Well, that’s it, folks! As I’m writing this, I can officially report that we wrapped show 5 yesterday and are almost done with the semester! It’s a bittersweet but also rewarding thought to not only know that we are done but to be able to see how much we’ve all grown over the semester. Whether it be by bettering our packages to make them more creative, or by thinking of more out-of-the-box story ideas. I feel like you can see a clear improvement from story 1 to story 5. There was also a lot of development behind the scenes! Whether it be friendships made or people learning to produce from their position on show days, I think we have learned so much over the last few months.
I didn’t help as many people during the week because a lot of people worked ahead for this show, which is great! It’s always nice to try and get ahead of the game if you can, especially in this field. So, while I didn’t help a lot of people, I helped Riley and Parker film when they needed me.
For Riley, we took a trip up to Pittsburgh and tagged along on a hike with the Women’s Adventure Club of Western PA. Her story was basically about the club, the activities they provide, and how you can get outdoors and make friends by doing something as simple as going for a walk. We got up there at 10 a.m. and followed them as they hiked along one of their easy trails. I will say one thing we didn’t really take into consideration was hiking with equipment, but we made do and followed them as long as we could. I was really impressed with Riley in this show in particular. I have been her ENG-er for all 5 shows, and she came into this one with a plan and vision for what she wanted to do. She had ideas of specific shots she wanted to get and even told me which ones she wanted to film and which ones she wanted me to film. Reporters have been better at giving us a shot list as the semester went on, but Riley really came into this filming day organized, which was a plus because if we had to go back for something, we would’ve had to go all the way back to Pittsburgh. After we filmed, we packed up and then went and got lunch together, and about her package and how we finished filming her last package of the semester. I would say Riley and I have become close friends over the semester, and it was nice to have someone in the class I could bounce ideas off of and talk to if I needed it, and vice versa. We have even talked about doing some of the other activities this club offers in the winter/spring.
The other person I helped this show was Parker. I helped him film his stand-up at the WVU boxing club practice. For his stand-up, he did three shots and clipped them together on his timeline to look like one shot. I was really impressed with how it came out! I’ll give Parker props, I feel like he always has creative, interactive ideas for his stand-ups and also knows how to explain them well. I feel like half the battle of being an ENG is having the eye of bringing someone else’s vision to life, but Parker always does a good job of helping me understand what he wants.
Another cool thing to see from this show was that Riley got to be an anchor for her package and film from Studio B! Usually, our other classmate, Brandon, is the adventure anchor and will either record in Studio B or be live on set on show day. But this week, Riley got to take a go at it, and she did really well! On Monday, I got to go with her and watch her as she filmed. I know she was a bit hesitant and nervous, but we talked about it over the weekend and when she filmed it Monday, she did great! I was proud to see her do that, knowing where we started in JRL 380 together, both nervous to do anything on camera. It felt like a true full-circle moment.
I am really proud not only of my classmates for how much they have grown over the semester, but I’m also proud of myself! I feel like I have learned so much, and I can’t wait to see where I go from here. There were a lot of firsts, and hopefully not lasts, that I got to do this semester, all thanks to this class, and I’m excited to see what the future has in store for my classmates and me.