Link Internship
Caleb Gerst
Link Description
The Leading Internships for New Knowledge (LINK) program is an integral piece of the Animas High School curriculum in Durango, Colorado, as it exemplifies our belief in the value of student-centered, personalized instruction that connects learning to the adult world. LINK takes students beyond the classroom walls in order to clarify personal, college and career goals while teaching invaluable professional skills and life lessons.
With support from the LINK Internship Coordinator, students find internships either locally or further afield that allow them to dive deeply into their individual passions, interests and potential career paths. They are paired with LINK Mentors who generously share their time, energy and expertise. While on their internships, AHS juniors make meaningful contributions to their host businesses and organizations while also completing individual LINK Projects.
Business Description
Ls3 Productions is a business that is owned and run by John Lesage. He is a aerial videographer that films action sports and some real estate. John films real estate for Sotheby's and when he has the time he sometimes takes offers to go and film action sports.
Link Anticipation and preparation
I was not sure what I wanted to do, I didn’t want to reach out to businesses that I did not want to work with. I wanted to do something that I thought I would love from the beginning. I then thought of a friend that does aerial filming and decided that this might be something that I could be interested in. I had never done any filming but it sounded like something that could interest me. I wanted to take the chance and see if this is something I could do for a career in the coming years. I gave John Lesage a call and had an internship. I did not find it difficult to find an internship, I think part of that was because I already knew John Lesage before my internship. Before the internship, I had dinner with John and he told me what I wanted to do for this internship and the first thing that came to my mind was making an action sports movie.
From this internship, I wanted to see if this was something that I could pursue as a career. As I was coming to the end of my internship it started to hit me, this is something I could do as a career. I enjoyed every day of the 3 weeks and I realized that's what matters to me, doing the things I love. I was also able to get a job with John for this coming summer with filming real estate and action sports.
Link Project
I wanted my link project to be an action sports film. We went out to Utah and we were able to Film Profesional mountain bikers. We then went to Lake Powell to film some of the views and surfing. By the time I got home, I already had an idea of how I wanted my film to look, so I got right to work. I had some help from John showing me around some of the editing software and then he let me make my film. It took a lot of trial and error, but now that it is done I can say all the time spent making it was worth it.
Link Reflection
I love biking and surfing, and going into link already knowing a lot about biking and surfing I already had an idea on different angles I wanted to shoot from. Being a biker helped me understand what to look for as they dropped into a line. The most important skills I have gained from my internship was editing. I spent a whole day before I even started editing my film with John learning about the editing software I was going to be using. I learned as long as you film everything you can get back to you computer and there will be great shots. You might have five minutes of film and only use five seconds of it. Sometimes it is hard to get footage though, specifically with the mountain bikers. If they're going to hit a 20ft cliff they are not gonna wait for you to set up your cameras they are gonna drop as soon as they feel ready. This was challenging because sometimes we wouldn't have the drone in the air yet or I wasn't in a position and we would miss an awesome shot. Even though it was hard in the beginning I learned how to be ready before they were dropping. This internship has encouraged me to pursue filming action sports as a career. I was able to get a job this summer with John and I hope that it gives me more opportunities to make more connections and let me make sure this is what I want to do.
The Leading Internships for New Knowledge (LINK) program is an integral piece of the Animas High School curriculum in Durango, Colorado, as it exemplifies our belief in the value of student-centered, personalized instruction that connects learning to the adult world. LINK takes students beyond the classroom walls in order to clarify personal, college and career goals while teaching invaluable professional skills and life lessons.
With support from the LINK Internship Coordinator, students find internships either locally or further afield that allow them to dive deeply into their individual passions, interests and potential career paths. They are paired with LINK Mentors who generously share their time, energy and expertise. While on their internships, AHS juniors make meaningful contributions to their host businesses and organizations while also completing individual LINK Projects.
Business Description
Ls3 Productions is a business that is owned and run by John Lesage. He is a aerial videographer that films action sports and some real estate. John films real estate for Sotheby's and when he has the time he sometimes takes offers to go and film action sports.
Link Anticipation and preparation
I was not sure what I wanted to do, I didn’t want to reach out to businesses that I did not want to work with. I wanted to do something that I thought I would love from the beginning. I then thought of a friend that does aerial filming and decided that this might be something that I could be interested in. I had never done any filming but it sounded like something that could interest me. I wanted to take the chance and see if this is something I could do for a career in the coming years. I gave John Lesage a call and had an internship. I did not find it difficult to find an internship, I think part of that was because I already knew John Lesage before my internship. Before the internship, I had dinner with John and he told me what I wanted to do for this internship and the first thing that came to my mind was making an action sports movie.
From this internship, I wanted to see if this was something that I could pursue as a career. As I was coming to the end of my internship it started to hit me, this is something I could do as a career. I enjoyed every day of the 3 weeks and I realized that's what matters to me, doing the things I love. I was also able to get a job with John for this coming summer with filming real estate and action sports.
Link Project
I wanted my link project to be an action sports film. We went out to Utah and we were able to Film Profesional mountain bikers. We then went to Lake Powell to film some of the views and surfing. By the time I got home, I already had an idea of how I wanted my film to look, so I got right to work. I had some help from John showing me around some of the editing software and then he let me make my film. It took a lot of trial and error, but now that it is done I can say all the time spent making it was worth it.
Link Reflection
I love biking and surfing, and going into link already knowing a lot about biking and surfing I already had an idea on different angles I wanted to shoot from. Being a biker helped me understand what to look for as they dropped into a line. The most important skills I have gained from my internship was editing. I spent a whole day before I even started editing my film with John learning about the editing software I was going to be using. I learned as long as you film everything you can get back to you computer and there will be great shots. You might have five minutes of film and only use five seconds of it. Sometimes it is hard to get footage though, specifically with the mountain bikers. If they're going to hit a 20ft cliff they are not gonna wait for you to set up your cameras they are gonna drop as soon as they feel ready. This was challenging because sometimes we wouldn't have the drone in the air yet or I wasn't in a position and we would miss an awesome shot. Even though it was hard in the beginning I learned how to be ready before they were dropping. This internship has encouraged me to pursue filming action sports as a career. I was able to get a job this summer with John and I hope that it gives me more opportunities to make more connections and let me make sure this is what I want to do.