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Intro
Hi, I’m Isabel, a year three student from Ngee Ann Polytechnic, studying Film Sound and Video. I am interning at Mighty Velo for 4 months as a Video Content intern. Come along as I share my experiences here so far!
Starting out at Mighty Velo
As a film student, I must admit I was a bit hesitant at first when starting my internship, as social media and video content are largely untouched in school. Moreover, I had very little knowledge on bikes and was not well-versed on the specifics of this industry. I am also a rather reserved person and getting to know everyone at the company was an intimidating thought. Nonetheless, everyone was welcoming and warm towards the interns and I was able to approach anyone if I needed help. During the internship, I also happened to be surrounded by a number of interns at the same time. I was able to work together with them for projects which made tasks seem less daunting as I was able to learn together with them and tackle difficulties.
Productions and making content
Every couple of weeks, there would be outdoor shoots for long-form videos to be posted on social media and the new website. I enjoyed those shoots as it was a good opportunity to get out of the office and film. I was able to apply things I learned in school such as the pre-production and production side of filming. Usually on these shoots, I would take on the role of sound person and organising the shooting schedule. However, making shooting schedules was definitely a learning curve for me. In school, I often avoided pre-production work as I understood it was not one of my strengths and found that such organisational skills were challenging. During the internship, I struggled ensuring that the schedule was paced out well and we would sometimes have to reshoot and reschedule. Despite these difficulties, doing these tasks numerous times allowed me to make these schedules more efficiently. It also encouraged me to reach out to other full-timers when I had any queries regarding the scheduling and the feasibility of said scheduling.
During the shoots, I was able to learn from the full timers and see how they typically film shots around the bicycles. They would use certain types of rigs and a gimbal to catch the bike in motion. I learnt how they normally shot videos despite having a small team where everyone was familiar with each other’s strengths. Seeing each final product was always rather satisfactory, knowing the hard work that was put into them by the team. Shooting these promotional videos also gave me a deeper appreciation for making advertisements that one might easily dismiss on a daily basis, allowing me to further understand what makes an effective or poor advertisement.
These shoots would vary in narrative each week, and I cannot think of a time where two shoots were the same. I got an insight into their ideation process; from brief to storyboard. The staff would come up with shot inspiration and ideas to best present the bike in new and refreshing ways. This allowed for exploration of different stories and styles of promoting the bikes.
For one of these promotional videos, I made a motion graphic sequence, mimicking the look of paper collages. The sequences were to show a cyclist travelling overseas with his bike as well as the cyclist’s aspirations and dreams. Since this portion was about his aspirations, I opted for a paper collage appearance to show its distinction from reality. I was able to experiment with After Effects and softwares I learned in school. I appreciate the chance to include these sequences in the promotional videos, as I was able to hone in on my interest in motion graphics and animation while being able to receive feedback from others and improve on my work. While editing the motion graphics, l would have to constantly have to communicate with the editor on timing of the graphics or whether the export blended in with the edit smoothly. Sometimes, the export was not able to be inserted into the edit well and we had to find different solutions. Being exposed to an unfamiliar workflow, I was able to put my skills to the test and ensure I delivered good results.
As an intern, we are given free reign to create and explore any short form content format we would like. Having this freedom to explore and lead our own small projects, I was able to try out a wide range of narratives for these short form videos. Ranging from motion graphic centric reels to fun playful videos, I was able to try them all. I had fun filming other interns showcasing the different bike models available. We would often collaborate together and brainstorm content ideas. Besides video content, I was able to experience making content in different mediums such as photography and designing collaterals. As I always had an interest in art, my internship enabled me to make use of my skills and interest to make collaterals relevant to the products. For example, in line with National Day, I was tasked with illustrating a series of social media posts, incorporating iconic Singapore landmarks with cyclists on the bike models. Exploring a different way to present the bikes was an interesting experience and I much enjoyed drawing the design. Being able to incorporate my own skills and interests made for more unique and refreshing approaches which definitely made the process more enjoyable for me.
Conclusion
Overall, my time at Mighty Velo was fruitful. I would consider my biggest takeaway would be the soft skills such as communication and learning how to interact with new people along the way. During the internship, I was able to slowly open up with others substantially more than at the beginning. Mighty Velo has been a welcoming environment to all interns and I feel that I was able to learn many things beyond the school curriculum.
