Max Oppen

My name is not strictly confidential. There is no such thing as privacy anymore, so you can call me Max Oppen. I have a Facebook account, a Twitter handle, a couple of email addresses and a handful of passwords. I attend the University at Albany, am a senior, and I was born long before many of my academic colleagues, many of whom have parents who are younger than me. I grew tired, both mentally and physically, of the dead-end, unskilled jobs that I seemed to always find myself a part of. So I went back to school. Having an unsuccesssful experience at SUNY New Paltz 20 years ago, I finally decided to get serious about my education and my future. I earned my associates degree from Columbia Greene Community College in 2012, and transferred to UAlbany, where I decided to study journalism. Both my father and Uncle were broadcast journalists, and there are smattering of poets and writers, both deceased and living, whose blood I share. The past three and a half years have gone by quickly. I am currently in my third internship (second with the same department), and only wish I could have done more. Internships are extremely valuable. Learning in a classroom does have its advantages, although there is nothing like obtaining real-world experience in a professional setting.

I hope to pursue a career in video production and editing. I find it extremely gratifying to go out and cover an event, download the footage, and create a story using ambient sound, music, and post-production tools. The tricky part is looking for and getting that particular shot that you know will make your clip stand out, because once the event/concert/speech is over, its over.

Last spring and summer (2013), I interned for the University at Albany’s Department of Communications and Marketing, Digital Media Division. I conducted numerous documentary-style interviews. The equipment is always prone to malfunction. Sound boxes, boom or shotgun mics, light kits or dSLR cameras are all very delicate and at times fickle, so for this type of work you need to be a problem solver with imagination.

I conducted many of the interviews for the upcoming video clip about the UAlbany journalism program, which has been posted on the university website. Meeting different people and hearing their stories and experiences is just one of the perks in this field. Creating a story born from b-roll and numerous interviews is an amazing feeling. It’s art, pure and simple.