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Day 8 – UNC-TV Conference

Today was my last day at UNC-TV. We started off the day in the late morning (which was awesome) around 11 o’clock. I spent the majority of the morning working on a short clip about an art gallery in Jacksonville, NC called heART gallery. It was a story of two young men who wanted to open a place where creativity and acceptance was the norm. They opened the gallery and it was a huge success, so UNC-TV wanted to do a story on them. To create my mini masterpiece, I was able to choose my own music and pick parts of interviews to add to the clip. I used Adobe Premier to put together my 30 second film. After finishing up in the editing suite, I walked across the building with Ms. Holt to a conference room to sit in on a meeting. In the room, we watched an unfinished documentary that was brought to UNC-TV in hopes of finishing it. The film was about Shaw University. And honestly, it was quite boring and far from being finished. But it was interesting to see a documentary in its adolescent stages. The meeting was to give feedback and discuss some aspects of the film that could be improved. It was helpful to sit in on a conference in the professional world and witness firsthand how things go. Overall, I had a great time with Ms. Holt and the entire UNC-TV staff that made me feel so welcome. I learned a lot too!

Day 7 – Rootle at UNC-TV

I was back with Ms. Holt at UNC-TV again for the second day. I spent the majority of my morning with the kids program team or what they call themselves “Rootlers” because the kids program is called “Rootle.” I learned all about the different programs they are working on and how they are trying to get involved in the North Carolina community. Ms. Erica Starke-Knight showed me a project she had been working on called GirlPower. It is a collection of short video clips of different young girls all over North Carolina who display what makes them special and strong. The videos are online and they also air sporadically on “Rootle” in between the shows. I got to spend time in the kids section of the studio and walk down memory lane by looking at all the old shows that PBS used to air. Everything from “Teletubbies” to “Dragon Tales” to “Sesame Street.” The producers even recorded me singing the theme songs to each of these shows to put on their social media platforms. I had a great time in the kids lounge with the team. Later, I came back to Ms. Holt and helped put together spreadsheets of an upcoming conference she is hosting for her show “Black Issues Forum.” I was also able to edit my own short clip about an art gallery in eastern North Carolina. Then the day was over, but I will come back for my last day tomorrow!

Day 6 – UNC-TV

Today was my first day at UNC-TV. I shadowed Ms. Deborah Holt throughout her day at the TV station and learned some very inciteful things. We started the day in the late morning with introductions. I learned that she hosts two shows on one of the UNC-TV channels: “North Carolina Weekends” and “Black Issues Forum.” We started off the day by going over the scripts she had received for what they were filming that day. She had me read them out loud to fix any weird sentences or grammar. After polishing the scripts, we headed down to hair and makeup where I was able to give a few helpful tips regarding beauty. Once all glammed up, Ms. Holt headed into studio B to record in front of a green screen. I was able to see the recording booth and some editing suits down the hall as well. With all the excitement, the day was over. It was a short first day, but I am excited to see what else UNC-TV has in store.

Day 5 – WRAL

Today I shadowed Ms. Amanda Lamb at WRAL. She is a reporter for the network and spends her days very busy. We started the day by going to the courthouse in downtown Raleigh to look through arrest warrants in search of any new, big stories. After finding very little, we ran into an activist working on the Kyron Hinton case. Ms. Lamb was able to get the activist to do an interview regarding the story right there; it was simply luck that we ran into her. After interviewing a couple people outside the courthouse, we then drove over to the possible address of Hinton himself. When on the site, the atmosphere was shifty to say the least. I, thankfully, stayed in the car and observed. Ms. Lamb and Jamie (the photographer) hopped out and went down the street talking to people regarding the incident with Hinton. Even with all the shady behavior happening all around, the people were friendly and willing to help the reporters. After getting shots of the street and people there, we headed to get lunch and go to the Sheriffs Department. There they interviewed the sheriff about the case and discussed his opinions on the incident at hand. After collecting all the video, we headed back to the station where Ms. Lamb put together her shows and planned what to say. She then aired at 4, 5, and 6 o’clock. It was a crazy and hectic day, but I had tons of fun!

Day 4 – Audio

On my final day here at Trailblazers Studio, I went through the audio department: the final stage of video production. I started the day by sitting in on a meeting with a client. They had brought in a woman to record a voice message to be played on the phone when the client’s company is called. To be honest I always assumed the messages on the phone were computers, but they are actual people. The woman recording had the most soothing voice imaginable and was very professional. The entire meeting and recording only lasted about 30 minutes. After the client and the talent left, I watched Michel edit the audio and ship it off to the company. The whole process was quick but the final piece was perfectly put together. After that I went around the audio department and talked to people about music, casting talent, and actually editing audio. I ended the day with watching a short documentary regarding the Salem witch trials. Sound effects and reenactments played a big role in the show and put it all together. Finally, the day was over and we said our fair-wells over Duck Donuts (because it was national donut day). Overall, I had a great time at Trailblazers and learned so much about the industry

Day 3 – Post-Production

Today I shadowed the post-production team. This entails slicing footage to put together, editing scenes, color correcting, and so much more. I went through and talked to almost everyone in the post-production team and learned so much. First of all, it takes an insane amount of time and energy to simply organize all the footage that was captured. There are two people on staff whose only job is to download and organize all the footage. Then the offline editors (the ones who put the show together) have to watch hundreds of hours of footage to find the exact parts they want to use. Then once the network approves the “cut”, the video is shipped off to the online editors who add graphics, fix colors, blur faces/logos, and make everything coherent. The time and manpower that goes into the post-production was unimaginable. I also noticed how weirdly dark every editing room was. After talking to everyone, I watched a full episode of a show they produce and edit to see the final product. I never realized how much effort goes into putting the video together. Tomorrow I will spend the day with the audio team and sitting in on a meeting with the studio and their client!

Day 2 – Production

Today I moved onto the second stage of video production: producing. This morning I traveled to WakeMed to observe a live shoot for a commercial. It was crazy at times, boring at times, and pretty cool overall. The commercial was to promote a new section of the hospital. Since WakeMed is a working hospital, we were right in the middle of a hallway full of doctors, nurses, and patients. There was chaos all around the shoot and practically nowhere to stand. Because of the ensuing madness, Rebecca (a managing producer) and I drove back to the studio. Once back we participated in a live murder mystery game with the production team. Even though it was tons of fun, it was still for work. The team was determining how the game would work best for a reality TV show they produce. Spending hours simplifying and perfecting the game, the production team finally figured out the best way for the people in the show to play the game. I was amazed to learn how much the production team is really involved in the reality shows. Everyone knows reality TV is fabricated, but it’s way more fictitious than we know. I had a great time learning about the crazy schedules and brainstorming sessions that go into making our favorite shows. Tomorrow I will dive into the world of editing!

Day 1 – Development

During my first day of the Work Experience Program, I started out at Trailblazers Studios. Trailblazers is a video production studio that does everything from developing ideas to editing material. Today started at the first stage of video production: development. Going in, I didn’t know much about this stage in the process. What exactly did the development team do? I shadowed Makenna and Sydney, who are part of the development team at Trailblazers, to find out. As they shared different reals and clips they had put together for pitches, I learned that their job is to come up with ideas for different shows, documentaries, etc. Once they find people or concepts that fit the bill, they conduct interviews and gather footage to put together a short clip to pitch to different companies who might want to put the show on their platform. They put in all this work and most of the time their ideas are turned down. It’s a unique field because they have to do a little of everything: they have to create the idea, produce some film, edit the film down to a real, and pitch the ideas to different companies. I learned that the two women in the development office that I shadowed spend most of their days brainstorming by scouring the internet. They collaborate and stay very busy with multiple projects at one time. Today we spent most of the day looking at different projects they were working on. I even got to help find people that would be willing to be on a specific project Sydney was working on. This particular example was a short 5-minute-long miniseries that would air on Snapchat if approved. Overall it was a great first day full of learning and laughs.