We recorded our very first show of the semester yesterday, Feb. 18. It wasn’t completely foreign since we did the rehearsal a couple of weeks ago, but it was still a little nerve-racking and anxiety-inducing. I had received some sad personal news on Tuesday afternoon, and I knew I couldn’t let it get in the way of doing my job and making Show 1 a good show.
Learning the ins and outs of writing conferences, producing nights, and producing weekends was exhausting to say the least. I didn’t expect to go home tired most days, but it made me appreciate the job more and made me realize I’m not as good with time management as I thought I was.
While writing the script, I need to start taking more breaks and walking away from my computer. I told multiple reporters that it’s okay to walk away and come back with fresh eyes and a clear mind, but when it came time for me to do my part, I didn’t take my own advice.
While in the studio, I tried out a couple of different ways to cue the anchors. I tried giving them a 10-second and 5-second warning, then cue and a countdown from five to cue. I haven’t gotten each anchor’s opinions yet, but it seemed like the countdown from five to cue was the best for getting them to start talking at a good time. I will be checking with each of them, though, to see what they liked the best.
There were times I would get distracted in the control room and I would forget to tell the anchors something. I need to be better at keeping myself focused and keeping my energy up so that the anchors can feed off that, especially on the third and fourth takes. We didn’t start off the day strongly with all the technical issues we had, but we got there in the end, even if we had to scrap the third take and reset.
As I’m writing this, I haven’t seen the show yet, but from what I saw and heard in the control room and in the studio, I think for the first full show, we did a good job. There are things I still need to learn, and I plan to work with my professors to do so. One of the main things I took away after meeting with my professors on Monday’s fix day was that doing that little bit of extra research and finding a statistic or a new piece of information can help boost the show and make the anchors seem like they know what they’re talking about. It boosts them on camera, and me as a script writer.
I knew before that it was important to stay focused in the control room, but I did not experience it until I was under pressure, and my mind started to wander. All it takes is one person to miss a cue or take something too early for it to mess everyone else up, and it can carry over into the next run. For the next show, I will be better at focusing on listening for cues as well as making sure I remember to look up at the screen while the anchors are up and check that their framing is good, their ties aren’t crooked, and their hair looks good. If I’m going to tell them to fix something about their appearance or their framing, I need to do it earlier so that they are not fidgeting when they come back on camera.