Tag: 19JaidaJ

Wow, I can’t believe it’s over already; it went by so fast! This morning, I shadowed John Renigar from the graphics department. Today was another one of my favorite days because I actually learned as much about graphics as I did about John! He’s such an awesome, kind guy and I’m so glad we had the time to just chat on my last day.

In his position, John creates graphics for the news, which ranges from stills to animations to logos to basically anything that the producers may need. He usually receives somewhere between 5-15 requests a day from producers for graphics. For example, yesterday one of the producers need an animation that was about the increased crime rate in Durham from last year. From just that and the hard numbers about the percent increase, he created a beautiful animation that showcased the skyline of Durham and numbers that slid up and down slowly to display the information.

Because most of his work is centered around news graphics, it can get a bit repetitive at times. To stay motivated and inspired, sometimes John will watch youtube videos on cool techniques to try, read magazines, or watch tv programs. Today, we actually made a graphic for fun, so I could see what the process looks like and how to fabricate what I was imagining in my mind.

For example, John asked my who I was a fan of for college sports (he’s a tarheel fan), and I’m a blue devil 100%. So, we created a graphic about about me going to Duke, incorporating a bunch of cool effects in the span of like 5 minutes. John is a whiz at the program After Effects, and his ability to create new, fun things everyday makes me wonder if perhaps I should take video productions.

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After lunch with Emma, I returned to the Creative Services department to work with Marc Derro. Marc is a promotion producer, so he essentially does a bit of everything in his job.

Today, he created a promo for the Destination Sunfest festival in Dorothea Dix park. Although this promo was sponsored, he also does weather promos that advertise for the WRAL brand in general and promotables, which are news stories.

Because Marc knows so much about every aspect of the broadcasting business, I took all his advice down in my notebook. Perhaps the most important and memorable tip was to tell a story. To relate to viewers, to make a promo more interesting, to tie together each of the shots, there must be a story behind it. Another interesting tip was in regards to audio. Although I already discussed the power of music to the enticing qualities of a promo, Marc reinforced in with a new idea. In several of his edits, he requires a VO, so he uses a site called “Who Did That Media?” that puts him in contact with someone who can meet all his voicing needs. I had no idea the market for those stretched so far!

All in all, my experience at WRAL was more informative and exciting than I could’ve imagined! It definitely changed my perspective and I think I may even reconsider what I want to do for my career.

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Another great day at WRAL! Today, I worked with Merigrace Ramsey, a Promotion Writer/Producer who also works in the creative services department. Although she has several responsibilities in her position, her main job revolves around writing and producing all the teasers for the 4 and 5 pm broadcasts. Each teaser is fifteen seconds, so she has to consider what lines will affect the viewers the most, making them want to change the channel to see the stories mentioned in the teasers.

In preparation for her writing, Merigrace went to the morning producer meeting to consider what stories would be reported on throughout the day. As the producers and heads of each department discussed the big news and weather, she took notes to determine what stories might be the best for her topicals. Until about 1, I observed the process behind writing topicals for the weather. Although Merigrace wrote hers really quickly, I saw how much thought she put behind each word and how much she cared about the success of not just her promos, but of the entire office.

More specifically, here are some key ideas to consider when writing a teaser:

• consider the audience watching the programmed show (if Dr. Phil is the show during which the promo airs, think of who’ll be watching)
• Use conversational language
• SELL it, don’t TELL it
• hook them in four seconds, make a promise in four seconds
• Use the doughnut outline: begin with a time, end with a reference of WRAL
• start with what major points need to be hit and work from there

Around 1:15, we went upstairs to start with weather. For filming, she showed me the equipment room from which she took a Ronin (a sort of handheld gimbal), a mic, a headset, and an SD card. Merigrace recorded the three different weather topicals in about ten minutes total, leaving her enough time to edit and send the promo before having to start the news topicals. Although today was actually a bit of a time crunch (Merigrace sent the news teaser to master control one minute before it was supposed to air), it was exciting! I think I could enjoy seeing new stories everyday that I helped to promote and produce. Hopefully one day I find something I love like Merigrace, who showed me how important it is to find something you enjoy doing.

Today, I left the newsroom to go downstairs and work with Glenn Dion from the creative services department. Glenn is the creator of Out and About, and it was honestly probably my favorite day, even though it mostly consisted of watching him edit as his show airs tomorrow night. Because of this, I attended a couple of meetings in the morning so he could focus for a little while and so I could see how the collaboration between the Creative department and the newsroom works. In the second meeting I attended, the dynamic, innovative energy of the department shone brightly. Their goal was to create an outline, or doughnut, for a 15 and 30 second ad for WRAL during other programming in the morning. In order to generate ideas and find an overarching theme for the ad, they asked everyone in the room (five including me) what the three most pertinent things are to us in the morning. Time, information, and breaking news were common threads among all the answers, so the taglines for the beginning, middle, and end all related to these themes. In just 20 minutes, the team of four, created about 15-20 potential ideas for the lines in the short commercial and then narrowed them down to one for each part of the ad. By giving themselves a time limit, the group forced all their ideas out, even ones the may not be as confident with. After bouncing ideas off each other and considering all the factors that could affect the commercial, from pronoun choice to who would be featured in the ad, they came to a conclusion that they ran with. I’m lucky to have observed the process! I learned a lot about being comfortable with my ideas and trusting the people around me to help, which can apply to almost any group project we have in school.

After the meetings, I returned to Glenn’s office to see him create segments for his show. He had already made segments 3 and 4, so I observed as he edited interviews and b-roll from his shoots in Warren County to create a 4 (ish) minutes long segment that promoted the area. As for the the actual editing process, Glenn navigates through the maze of Premiere Pro swiftly as he trims segments to fit in his 30 min show.

Here are some tips/terms I learned today:

• Nested sequence- shows bar of video and audio, but contains the edits for an entire segment, which condenses the amount of clips that Glenn sees while making final edits
• Global changes-a change that affects the whole segment (like the corrective filter Glenn uses to lighten up his shots
• Local Change-a change to one singular shot
• Music can change everything! Make sure to find the right background music that correctly encompasses the mood of the show
• LUT-look up table, ‘global change’ that adds a filter to the entire file
• Watch other shows to draw some information for editing! For example, Glenn watched Chef’s Table before editing the restaurant profiles
• Find what audio you want to use first and then build off of that with b-roll for voice-overs

These small factoids are just a snippet of all I learned in a single day with Glenn. He showed me his process of writing teasers (sometimes he helps out reporters on special reports) and his technique for getting good shots with a tripod (need some type of movement) and a handheld/OTS. Perhaps the most enjoyable part of the day was just getting to know Glenn and the others in the Creative Services department. They made me feel like my input and questions were important, and treated me with the most kindness and respect possible. I’m so glad I get to shadow them again!

My first hose today was Jamila Elder. Wow! I knew from shadowing other people in the office that the assignment desk, where she works, was a bit busy, but actually being there was a overwhelming. Essentially, Jamila’s job is to find stories and disseminate information to the whole news room. She constantly checks NBC and its affiliates, TweetDeck, e-mails with tips, and other online resources for any news that needs to be covered. The work is very fast-paced, so to do it, one needs to be very level-headed when faced with pressure. While handling all this, she also answers phones that ring off the hook and listens to the unwavering chatter of the police scanners at the desk.

Today was actually considered a slow day at the assignment desk, or “so far, so good” so as not to jinx it. There was no crazy breaking news that sent the office scrambling, but I still saw how essential this position was to the organization of the office. Almost every single department of the newsroom-ranging from talent to producers to editors and so on-came up to the assignment desk at some point during the day.

Luckily, Jamila does have some help in the news gathering department, because there’s so much information that it’s easy to miss something. As well as news Production Assistants who man the phones and check for news as well, there are tipsters, who listen to the police scanner from home so they can verify any info that Jamila may have missed. She also has access to a database with records of previous court cases in all of North Carolina, familytreenow.com, and a slew of other resources that help her and the whole station make sure to stay ahead of their competition. It was such an interesting morning!

After lunch, I worked with Tim King, the Production Supervisor/Crew Chief. He is awesome! Tim was involved in anything and everything that was shot today, whether it was as a camera operator, a floor director, or a slew of other positions. His wide-ranging expertise is probably due to his experience in the business. Tim has been working for WRAL for 29 years, starting in his sophomore year of college. Today, he showed me and taught me so many things that I couldn’t possibly record them all. Perhaps one of my favorite parts of my time with him was when he showed me where the special programs are recorded. The WRAL building is very large, and they have another huge area in which special programs like Brain Games, Spiritual Awakening, On the Record, and Education Matters. In fact, Tim said he probably directed about 98% of the Brain Games. However, the room will soon be converted into the space where WRAL does its broadcasts so they have more room, leaving no more space for the extra programs. The passion with which Tim talked about his job, especially in this area, showed me how important it is to find something I enjoy doing.

Another cool part of the afternoon came with the 4 pm broadcast. I got to stand on the floor with Tim, shadowing him as him gave cues to the anchors and communicated information from the control room to them, adapting for any changes the producer made. There is so much happening behind the camera, and Tim is a prime example of the amount of work behind each show. Him and the rest to the newsroom work tirelessly to make sure that each newscast looks effortless. I’m so lucky to have been able to observe it in action!

Today was interesting! I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop, but every single person I’ve shadowed so far has done their best to make sure that I’m getting the most out of my time with them. I hope that I get to work in an office with kind people like them one day.

This morning, I worked with Wendy Gatlin, the Social Media Manager. In just the past few years, the changes in social media have drastically affected the way news is dispersed. When I think about what platforms I use to get news, I find that most stories I see are through news pages on Instagram or the News app on my computer, proving how important it is to change with the times.

To begin the day, I sat in on the morning producer meeting. Although I had been in this room before a few times, I made sure to pay attention during Wendy’s bit about social media. Each day, her department has a variety of goals that they want to hit, like unique viewers for example. In the meeting, she went over the goals that were hit (all but one) and summarized some of the big stories of the day before. Although the stories differ from day to day, apps like topic pulse help Wendy predict what will go viral and what’s dying out.

Around 10:15 ish, Wendy and I went outside for a dunk tank! Little parties like these, with a dunk tank with the top bosses of the company and loads of ice cream, aren’t common, but WRAL recently finished a great ratings period. During the fun, Wendy took videos that she took back to the office to edit for a fun social post. The process of compiling videos and overlaying text to make the video an ‘engager’ is key to her job. In fact, all of WRAL’s igtv videos are edited and posted by Wendy. However, the responsibilities don’t end with the company’s pages. Relatively often, she consults all the talent (reporters and anchors) on the their social media, breaking down both their stats and their content for ways to improve even more.

Seeing all the thought and techniques behind their social media will definitely make me pay attention more to what I’m taking in. I absorb so much content in a single day, and I need to make sure that it’s purposeful. Did I finish watching a video or reading a post feeling more educated or enlightened than when I began?

At about 2, I came back from lunch to spend some time with Greg Ziller. He’s a wealth of knowledge! Although he came to the studio about three years ago, he’s been in the television business for much longer. As with most of the people in the industry, he moves around a lot to different stations, helping him to network and establish connections in different places. Because directors can’t really prepare too much until the producers and editors have finished, we had a bit of down time to fill. At 3 pm, Greg directed the drawings of the powerball with one of the graphics operators. Although it was a short segment, I could tell that watching him direct during the 5 pm show would be a privilege.

Leading up to the show, I could see the importance of good relationships with producers, because everyone needs to communicate efficiently in order to everything ready for the show. Greg waited for the producers to finish their scripts so he could print them out and take notes on them, marking what cameras would be used and who the anchors speaking would be for each segment. For example, one page was marked with 3T, reminding him that he would be switching to camera three for a Tight shot on the anchor.

During the actual broadcast, Greg gave me a headset so I could listen in to the chatter during the show. As I heard him giving directions and watched him seamlessly run the set, I was reminded of something he told me before the show started. He said that the director was like the conductor of an orchestra, putting all the pieces together to create the final product. Unlike a conductor though, Greg says that if he’s doing his job well, he shouldn’t know what the show was about. There’s so much to focus on that if a director gets caught up in listening to the story, he might miss something and compromise the quality of the broadcast.

Directing was quite the whirlwind! I’m so glad I got the opportunity to learn from Greg, because it gave me a great look into the behind-the-scenes, and really allowed me to picture myself doing this job. With practice I sure anything is possible, but I would need a whole lot of it to keep up with him!

 

Today was probably my favorite day yet. I started off with Jimmie Brown, an editor and camera man for the live center. He’s been working in the field of journalism as an editor/photographer for 40 years, and today was his last day before retirement! He was so kind to me and answered absolutely any questions I had. To start the day off, I shadowed him in the live center during the 9 am broadcast. About 1-3 times per show, the live center gives updates on any breaking news: local, national, or international. Today, the hurricanes in El Salvador provided the first segment, and during breaks, Jimmie actually let me hold the camera to see how it holds steady and what angles are best. Since its a handheld gimbal, there is no zoom, so he has to physically get closer or farther away from the reporter or screens for the best shots.

Fun fact: Gimbals have a four frame lag, so reporters in the live center wear microphones that are purposefully lagged four frames to match the sound with the video.

After the broadcast finished, we headed into the main editing room for the rest of his shift. Because he started in the business so long ago, Jimmie’s used to actually cutting frames as well as the modern digitally editing. In fact, he brought a picture of himself when he first got into the business, bent over physical tape to edit. Times changes quickly!

The overarching theme encompassing what I learned from Jimmie could be best seen through his preparation for shows. He ingrained the concept of preparation into me as he worked ahead to make sure that he was ready for anything. All his screens were set to record the incoming video from sky5 (the WRAL chopper), he constantly looked for new updates from producers so he could being editing teasers, and did anything else that would ensure he would be ready when they need it.

Although my time was short with Jimmie, I will remember it for a long time, especially because of the quote he left me: ‘You’re looking at your future”. My time was even shorter with my next shadow, Greg Best. Greg took over in the main editing room for Jimmie at noon, so I stayed with him for about an hour while he prepared his edits. Greg worked extremely fast, so I had to ask a lot of questions to keep up with his quick clicks on the keyboard. I really enjoyed speaking with him because I learned a lot about the nature among co-workers and how friendly everyone is in the newsroom. Although he’s a self-proclaimed introvert, I made him crack a smile and even laugh a few times, so definitely a win for me.

After my lunch break, I worked with my final host for the day, Benn Page. Benn also works as an editor, but today he focused on the Sunday “Rewind” segment that he produces. Rewind is about 23 minutes long, so Benn works to put together all the top stories of the week and consolidates them into a short, but informative show. There are also two bigger features during the segment, each with their own entire package. For these, teasers are scattered earlier throughout the show to give viewers an idea of what’s coming next. Benn actually let me write a few teasers for the two features that would be presented later in the show, so some of my writing will be incorporated to the show on Sunday! Although it’s just a sentence or two for each teaser, writing them took about 20 min each as I tried to address all the elements that needed to be hit in a “conversational” tone, without giving the full story away so people would want to tune in later. Benn, too, was so kind to me, showing me the ropes and answering every question imaginable while working on his show. I can’t wait for more tomorrow!

Today I shadowed Jessica Patrick, a WRAL.com Producer/Editor. Honestly, she is one of the nicest people I ever met. Her work is mostly run from her desk, so I sat with her in the morning while she showed me the ins and outs of her position. One of the main aspects of her job is following the trends of certain stories and sifting through news to find the best information that would entice viewers while also being very informative. For example, she found a story regarding a woman that pulled a gun on an African-American couple in Mississippi. Knowing that it would attract lots of attention and do well on the site, she quickly created a post for it and uploaded it to their “Watch Now” section. In minutes, the story was the top most trending on the site. However, news changes very quickly, so one story might be interesting for a little while, but it could lose momentum if breaking news were to come in, which is why Jessica has to stay near her computers on days that are especially busy.

Jessica’s position also requires a lot of creativity. Every week, she has to make a news video covering a small story she feels is topical and interesting. Today, she showed me how to make a video through her creation of this year’s top brewery picks. Overall, the experience was really informative and cool, as I don’t often get to see the inner workings of a website or the work that goes into their media page.

Just before I went to lunch, I actually had the opportunity to sit in the control room during the noon broadcast. WOAH. It was so hectic! I sat next to the producer, who decided on the fly which stories would be run, and the prompter, who scrolled the script for the anchors to read. I had absolutely no idea how much focus, work, and manpower went in to every broadcast before this. For example, the graphics specialist mentioned to the producer that a headshot was missing in one of the upcoming images. In less than ten seconds, the producer found the photo and replaced, all while juggling the fact that she was 1 min 20 seconds over her designated time. Everyone in the room was working furiously, but if you were watching the show, the madness that was happening backstage wouldn’t show in the slightest.

After lunch, I sat in on the producers meeting in which they discussed what schedule they’d pursue for the 4 o’clock live broadcast, barring any breaking news updates or other things that may change the plan, which happens quite often.

Originally, I was supposed to work with Stephanie Beck after the meeting adjourned, but she was a bit sick today and lost her voice, so I joined executive producer Lori Grant for the rest of the day. Her main job is centered around overseeing the ‘big picture’ broadcast. While each reporter works on their own segment, she checks everyone’s script and helps with organizing to ensure that the show runs smoothly. While introducing me to her line of work, she realized that I had not been given a proper tour yet, so we embarked on a quick journey around the building. Although everything we saw was unique and enthralling, my favorite rooms were probably the Augmented Reality room and the huge, overarching control room. In the Augmented Reality room, I saw how the graphics designer created backgrounds for several different scenes and projected them onto the green scene. In the huge control room, there were sections for all the stations working out of the Capitol Broadcasting Company location, including Fox50 and WRAL. My picture shows the “quality control” area, where every video that will go on the broadcast is checked for quality before being on air.

Today, I shadowed Chad Flowers and Amanda Lamb on a live run to the Johnston Correctional facility! From the very beginning, I noticed how quickly a reporter’s plan can change depending on the importance of certain stories or the availability they have to enter certain places.

Today’s story centered around Gary Goldman, a man who had spent several decades in prison after being convicted of a crime that he claims he didn’t commit. Ms. Lamb had already been on the scene with another photojournalist when Mr. Flowers and I arrived, getting interviews and b-roll for the news story. Ms. Lamb went on air at 12 pm, 4 pm, and 5:30 pm, but each time slot had a different package displayed for the story. For the 12 pm live shot, I actually got to hold the reflector to help the lighting while Ms. Lamb introduced the topic. With each time slot, she went deeper in depth with the story, as Mr. Flowers edited in more interviews and voice-overs.

Most of the time in between live shots were designated for creating the script and editing the package. While Ms. Lamb wrote and recorded voice-overs, checked her facts, and memorized what she would say for the live intro, Mr. Flowers edited the b-roll to match the voice-overs, put in the video/audio of interviews, and uploaded the final package to a shared network for WRAL. Both Mr. Flowers and Ms. Lamb are veterans in their field and they’ve worked together for about 15 years, so they made the process look quick and effortless, though I could see the tremendous amount of work that goes into each one of their segments. I can’t wait to learn more tomorrow!