First off, I'd like to apologize that I didn't warm you, Professor Greenawalt, in advance that I would not be making a post for spring break because I wouldn't be attending my internship. Anyway, this past week I just went in on Sunday night (Monday morning) with one of the photojournalists and a reporter.
The night started at 11 p.m. when I went in to edit together a video from a previous photographer. The video went together rather well (but I didn't upload it to vimeo just yet) and I finished it around 2:30 to 3 a.m. At that point, the photog (short for photojournalist) arrived with the reporter and our story was to cover a specific restaurant in Hershey at the Hershey hotel for restaurant week. The ride over was roughly 20 minutes and our first "hit", which means live shot, was to be done by 5:00 a.m. When we got there Deryk, the photog I was shadowing, showed me everything from A-Z on how to operate the camera, set up the cords, maneuver the tower on the van (to get a live shot signal to the station) and set up the shot for the interview. The whole process was really a great experience for an aspiring future-photojournalist like myself to encounter. After all the cords had been set up and the camera was ready to go, we had the manager of the restaurant standing across from our reporter and we gave a "tease", in other words, a 15 to 20 second preview of the interview with the chef, for our viewers.
The restaurant and hotel itself was amazing. The neatly-placed fancy chairs, dry-cleaned rugs and beautiful drapes that hung from the windows really complimented the true welcoming feeling the hotel was giving. That, along with the very generous and good-humored staff, made for a fantastic time with my colleagues and I the entire time (2 hours) we were there. After the first tease, then came the more in-depth live shots and hits. The chef came in very early just to do the newscast with us, which we continually thanked him for since the get-go, and he prepared a dish for the viewers that would be served during restaurant week.
If you don't know what restaurant week is, it's essentially a week devoted to helping local eateries promote their food by offering lower prices on famous dishes (and special ones just made for that week) to their loyal customers. Anyway, the chef interview went swimmingly and as did the manager interview. The live shots were that of the chef cooking, in real time, of course, and the manager speaking on behalf of the specials served, prices ($15 for two meals, $30 for an entire course) and other parts of the restaurant that would be helpful and interesting to viewers.
After the chef made the meal (salmon with a blend of spices and ingredients) he generously offered the photog, reporter and I samples of the finished product. It. Was. Phenomenal. Truly, the food was great. And just the fact that he offered it to us made me realize - wow, this is what I want to do with my life. Putting together videos, meeting new people, seeing new things every day, creating a cultural awareness that only continually grows with the amount of time spent with different faces each week - that is what life is all about. No offense to anyone who has office jobs, but I can't see myself working rigorously from 9-5 Monday through Friday without getting out and into the world, but getting out and being *PAID* to do that? To speak with individuals that want to share their story? To engage in activities and events that I would otherwise never know about? It's fantastic to think about. And I've made the right decision in getting this internship at abc 27.
I can't wait to see what's in store for me next.
The night started at 11 p.m. when I went in to edit together a video from a previous photographer. The video went together rather well (but I didn't upload it to vimeo just yet) and I finished it around 2:30 to 3 a.m. At that point, the photog (short for photojournalist) arrived with the reporter and our story was to cover a specific restaurant in Hershey at the Hershey hotel for restaurant week. The ride over was roughly 20 minutes and our first "hit", which means live shot, was to be done by 5:00 a.m. When we got there Deryk, the photog I was shadowing, showed me everything from A-Z on how to operate the camera, set up the cords, maneuver the tower on the van (to get a live shot signal to the station) and set up the shot for the interview. The whole process was really a great experience for an aspiring future-photojournalist like myself to encounter. After all the cords had been set up and the camera was ready to go, we had the manager of the restaurant standing across from our reporter and we gave a "tease", in other words, a 15 to 20 second preview of the interview with the chef, for our viewers.
The restaurant and hotel itself was amazing. The neatly-placed fancy chairs, dry-cleaned rugs and beautiful drapes that hung from the windows really complimented the true welcoming feeling the hotel was giving. That, along with the very generous and good-humored staff, made for a fantastic time with my colleagues and I the entire time (2 hours) we were there. After the first tease, then came the more in-depth live shots and hits. The chef came in very early just to do the newscast with us, which we continually thanked him for since the get-go, and he prepared a dish for the viewers that would be served during restaurant week.
If you don't know what restaurant week is, it's essentially a week devoted to helping local eateries promote their food by offering lower prices on famous dishes (and special ones just made for that week) to their loyal customers. Anyway, the chef interview went swimmingly and as did the manager interview. The live shots were that of the chef cooking, in real time, of course, and the manager speaking on behalf of the specials served, prices ($15 for two meals, $30 for an entire course) and other parts of the restaurant that would be helpful and interesting to viewers.
After the chef made the meal (salmon with a blend of spices and ingredients) he generously offered the photog, reporter and I samples of the finished product. It. Was. Phenomenal. Truly, the food was great. And just the fact that he offered it to us made me realize - wow, this is what I want to do with my life. Putting together videos, meeting new people, seeing new things every day, creating a cultural awareness that only continually grows with the amount of time spent with different faces each week - that is what life is all about. No offense to anyone who has office jobs, but I can't see myself working rigorously from 9-5 Monday through Friday without getting out and into the world, but getting out and being *PAID* to do that? To speak with individuals that want to share their story? To engage in activities and events that I would otherwise never know about? It's fantastic to think about. And I've made the right decision in getting this internship at abc 27.
I can't wait to see what's in store for me next.