Up Til Dawn

Yesterday, I did some work with John Luti from 8:30 until 9:45 pm. I needed to learn how to use the Comm department cameras for my Mr. Southern project. The deal was that if I came and helped John shoot  at the event Up Til Dawn, he would teach me how to use the camera. He even let me take some of my own shots, and some of them were really cool! I now know how to attach the mixer to the camera and use most of its accessories, so I feel much more comfortable pursuing this project on my own!

Hours to this date: 29 hours and 5 minutes!

Midterm Paper

Maggie Sutton

February 18, 2011

Midterm Paper

            As much as I learned first semester, I have learned a whole lot more this far into second semester, which I didn’t think was humanly possible. I think a lot of this is to do with the fact that I’ve started to branch out a little bit more on my own. I still depend on the upperclassmen I have worked with, such as Dakota, for help, but not nearly as much as I used to. Thanks to working with Wellness TV and the Southern News Network, I now know how to use all of the functions of the Wellness TV camera, including all the functions that go into the audio mixer, how to write a proper stand-up script and anchor intro and outro, how to use a soundboard, how to use the teleprompter, and how to do some basic editing on Final Cut Pro.

            Justin Bivens has started showing me the ropes on operating the campus TV channel “FSC TV.” During this semester, he has taught me how to edit, delete, and upload slides onto the campus channel, how to import and play new movies, how to schedule programs, and how to change hard drives for the two computers that run the channel. It is dedicated upperclassmen like him who have held our little Communications community together, and for that I am ever thankful.

            This semester, Anna started a new show called Southern News Network, which will air on the campus channel. The show is a newscast consisting of events that go on campus. It started off as just a series of blurbs which were read by an anchor on a teleprompter, but as the show begins to progress, we have now added mini packages and Public Service Announcements. While working on Anna’s show, I write an average of 1 to 2 stories a week, and I have also learned how to work the soundboard and the teleprompter in the studio. I thought at first that the soundboard would be hard to use because I am hard of hearing, but it was very easy to figure out. The teleprompter proved to be more of a challenge. It is very hard to predict how fast or slow an anchor will read, and the teleprompter keeps the pace of the entire broadcast. 

            My love and hate relationship with Wellness TV has continued and grown stronger, on both accords, through this semester so far. I love it because I love the work that goes into putting together a package, but I hate it because I feel like something always goes amiss. Perhaps many television studios have the same audio and various other frustrations, the public is just never made aware of it. With Wellness TV, Dakota has very much allowed me to start venturing on my own. I now can conduct my own interviews, I know all the odds and ends of the camera, and I can pretty much edit my own packages, with a little fine-tuning. She also occasionally gives me “pop quizzes” to make sure I’m retaining all that she teaches me.

            I am so thankful for all the upperclassmen, whom have taken my enthusiasm for learning and patiently taught me many, many things. I love the Communications department on our campus and I never want to leave!

Wellness TV Stand-ups

Dakota and I shot stand ups for our Wellness TV package from 3:00 until 4:00 pm. We decided to shoot the stand up in the caf next to the food, since we were talking about seafood. We plugged the stand ups in and... presto! Our Wellness TV package for Show 37 is complete!

Total hours to this date: 27 hours and 50 minutes

Wellness TV

Today, Dakota and I edited our Wellness TV package from 3:45 until 5:00 pm. We decided to go ahead and edit the package normally and let Consuelo fix the audio when she does the final edit, because she is the one who knows how it should be done. We added our voice overs and broll into the interview. All we have left to do are two stand-ups. We could not do them today because Consuelo took the polos home to be washed and forgot to bring them back. We will be doing our stand-ups tomorrow afternoon when the shirts are returned.

Total hours to this date: 26 hours and 50 minutes

SNN and Wellness TV

Yesterday I attended a meeting for the Southern News Network from 10:40 am until 11:40 am. We did not tape a show because we didn't have enough stories, but we discussed some things that we wanted to do for the next show. I will be doing a PSA for the "Drink Coffee, Do Good" Fair Trade Coffee house event that will be held in the JRB. I'm very excited to be taking on my own little PSA! I'm a big kid now! Anna is letting us each have an hour for our stories, even though she didn't use them, because they were good quality stories. I wrote one story last week, so I get an hour for that! Dakota and I interviewed Dr. Lynch for our seafood package from 3:10 pm until 4:10 pm on Monday as well. She gave me a pop quiz, and told me to set up the camera and the mics all by myself. All went well, except there is some fuzziness on the audio that is troublesome. We are supposed to meet again today to see what we can do about that. So, after only a semester and half, I now know how to set up a camera, mics, use the camera, log and transfer shots into final cut pro, how to write an anchor/reporter script, use a soundboard, work a teleprompter, and very basic editing. Wow!

Total hours to this date: 25 hours and 35 minutes!

Wellness TV

On Saturday, Dakota and I worked from 2:30 until 3:30 pm getting broll for our package on sea food. We started off at Publix trying to take shots of their seafood on display, but the manager told us that we would have to go through corporate in order to be aloud to do that. Since we do not have that kind of time, we decided to try a local seafood market. I had to call the place beforehand, which was very nerve-wracking because I was worried the owner might get mad at me! But she said she had no problem with us taking broll, as long as we didn't get in the way of the other costumers. This week, I learned that being a reporter has a lot to do with negotiating with other people!

Total hours to this date: 22 hours and 35 minutes

Southern News Network

Today I worked with the Southern News Network from 10:40 until 11:30 am. Anna also used my story about Zeta Tau Alpha selling chocolate chip cookies this week for breast cancer awareness, so I get an hour for that too! During the shoot today, I learned how to use the teleprompter. It is a little harder than it looks, and it took a couple of tries before I got at the right speed for John and Colleen, but it was fun learning how to use it! My goal is to learn how to use a new piece of technology every week, until I know how to use everything in the studio!

Hours to this date: 21 hours and 35 minutes

Wellness TV

Yesterday, Dakota and I worked from 5 until 10:00 pm. It was an exciting day, because Dakota let me edit all by myself for the first time. I didn't realize how much I had actually learned how to do from watching her first semester. I even put in my own voice overs and chose which shots of broll to use. It was very exciting! I'm very proud of my little package, and I can't wait until it airs!


Hours to this date: 19 hours and 45 minutes

Wellness TV

Today Dakota and I shot broll for Wellness TV from 4:00 until 5:00 pm. For the very first time, Dakota let me have total control over the camera and the shots. Our package is about wellness in relationships. We stood around in Badcock Gardens and waited for various couples to come by. I took some shots of them holding hands, no faces of course. I also decided to take some shots of some of the surviving flowers in the gardens next to Spivey, since flowers are usually associated with relationships and it might be nice to have those shots if we ned some more broll. It was very fun to get the chance to shoot some broll on my own, and I'm anxious to see how it turns out!

Total hours to this date: 14 hours and 45 minutes.

Wellness TV and Southern News Network

Today Dakota and I worked on Wellness TV from 4:00 to 5:00 pm. We interviewed Dr. Mackie and then edited the interview Dakota got from Dr. Smith to jive with Dr. Mackie's interview. I then worked with Anna from 5:00 to 6:00 pm on Southern News Network. We took broll of the blood drive, as well as the penny wars and gatorade donations for our package on Week of Impact. It was very interesting to work with the two different shows and their different dynamics.

Total hours to this date: 13 hours and 45 minutes