This semester has truly flown by and I’ve learned a lot about television reporting, using the cameras, storytelling, editing, news writing and working with a team. I remember that you said in the beginning of the semester that we won’t be able to watch tv the same after this semester, and already, I have seen that to be the case! These packages do not come along seamlessly and I have learned about the hard work that truly goes into excelling in this field and what it takes to put out good work.
I took a lot of takeaways, but I’ll mention some of the most impactful things I’ve learned. Every detail matters and the best way to perfect that is to make sure you shoot a ton of b-roll so you’re not trying to fill the space, but you have your choice of footage to pick what best fits that part of the story to maximize impact. When a story flows perfectly, you can focus on the content, not get distracted by a poor editing job or a clip that doesn’t match. The next thing I found to be extremely important is to form relationships. In order to get a unique angle on the story and get access to the subject that others may not have, you need to establish a comfortable relationship with the subject and make sure they understand what story you are trying to tell. These may take time, but I think we need to be upfront with people in trying to get a story and get it right. I also learned the importance of getting good lighting and properly framing a shot. The last thing that taught me a lot was to be an animated reporter with a strong voice that hooks the viewer into the story and leads them to want to keep watching your story. If you don’t have something memorable for the audience they won’t stick around.
I am really glad that I’ve taken this class, especially with Dr. Z. He has been a great mentor to our class and has clearly devoted time to each one of us and helped us to better our skills and be informed on journalism in today’s ever-changing world. I am excited to see how the skills that I have learned this semester will help me next year in the Centre County Report.