Mira Hovis, right, serves as the technical director during the broadcast of WVU News.
The third show is now in the books, and the team hit a rough patch. The ever-looming presence of spring break got the better of us.
I don’t blame anyone for that; however, this semester is the hardest semester we have had for most of us, and it caught us at a time when we could feel the warm air hitting our faces as we finally caught a chance to relax. Yet, we relaxed a little too soon.
I saw some notable improvements in how I approached a shoot, but now I need to focus on the finer details so that I can release some of the tension from my reporter, allowing both of us to focus on what we need to accomplish.
This show, I focused on close-up shots and sequencing, as it was the thing I struggled with the most in the last two shows. Approaching shoots like this allowed us to more easily craft a story around what we focused on.
This change alone made the world of a difference. I could see different angles that I would never have thought of using beforehand, light up in front of me like a neon sign. B-roll became the fastest part of shooting because of this change. The flow of moving from one shot to the next just made sense, as I could see what I would need next before I even moved to the next shot. Focusing on close-up shots and sequencing also let me find more creative shots with the time I freed up for myself and my reporter.
However, my biggest problem with this show became the lighting. With my camera being forced onto auto because of technical difficulties, the lighting became very inconsistent. Some shots were too blue, some too yellow. People were washed out or barely visible. I know better than this, and we did eventually get my camera fixed, but going into the next show, it is going to be my responsibility to lock down good lighting for my reporters.
There was also a hiccup with one of the stand-ups I helped film. Being strapped for time and forced into a corner, we got lazy and did a very basic stand-up. Looking back, I can already think of many different ways we could have done something 1,000 times better with just a simple edit.
Overall, the team middled out. We didn't do horrible, but we didn't do amazing either, and that is par for the course. It can be challenging to constantly improve under such stressful environments when a break is just moments away.
Between producing and filming a semi-professional newscast and keeping up with the rest of our course load, it can be a lot to juggle for one person. The team must recognize that we have to be there for each other through thick and thin and push each other despite being just out of reach of a well-earned break. I'm confident that for show four, we will bounce back and make it better than the last.