Through my first three shows for Mountaineer Playbook, I have continued to grow from my experiences and to learn from my mistakes. These last few weeks, I have had a variety of experiences, including early mornings on the road, adjusting to how fall break and going to help cover bridge day affected my schedule and my availability to help reporters, and going back into the field to make last-minute adjustments to stories.
The first reporter I helped for show three was director Logan Callender when I went with him to cover the mine rescue team at six am on Friday. When we first got there, the team had their meeting. Once they were finished with their meeting, we went with them outside to the parking lot where they had their practice. In the parking lot they had cones set up and a map of where all the cones were to help simulate the experience from the parking lot. This was difficult because, on one hand, being someone who was never a part of a mine rescue team and this was my first time being around one, it was hard to understand what they were doing, and it was also hard to film in the dark. I was able to adjust and filmed a sequence of the person in charge of mapping out the “mine” and marking where the team was going in the “mine.” This was well-lit enough to film, and then I continued to film the team as they navigated the mine. From this, I learned that I should always be thinking about the lighting for the b-roll I am going to be shooting and try to think of a light source ahead of time, since this proved to be a challenge.
Later that day I went down to Fayetteville with my professors, anchor Parker Szewbjka, adventure reporter Riley Drumm, West Virginia Today reporter Alondra Molina, and fellow ENG Katelyn Harrison for Bridge Day. We stayed in a hotel that night, then headed to the New River Gorge Bridge early saturday morning. While we were there I filmed a lot of b-roll of the base jumpers landing in the New River Gorge, but this was difficult because there was not much variety in different shots to take. Luckily, I was able to move around and use my experiences from past shows to stay creative and to try to find unique ways to film the base jumpers. Bridge day was extremely hectic with a lot of moving parts to what our team was doing there, since we were trying to get three different stories from the event. However, this was easier to manage because I had already had multiple experiences working with multiple reporters at the same time. This helped me to stay calm and just do everything I had to do one by one, so that I didn’t let myself get overwhelmed by everything happening around me. This was a long and tiring day and we did not get back to Morgantown until nearly eight on Saturday night.
After a few needed days of rest, I went with Coaches Corner reporter Dax Bolton to Rifling’s firing range on Tuesday morning. He was doing a story on John Hammon, the coach of the Rifling team. This was challenging because we were only given twenty minutes to film, and even though Dax was detailed with what he needed me to film, it was hard to get enough footage and enough variety in the limited time. I was able to stay focused and get him enough that he could work with it, but he still could of used more. From this, I learned the importance of being organized in the field, especially when you are on a time crunch, because that can help you still manage and get everything done.
The next day, I went with Jarett to the wrestling pavilion. Here we were also on a time crunch, and we were not able to film the sotz’s Jarett wanted. We pivoted, but we both thought it wasn’t good enough and that we would have to come back and film the sotzs from the front of the building. However, this was a mistake because although we came back the next day and everything was fine, we could have just done it then to be safe. That way, we could have avoided returning to the wrestling pavilion. Learning from this mistake, I will be able to avoid this in future similar situations.
The next day was the editing lab, and I got there early, right around nine, because I was working a soccer game that afternoon. The editing lab has become relatively uneventful because the reporters have a good idea of what they need to edit for their packages. I was still able to help a couple of reporters before going back in the field with Jarett.
In the studio, I have been getting more comfortable with being the technical director. The first take had some bad mistakes, but by recollecting myself, I was able to pull myself together and do everything that was needed from the director.
That wraps up everything I did for show three by continuing to learn from my experiences and mistakes. Mountaineer Playbook is helping me get better prepared for when I get a job by helping me to stay calm and get everything done, thinking ahead of possible conditions when I’m filming, and using my time more efficiently. I look forward to continuing to learn during the next two shows and to use the experiences I have already had to improve my work out in the field.