A Documnetary .. Really?

After many grueling months of head slamming and brain crunching from more then just me my capstone theme has finally emerged. I have had 3 proposals. For me coming up with two proposals was hard enough not to mention the fact of getting discouraged. I was hung up on a few issues such as life long goals and things of that nature. while it is an important part of my college career I was honestly just thinking about it too hard and too much. There is a time to to make certain aspects o your life hard and this did not need to be one of them. So after much ado i have finally figured it out. I am blending several interests into one. I am a history fanatic when it come to wars and WWII.I just love to read about it and learn about it. I needed something to hold my enthusiasm if I was going to spend an entire semester on a project. I also need to be very passionate about it as well. So i sat back and though about it and realized that i was really passionate about supporting the Troops and honoring veterans. I also do not think enough people realize just what they do for our country. with our soldiers and our veterans there would not be the America that we know today. So I decided that supporting troops and World War two needed to somehow be apart of my capstone. What else need to be incorporated into my capstone was a event. If there is one thing that I absolutely love to do it is plan events. on campus I have been VP of special events or have planned one of the organization's biggest event of the season. I am also the Special events chair for the student government so if there is anything that needed to incorporated into my Broadcasting Capstone. My professor was nice enough to stick it out with indecisiveness until the end. finally he suggested a documentary. I though that is pretty interesting and We figured out that i should do one on troops and veterans. So my capstone for 2008 will be called "Colliding Times". It is a documentary which parallels the life of a World War Two veteran and a Iraq soldier of veteran. It will address the differences and similarities between the two lives including romance, war front experience and much more. I am so very excites about my capstone i feel that it is going to be something that I can look back and be proud of. Knowing the i can put a documentary together all by myself and sill work for the greater good always please me. That is another place where I got hung up on my search for capstone.. I wanted something with meaning. I have spent so many years going through motions learning but never really letting an of my projects have an impact on mys for the people around me. For my senior project though, this was something that would be looked at by many. While it may be something out of the ordinary it is something iw ill enjoy and truly be happy to get a message across. And with a plus note I can plan en event. On the date of my Premiere i can plan a small shindig for those that are coming. It will be a lovely thing.

The Best Show

I have seen many Thursday nights dedicated to "the County Line"(Westminster's News Program). Every Thursday at 7:30have pm many Broadcasting students gather to produce our news program. We have been doing the show for many years and we a pretty set pattern down. There is always room for improvement of course but this last show i think was absolutely perfect, or at least very close to it. It all started off with the packages. They were strong and clear and overall just well put together. The readers we used this week were interesting and relevant to the community I thought as well. Maybe it was a just a good week for the news world, I'm not sure but everything just kinda fell in our laps last week. One of the bigger parts of the show that worked outstandingly well was the producing. One of my friends was producing last week and it was his first time. He was a bit nervous but i was impressed with that work that he did. He utilized his AP's and made sure that everyone was on track with stories throughout the week. He put a nice rundown together for the crew to follow for the show. The crew was a nice conglomerate of people as well. I was one for the last ones to come in so I ended up as prompter girl but everyone seemed to do there job well. The floor director cued people on time. The cameras were smooth and did have any problem moving to there spots ans such. The audio went well. Even sports went smoothly! No stalls or graphic problems or anythign I was quite happy with it. The anchors looked and spoke wonderfully. Of all the shows to go very well i was glad that it was our last one for the year. Now only was it our last show but it was also the senior send off show which was nice. We have such great talent graduating from here. If I can do half as well as them next year then I will feel like I have accomplished something. There was one slight problem as I recall at the moment. There was a slide show of the seniors and for some reason the sound did get on air. We had it in the studio but the audience couldn't get hear it. I Would really like to know how that happened. But either way it was a wonderful show!

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

Would You Give Up Your Source?

This week I was Posed an interesting question. It all started when my Communications Law class started talking about Media and the Law/ Ethics. Well, being the only broadcasting major in the class I was singled out and as this question: Would you give up your source in a trial if they brought you into a court case? ....
Talk about being caught off guard. Up until now i never gave it much thought. It something you don't think about until you are put in that situation. Well i had to give and answer the professor was waiting on me. My first response was that it depended on the situation. Because I'm not one to rat someone out that has helped me I'm also not the type of person who would let a rapist or terrorist go free. Well, that answer did not go over to well. So I said No. I would not divulge my sources for a trial. The way I see it is this: these people trust me which is why they tell me information. If I loose that trust then I loose my Information. Not only do I suffer but the public will suffer because they will not have the information that i have to give them anymore. So I chose the "don't bite the hand that feeds you" route.
That seemed to please my professor for about a 30 seconds and then she throws at me this ... what if it was between that and going to jail? Well I'll be honest I'm no martyr. I will do the right thing as I see it but even though I still feel that every situation should be handled in its own way is still had to answer. Again this is a lot to decide in a matter of 30 seconds... at least i felt that it was. I was deciding whether to end my career as a reporter (essentially) and possibly get marked by the party which I handed to the police or go to jail. So either way its just not a good situation. Plus, I would say I have pretty god morals. I don't like innocent people going to jail and certainly disapprove of a criminal going free. But if there is one thing that I have learned in life is that sometimes you have to make decisions based on your own personal needs.
In the end of the massive debate in my head I came to one conclusion... I would not let myself go to jail for someone Else's mishap even if I was threatened my by source. After all at least I could have a job and a life.... even if witness protection gave me a new name and place to live.
I came to all of these conclusions but i can't really say if they are right or wrong. In the end who is to say they are or aren't anyways. I started really thinking about them after class and wondering if my answers were something I would stick by. I have decided that they are but again I'll never really know until I've been faced with it. I am also still in school and don't really know exactly what its like to get a story that would have such drama associated with it. So its interesting to see what people would do.... so i pose this question to you.... What would you do if the police came to you and asked you to hand over information regarding your source, would you do it or refrain?