Stu Maschwitz "film making is a process of removing information"

Stu Maschwitz - Director & author of "the DV Rebel's Guide":

"Film is not about reality. Narrative filmmaking is about story telling. In story telling we can use all the help we can get to enhance that sense of things being larger than life."

"In a presentation i gave a couple years ago where i showed just a still frame of a gun sitting on a table in perfect crisp everything in focus bright colours everything looks normal, and then i started to click through my slides and show how it would take information away from that by going from deep depth of field to shallow depth of field. I can focus on just the trigger of the gun and now i'm starting to tell a story. Then by upping the contrast and blowing up the high res and crushing the shadows i'm now also telling more of a story by removing information. The last thing i would do would chop off the top and bottom and turn it into a wide screen. I went from a crappy snap shot to a frame of a movie and i did it all by taking away information. Film making is a process of removing information, when you frame a shot its not about what u include its about what u don't include. Your focusing the audience's attention in one specific thing and your doing that by removing information."

"The assertion that film is somehow going to become a more immersive or more emotional experience to people by adding more information to it, fly's contrary to the central mission of film, which is to take away everything that doesn't help tell your story."

http://news.doddleme.com/equipment/another-filmmaker-makes-the-case-against-4k-and-for-hd/

lighting set up - sin city

powerful, superhero lighting set up. (like in sin city) two spot lights 45 degrees behind the subject. black mat covering part of the light that shines into the lens (to remove lens flare) this creates a highlight around the character. make sure the light is consistent (meter up) (in video its f.9)
next step to light front of face by using a front soft box.


Set up the rear rim or "modeling" lights to create highlights on the model's form and curves. Use a "flag" to block direct light from the modeling lights entering the camera causing lens flares.

Meter the highlights from both sides to ensure they are both at the same f-stop, so one side isn't brighter. Adjust the distance (or power) of the lights as necessary.

Set up a front soft box directly in front of, and above, to provide lighting for the model's face and torso. This light is set at a higher f-stop than the back lights so it's not as bright as the highlights.


http://www.stockphotoguides.com/take/videos/studio-lighting-setup-for-sin-city-effect



interviews with cast
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QgLyyYEEnA

7 Essentials Filmmakers Need To Make It

I feel as though reading this article forces me as a film maker to be more positive to break into the industry, be confident and aware of my capabilities. Being aware of your surroundings is key within the industry as its so fast paced. I believe one of my strengths is my interpersonal skills and i enjoy interacting with people from different backgrounds. 

My aim in third year is to learn about the film industry and figure our what it takes to become a filmmaker. It is in my interest to volunteer, attend and gain experience by visiting film festivals, networking and working. 

This article has made me aware of how important it is to be assertive and know what you want. This entails surrounding myself around the right people who are creative and driven, as well as being able to say no.


Here are the 7 essentials modern filmmakers need to have in order to make it in the new world of filmmaking and distribution:

1. Screenplay

No screenplay, no movie. Full stop.
The first job of any independent filmmaker trying to break in is to learn to identify or create the great screenplay. Analyse the first movies of some now famous writer/directors and you will see that what made their films great was not the filmmaking and directing techniques, but the screenplay.

Have a look at this list of 50 All Time Great Debut Features and you will see what I mean about screenplay.

2. Money

You will need some money. But not as much as you might think. Our Lo-To-No Budget philosophy has completely changed the face of film production in the UK. Even the UK Film Council and Film London have finally capitulated and have cloned us in their Microwave programmes. Never mind that they nicked the name from Nollywood and the concept from Raindance. We were going to call the lawyers – but hey! It means a couple more low budget features get made in the UK each year and we think that is good.
Here are 25 Low Budget Films. Have a look. I think you might be surprised at how little money was used.

3. Telephone

Excellent interpersonal skill are required of anyone trying to make it. Learning the essential techniques of pitching and the rules of salesmanship are basic requirements if you have any hope at all of making it in the movie business.

4. No

No one says ‘no’ in the film industry. Here is how they say ‘no’ in the film industry. Learning how to stand up for yourself, and learning to draw the line and what is expected by you of others are key lessons you must learn. And learn fast before you get trampled.

5. Savvy

Savvy is an old Saxon word for ‘good common sense’. Savvy has never been more important to a filmmaker than now.

The fluctuations and change in the industry are turbulent, and are sweeping away the weak-hearted and the savvy-less. Old rules and business models are being swept away faster and faster. New business and distribution models are being erected in record breaking time. It was on Februray 14, 2005 that the co-founders of youtube.com registered their url. And since then, film making and film distribution has changed completely.

Learn how to respect the traditions of the past, and discover how to apply those lessons to the changing landscape of the future.

6. Energy

The old maxim of: ‘There is no life after you film’ remains unchanged. The more energy and time you have to lavish on your dream and your career, the more likely it is to happen for you. And if you can manage your personal relationships simultaneously with pouring 110% of your time and energy into your career, you will also be very happy!

7. Talent

Moving cast and crew from location to location costs money. If you can pull off a limited location story and make it look and feel cinematic, you will have what the film industry calls talent. Because your limited location films will also be made low budget and stand a much higher chance of recoupment and profit than their big budget colleagues.

Matador Pictures

For a week July 2013, I was gaining work experience Matador Pictures, who are an independant feature film development and production company based at Gloucester Place, London. I was really hoping to get as much time on a production set as possible but unfortunately there wasn't any shoots going on at the time.

I was kept busy, though. There were plenty of scripts for me to read through and get an idea of what a script looks like. How it is written, how such detail can paint a large picture in your mind, and how the different each person reading it will come up with their own vision of how it should look.

My first task was to read through a web series called Residue. An online drama about a recession depraved Detroit that is now a ghost town. My first major task was to read the synopsis and figure out potential locations that could be used. It is being filmed up North, potentially Yorkshire, so it was my job to research where i could picture the drama taking place. I wrote down words, phrases and sentences from the synopsis and highlighted the key elements that best described the location. I then went onto Google Maps and print screened images of locations that i felt best matched the description around Leeds as I know it fairly well and put it into a presentation.

Residue

Paramentals Rising

Was The Catastrophe a freak bio-industrial accident as advertised, or something more sinister?

Residue will deliver a truly cinematic and edgy supernatural web series with a thrilling pulse that twists tighter and tighter with each new episode

A terrifying version of what a city could become. A ghost town – recession-depraved Detroit, post Katrina New Orleans, London 28-Days Later, Gotham gone awry.

High-rises, wastelands and derelict buildings, but still moments of inner-city beauty break through – birds flying overhead, a sunset over the skyline.

Dread and terror as the city struggles to come to terms with it’s recent past.

Several square mile district of homes and businesses that has been quarantined.

‘The Catastrophe’ was a freak biological accident that rendered a wide swath of the urban landscape uninhabitable.

The QZ remains an open, raw wound on the city’s psyche. An incurable injury to it’s fragile soul. Off limits to everyone except the HazMat teams roaming the abandoned streets like alien ghosts, or the highly armed security forces patrolling the perimeter to keep everyone out.

Noisy mega-metropolis neighborhoods surrounding the QZ. Some areas are vibrant, others mundane.

Sleek sports cars share streets with weary pedestrians.

The well dressed live only a few blocks from the threadbare. It’s a perpetual motion machine fueled by a stew of ambition and indifference extreme success and dismal failure, constantly simmering, on the verge of boiling over.

City evacuated

Brutal violence

Spreading anxiety & fear on the streets

Like an open festering wound

Aftermath of freak bio industrial accident

Rendered a wide swath of the urban landscape uninhabitable

Left psychic scar on the city’s soul

Lingering effects

Growing paranormal phenomenon that is praying on its citizens

Frightening and toxic area

Quarantine zone

Secrets

Predatory humanoid creatures

Defy the laws of physics and biology

Death, destruction and chaos

City in crisis – crowded, noisy, mega-metropolis with widely varying neighborhoods characterized by extreme wealth, desperate poverty and everything in between, including the off limits quarantine zone – a section of the city now evacuated and abandoned.

Paramentals are infecting the city

Darkest corners of the city

Shadiest corridors of power

High level corruption

Horrible acts of violence and destruction going on all over the city

Haunting the city

Juxtaposing the haves and have-nots

Exposing the paranoia, the fear and the anger that catagorises the city.

Constant feeling of immediacy

Recognizable concrete-but-unreal world that never-the-less feels grounded in reality

Intense colours

Shadows are deep and inescapable

I made a presentation with around 20 different locations and short descriptions.

I also read scripts and synopsis during the days, which kept me busy. I attempted my own logline, character description, premise, synopsis and own comments. (below)

The Dolphins of Lagos

By DANixon and Eoin Glaister

Report by Yoni Cohen

Logline

Tension levels grow intensively high for Ben and Morley as 12 weeks have passed and their broken part of their washing machine hasn’t arrived from China yet.

Characters

BEN: 20 years old, lives in Peckham, South London. Worries a lot.

MORLEY: 30 years old, he was an engineer in Lagos. Now lives with Ben and is a taxi driver. Plays Xbox, both love pizza and Chinese.

TAMARIN: Jihadist, Islam extremist. Ben’s Internet friend.

DAVID EJA: Morley’s old pal, A Suleiman Soglo from Lagos. Says he’s the son of the richest cocoa farmer in Nigeria and is a professional Internet scammer, he is a pirate.

MR NAZ: House & shop tenant.

SHOPKEEPER SNR: Shopkeeper, father.

SHOPKEEPER JNR: Shopkeeper, son. Ben’s acquaintance.

Premise

A young, innocent man faces an encounter with a Nigerian pirate over the internet and a missing part of his washing machine, aided with help from his taxi driving housemate.

Synopsis

The Dolphins of Lagos is a spin cycle thriller based in South West London in Peckham. Ben and Morley, two massive Xbox devotees spend much of their days playing shooting games. Not much to worry about in the world apart from fixing their washing machine, nothing will get in the way of Morley lounging in his pants all day.

Ben takes a trip down to his local newsagent where he jumps into a conversation with the shopkeeper’s son regarding killing insurgents as well as civilians in Lagos before freaking out. After a quick search around the shop, He runs out with his Haribo and gaming magazine before trying to avoid Mr Naz on his front doorstep. Before he gets a chance to avoide him, Ben is stopped and reminded of the money Morley ows him, however Ben takes advantage of telling Naz he still needs to fix their washing machine, which Naz clearly can’t be bothered for but explains the missing part takes 12 weeks to arrive from China.

Morley, who is sitting in his pants and headset playing Xbox decides to wind Ben up. Explaining how killing the people in Lagos on the Xbox game is too realistic and wrong. Reminded of his conversation earlier with the shopkeepers son, Ben tries to apologize for not realizing the wrong doing by the game but Morley interrupts him by taking the micky out of him and offering him stew which he doesn’t appreciate.

A Skype call flashes up on Bens laptop. He accepts and is presented with what appears to be a Jihadi, extremist Islam threat video. Before the Jihadist gets a chance, Ben reads out the caller i.d’s name and it’s his friend ‘Tamarin’, who is left confused as to how Ben knew who it was. Tamarin introduces Ben to Convo Bingo, a randomized webcam social networking website, and through this Ben meets Suleiman aka David.

Ben recognizes David as looking similar to Morley and as it turns out, it’s Morley’s cousin whose a pirate and is looking to scam the internet into making money to build a submarine. With Morleys experience of engineering, David hopes he can persuade Morley by threatening him with a Nigerian butcher who lives in Peckham that if he doesn’t help design and build the submarine. Ben, being the worrier he is, tells Morley of his dislike for David but Morley now has no choice but to help.

After firing questions at Morley, Ben finally gets some answers as to who David is, a nautical pirate operating in the Gulf of Guinea. David’s plan is to build a submarine to rival the Columbian drug lords with their cocaine shipping schemes. He has raised enough money to build it but no one with the knowhow, until he found Morley.

Coming up with a more economic idea, Ben describes something he saw on a Chinese news channel the other day that showed a pod of dolphins stop a gang of Somalian pirates hijacking a merchant ship.  David gets excited when hearing Morley’s idea of creating a dolphin mind device and cancels the plans for making a submarine.

A couple weeks later, David claims that Ben and Morley have made him look like a fool, and believes the boys aren’t taking him seriously. David threatens them again, affirming them that the Nigerian butcher is on his way. Whilst on Skype to David Mr Naz bangs on the door, at the same time the bang scares Ben and Morley, he shows them the package for the missing part of the washing machine. This part happens to be the piece of technology David needs so desperately to kick start his plan of creating a dolphin mind control. After confirming with eachother that Morley will give the package to the butcher to send off to David, Ben questions Morley what happens when David works out there is no such thing as dolphin mind control.

Potential

Young, South London based naïve characters embark on a witty journey that is funny and sarcastic can reach out to a large English based audience.

Comments

A subtle sarcastic, witty comedy is coming out of Peckham with this script. The relationships between Ben and everybody else can be related with everyday life relationships such as Ben and the shopkeepers, house mates and tenants, and house mates and their broken technology. In todays world nothing is at all surprising, so when a Nigerian pirate pops up asking for money it’s just brushed off your shoulder, but when your house mate is cousins with this pirate, it’s an entirely different scenario.

The cut and change of film between Ben getting home from the newsagent and Morley playing the Xbox seems to intertwine and flow smoothly. It’s easy to picture what they are both doing at the same time, with the film running parallel.

Each character has a strong archetype about them and they are all so different which brings a great diversity to the script. It’s a unique storyline that allows the characters to bounce off one another, and however ridiculous the dolphin mind control pirates sound, its easy to imagine with the right execution.

Recommend, Pass

I was allowed to go and visit the Lipsync Studios in the hub of London, Soho, and get my first piece of action behind the scenes at a post production house. To say the least, i was overwhelmed. Sion, at Matador Pictures, had arranged that Paul Dray, one of the producers at Lipsync, to give me a tour. The studios are incredible, very modern and air conditioned. The facilities were nothing i've ever seen before and i was absolutely mind blown. The environment was cool and everyone was friendly, it gave me the belief that film production is where i want to be.

Every young film makers fears

I read an article that discussed young filmmakers fears and started to get anxious. These were emotions and worries i had experienced working on my second year final project. It was reassuring to know other people are in the same position as me. I am lucky I am surrounded at university by other creatives on a day to day basis that in there own way worries within their creative field.

Part 3 particularly stood out to me as i really felt like i could relate. My final piece last year was a relatively  recent subject that could be sensitive. I wanted to move my audience and allow them to follow me on my creative journey. Although i really enjoyed doing this for my project, I did have my doubts that my creative angles may not be profitable and truly appreciated in the professional world.

It does worry me how valuable contacts are in the industry and how amazing work may not be credited because it isn't at the right place at the right time and surrounded by the people who have can cause an impact. Therefore, i really want to extend my portfolio and gain more work experience in my final year to expand my knowledge and create contacts. I am fortunate to be bought up in London and will be returning there after uni where there are so many job opportunities.



If middle-aged adults go through midlife crises, then young adults in their early 20s go through similar anxieties about their career. As a young filmmaker myself who aspires to direct, I often wonder (and worry) how my life and career will shape out. Young filmmakers face problems that are not completely different from other 20-somethings – short on money, new bills to pay, career insecurities – but there are issues that are unique to beginning directors. Here are a few:

1.     Heavy competition

Unlike other occupations where the path to the professional world is pretty clear, the film industry is more ambiguous. There are so many avenues to get into the film business and these routes get narrower as you work your way up to the top. You are also competing with thousands of people who are just as hungry and creative as you are. The competition is stiff and everyone is vying for a spot to direct the next critically acclaimed film or summer blockbuster.

2.     So how do you exactly… direct?

Let’s say someone wrote a screenplay about the life of Steve Jobs. If you take some of the top director’s today, each of them will have a vastly different vision of how the story should be told. The hardest aspect about filmmaking is standing out of the crowd.

And again, there is no blueprint on how to direct. You’re basically overseeing how the story should be told through the help of actors, lighting crews, camera crews, extras, volunteers, producers, etc. Yet, you’re the one who is suppose to lead everyone in the right direction to create your vision. Good luck.

3.     Losing yourself

What we see in today’s entertainment business is largely due to what executives think would be most profitable. Often times young directors want to create a film that will push the boundaries and make people think and feel outside of their comfort zone. There’s nothing wrong with this, except Hollywood executives would not see the dollar signs. A biographical film about abolitionist Frederick Douglass is probably not to gross as much money as the next installment of the next superhero movie. The last thing any director wants to do is dumb-down their film just to appeal to the masses, but this tends to happen when you mix artistry with business.

4.     Financial insecurity

While people normally get into their careers by the time their thirty, many directors are still trying to get their first picture produced. In fact, hustling and scrambling is the nature of getting a film idea backed and produced. Directors do not work everyday like other occupations. Steady income is not the norm and in order to get by aspiring directors have to take whatever job they can find. This can be unnerving when you wake up day after day waiting for your big break.

5.     Getting an inside track

Getting a film made is more about who you know verses how good you are. You could be the next Sidney Lumet, but if you do not have viable connections to producers, promoters or equipment, you will be left out while the better-connected filmmaker will have more opportunities. It is why some aspiring filmmakers go to film school to build a good relationship with peers. When you enter the industry, it is important to have a few reliable people to start your journey.

All these insecurities can certainly discourage any young director from going forth. But if you are able to embrace the struggle, surround yourself with a strong support system and be reliable to others, you will journey through and come out on the other side just fine.

Sam Bain on writing a screen play

10 tips on writing a screen play by Sam Bain, the comedy writer whose work includes Peep Show and the Four Lions film.

I will have to write loads of drafts of a script. But before that i am going to rush through my first one because i will be too scared to look over any mistakes and horrible ideas. Once i get to the end and must read what i have written, i should leave myself time inbetween so i can absorb my ideas. As good as i think my idea may be, it's always good to reevaluate it and improve it, in addition to this getting other opinions is always helpful. I must bare in mind that however good i think my script is, i am definitely still in the learning process and not as good as experienced writers.

I have never been good with deadlines especially with scripts because its a creative activity and its not something that i feel needs to be rushed, therefore, i have to give myself loads of time. This will allow myself to not resent deadlines. I am quite a methodical person so i struggle with throwing ideas down, instead, i try and think of getting from a, to be, to c etc. Therefore, i must take a different approach and create a bigger picture to begin with so that the smaller details/scenes can be placed easier at a later point.

• • 
    Sam Bain
  • The Guardian, Wednesday 31 July 2013
  • Sam Bain is a comedy writer. His credits include Peep Show, The Thick of It and the film Four Lions

Get drunk on arrogance ... Peep Show, of which Sam Bain was co-creator.

1. Your first draft will never ever be your last. Unless you're directing, producing and paying for the film or series yourself – in which case, may God have mercy on your soul. You will end up rewriting the bloody thing five, 10, 100 times. Whatever the total number of drafts you eventually reach, the only guarantee is that it will be at least two (and possibly 200) more than you thought were strictly necessary.

2. Forget point 1. When you're writing that all-important first draft, treat it like the last draft you'll ever write. Why? Because there's no quicker way to kill off creativity than the thought: "That'll do." Pretend this weak baby gazelle of a script – spindly legs burdened by the weight of expectation, inexperience and its own tortured story logic – is the best it's ever going to be. Give it everything you've got. That's the only way it will be anywhere near good enough to earn its passage to the second round of the endless Script Olympics.

3. There are two distinct roles you must play in the writing process: writer and reader. When I'm writing I move constantly, like a shark, never reading over what I've written out of fear that its total awfulness will sap my self-belief and I'll never get to the end. And getting to the end is everything. No one ever had two-thirds of a script produced (although some would argue that George Lucas achieved this not once, but three times).

4. Once a draft is done, it's time to take off the writing hat (the racing helmet worn to protect the wearer from dangerously high typing speeds) and don the reading hat (the deerstalker in which one can comfortably absorb a good yarn). Leave as long as you can between hat-changes. It takes a generous cushion of time to forget all the great reasons why super-criminal Toby Nutkins just has to be wearing red trousers when he's confronted by the Beagle – and see him instead as an annoying character worthy of being attacked with a hatchet and a cry of: "Who wrote this shit?"

Write like, er, a shark ... Four Lions

5. Writing any script – especially your first – is an act of unparalleled arrogance. "Here I sit, Josephine Shithead, preparing to join the hallowed ranks of the Coen brothers, Lena Dunham and the guys behind the Scary Movie franchise by writing a script. A script so goddamn great it will pole-vault its way over the scripts written by all the other shitheads who think they are the real deal when in fact they are not. Whereas I, on my very first try, quite definitely am." It is essential to be drunk on a neat shot of 100%-proof arrogance while writing. A balanced view of one's own capabilities and the odds against success would mean the balloon of self-confidence deflating halfway through the first scene, leaving nothing but the low pathetic hiss of dead ambition.

6. But that neat shot is strictly for First Draft Guy. First Draft Guy can be as arrogant as Han Solo, but subsequent drafts need to be written with the humility of Yoda. Otherwise you'll be just another shithead with a terrible script he thinks is great. And Lord knows we don't need any more of those.

7. Professional writers must make friends with deadlines. But without deadlines – when no one is waiting for you to deliver your script, or frankly gives a fig whether you finish at all – you need contingencies …

8. So create artificial deadlines. Much like a six-year-old who imagines if they step on the cracks in the pavement a bear will attack them, pretend that if you don't finish a scene by the end of the day, a bear will attack you. If you don't find a bear attack convincing, go for a different threat. Try: "If I don't finish this scene by 5 o'clock, I am an utter failure as a human being."

9. Problems start when these fear tactics work too well. You find yourself typing sweatily, looking down the barrel of a lifetime of self-hate you have so enthusiastically promised yourself, unable to write anything half-decent. To work, the brain needs to be supple, not clenched. You may find that taking a walk in the park is as crucial to your creativity as banging away on a keyboard. Just as long as the walk doesn't end in the pub/crackhouse.

10. If you are tempted to run away after all this, remember: the bear will find you. Not a metaphorical bear, the actual bear you hired me to bring round at 5 o'clock – remember?

Becoming an intern

I read this article from the Raindance Film festival website where a current intern has given their intake on how to prepare and co-operate with being the intern.

Simple enough I guess, start preparing yourself by researching about the company. As well as this, research what is currently going on in the industry. It also seems pretty useful to have some sort of historical interest. Communication is key, both when you are on set working in a small team. There are many intimidating characters in the industry but everyone is human and most are willing to help out, If you don’t ask you don’t get!

Be confident and step outside your comfort zone. You will get nowhere if you don’t try and challenge yourself.

If I can just be myself when interning, not to be shy, grab every opportunity that falls my way and take advantage of networking!! Leave a good impression and don’t burn bridges, I will never know if I will need to go back and ask a previous colleague for a favor.

1. Know Your Stuff!

On your first day in the film industry there is a lot to take in. As much as you think you may know about film believe me there is always plenty more to learn. With a seemingly endless amount of techniques and devices used for filming as well as a copious amount of directors, producers, and actors, it appears that these lists can go on forever! For this reason it is important that you are well versed in the lingo and catch up on your movie knowledge. You never know when you may be asked a random question out of the blue and when you are you’re going to want to be able to give the right answer, or at least a somewhat credible one.

2. Be A Team Player

One of the main things I have learned from my experiences in the film industry is that despite there being an “I” in FILM, it is pretty much impossible to complete any task without the help of your colleagues. Cooperation and collaboration is key when working with film. If only one person did everything where would the creativity be? We would be slaves to the imagination of a single individual. With this in mind, make sure you are comfortable working in a team and also with giving and taking constructive criticism.. and sometimes it can be just good ol’ criticism, no matter how harsh it will only improve your skill-set in the long run.

 3. Don’t Be Intimidated By Big Wigs

There are a lot of interesting characters that identify themselves with working in the film industry. Many of them are well known individuals who have worked hard to get where they are and some… well some of them couldn’t get a home movie screened in their own living room if they tried. The point is to not be intimidated by those who have tasted the sweet life that the industry has to offer. Most of the time they are just normal human beings who want nothing more than to sit down and have a normal down to earth conversation over a pint.

4. Communication is Key!

As mentioned earlier, cooperation and collaboration is key in this industry but I left one more thing out, communication! It really is amazing how much of a difference talking to one another can make when working on a project or simply doing office tasks. Inform your superiors of the status on whatever your working on, so they know you’re actually working, and if working with a fellow colleague be sure to communicate frequently to make sure you both are on the same page.

 5. Be Willing to Step Outside Your Comfort Zone

There will always be challenging tasks to be held while working in film. From knowing how to set up a specific camera rig to simply trying to get the right coffee orders for your fellow colleagues without messing any of them up for fear of total banishment! It is important in these situations to be confident and to step outside your comfort zone to do something you may never have done before, whether you achieve your task or utterly fail at it there is always room for self-improvement and each failure or accomplishment will help you in your next endeavor, if you’re given another one that is.

6. Don’t Be A Pushover

No one likes a pushover, plain and simple. If you agree to every assignment given to you regardless of your prior workload, to your colleagues it seems that you are just trying to make everyone happy regardless of how it affects you. Take pride in your work and make sure that you have the time and mental attentiveness to preform each task with your full potential. Remember, it is always okay to say no if you already have too much on your plate. Odds are there are a few other interns they can dish the work out to instead.

7. All Work and No Play Makes For A Dull Day

Getting to know your colleagues is imperative. Find out what they like to do, what they’ve done and where they’ve been. You never know you may find out you have more in common with them that you originally thought. In addition, feel free to ask them to go out after work one day for a pint or to get some lunch. Interactions outside of the office are usually more genuine and from my experience have been a great way to meet the people I’ve worked with.