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!