My name is Morgan Cady-Lee and I’m a senior Photography major with a Video and Film Arts concentration and a Literary Arts minor. Over the summer I interned for a small projection company called Dawn of Man, which consists of three main people. They install projections for events, gallery openings, museums, and creative projects, and in many cases are also in charge of the video content. I was introduced to Lucas Flores Piran, the digital media manager at Dawn of Man, by my uncle’s boyfriend who thought that it might be an interesting opportunity for me. I was interested in the content creation and video editing that the internship would entail, as well as the fashion photography that Lucas works on independently from Dawn of Man.
Much the work I was given involved editing for their content and their promotional videos, which described what their company did and the types of clients they have had. One such video I worked on was of a MoMA garden party. Other times I in charge of editing a montage of clips of their outdoor projections of another company’s content. I learned a lot about video editing software, specifically Final Cut and After Effects, as well as how to change the content to suit the needs of a client. When there was an event, I accompanied the three, Lucas Flores Piran, Max Nova, and JR Skola, to help set up screens, projectors, and all of their other equipment. On these jobs I sometimes also filmed or photographed the event with one of their cameras. It was great to see a team of people working together to adapt to each situation and event according to what type of equipment and space they had. In addition to these events, I also assisted Lucas on his fashion shoots for various companies, including Holi Scarves and Jack Spade. During the shoots I would usually hold reflectors, check the photographs on the monitor while Lucas shot, and adjust lights. Afterward I helped edit the photographs and Lucas would give me direction on what type of look the he or the client sought.
Overall this internship taught me a lot technically in terms of learning new software and tools, as well as what it takes to succeed in business. There is a great relentlessness in the way they approached clients or packaged and pitched ideas to companies that did not even know who they were--and I saw how this relentlessness paid off. Despite being such a small company, Dawn of Man's clients include huge names like amfAR, Sony, and MoMA.
Seeing all three in Dawn of Man work together to handle stressful and intense event situations or striving to give clients what they need was more beneficial to me than anything else I experienced while working there. For me, working here was great because they had such a flexible schedule and gave me a lot of creative control while still providing direction when I needed it. A project that really exemplifies their balance of letting me run with my ideas but still lending me advice is the Facebook project, in which I made photo montages to promote their company on the social media site. I knew going into the internship that I was not necessarily interested in doing fashion photography or projection work, but it was great to be able to work for such a young and determined group that was able to succeed so soon after graduating college. Through them, I learned software and business techniques that will benefit me in whatever career I pursue.
