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 also did not check things when we got into the studio, leading to lots of delays because of CG errors and video playback errors. The first thing Andrew and I should be doing when we get into the control room is check that all teases and packages are set correctly in the video playback, as well as checking to make sure all the CGs are in the correct order, and everyone has the correct titles.
I made multiple mistakes on the script. As much as I would like to blame it on spring break, I think I was letting myself get distracted by other things, and when I would come back to the script, I would forget to add things. Thankfully, Professor Trinone always looks over the script and fixes my mistakes.
I still want to work more on speaking up during writing conferences and adding more feedback. I looked over a couple of people’s packages before they turned them in and gave them a couple of extra things they could do to make it better, but speaking up about it earlier could make the reporters’ jobs easier.
I think Show 3’s producing night went smoothly and faster than the previous producing nights. We stayed on track, even after being interrupted occasionally. I was able to watch a few packages before meeting with the professors. I hope that continues to be the case, but without a break coming up after deadlines, I’m not sure how possible that will be. I want to encourage reporters to get their packages early so that I can continue to watch them early, write down feedback, and encourage them to ask questions earlier in the day and not right before the deadline.
During writing conferences before spring break, the professors checked in with everyone to see if anyone was overwhelmed or just had something they wanted to get off their chest. I think it would be beneficial to continue that, but also for me to reach out to people individually to see how people are doing. I have told them they can come to me with questions or issues, but I think people are hesitant to come to me because they don’t want to be a burden. So, if I reach out instead of waiting for them to come to me, I think they will be more forthcoming about how things are going.
Overall, Show 3 was disappointing. Between the lack of creativity in content, the lack of communication in the studio, and the long break from being in the studio, I think Show 3 was a lesson for us all. The professors warned everyone, but it really showed through in our work that we got too comfortable and started to fall behind. I am proud of the anchors for keeping the energy up, despite the long breaks between takes and the tension in the control room. I think if we can all keep our energy up and stay calm throughout mistakes, we can make Shows 4 and 5 much better.