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!

Objectivity in the middle of chaos

I've always told you guys to be fair, accurate and true when reporting your stories. Fair in that you show both sides of the story, accurate in that you never report false information and attribute everything you say and true in that you stay true to the nature of the story and the angle that you chose to report. Good journalists are objective in their reporting. You are never part of the story.... but what if the story happens to you?

That was the case last week when Austell residents and other areas in metro Atlanta saw unprecedented flooding. According to news reports, an estimated 500 homes in Austell alone were destroyed. Many Eagle TV students and their peers at South Cobb lost everything. Undeniably, this will be the talk around school for a while and given that Eagle TV students latch on to the latest buzz as the subject of their next story, I'm sure I'll get many story ideas in next week dealing with the flooding. There will be many angles to the story. But you have to step back from the story in order to do it justice.

That's hard. Everyone has an opinion about things that they experience because we live the experience. We're not just being told a story by someone we're interviewing. We were there. We saw it, we smelled it, we heard it and we felt it.

So what are the angles to this story? There are many. Maybe an angle could be a subject that is unknown to you. Perhaps the story of someone who moved here from New Orleans to start over after Katrina who is now looking to start over again. (No, Chris, you can't do this story) Or maybe the story of the kids of Clarkdale...unless, of course, you have a little sister or brother at Clarkdale. Or maybe the slew of perfect strangers who have donated time to help clean up or items for those in shelters or maybe a story on how much money the Red Cross is spending daily to take care of those in need.

Tell me the angles that you would report on. Tell me how your experience may or may not allow you to be objective. Tell me about your experiences and then ask someone else to do the story. In the meantime, check out this documentary of a female CNN photographer who became part of the story she was reporting on. It's in two parts, very heavy, but extremely well-done. This woman has a lot to tell us about strength, courage, living life to the fullest and not dwelling on the bad. She also tells us a lot about how to objectively report the story, even when you're part of it. There is a big surprise at the end of Part 2.

Part 1 of the CNN documentary, Fearless: The Margaret Moth Story (TRT 14:00)

Part 2 can be accessed after you've watched part 1. Below the video box will be another video you can click on and it is titled, "Camerawoman Fights Back". (TRT 10:00)

It's Showtime!

Okay folks....we're getting close. Close to our 2009-2010 broadcast debut of Eagle TV! I hope it is better than ever. My hope is that we are one the air Mondays and Fridays beginning in October (maybe Oct. 2nd?) and once a month on Wednesdays starting at the end of October.

We have a unique opportunity with the way homeroom is this year to feature Eagle TV in a longer-format show once a month on Wednesdays. This opens doors for us and I want us to take it seriously. That means showing up for class, on time and ready to go on the air....that means 8am, or as close as you can get to that time.

It also means we need to make our news packages better all the time. Try to outdo your last one. Get better and better. Keep learning and keep improving. As I know that you want to make your news packages better and better, we need to really concentrate on two things...the big picture and the little details. Let me explain.

The little details of each story you do require you to be aware of good audio (or bad audio) for EACH soundbite and piece of nat sound. Every shot must be perfectly framed and you must be aware of how light hits your subjects and how to adjust it if it isn't right. You must be able to pick out soundbites that advance your story and write a script that is compelling and will move people...to tears or laughter or both. You must make every edit be seamless or have your edits make a statement.

The big picture is what do we want our news show to be? What do we want to convey? What kind of "style" do we want? Casual? Formal? What elements do we want to feature? SAT word of the day? Or, the best places to eat around Austell? Quizzes, information, fun stuff or all of the above. Do we want to interview news makers on the air, or do we want to comment on our pieces after we come out of them? We have to have a consistent style and we have to be interesting and informative but not too flippant and silly.

As I always tell you to do, check out the following Steve Hartman (CBS News Reporter) stories for format and AMAZING writing. Many of them are You Tube videos so you'll have to check them out at home. I hope you check out all of them. It will take you about 20 minutes and I think your writing will benefit.

In the meantime, tell me what you want our show to be like. What do you want it to do? Inform? Entertain? Do we want standups? Do we want to feature our own students in a montage at the end of the show? Do we want to talk about news, features, sports or all of the above? Do we want to stand at the set or sit? Do we want a green screen and what will it be used for? Do we want to preproduce it or do it live? Talk about our new show and look at the examples of good work below. And....let's get going!

ASSIGNMENT AMERICA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-anXzjA1poo

shoe shine guy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBtFTF2ii7U

Unlikely animal couple

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVHFyUa3QaU

on the road good Sam

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzcXqhYB6PQ

pen pals

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAgrjuAYnWc

Will and his Hill

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5V38QRUMMVU&feature=channel

America's oldest worker

EVERYBODY HAS A STORY

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=608578n&tag=contentMain;contentBody

Geraldine Spring

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=620847n&tag=contentMain;contentBody

Suzanne Lee

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzcXqhYB6PQ

Sounds Abound!

Hey! Do you hear that? It's Natural Sound or Nat Sound. It's the element in a news story that is pivotal in telling your story.

Nat Sound can add credibility to your story and also a great deal of spark. It adds a sense of place to your stories and puts your viewers in the middle of the action. Sometimes it even tells the story for you!

Watch this story below produced by the National Press Photographers Association 1st place winner for photography. There are numerous nat sound breaks throughout the package. Listen for them.

http://www.poynter.org/content/content_view.asp?id=158888

It is really important that you close your eyes and listen when you go out and shoot. Not only do you want to listen for sounds that you DON'T want in your packages, such as the a/c unit or buzzing from a fluorescent light fixture, but you want to listen for possibilities for natural sound in your stories. Let sound help tell the story. Shoot for sound.

Below is an interview with the news photog about collecting nat sound for his news stories.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EB2c-BF-nw

I found a new website resource called Newslab. Click on it to brush up on tricks for your videos and check out their featured blog....it's about shooting for sound!

What possibilities does your next story have for natural sound? List them. Tell me what your story is about and what nat sound you plan to shoot. Think in terms of audio and start your story with sound and no VO. Use your ears and shoot with your sense of hearing. Sounds abound all around!