). I hope you all get the chance to get out there and make some movies!

Tiffany: Fusion Practice Makes Perfect

Although midterm season was full of hectic and busy days, the hard work does not stop at the end of midterms. Right as my midterms wrapped up, my dance team, Fusion Hip Hop Dance Troupe, kicked it into high gear to prepare to debut our new set. Each semester, my dance team produces a new set that includes 5 to 6 pieces, which typically takes us nearly the first 2 months of the semester to prepare and to become stage ready.

But despite the craziness and stress that comes along with putting our new set together, it is always so rewarding to finally perform the final product on stage. This week is our final week of preparation before we debut on Friday night and will be full of long nights of rehearsal. I actually, strangely enough, look forward to this ‘hell week’ because it usually brings our team closer together. The endless nights of rehearsal all throughout the week force our team to collectively work together as a team to push each other to our own personal best that allows for us to be the best possible team we can be. Looking back to my freshman year, ‘hell week’ was what truly made me realize that I had joined the right student organization on campus that gave me a sense of family here at BU. At rather large universities like BU, student organizations are the perfect way to make a big ocean seem like a small pond where the water is shallow and safe. Each semester’s Fusion ‘hell week’ takes me back to my freshman year where after much adjustment, I truly felt at home in Boston and at BU.

Wish me luck at Fusion’s first big performance of the semester and more updates about Fusion and other happenings of my final year here at BU soon!

Jon: How to Beat the Cold

New England is an amazing place, in part because of its seasons. There are few other places where you can get a real four-season year like you can in the northeast. But, with short days, cold winds, and huge amounts of snow, the winter season can seem long and unbearable to some.

However, a cheery fire and a steaming mug of hot chocolate can make all the difference in combating these mid-winter blues. So, with the toughest season of the year just beginning to show its signs, I’m going to have a go at listing the top five ways to get a break from the Boston winter.

1) Cozy up in a Coffee Shop. It may seem a bit obvious, but bringing a good book and some free time to a toasty coffee shop and relaxing is a great way to make the winter a little brighter. Between the wafting smells of freshly baked pastries, and the comfortable, low key atmosphere, your winter blues will float away like the steam coming off your mocha-soy latte. An on-campus favorite is the Espresso Royale Café –for a filling breakfast try their bagel sandwiches!

2) Catch a Flick. Boston doesn’t have the most theaters per capita, but it does have some of the nicest art house and independent venues I’ve been to. Spending a dark winter afternoon or evening in the supple ambience of an art deco theater can be a great way to brighten your week. The local Brattle Theater (Cambridge) and Coolidge Corner Theater (Brookline) are both accessible by public transit, and frequently screen old favorites, new indie pictures, foreign gems, and even a cartoon marathon from time to time.

3) Go Shopping. I’m sure I’m not the only one among us who suffers from a minor-to-severe case of retail therapy. While I might take out my stress by making questionable purchases (I don’t care what my roommate says - that $200 Japanese tea set was TOTALLY necessary), I’m actually recommending some light mall-crawling because of the locations rather than the stores. The Prudential Center, a popular shopping mall in the Back Bay, is brilliant in the winter, decked out from floor to ceiling in shiny holiday cheer. The Galleria Mall in Cambridge is similarly resplendent during the holiday season. Sometimes during the winter, a healthy dose of bright lights, shiny ornaments, and old fashioned consumerism is just what the doctor ordered.

4) Get to the Gym. I might be sounding like a broken record, but I can’t recommend exercise enough. Getting your heart rate up is clinically proven to elevate mood and help you stay positive and upbeat. Long winters can take quite a toll even on the most hardened of lifetime New Englanders. Some daily exercise is a great way to make those grey skies seem a little bit brighter. For those who have a phobia of exercise machines (“I’ve only been running for HOW long!?”), the FitRec offers classes, rock climbing and pick up sports, all fun ways to stay active without the repetitiveness of working out.

5) Embrace the Cold. It may sound funny at first, but sometimes the best way to beat the winter is throw the reigns over it and turn it into your own personal joyride. From sledding, skating and skiing, to getting in a free-fire snowball fight on Bay State road, the red noses and frozen fingertips can help you find the winter as a source of fun, rather than dreariness. Getting good and drenched in melted snow makes the hot chocolate that much more satisfying as well. Local mass transit means woods and sledding areas out of the city are just a train ride away – just be sure to bundle up!

If you haven’t experienced a New England winter before, you’re in for an extraordinary few months. Tackle it head on, stay on top of your work, and try to have some fun! Winter cheer really does exist, and like the blizzards and snow banks, it can be found in New England like no other place.

Until next time, stay warm and dry!

Julianna: Real-World Neighborhood Journalism

Hey Everyone!

The last you heard from me I blogged about where to brunch in Boston. Listen, I was really hungry when I wrote that post AND I firmly believe that brunching is a serious matter.

Anyway…on to what I’m actually doing in my real life aside from daydreaming about lattes and homefries. Since the first week of classes I've been interning as a reporter for GateHouse Media New England, a news organization that owns 150+ local newspapers in Eastern Massachusetts. I primarily write for the Allston-Brighton TAB/www.WickedLocal.com/Allston and the Brookline TAB/ www.WickedLocal.com/Brookline. My internship is awesome because I am getting actual “learn-as-you-go” reporting experience. The hours are flexible enough to fit my already packed schedule, and so I am able to cover about 1-2 stories a week. Since Allston-Brighton and Brookline are in BU’s backyard, it’s incredibly easy for me to get to wherever I need to go. In the two months that I've been reporting for the TABs I've written several business features, a Q&A with a Boston public health official, covered a school board meeting and a seminar on construction developments, among other stories. Aside from getting tangible journalism experience, I am also becoming more familiar with the two neighborhoods that border or arguably blend into BU's campus. I no longer feel like an outsider from NY-- I am starting to develop a mental Google Maps of Allston-Brighton and Brookline, I am tapping into more localized cultures and piecing together what really concerns locals and Bostonians at large.

Check out two of my published works! Here is one for Allston-Brighton and another for Brookline.

Tom: The Life of a Student Director

Hey all! I hope you have all had a great start to the fall season. I’ve always been more of a winter person so the change to the new season always puts me in a good mood.

Besides the change in weather, the biggest thing on my mind has been the production I am directing through BU On Broadway, our musical theater group on campus. For anyone interested in doing extracurricular theater on campus, I am going to discuss how people can balance both their coursework and their extracurricular activities.

To start from the beginning, I was given the opportunity to direct the musical, All Shook Up, after having pitched the group to the Executive Board back in the spring. Since the group is entirely student run, teams interested in putting on their own show (as director, music director, or choreographer) pitch which show they want to do. The Executive Board and a select pitch committee deliberate on which show fits the group and the season. After an extensive pitch, my team was given the opportunity to direct.

Directing has been both a stressful, but extremely rewarding, experience. Being granted the experience of running an entire production has always been my dream and has definitely exceeded all my expectations. At the same time, being a student director is never an easy task. While one minute I’m cramming for my COM midterm, at another second I’m thinking about how to stage a particular scene. All of this is in between thinking about scheduling, sitting in meetings, and giving constant pep talks to my cast members.

My recommendation to anyone in COM is to take advantage of every opportunity. Even if you think you may be overwhelmed, the experience will be rewarding in too many ways. The opportunities are also great resume boosters! While getting internships is almost a necessity within COM, sometimes the greatest opportunities also come in extracurricular activities.

Signing Out,

Tom

Richie: Film Production During a Hurricane

Hey everyone! Some of you may know I’ve been in the process of directing a short film. I’ve come to find out that during production problems you had never anticipated will always come up. Sometimes minor or sometimes major, but they always have to be addressed and solved.

This past Sunday, my crew and I were all on location filming in Allston. A few minor problems began to pop-up like I thought they might. The owner of the house we were filming at woke-up late and we started very behind schedule, a truck at one point parked right in front of the house we were filming at and the sound became a nightmare so we had to wait it out. We were able to roll quickly with the minor things thrown at us and keep on filming. We finished right on time and began traveling to the next location. That’s when the major problem came.

One of my main actors has been coming from Queens, New York every single weekend to act in the project. While we were on the way to our second location, with five more hours of scheduled filming time, my main actor was called by a friend back in NYC. “They’re shutting down the entire MTA at 7pm tonight until Wednesday” he told me once he got off the phone. It was already 12:30pm and the trip back to Manhattan is usually sometime in between four and five hours. If my actor took a bus home when he had planned to (at 6pm that night) there would be no one in Manhattan to take him back to Queens. (That is, even if buses would have been running that late to New York.) I offered for him to stay at my place, but his grandmother who also lives in Queens was going to be completely alone during the storm, and with no transportation back, he might’ve been getting back days late which he did not feel comfortable with. I had him quickly take the T over to South Station and see if there were any more buses. The plan was to keep setting up and the next location and if there were no buses back to NYC, he would come back and act in the remainder of the scenes. If there was a bus, we would have to scrap the whole day, which was also difficult since I already had another actor on his way from Portland, Maine for the next scene.

The actor ended up calling me from South Station and he had been able to catch a bus for 1:30pm. He cut it very close but he called me later on letting me know he had made the final subway of the night. While the whole day of filming had to be cancelled, the following scene was a big party scene, so I had ample amounts of food and the actors and crew who were there were able to relax and mingle a bit. Everyone left early and was able to focus on other things they had later that night. It ended up working well, almost as an icebreaker for many and everyone was understanding that nothing could have been done about Hurricane Sandy abruptly changing our plans. We still had a U-Haul van and plenty of equipment taken out, so my producer made a quick call to a singer/songwriter who had been asking my friends and I for quite some time to film an acoustic session with her at her home. Within two hours we were able to shift our plans quickly and ended up filming a great set with this artist!

I’ve been having a crazy time rescheduling shoots with all the actors’ availability but the whole experience was extremely helpful. It was a very high stress situation, but as the director it was a huge learning experience for me and I now feel prepared to take on anything else thrown at me!

Steph: The Lazy Girl’s Guide to Healthy Dorm Living

As a response to Jon’s blog last week about exercise, I’m here today to provide some tips for those of us who are too lazy to go to the gym. I know I can’t be the only one who has problems with motivation when it comes to working out and eating healthy. Lets put it this way: I live in Warren, and don’t go to the Fit Rec because I’m too lazy to walk there. Oh, the irony. Now I know this is terrible, and everyone should make an effort to actually go to the gym. But, here are a few very small things you can do to avoid gaining the dreaded Freshman 15 without actually going to the gym.

1. Take the Stairs. As a resident of the 7^th floor of Warren, I’m the girl that gets the dirty looks when I take the elevator from the 4^th floor lobby. And to be honest, those looks are totally warranted, even though they are mean. There is no excuse for me not to take the stairs every day, and it helps give me a little bit of physical activity after a long day of sitting in classes. For those of you that live on higher floors, take the stairs halfway up! By the time you get there, you could be motivated to just push on through and take them allll the way…

2. Take Advantage of Sargent Choice Options. When you think about it, BU makes it really easy to eat well. Almost every night there’s a delicious alternative to greasy (albeit also delicious) pizza, that’s also good for you! If you aren’t familiar, these are the options with the shortest lines in the dining hall known as Sargent Choice Options. Looks can be deceiving—I tried sesame tofu with sticky brown rice the other night. It looked a tad concerning. But it was actually very, very delicious. I then rewarded my good eating choices with 3 chocolate chip cookies! Oops….

3. Do a Mini-Workout in your room before Bed! Not only will it make you feel better, but it will also provide entertainment for your roommate! Do a simple workout in the comfort of your own room: 10 push-ups, 10 crunches, 10 jumping jacks, two reps of each. A little goes a long way, and just think of how nice and extra comfy your bed will feel when you lie down after your “strenuous” workout!

So to all my lazy comrades out there, try these simple tips out. Every small thing counts, and it will help with the guilt you feel when you see someone walking out of the dinning hall in their workout clothes holding an apple as you pass them with a plateful of cookies…

Alexa: Five Reasons Why I Love Fall

Coming from California, I have become accustomed to two seasons…

1. Summer

2. Not summer.

Luckily, moving to Boston, I have been able to experience the four wonderful seasons, fall being one of my favorites. Here are five reasons why I adore the fall season.

Pumpkins. From carving pumpkins to drinking pumpkin spice lattes, I love that fall gives me a legitimate reason to want to go to the pumpkin patch and order pumpkin infused drinks even though I just had coffee two hours before.
Foliage. For parent’s weekend my dad flew out and we drove out to Vermont and Maine where we were able to catch the last of the fall foliage. Seeing the changing colors of the leaves may sound boring but it is actually breathtaking.
Changing Colors at BU. BU in the fall time is a magical thing. Actually, I’m pretty sure if I visited BU during the fall during my senior year I would have applied early decision instead of regular. The warm weather, plus seeing the leaves fall is too lovely for words.
End of baseball. Beginning of football. While I love baseball, as a Dodger fan, I am always ready to put the mediocre season behind me and look forward to the boys of fall. Disclaimer: I am a Raiders fan, so there’s not that much to look forward to, but still the thought is nice.
Weather. I have to say that the weather during the fall is probably the best out of the year. While it might rain once or twice the weather usually stays in the mid 60-degree range and it’s the perfect time to explore the beautiful city of Boston.

I love fall, but the good news is that when the leaves fall and the weather gets cooler and the Raiders start losing more games that means Winter is coming, and the holiday season in Boston is not one to miss.

Dany: Music, Concerts, and Shows, Oh My!

Hey guys! Hope your semester is going well. I know we’re reaching that midway point where everything starts to pile on and get really stressful. So what’s keeping me going these days? Well I’ll tell you. One of my favorite things about Boston is the incredible music scene. So many fantastic bands and artists come through here and I love going to shows and checking out new venues. The promise of seeing my favorite band is an incredible motivation to keep going during this time of the year. Here a few upcoming concerts in the Boston area that I’m looking forward to.

Freelance Whales - November 3 @ Paradise Rock Club

This is literally one of my favorite bands. They’re not too well-known but I highly recommend checking them out. Anyone heard of Darren Criss? His brother Chuck is in this band! They were here last November too and I met him after the show. Cool guy. They just released their second album a few weeks back which I was able to download for free when I bought my ticket to this show. Listen to “Hannah” and “Starring” and “Generator (Second Floor)” to get you started. You’ll love them.

The Script - November 9 @ Agganis Arena

A little more mainstream and right at home! I work at Agganis as a Guest Services Representative so I’ll actually be getting paid to watch this concert. Gotta love those perks. The couple songs I have from them I absolutely love and I hear they are fantastic live. So if any of you guys are going, I’ll be working the floor and you should definitely come say hi!

Motion City Soundtrack - November 9 @ Paradise Rock Club

Oh this band reminds me of high school. Their album “Even If It Kills Me” was played nonstop for a good four months during junior year. It drove everyone crazy but this is one of those throwback bands that I still love to go see. They just have a very distinct style. I’m not as crazy about their newer stuff than their old albums but I love them just the same. Unfortunately, it’s the same night as The Script (and right next door too!). I’ve seen them before though so no harm done. So if you guys are looking for something to do that weekend, look no further than West Campus!

Of Monsters and Men - November 19 @ Orpheum Theater

I fell in love with this band over the summer. Just so refreshingly different from the indie/rock genre. This band is really picking up speed. Orpheum is a really nice theater right next to Boston Common. I saw Snow Patrol (with Ed Sheeran opening!) there back in April. When I heard that’s where they would be playing, I got really excited cause they definitely have the talent to sell it out. I still haven’t bought my tickets yet for this but I’m dying to go. Check out “Little Talks” and “King and Lionheart”. My personal favorites.

The Killers - December 17 @ Agganis Arena

Another concert I will get paid to watch. I’ve been listening and loving them for years, and I’m so stoked to work this event. I’ll still be here for finals so if anyone of you are in the area, don’t miss out. It’s really going to be a fantastic show. If anyone can deliver an unforgettable modern rock concert, it’s The Killers.

So there you have it! A little something to keep you going in these next few weeks. At the very least, you have some awesome new music to check out. If anyone knows any other shows coming up, let me know. I’m always down to check out new artists. And if you ever see me rocking out at any of these, come join me!