2K's Walkabout

After a hectic and relieving finish to the BUFTA awards, a much needed break was in order; but, there would be a price: no sleep. The Bond Exploration Club was off to Kangaroo Point, Brisbane for a crash course in rock climbing and abseiling, bright and early in the morning. We pretty much jumped right into it once we got to our location. The two guides, Craig and Paul, split us into two groups; one to start climbing, and the other to start repelling. I had a full hearty breakfast (Nature Valley bars, cheese & crackers, etc.) and was ready to climb some shit.

There was three different paths that we could take, each one getting much harder than the first. Being a mobile, agile, and hostile young lad I took on the really hard one to start… As it turns out, not even the guide finishes this path very often. I definitely didn’t finish it. As the others took their turns climbing and belaying, I was preparing for the next climbing path, which was the second hardest one. I got pretty far, but once again failed as time ran out and the second group’s turn at climbing was up. And just for the record this is actual rock climbing, not those pegs stuck into a wall, like at K-Cap. This was no joke. Slightly defeated I walked back up the cliff path to turn around and go right back down… the quicker way. We strapped in and “abseiled,” or repelled, down the cliff side. Which was pretty scary as you lean over the edge of the cliff, but after that it’s smooth sailing. I can honestly say that being on any scaffolding with Greg “Silver-Fox” is the much more terrifying. 

I was fortunate enough to get another go at climbing. I stuck to the second hardest path, and gave it my all. This time is was much more successful. I made it all the way to the top, and then a little bit further for good measure. It was truly an amazing feeling. I’ve never rocked climbed before this day, and I’m already hooked. If you haven’t done it, DO IT! 

During this semester I got to learn the ins and outs on how to write, plan, and run a live studio production for my TV Studio class. Hands down it was the best class I’ve taken in college thus far. Over the course of the semester, our class took turns learning and trying all the different jobs that are involved in a multi-cam live studio production, with the end goal of finding something that you enjoyed. For me that was Vision Mixer, which is basically the guy who presses a button to switch between cameras, videos, graphics, etc. It sounds easy and all, but there is a lot more that goes into it. This went on for a majority of the semester, and eventually we got to write our own shows, which was a blast. I won’t be posting any of the shows because they’re about 30 minutes a piece and I just don’t feel like uploading that to Vimeo/Youtube; however, I’ll try to get a clip from our intro to the shows (Full house themed). Anyways… The real goal of this training and experience of the studio (besides getting a college credit) was to pick out roles for Bond University’s BUFTA Awards (basically the Oscars for high school students that want to come to Bond). I was fortunate enough to get the Vision Mixing job, which I’m hoping will look pretty baller on my resume. After weeks of long rehearsals, changes to the script, more long rehearsals, and lack of food/sleep, the BUFTA awards finally arrived. The night went surprisingly well, and according to our teachers and heads of the Film department, we put on one of the best shows of BUFTA yet. All in all, I’m pretty pumped about it. It was definitely an eye opening experience, but at the same time, it’s nice to finally relax… or at least for a little bit. 

-2K