Earlier this week I got the opportunity to go out on a remote shoot with a reporter. Before leaving to go do the live shot, we found out that the live feed wasn’t working so we had to come up with a back up plan which was to bring back footage and air it from the studio rather than doing a live shot. After deciding on a plan b, I was briefed on what to do incase the live feed didn’t get back up.
I asked the reporter how the morning news was covered at my internship with the live feeds down. I was told that only one reporter was sent to do a remote shoot and that the reporter had to bring footage back to the station and have it be aired from the studio. Also, the weather and traffic report didn’t have any live feeds so they had to be covered with maps instead of the usual live shot for the allotted time.
After getting to the remote location, we were still waiting on word from the studio about how the day would pan out. Luckily live feed went back up in time. The way that was determined was the control room was able to get live feed from the remote camera as well as get audio feedback to the studio.
I was able to observe what it takes to broadcast live from a location outside the studio. I was able to observe how quickly the photographer and reporter got ready for the live shot. Also, how quick and easy it was to talk back to the studio. Also, I learned about the importance of preparing for a live shoot. The reporter knew exactly what to say, where to go and who to interview. I can see how catastrophic it would have been had the reporter not known what to do or hadn’t done the research. Also, had the events of the day been different I can see how chaotic it would have been.I also learned that the type of news van being used depends on the amount of equipments needed out in the field.
I learned that in the Television business you can always expect the unexpected. I also learned that you always have to have not just plan A, but plan B & C as well.
I also, got to do a stand up while we were at the remote location. After looking at the reporters notes and getting a look at the location, I had practiced what say. When the camera was rolling, I got a little nervous but once the camera started rolling I was fine and actually did pretty well.
I learned that I have to face the camera the entire time and be energetic and let my personality come out on camera.
The reporter and photographer gave me some great feedback. They said I did really well. They said that I have what it takes to be on camera and that I just have to work on training my eyes to look directly into the light. They said at first it almost looked like my eyes were kind of wandering but then I was fine.
