Week Four

Wednesday was another long day of work at the station.  I came in at my usual time of 5 am to work on the morning show. After the show I went out with one of the morning anchors, Ashley, to get interviews and a stand up about using sunscreen at the beach. We were able to get an interview with a father and his little girl, who was appropriately wearing a protective sun shirt. Then we did stand ups. It was very interesting to watch the way another reporter worked in the field. I appreciated getting the chance to watch someone with a different experience preform behind the camera. Ashley's ideas for stand ups used different camera techniques than what I had been seeing. It was awesome to practice my stand up after watching Ashley's from the other side of the camera. To see the sunscreen story, click here.  On the way back to the station, we passed the location of the story idea I was planning to pitch at the morning meeting. I wanted to do a story about the hands only CPR training the hospital was offering throughout the week. Ashley called back to the station and got the ok to get some video. We stopped and took some b-roll of the training bus before heading inside to talk to some of the EMS team. I was able to get an awesome interview with the captain of the fire department. Next, I was trained to preform hands only CPR which I used as a clip for my standup. It was definitely great practice in front of the camera. After getting all the video we needed and signing the visitors' book, we headed back to the station where I began putting my package together. That afternoon, I went out with Ryan, the photographer, and a few of the other interns to get video and interviews for a story about the head football coach at ECU, Ruffin McNeill, giving a speech for a fifth grade graduation. It was so strange to be inside an elementary school again, and I discovered that interviewing children is definitely not my specialty. After getting all the video and interviews we needed, we went outside the school to practice stand ups. I got the special honor of having Coach McNeill watch my stand up. It was slightly nerve wracking, but really awesome. A thousand stand up takes later, it was out to a quick lunch and back to the station to finish work on my CPR story. I was able to get practice writing scripts and editing video by putting together a VO and a SOT for the evening shows and a package for the 11 o'clock show.  It was amazing to see my work on air! To watch my package on hands only CPR click here.

Thursday, I was back at the station early for another eventful day. I researched a story for later that day before watching the morning show from the production booth. After the show, I went out with Ashley again to get an interview with the mayor of Sunset Beach for a story on a shady developer, who owed the county millions of dollars after swindling hopeful homeowners out of their life savings. The interview was very informative, and we were able to get some awesome sound bites. After the interview the mayor drove us to the site of the unfinished development where we were able to get some video. While at the site, I noticed a man on the property near the only house on the development. I approached the man and discovered he was the only home buyer who had a good experience with the shady developer. We were able to get an interview with him before heading back to the station. Not long after arriving back, I went out again for the day with Katie to cover a story on the clarification of a gun law that allows people who go to a church that also serves as a school to bring their guns to church as long as a school function is not in progress. We were able to get some b-roll, and I got more practice shooting stand ups. Once we got back to the station, I watched Katie edit some of the video before going out again with Ryan to attempt a live shot from the Wrightsville Beach town hall meeting.  I was able to get in more practice in front of the camera before heading home for the day. 

Friday, I was back at the station for the morning show. I watched the show from the studio, and after the show I was able to get some practice anchoring. It was very interesting to watch myself from behind the desk. After the morning meeting, I was sent out with Ryan and another intern to get a package on World Oceans Day at the aquarium. We were able to get an interview with the education curator of the aquarium to learn more about the importance of conservation of the oceans. After that we got some video before I was able to practice interviewing more kids. After interviewing a few kids, I was slowly getting better at asking easy questions that did not give children the choice of yes or no answers. Getting all that we needed and a quick tour of the aquarium, we headed outside to shoot stand ups, and many takes later I was good to go. We snagged a quick lunch on the way back to the station. Once back, I began to write, edit, and track my package with a little help from everyone working. It was a success and aired at the end of the A block of the 5 o'clock show. To watch my package click here. It was super exciting to get something on air although it was very strange to see myself on TV. After cutting some more video and writing a quick script for the later show, I left the station feeling very accomplished for the week.