Throughout this semester, I have
learned a lot about working a camera, writing readers, working the teleprompter,
how to put on a microphone and editing with final cut pro. Believe it or not, I
learned a lot more this semester then I would have thought. Every day I felt
like I learned something new whether it was shooting out in the field, or just
being in the studio having to attend to some technical difficulty. Overall,
practicum has been very beneficial for me.
Coming into practicum, I had no
idea how to work a camera. I basically just thought it was zoom in, zoom out,
and record. I obviously picked up on what an Iris is, how to really focus
somebody, just stuff that I didn’t know much about. The few times I got to work
a camera in the studio, or one of the segments in intro to broadcast, I just
felt a little more comfortable with it and will hopefully continue to progress.
Writing readers were a majority of
my hours, and quite honestly my favorite part. I have never really written
readers for broadcast segments coming in, so I really had to have a hard lead
and sum up a lot of facts into a small portion. Getting praise from David
throughout the year really boosted my confidence as a writer and I learned that
that’s maybe my strong suit. I thoroughly enjoyed learning about the sports
teams and took an interest in the writing the readers themselves.
Working the teleprompter ended up
being my job at the studio. I had zero knowledge of how to work a teleprompter
at the beginning, but it ended up being a simple task. Knowing where to have
the words the anchor is reading on the screen, and to try to slow the anchor
down if he is going too fast was the basic thoughts. It was simple but
important to a news crew, especially with the limited attendance we had at the
start of the semester.
Simply putting on a microphone is
new knowledge to me as well. Mostly the kinds of microphones that are used, but
how to test them in the studio, checking if the sound is working. It is just
good fundamental knowledge I obtained.
Lastly, although a work in
progress, was editing with final cut pro. For the little of it I used in
practicum, I seemed to be alright. I was never the main editor of a package,
but I did decide what highlights to put in and did a little bit of editing with
the knowledge of the program that I do know. Soon, I hope to end my feud with
Final Cut and make good the more hours I put in and become comfortable.
This year taught me a lot about
behind the scenes work of what goes into a shoot. With everything I mentioned
learning this year I would deem it very successful. Not to mention all of the
relationships I have built with people and how amazing everybody has been. I
hope to build on all of the things I have obtained as I push further into
practicum.
