Producer's Blog

These past two weeks have definitely been a lot better for me. I'm starting to understand how Mountaineer Playbook works overall, and that's helped me a lot with my work, especially on social media. At first, I was still trying to figure out the best way to contribute to the show. Now, I have a much better understanding of what needs to be done and how my content fits into the show's bigger picture.

Two shows in, and everyone’s confidence is growing. Like the first show, we had a few technical issues, but this time we pushed through them and didn't let them bother us. Communication in the control room is improving, and I am extremely proud of the anchors. They get better with each take, and it has been really cool to see that growth.

The first two weeks of Mountaineer Playbook have been an experience. Between planning content, creating graphics, filming TikToks, and going into the field, there has been a lot to learn in a short amount of time. While it has definitely been challenging, it has also been one of the most fun aspects of being a part of the Playbook team.As a social media producer, one of the biggest things I’ve learned so far is how important time management is. With everything happening quickly, it can be easy to focus on what needs to be done right in front of you and lose track of what is coming next. During my first round of content, I didn’t manage my time as well as I could have, which meant some of the content I submitted felt rushed and didn’t reflect the quality of work I wanted to produce. That experience gave me a better understanding of what to expect moving forward. Now that I have a feel for the routine and how the production process works, I can plan ahead, give myself more time to create and make sure I’m capturing everything I need.

As we wrapped up our first show for Mountaineer Playbook, I couldn’t help but feel somewhat relaxed. Sure, things didn’t go perfectly over these past two weeks, but now that one show cycle is complete, I feel significantly more prepared moving forward. I was definitely stressed as the first show cycle started, but I looked at our schedule, made sure I was prepared for what was coming up, and I think that things went pretty well.In order to make up for points I couldn’t earn with in-studio producing, since that was handled by our producer, Zoey Watson, I was assigned one VOSOT or two VOs per show as backup material. This became a slight worry for me since I’m not overly confident in my abilities to produce content and especially do effective interviews. But since I knew the positive impact it could have on the show, I agreed to the idea.

It is crazy to think that we have already finished our first show! Everyone was nervous going into it, but given the circumstances, I think we did a good job. There were a few technical and communication errors, but we worked through them and got better each take. Even with the errors, the communication improved as the show went on, and we had fun with it. I think that was one of the biggest things I learned from our first show. Not everything will go perfectly, and you must stay calm, communicate, and keep moving forward.During our fix day on Monday, it was brought to my attention that I messed up a CG in the script. I couldn’t believe I made that mistake, especially because I thought I had checked everything. As a producer, paying attention to detail is important, so it was frustrating to realize I had missed something. However, I didn’t let it get me down, and I kept moving forward. It was a good reminder to triple-check everything. There is no time to hesitate in Playbook; you must move on and keep getting better.

The lead-up to our first show was full of different shoots, and I got to work with a lot of different people. From filming soccer and wrestling to helping with standups, interviews, editing, and directing, every day was a little different. I also ran into some problems, but this gave me more experience adapting and figuring things out when things did not go as planned.

Show 5… The final one. I think we improved tremendously throughout the semester, and I couldn’t be prouder of the class. This show was the cleanest, most organized show we put on. Even though we had an extra week of preparation while the professors were away at a conference, we managed not to let it get to us as we did for Show 3. Instead, we continued to work through and still helped each other when we could. 

Show 4 felt like a complete turnaround from where we were in Show 3, and honestly, it was a better experience overall. You could tell right away that everyone came in with a different mindset. Instead of being disconnected and in our own heads, it felt like we were actually working together again. Communication in the control room was much smoother, and people listened to and responded to one another rather than just focusing on their own roles. That alone made a huge difference in how the show ran.

Show 3 was not our best work as a team. During our post-show meeting, Professor Scat mentioned we didn’t really seem like we worked as a team, and I have to agree. I think the long break from being in the studio got into people’s heads, and we all were too focused on ourselves that we weren’t listening to other people. 

We officially made it through Show 2. There were similarities and differences between Shows 1 and 2, and it made me realize that nothing will happen the same twice this semester.