Breaking Legs!

"Break a Leg!" It's the phrase people say to wish performers good luck. It's what we did on Friday with our first Eagle TV show, Friday Live!

After three weeks of practice on increasingly harder and more challenging shows and broadcast elements, the Eagle TV crew really pulled it out on Friday with one of the best shows I think I've seen in a long time! I'm so proud of my students.

It could've been different. It's live. The potential for a million things to go wrong are there. We experienced that, rehearsed that already. During rehearsal we had to start over many times when the video switcher froze up or the TelePrompTer wasn't keeping up or when the wrong camera was punched or when audio screwed up or when the cameras made jerky moves, etc. We rehearsed the mistakes and flubs and technical problems. We were prepared.

We also had a live audience with Mrs. Ausenbaugh's class. They came in right at the beginning of the announcements and scurried across the set floor to take their places at the corner of the studio. They couldv'e been loud, they weren't. There could've been problems... there wasn't.

Right before the show began, the last VCR in our system (the one that's downstream to all other equipment and the last component that our signal hits before going out to the school) kept turning off. It has to stay on in order for our signal to go out to the school. This was significant. We determined quickly that it was a tape stuck in the machine. As I sent Candice running to my office to get a pair of tweezers, Mr. Hosey's announcements began. Quickly with the tweezers, I got the tape out, turned on the VCR and still, it turned off. Mr. Hosey began to introduce us, I opened up the tape door and pulled out a tape label, turned the VCR on and then we rolled the open. Whew! Just in the nick of time! Everyone stayed relatively calm, which is the key to doing live television. We went on with the show and broadcast an incredibly professional product.

I'm incredibly proud of my Eagle TV staff. I have one of the most hard working group of students who care deeply about our show and what they have to offer. I have students who want to learn more and more and who are excited to learn more techniques. I have a group of students who are invested in what they are doing and are always wanting to improve on their last project.

Evidently, at the end of the show, I jumped up in excitement and re-injured my broken ankle a little. I don't think that the phrase is "re-break" a leg, but I see an irony here. The injury wasn't severe, just a little irritation, but I had to put my boot back on. I hope all shows are like this....I won't be jumping up and down for a while, but the excitement in the room was palpable after the show. Nice job, Eagle TV crew! You make me proud.

Comment on the show for your blog. What was your experience during the show or during the weeks rehearsal leading up to the show? What could we do better? What did we do well? What did you feel during the show? Did you feel like we were doing well? How can we keep this energy and professionalism going? We have a lot more shows to do!

Gathering news

Sorry you've had to wait so long for the weekly blog. We've been really busy getting ready to go on the air with Eagle TV! We debut on Friday the 23rd and have a few tricks up our sleeve for the show.

That being said, we will resume gathering news stories next week. Eagle TV students seem to be pretty adept at telling a story and editing a story, but getting the story seems to elude them. Knowing how to GATHER news stories will get you the best material to work with when you're in the edit room and when you want a really strong package to show your audience.

Let's start at the beginning: Research. You have to do research in order to know WHO to ask questions about your story. Let's say you're doing a story on teen sleep disorders. You need to first call someone....oh, I don't know.....maybe a doctor who specializes in sleep disorders. So, you call a doctor at a sleep disorder clinic. The person you get on the phone happens to specialize in geriatric sleep disorders, not teenage problems. What do you do? Ask that person to refer you to someone they feel is more appropriate to answer the questions you have. After all, they know a lot of people in that business.

While you're on the phone with these people, you happen to ask them to send you an information packet or press kit about sleep disorders and if there is any interesting recent studies on teenagers and sleep. Voila! It just so happens that a doctor who works in their office released a study last week that says that teenagers who get less than 6 hours of sleep do better on standardized tests! (Ridiculous, I know....I made this up for the sake of the blog). There is your "hook" and the angle of your story! You also need to set up an appointment with this particular doctor who released this study.

Let's also talk about camera work. Please, please, please, please hold your shots....steady....for at least 10 seconds. Please don't shoot your video as if you are frantically scanning the crowd for a movie star! If you are all over the place with your video, I worry that you're having a seizure. Also, panning is evil. It's called "firehosing" because it looks like your holding a water hose instead of a camera and trying to put out a fire. The ONLY time it's okay to pan is when your subject refers to something offscreen and/or points then we'll need to see what he/she is talking about, but do it slowly! Try this experiment: focus on something to your left. It could be a spot on the wall, a pattern in your bedspread or a lampshade. Then, find something on your right to affix your gaze to. Then, go back to the item on the left, then to the right, back to the left, then again to the right, then back to the left. Were your eyes panning? Or, were they just "cutting" from one object to the other? If you said, "panning", I suggest you get an eye exam.

Frame your shots properly. Watch for backlighting and weird background clutter. Pull people AWAY from the cinder block walls we have at our school. Don't cut off their heads or, conversely, their bodies. Do some close ups! Frame sequences: wide, medium, tight. Look at that viewfinder....don't just point the camera in the area of your subject. Put some thought into the parts that make up your entire picture.

Interview people while you're at all events. You have an entire football stadium full of people who would love it if you asked them a few questions about the homecoming game or the track meet. Why not get a few good soundbites while you're there? You don't have to use them, but what if your package could use some perspective? Get those interviews. Every time!!

While we're talking about interviewing......let's talk audio. Wear your headphones. Every time you take out a camera. Listen to that audio. Is it clear? Is it combined with other distracting audio? Is the air conditioner on or the hand dryer in the bathroom blowing? Move that mic closer to their mouth so we can hear them! Don't be afraid to get close to them. I promise they won't bite. They are probably more likely to step back away from you!

Ask the right questions. What is your angle and ask questions pertaining to that angle. What do you want your story to sound, feel, look like? Keep that in mind while you're formulating your questions. Ask a lot of questions. Ask them to add anything else that they'd like to add.

Respond to this blog by talking about what you do well out in the field and what you could use some work on. What will you work on? What other things can you think of that we need to work on?

Can't wait to see what you guys turn in next!