When I ruminate on the first newscast of the semester I find myself irresistibly drawn to memories of the first scene of “Bambi.” I recall from an early age watching that little deer try to walk, knees together, wobbly and spinning sideways in what was more of a controlled fall than anything. This first newscast was not dissimilar – while we did not lose our footing we also weren’t the most graceful and frankly, I’m happy about that. If there were no room for improvement there would be little point to continuing down this path.

          I was very pleased to get some camera time last week and help Kendall Lewis gather footage for the Sunnyside Up story. The most difficult part for me was keeping up on the technical side once the interviews started. Kendall wasted no time diving into questions and creating candid moments that I was obliged to capture. I was equally impressed by the rest of the team out creating their packages and, most importantly, communicating. My poor beleaguered phone was overwrought with notifications on GroupMe, Twitter and SMS as reporters requested and offered help. That was a real testament to the work ethic of our team and I could not have been more proud.

Another cycle of WVU News is coming to a close and my time to pass the torch to the next producer is at hand. Instead of the regularly scheduled pitch meeting, a celebration was held where everyone ate their fill at a breakfast banquet and thanked the people that they interviewed or helped them along the path of WVU News. This was very different from what had happened in weeks past due to the final show using packages that had put together from previous weeks. Everyone was free to work on their final portfolios as the final show drew closer.

The read through wasn’t too out of the norm. However, almost all of the on-air talent for this show I had not worked with before. So, figuring out their style and how to get the best out of them took a few runs, but after everything went smoothly. Since the script had a lot of movement, I had them in their positions and they worked on their delivery while moving. It took a little longer than most weeks because of that and that it is a special edition show.

What an emotional week it has been…

It kicked in a little as I was preparing for my last WVU News show. All I could think about was “It’s really coming to an end.”

These past two weeks have been a whirlwind! In between preparing for show eight and the special edition show, we’ve been working nonstop. I know I say this about every show, but this show is now my new favorite. I really liked the script and filming was a breeze.  We had our news meeting, and as usual I jumped in filming standups. 

For this cycle of WVU News the atmosphere was a little different. I am not sure if it was due to Group 1 being halfway through the shows or if everyone was just starting to focus on the last special edition show. But, everything continued just as it had in the previous weeks. The pitch meeting on Monday flew by and so did the Tuesday. However, Wednesday was when I was recruited to go with Reporter Casey Gentile to help her shoot at the Monongalia Sheriff’s Department. She was doing a story on the recently acquired body cameras that are to be worn by the on-duty police officers. I thought that it was a very interesting story and one that I was also a little curious about.

This week I learned a lot! I think the experience we get with WVU News is so crucial because you are in real life situations and are able to learn and experience the real things that happen during a newscast. But first, let’s talk about this week. 

As always, I felt like everyone brought great story ideas to the news meeting. It’s as if the reporters are all in sync. Majority of the stories were related some way so it made it really easy to stack the show. 

After we were finished recording show three, the talk we received from Professor Dahlia was a little different. Since we were heading into spring break after everything was recorded, everyone needed to have stories that would remain relevant over the break. Despite the lack of pitches that day, I was confident that by our pitch meeting on Monday everyone would have good evergreen stories to pursue. And on Monday, I was right. The reporters are getting better every time we go through the cycle and this week most only needed the first beat report and a few moments time to get their stories approved.

Even though the week lasted just as long as the one previous, with the break drawing closer, time seemed to drag for most of the team. But, everyone persevered and was able to turn in their packages on time Thursday and get ready for the week-long break. Just as the team was winding down, I was preparing my critiques of all the packages, figuring out the rundown for the show, writing and putting the finishing touches on the script. Even though the break meant that we would not meet until the 13th, I still had a deadline to make sure everything was ready when we got back.

Show four!

I was so excited to start the preparation for show four. During the time I have off, I like to go out with the reporters to help them film interviews, broll, and standups/SOT TZs. I do miss reporting but I really, really like producing.

After the first show on Wednesday, all the reporters had some time to prepare their next stories that they wanted to pursue. The pitch meeting on Monday didn’t seem a daunting this time around and we were able to watch the first show with a keener eye in order to fix mistakes for the next show. It was unanimous from the reporters that sequence shooting and more interactive stand up and sot tz’s were things that they wanted to improve on. After watching the video, the reporters were able to pitch much quicker than the previous week and began working on their packages straight away.

After class, I try to wait around until everyone leaves just in case anyone has any questions or needs me to help with anything. I’m glad that I did because our reporter Casey Gentile was having some difficulty figuring out how to make her stand up more interactive. I had been watching quite a few videos of San Diego reporter Joe Little and thought that it would be appropriate that she clone herself. Both Dahlia and her liked the idea and asked me if I would help her shoot. I was overjoyed to be able to help outside my producer role and after the previous package that I helped with didn’t turn out so well. I was more determined than ever.

First show back at WVU News!

I decided to take a step back and work behind the camera this semester…I think I may like it a little better. The verdict is still out. It’s a different feeling when you are working on the whole project vs your package. It’s hard to explain.