Museum Studies Intern at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History – Fall 2018
During my internship at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, I assisted Tim, the museum’s Videographer, with filming a promotional video for the event Titanic… After Dark. Tim had cleverly storyboarded a video similar to the movie Titanic’s trailer, including iconic scenes from the movie–but with Rose and Jack being played by dinosaurs. We filmed at various locations in the museum, starting at the long benches in the Alcoa Foundation Hall of American Indians. We used this area to recreate the iconic scene where Jack paints Rose wearing the “Heart of the Ocean” necklace.
From there we moved to the museum’s grand staircase to recreate the moment Jack goes to the first class club and sees Rose coming down the stairs. I helped to set up scenes, carry props, and assist the actors. I helped the actors adjust their dinosaur costumes, attaching the proper wigs and accessories to them for each scene. It was extremely difficult to get our “Heart of the Ocean” necklace to stay attached to the inflatable dinosaur costume, so I helped figure out the best way to keep it in place. I was even able to make suggestions for the best locations to recreate scenes from the movie.
The museum frequently hosts After Dark event nights that have various themes, and are for visitors ages 21 and up. After Dark events occur at night from 6-10pm and are a unique experience where adults can visit the museum, as well as purchase cocktails. These nights spark a lot of public interest since they are a fun excuse for the attendees to dress up, see live music, fun demonstrations, and are centered around a unique theme. During my time working at CMNH, I assisted in creating social media content for the Zombies After Dark event, which was held in October 2018, as well as creating social media content for the Titanic… After Dark event in December of 2018.
As a Museum Studies intern in the Marketing Department of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, it was my job to help promote special events and exhibitions and to respond to event inquiries on social media. My work was overseen by Kathleen Sallada, Erin Southerland, and Tim Evans. Throughout my time at the museum, I was assigned a variety of tasks in order to assist the department in any way possible, but my favorite assignment was assisting Tim film the Titanic… After Dark video. When the final video was released on Facebook, it received a lot of positive attention from the public. I enjoyed being a part of creating such a great social media advertisement and seeing all that goes into video production.
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