Behind The Cage: An Inside Perspective From Sydney Tracey ’18
At some point, a Newhouse student will inevitably want to use high-end video production gear. Luckily, there is a one-stop shop in the Newhouse 2 Lobby ready to accommodate any student’s production equipment needs. The CAGE, the perfect resource for students in courses that involve video-making, has all the production equipment you would ever desire. From the Canon EOS C100 camera to something as simple as an extension cord, the CAGE will have you covered – if you schedule your reservation accordingly!
But as familiar as the CAGE is to Newhouse students, the inner workings of how it runs and operates remains a mystery to most people. You can find basic information about it here, but one should never judge a book by its cover. The CAGE is more interesting than one would initially perceive.
“Some days are completely quiet and some days it’s nonstop customers until I leave my shift,” said Sydney Tracey, a ’18 senior CAGE front desk employee. “But it’s really nice seeing everyone in the first few weeks because you start to build a repertoire with people, and it is also fun watching people progress and get better with the equipment.”
Sydney found herself intrigued by the cage early on, as she has now been working there for three years. She has certainly seen most, if not all, Newhouse students at the CAGE, and it’s great to hear how people like her enjoy seeing CAGE outsiders get acclimated with all the complicated gear. The CAGE is an incredible resource for Newhouse students, and the employees running the show deserve the utmost appreciation, as the job can get stressful.
“I have often myself had to deal with flustered students. I try my best to help them out and get them what they need or at least give them options,” continued Sydney. “I’ve also been working at the CAGE for 3 years now and I have started to be able to know some back up plans and other options for when there really is nothing left. But sometimes it just can’t happen and it’s unfortunate, but we try our best.”
The CAGE can get strict with their rules and regulations, as tardiness and irresponsibility can eventually have your CAGE privileges revoked. Rumors say that only two students have ever committed three strikes to permanently have their CAGE access denied, so let’s hope it stays two students for the rest of eternity!
But if you are punctual and communicative with the staff behind the front desk, you can easily walk out of Newhouse unscathed from the CAGE. They are some of the nicest people I’ve interacted with on campus, always willing to lend a hand. Fortunately for Sydney, she had soaked in tons of camera skill knowledge, and she helped me in a pinch the other day when I had to have a student trained on the C100 camera for TRF 205.
“I think it’s important to have at least some basic knowledge of the gear you use, even if you don’t want to be a cameraman in the future,” Sydney noted. “It will really help you in many different fields within the industry and make you look better as a potential employee.”
Sydney makes a great point. Personally, I’ve dedicated a majority of my time developing video content creating skills in post-production, primarily editing. I’m not the savviest person behind the camera, but learning from the likes of Sydney and Jason Kohlbrenner has helped tremendously. The gear can get unfathomably challenging for me sometimes, but everyone eventually figures it out, and I’m sure I’ll have a firm grasp on it all one of these days (probably not though).
“I think the biggest thing that anyone at the CAGE wants you to know is that we are also students. We understand the stress and frustration that comes with doing projects and needing gear and coordinating so many things,” Sydney remarked. “But we want to help you. I know it’s hard to get when you’re standing at the counter and we don’t have the camera you need at that moment, but I promise that if you work with us, we will try our best to work with you and find a solution.”
Overall, I’m sure I am only hitting the tip of the iceberg when learning about the CAGE from Sydney. She had wonderful insight to provide as a TRF student, but there are plentiful other perspectives from students in different programs. There always seems to be a constant flow of different students running CAGE operations, and fortunately they all bring positive attitudes and quality customer service.
“The CAGE is truly and simply based off teamwork and customer service,” Sydney said. “Our main goal is to help the customer. We want you to succeed.”
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