Understanding

There are many times in life when you think you have it all figured out. You sit and think I know how to do this, I know what they will say and I think everyone will think it’s a great idea. Unfortunately, no one knows everything. You can’t make everyone happy and in most cases nothing is done perfectly. Everyone has there own perception, and no matter what you do someone will think it is wonderful and someone else will think it is awful. But what does any of this have to do with broadcasting? Well, I can tell you… everything. FI you understand that people can find the good and the bad in everything then you can prepare yourself when you present your work. Now this applies for those who work hard and still end up getting torn apart when presenting a package or news story. Granted if you just aren’t prepared then that is your own fault. But if you have prepared and present your paper news story, package, new TV segment, or whatever then not everyone has to like it. Broadcasting is a hard industry, a cut-throat industry. Unfortunately there are so many different tastes out there that it is hard to please all of them. Understanding that you just need to please the majority or the boss is a big stepping stone. Whether they are right or not they do control what happens. I found this out a few days ago.

One of my classes had presentations for a very big project we had great ideas in our class for these different projects. For many weeks and weeks were spent deciding on topics for our projects. We wanted them to be perfect. The topic had to be something that interested us because we were going to be spending a lot of time on them. The day we presented I knew was going to be hard. I was confident and very adamant about my topic. It was everything I wanted caring, eventful and patriotic. I, like everyone else, had put way too much effort into trying to find something that worked for me. I knew going into it my presentation that my professors might not like my idea but I thought that it would still do the trick. I was wrong. They liked the patriotic factor but thought it too eventful for the project I was doing. While I disagreed and felt that they missed the whole point I succeeded and decided to go along with it. This is where the understanding that you can’t please everyone comes in handy. I knew they might not like the complete idea and I would have to alter it. I didn’t mind that they do not fully like it. By understanding that not everyone likes one concept, I had already prepared myself for it. I’ve decided in broadcasting you have to be able to adapt to anything. Whether it is as simple as the change in a news schedule or a completely new proposal… adapting and understanding is the key.

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Tennis Tennis Tennis

So there is a saying that goes: “You learn something new everyday.” Well, I certainly felt that way this week. I did a new segment of “the County Line” this week and I absolutely loved it. My assignment was sports so I went to the producer, T.J., and asked him what he wanted from me. After much ado about nothing we settled on me getting interviews form the tennis team. I thought to myself oh this will be fun and not too difficult but not everything works out easy. I set out to the tennis courts to grab a few interviews. I was wrong in thinking it would be easy. When I loaded up my car I realized that it wouldn’t start and the practice courts were so far away. Well I solved my dilemma by calling my roommate who came on the shoot with because she drove the car. After my car didn’t start I thought that was the rough patch for the day, apparently I was wrong because we got lost trying to get to the courts and once we got there they were in deep in practice. Thankfully Scooter, the coach, let me take them one by one and get en I went to interviews.. I only expected to do like three but I ended up doing the whole team (a whopping 6 players) Well I started to do the interviews and when I went to white balance it kept giving me an SW error. Now I am pretty good at troubleshooting a camera and figuring out what is wrong but I just had no idea what this was. So I tried everything I know to make not so bright and easier to white balance Well I tried and tried but nothing came of it. I really needed to shoots I went ahead and filmed it anyway. Lucky me it gave me the bluest video I have ever seen. I felt so bad I tried so hard and nothing came of it. Considering what a tight schedule I run on I wasn’t about to go get more interviews all over again so I sat down with adobe and started fiddling with the video affects. By the end of it, my blue video looked like very good video. I found coloring adjustments and they made a world of difference. So over the course of this week I have learned something new everyday!

A View From above

This past Friday A professional came in to view our work. It was wonderful and so exciting! I was very sad because i had to go take a test and couldn't stay for the last 20 min. But for the time I was there i learned so much! I always love getting feedback from professionals.I personally think it id one of the best ways to learn . They are the ones out there doing it everyday. They know what type of work will be put on air and what won't. The best part is after criticizing you work you can make changes and be that much better.
Well we could only choose one package that we had done thus far. I chose my most recent one about student rovers (high school and college students who help out at the voting polls). I used it for a Deadline assignment in class and i shot it completely on my own. The shot went really well and i felt that package and that stand up in it all were pretty decent. When the lady looked at my package she said to use the diamond effect and interview and actually student and follow them around. I did actually interview three students but lets just say if you put a camera in front of high school students they don't always know what to do with themselves. So I did attempt something along those lines. What I really learned wasn't really from what she told me about my package specifically but she told us all that had an almost reoccurring theme. Use less officials and make them more personable with an almost one on one theme between the viewer and a person in your story that they can connect with. This will not only make it more interesting for the viewer but they will be able to understand the point of the story better. Another thing i learned is stay away form boring officials. The only thing they do is bog the story down and nobody wants to see a a meeting after they have been in one for work all day. The last thing i learned was how to ask interviewers questions. Although she did not give me examples of them she didn't even say anything about the questions that i asked the interviewees but i realized i need to ask them better questions. Asking more personal questions to get a more personal answer will enhance the package. Also I already have the boring information and the statistics why would i need it relayed to me again by another person. I also think i need to put a few more stats in my packages so the audience learns more. Overall for as busy as i have been I think I learned more this week then any other week thus far. I'm actually pretty pleased with how far i have come in reporting this semester.

A city of News ...

A city of experiences. That is what I would call Chicago. This weekend I was in charge of the Westminster College Student Government (SGA) spring trip. The senate chose Chicago since we have been too NYC for the last few years. The one thing that seemed to be a theme on this trip was packages and reporting. Everywhere we went i felt like i could make a package out of. I saw a man on the street getting interviewed when we first entered the city and from there on everything i saw became a package. It is funny how you sit and think of camera angles and what would be the best kind and what people would give the best interviews. I never knew that i could automatically think like that but if you do it enough i guess that is what happens. Here are all the random scenarios that i encountered while Chicago that could have become packages.. well a few of them.
A package could have been made on the awful train system. It was confusing and half of it wasn't running. More then a few of us got on the wrong train but made it to where we needed to be ok. The construction wasn't marked very well at all and most Chicago natives didn't even know where it was.
There was a "homeless" guy as he called him self who needed money to sleep in a male homeless house. But he was clean cut and he had a briefcase and he held a poster with his resume on one side and his wanted picture on another. The resume itself was enough to be intrigued as a reporter. There was the speech he was giving to one train car to the next about the money and a place to stay.
The best part pf the trip was hard news that reporters would have just melted at. After hopping on train to go to the movies, a flow of people started coming from the train car in front of us. There was a fight between a 10 year old and a 40 year old. Apparently this 10 year just jumped on the guy and started talking "smack to him" as one man said. And then the punches started flowing. If only there had been a reporter there to capture the scene. not only was there a little kid but a security guard got beat up as well.
Jeremiah and myself thought it would be a great idea to make a short film/ reality show on our wanderings one night. We didn't quite know where we were going and there was nothing to do but walk around so that is what we did. But while wandering we made some friends and met some real characters.
there are so many other stories that we could have done. not that Chicago has anything to do with our audience but it would have provided entertainment and anymore if you can entertain then that is half the battle