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In an earlier post I agonized over the implications of not owning my own video.
On a very positive note, b-roll.net posted an update that definitely has my heart singing.
An indefinite moratorium has been established on the AVC/H.264 format, according to arstechnica. Well, at least for video made for Internet viewing.
The neat thing about working in broadcast news is that often your competition becomes your friend. No – not the station. Your counterparts…those cameramen bearing other numbers on their mikes.
Working in a bureau for a Sacramento station, I saw more of the other bureau cameramen and reporters than I did of my own workmates. Them I’d see maybe once a month…but the competition almost daily.
Danny Schueler is good example. I’d seen him off and on since who knows when…the seventies? But once I went to work for KOVR in their Stockton bureau he became a part of my landscape…we’d meet at homocide scenes, 3am fires, chow down together at pressers. And now he’s posted this wonderful moment in time from what I would guess is sometime in the late 70′s early 80s on his Facebook page.
Yeah…Danny is a hunk…a former San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Deputy, he had the stance and stare to take over any story…and the heart to make anyone feel at home working next to him. And while we may have competed, we never really tried to take each other down. He could shoot over me (6+ feet to my 5’2″) and we kept the time honored code of working alongside each other to get the news out to our audiences. Not that either of us was unwilling to pull a quick one to get an excluuussive…generally we kept our hands and cards on the table for an honest game.
Danny, like me, is now retired. He has a houseboat too…but he lives on his while I just play with mine. And he’s still carrying glass…old cameramen (and women) never die…they just refocus.
Thanks to tvspy for the link to this study about video viewing habits.
Check out full details by reading the full article, but summarized in their headline:
Live TV Is For Old People: Time Shifting And Online Make Up Nearly Half Of All Viewing
The first idea we’ll call “what aren’t kids (and adults) being taught (or are learning on their own)”. And no – not the moralistic preachy type of thing. Just a nuts and bolts set of ideas. Some skills I feel are essential that seem to be lacking.
We’ll start with our young folks. A few years back I had the (then) brilliant idea to have my students build a set for our upcoming daily bulletin program. I sketched out a simple desk design, complete with studs, plywood overlays and dimensions and gathered a small group of volunteers around.
The first question I asked when they joined was, “Have you ever used tools before?” Resounding YES! “How about power tools?” “SURE!”
Uh oh.
We discussed tool use and safety … primarily hammers, screwdrivers, saws plus a couple of power tools – a drill for drilling holes and setting screws.
My memories are horrendous…and fortunately short-lived. I pulled the power tools first and then the hand tools and gave up.
So MY lesson learned that week was…teenage boys know everything. They may never have done it, seen it, heard of it, but they sure KNOW it.
Story idea: what skills do you think are good ones to have even in these highly technological days and do most students or young adults in your area have them? Can they work a saw? Hammer a nail straight? Push in a power drill to set a screw? Focus really might be, can they do simple home/apartment maintenance? In questioning the guys I found that none of their families really had or used tools. And with the push for no child to be left behind and every child to go to college, hands-on classes are disappearing. No more woodshop, auto shop.
Now for the old(er) folks. An essential skill set everyone under the age of 30 has hardwired into them is social networking. The old folks have it too – but to them it is done with letters, in person. The difference is technology.
So I’m trying to work with my husband’s church as they try to build up some excitement in the community about their new home – a renovated restaurant – in a pretty spiffy part of town (yeah – that word alone dates me. Spiffy.)
A website is up and running and a facebook page too. (Transparency: while my family are members of this church, I am not…but have close ties with it.)
Snail mail invites are in the works for the dedication…and e-vites have been sent to facebook friends with little success. What’s up?
Story idea: can the older generation learn the different rules for real world and online social networking? They’re pretty much the same…there is the formal invitation and then there is the talk…soft gossip if you will. Using the rumor mill in a positive way. Getting folks to talk about you or your project to build up excitement.
Interesting to me that the two generations are doing pretty much the same thing effortlessly in their own worlds…but don’t always communicate with each other very well exactly what they are doing. The teens say they’re just talking, hanging with friends…but are accomplishing exactly what their grandmothers are with lunch dates with friends.
Until next week…
…via Stanley Robert’s facebook page. 
Stanley, best known for his “People Behaving Badly” stories, shares a love of self-mockery.
This link will take you to a creation by Tom Scott, comedian. He even has a “print your own” option if you want to make up your own creations to plaster over newspapers. Kinda like the one below.
Oh wait – that’s for a TV reporter….hmmmm, wonder who?
Each week I hope to post a short list of ideas for stories which you can develop into something your audience can relate to. Some may be obvious and others may be a stretch. If you have ideas you’d like to contribute, send them over to me at cyndyg@mac.com.
Fresh in the garden - a pumpkin in waiting.
One of my special weaknesses is onions. Stockton reds. A large sweet onion..somewhat flat and a rich burgandy color. So last month I saw an especially mouth-watering pile, grabbed a bunch (3 large ones to the bunch) and started talking with the man behind the counter. He is the farmer and took over his dad’s place and is raising the same crops dad did. I asked if his were real “Stockton Reds,” and he replied yes. A resounding yes – he can no longer find the real “Red” seeds, so raises his own crop just for seed each year in addition to the crop he sells at the farmers markets. He says only those he raises from his own seeds have that real taste – and customers can tell the difference.
Story idea: farmers markets are a treasure trove of people who love fresh food, gardening, recipes. Don’t just buy…ask questions. I plan to track my farmer down and see if he’ll allow me to turn up to his farm from time to time over the next year to document his labor of love. Stories such as this one are not quick turnaround stories. Like the plants grown by farmers, they must be given time to grow to fullness.
Times are rough and folks are turning back to Mother Nature…raising their own backyard food, canning, making to. What year is this? Well since my childhood in the 1950s and 60s I’ve been through the 60′s Hippies Back to Earth Movement, the Eighties Back to Earth Movement, and now the 2010 Return to the Roots Back to Earth Movement. Each of these movements is a totally new concept to those who embark on them. Fueled by rejection of mainstream American to financial necessity, they seem to come, take hold, and then fade away.
Story idea: Do some research and find out why folks do this…and does it have a lasting impact on their lives or the community around them? What is the motivation for each movement? Does each movement include moving to the outback and really being a pioneer or just making do with a back yard garden and learning how to sew, buy used, and cut back to cooking real food, not just pre-packaged food.
Every summer has its share of tragedies – drowning is right up at the top. When I was a kid here in California’s Great Valley, swimming was a MANDATORY high school class. There are so many levees and rivers and lakes and resevoirs that waterproofing kids was a great idea. I continued this thought with each of the Green kids, taking them to summer swim lessons until I knew they could float long enough to be pulled out. (They also were forced by evil parents to wear life jackets to all water functions until they were fourteen.)
Story idea: what are the practices in your area? Are swim lessons mandated, left to the parents, or no big deal? What is the death rate by drowning? How many of these deaths were preventable, either by use of life jackets or by knowing how to swim?
Or does your community gasp in horror and allow this bizarre game of removal of genes from the pool to repeat it self annually?
Big Box in the Big City. Big Box Stores. Big Box Schools. Big Box Housing Developments. Big Box Churches. The more the merrier and the better a deal for everyone. Right? Buy in bulk, live in packs, life is cheap and easy.
Only part of this list is true…and even then, there is a downside.
FCC Stockton - Dedication planned for September 26, 2010
Big Box Schools. Elementary schools with 500-1,000. High schools with thousands. Big boxes holding hundreds and thousands of young minds, all being taught in lock-step. How many bodies can we cram into a classroom as we downsize staff? How can learning proceed when teachers are crushed by numbers while at the same time being pressed to make sure every student succeeds.
Big Box Development – large housing tracts, each its own community with shopping center and theme. (I swear I will never buy in a development called “Countryside” anything. Give it four or five years and that countryside view has disappeared, crowded out by the next development.
Big Box Churches – the more the merrier. Churches with congregations in the thousands. Overwhelming. Did these churches spontaneously grow or was this a studied plan?
Story idea: is there room in Big Box Development for a community church? Are these developments planning for everything but spiritual needs? I’ve watched my husband’s church struggle for the past seven or eight years, looking for a home. One of the issues they faced was the possibility of becoming a “destination” church – a church so big and with so much to offer that people would come from all over just to take part in it. I won’t say they rejected it – however, the new homesite precludes any major development. They want smart growth, not unbridled growth. Check out your local developments…see if they have in place plans for churches, mosques, synagogues, places for souls to gather and reflect.
Nothing really novel to this first list…just some stuff that’s been bouncing around in my head looking for an audience. Hope at least one takes root in your imagination and grows.
Last night for the first time in ages I sat and watched a full half hour of broadcast news. Not gonna name the station, but you can bet it was a local one.
I was borrreeedddd.
They had some good, relevant stories…but something was…out of synch.
And that something was me.
I’m an old fashioned gotta read it from the paper get my news the same way I always have dammit type of person. And I still sit down and loving run my fingers over two local papers daily…and a regional one Sundays. And I do listen to the regional all-news radio station. And catch the headlines on my local broadcast stations, both local and network.
But to actually SIT and take a half an hour of my life to watch news in the order deemed important by someone else? Nooooo!
I no longer view the anchors as family, welcome into my living room each night. They did their best, but I wasn’t buying this time for some reason.
Let’s go even more retro – take away newstalk, I’m your best friend anchoring and let’s return to the precise presentation of news by a pair or lone presenter ala Huntley and Brinkley. Just the facts m’am.
Oh – and let me know when the story I’m most interested is on without teasing me to distraction.
Thanks.
CBS News - Steve Hartman on the two sides of weather
Thanks to b-roll for the link to a standup by Steve Hartmen unlike any I’ve seen. Just goes to prove creativity and imagination make the story. Oh – and knowing that what comes around goes around comes around again.
I will now state the obvious: there are stories everywhere. Everyone has a story in them. Look out your window, in a mirror, anywhere. Turn brain on to questioning mode…step outside of your box and pretend the world is new. Now – take a hard look and see how many stories you can come up with.
In order to tell a story, you need data…a foundation. Too many (broadcast) newsrooms rely on the print media doing the footwork and they all walk the same walk. All media follows the big story, the one you can’t miss.
Real storytellers find worthy stories everywhere.
I’m sitting at my kitchen table and am giving myself the next five minutes to come up with a few ideas as a challenge.
So here goes.
Idea number one (and I’m sure this has gotten play already) – spent Saturday garage sailing with the husband. Kind of fun…and the estate sales are best because of the oddities and antiques. Pause for a moment…an estate sale is the remnants of a person’s life. What the family…friends…those who knew the person felt wasn’t worth keeping, for whatever reason. I see a slow, somber move with details…questions. Who was this person? Why did they buy this particular knick-knack? Was it passion? A trinket for a child? A gift with meaning only known to the deceased?
Idea number two…and I’m running outa time here cause I’m typing slowly (for me). I bought two magazines a few days back. Don’t laugh. Chickens magazine and The Herb Quarterly. I swear twenty years ago I might never have seen these rags. And I recall something from the past month or so about how magazines are faring pretty well compared to other media. Hmmm…Are there more niche zines out there? Are the actual number of magazines increasing in these dire times? Heck, let’s even ask if in addition to more mags if the total number of magazine readers is up…maybe take a look at early mags (when exactly did this medie become mainstream?) and their evolution.
Either of these ideas could be taken in many other directions. Just follow one magazine and its readers. See if there are any local/regional mags. Talk with family members about stuff in the sale…neighbors. Juxtapose what is left of their life with a re-telling of their life story.
Time is up…but the lesson here is approach everything with a questioning mind. My ideas are smears…roughs, undeveloped. Given more time, more ideas and hopefully more solid ones. Hopefully one day you’ll be the leader…not of a pack, but of the new generation of VJs producing original stories.
Warning: in real life this does not always work. If you’re stuck in a pack-mentality newsroom, original thinking can get you banned to the weekend ghetto or banned from the morning meeting. Hmmm…is that necessarily a BAD thing?
…or purity and poultry. Just a couple of story ideas I’ve been mulling over. Tonight a couple of teens I know are getting “purity” rings as they pledge to restrain from pre-marital sex. Good for them. They’re battling society and hormones, but I know they will be strong enough to win.
Ahhhh…and my long love affair with chickens (aka poultry) continues. There is a movement to allow chickens inside city limits of our Golden State’s capitol city as part of the path to healthier living.
Two random thoughts.
Both pretty solid story ideas…a well- used brain stays sharp…as a videojournalist you should always be on the lookout for ideas.
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