Well, here’s how it went the first couple of days…
Monday I show up and am a tad nervous, but very confident. I get assigned to a photographer to learn the ropes. The story we went out on was some major copper theft in Washington County, VA, someone stole a whole tractor trailer full of it, around $100,000 value when recycled. It was very interesting, and I was learning a lot about the camera and what shots to try to get, etc. Then went back to the station and got the first lessons on their editor, very interesting stuff.
Today, me, the photog. I was with and the reporter had to go out to do live stuff in Kingsport because it was imminent that they would finally get a new city manager. A live truck is quite an operation, one that I’ll probably learn to operate eventually. The reporter did the 5:00, 5:30 and 6:00 live, and almost went off without a hitch. In the last 10 seconds of the 6:00 live hit, the camera battery died, leaving audio, black and the bug on the screen. Cripes. And yes, it was expected, but the photog. thought that he had taken measures sufficient enough to last the duration, but it didn’t. Oh well, that’s the way the cookie crumbles sometimes.
Lord only know what’s in store for tomorrow, but one thing is for sure, it’s gonna be fun. 😀
That’s part of what I miss about TV…the unexpected. You never know when a mic isn’t gonna work, someone is gonna walk into your live shot, or the anchor in the studio is going to throw a question at the reporter that they are totally unprepared for.
The breaking news stuff is the funnest. Unfortunately the talent in front of the camera often gets all the credit, but it is the guys behind the scenes who make them look good even when they look bad.
Have fun, and always remember that doing your best is the best you can do. Hehehe.