Wednesday, August 27, 2008

working

well Its the middle of week three... I was here helping cover the alaska primary elections last night. I was here till 11:30 at night but I was able to put in over 14 hours.. I am racking up my hours fast... guess I will be geting done quicker that I thought. The tape machine completely ate one of my tapes during a live broadcast on saturday but hey what can you do... I have been doing more and more reporter work these last few days. not exactly what I went to school for but hey you can't be choosy during your internship huh? any ways I will be doing this for the next week I believe then I will go back to making commercials. everything is going good.. weather has been great the last few days. hope everything is well with all got to go back to work now thanks... see ya
Alex

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Just getting started

Well it looks like I'm finally going to be able to post on here.... I finally started my internship last week for KTVF in fairbanks, alaska. So much for sunny california.... I am working on the news side and I am working on their commercial production side... I usually work for the first couple hours on the prod. side in the morning and then help cover news in the evening. My first week I was just getting used to the new building and this week I am starting to go out on my own shoots and working on commercials. I am working like a mad man... I am putting in on average around 9 hours a day... but hey when your working for free it's best to just get it done as quickly as possible.... glad everyone is wrapping up their internships I hope everyone has been having fun... talk to you guys... and gals later...
Alex

Saturday, August 16, 2008

Producer

So last week I was talking to one of the camera operators and discussing my interest not so much in the technical side of the film industry but more the managing side. Being a producer is what I am really interested in if I were to pursue a career in this business. He was telling me that the easiest and most efficient way to learn all that revolves around a producer is to become a producer's assistant. It is a little to late to assist the producer in this show as it is coming to an end, but perhaps next summer I will be able to find a producer to hire me as his assistant. I would like to be involved in every department and in every aspect of the movie including the budget.

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Back In Montana

Somehow I managed to seal up everything at KELO, pack my car, and drive across a few states within a matter of a couple days. Here's the email I sent out to the "news group" before leaving:

Twelve Lessons In 12 Weeks

Week 1: Wal-Mart parking lots are dangerous for unobvious reasons, like mini tornados or “wind shears”
Expect the unexpected; cover it willingly.

Week 2: If you want to fit your lunch in the fridge, get there early.
The first on the scene gets the best footage.

Week 3: Stay high enough from floods but low enough from tornadoes.
The ground in the middle is the safest; be neutral.

Week 4: “Keloland” is a legitimate word to toss out on air.
Be thankful of all the people who came before you and could make a ridiculous notion a reality.

Week 5: If you go up in a hot air balloon, stay tied to the ground.
Use uplifting experiences to expand your skills, while not letting go of what you already know.

Week 6: Professional restaurants will take recipes from 10-year-olds.
No story idea is too bizarre. Be creative, and you never know who might like it.

Week 7: The muggy Midwest air is overwhelming, but I’ll miss it once I return to dry Montana.
When it seems like it’s raining news, be glad, and remember what it feels like when the wires are empty.

Week 8: If it leads, it could bleed.
If you wear heels to breaking news, expect to trip on a fire hose.

Week 9: George McGovern is an unforgettable man.
Even if he forgets to pick up his tattered cardboard box of books four weeks and phone calls later.

Week 10: Fireflies are real.
You’ll miss the real story if you don’t take time to really observe your surroundings.

Week 11: “Dot com” isn’t everything; you can access KELO online at keloland.TV, too.
There’s always more than one way to access information, some are just less obvious than others.

Week 12: Twelve weeks goes by fast.
Stay busy and enjoy every moment.

Thank you all for being so nurturing and helpful to me. You’ve given me a summer I won’t forget and taught me countless storytelling lessons along the way. I’ve grown as a writer, photographer, reporter, editor and journalist. More importantly, I’ve grown as a person.

I’ll begin my senior year at The University of Montana in a couple weeks and hope to stay in touch. Please let me know if your travels take you westward to Big Sky Country.

Happy trails, until we meet again!

-Breanna

***
I can't wait to see you all! I'm back in Missoula for today and headed to Alaska tomorrow, so I'll probably have to wait for the first day of school to see everyone, but I'm very excited! :)

Monday, August 11, 2008

the times they are a changin

Well I am truly sorry to say this is my last week at the Late Late Show. I have had the best time ever this summer. I feel like I have a better grasp on what I want to do after I graduate-possibly work in network television. Just seeing the whole show come together everyday from the ground up is incredible. It helps when I have to go on crazy tasks like picking up a ford mustang convertible for Mr. Ferguson. (which I didn't get to drive)...but all and all I love what this internship has shown me. I am going to keep my ears open for future jobs here and keep in touch with all the interns I met here. Thursday is my last day and then I am driving to Las Vegas to have some fun before the real work begins. Can't wait to see you all back in Montucky!

Saturday, August 9, 2008

Highlight of the summer

I got some great news yesterday that ESPN either has or will very soon air some video I shot last week. Dan Schlereth is the son of one of their NFL analysts Mark Schlereth. One of the producers for NFL live called up looking for video of Dan's pro baseball debut and the stuff they sent was shot by yours truly. Definitely a thrill to hear that...only problem is I'm on the road this weekend without cable access. So if anyone happened to see it let me know!

Friday, August 8, 2008

two more days

i have sixteen hours left as an intern but who's counting? just when i started feeling comfortable it's about time to go. been in with the assistant editors i'm not sure how interesting that work would be, but seems the standard way to work up to an editor. the editors are extremely fast and it's brushed off on me so fingers crossed you pull my name out of the production hat this semester.
still living with owen. there are dead rats in this filthy kitchen where we cook meals to stay alive, there was a dead baby racoon on the stairs but these are unnoticeable hurdles in the steeplechase that is journalism

Last day

Hello for the last time from Madison. It is my last day here and part of me is really sad to go. I have really come to enjoy the team I work with and the company--and Madison too. But I may be back after graduation so that makes it a little less sad. I am just working on getting some more test shots done today and finalizing the script and making a ridiculously detailed story board made so the people who are taking over the video can do what we have planned out. I am hitting the road tonight and will be back in Cheyenne tomorrow. I can't wait to be back in Missoula however and to see you all!!

Thursday, August 7, 2008

Training My Replacement

So I'm training one of the guys to td. And its frustrating me so much. Not only do I not get to do anything but fix his mistakes, but it doesn't seem like he gets ANY of it. He's only been watching me td since he started working at the beginning of the summer, but he doesn't have a clue on where things are even though he's been seriously watching and training for the last few weeks. Urgh! Its not like anything has changed over this time. Its the same buttons, same preset numbers, same commands and sequences for both shows day in and day out. He still really doesn't have a clue on most of it, and I'm not going to be there to fix everything for him when he starts by himself next week. Again, so frustrating. And he's also real slow and taking and dissolving and.... basically everything. I know I had my issues when I was learning, but I swear I knew more than he does by this point and time. Any little change and he gets to flustered to do anything. So I will quit ranting now, though I could probably rant for forever at this point. I wish he would figure it out so I can go back to tding by myself. I miss pressing all the shiny buttons!!

Practice Anchoring

Today was my third time practice-anchoring. I’ve taped it all 3 times and while anchoring is still more of a challenge for me than singing or acting on stage, I definitely see improvements in my performance each time. I can not stress enough how important it is to practice reading scripts out loud before taking a seat in that anchor chair! I’ve been finding the best clips to put into a sequence, just in case I need to use them as anchoring examples on my resume tape.

I’ve also made a montage with clips of my best stand-ups and teases. One of my favorite stand-ups is the one I did on the news station’s roof, announcing that it was the 18th straight day of temps 90 and above –tying a record set back in 1901-

They just released the tickets for Obama's acceptance speech at Invesco Field (where the Broncos play!) where he'll accept the democratic nomination... it's happening while he's here for the DNC (democratic national convention) An interesting twist is that they've reserved 1/5 of the tickets for Coloradans and 2/3 for people from Northwestern states... some people in New York are pissed! And everyone who buys a ticket must be able to show proof that they CAN DEFINITELY ATTEND (aka: they must have a place to stay all lined up, and the means to get to Denver) because they don't want any empty seats, so they need to know if anyone who bought a ticket can't go...

This year Denver's ballot initiatives (19 total) are the most that Denver has ever had on a ballot! They also keep changing the format...

I've got to go, but I want to let Ray Ekness know that I have my work samples all ready to send to him & I'm planning on mailing them to him tomorrow!

~Stacy

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Its a small world after all

It's amazing what a small world this is...I thought Monday was going to be a normal day at the ballpark with nothing worth noting... Then I got into a conversation with the Great Falls Voyagers radio announcer. Turns out he went to my rival high school in Charlotte waaaaayyyy back in the day and he also taught my fiance Kelli when she was in college at Coastal Carolina. This by the way is after I'd known for quite some time that the trainer for Great Falls was the trainer for the minor league team I was a bat boy for when I was a kid. And that's not all....after I was done talking with him, I ran into a scout for the Red Sox and after a while we realized we know a lot of the same people in Boston. It's crazy to me... but I'm sure you all feel like the time you just spent reading this is 30 seconds of your life you'll never get back. Sorry. I gotta write something though.
G

Monday, August 4, 2008

Hey Everyone! I can't believe it's already August and summers almost over...this summer has really flown by! I'm still at KHQ...lately I have been working on a fall sports project for them and doing some more practicing in front of the camera. I'm not sure when I will be done with my internship...I have all my time in, but I just have some stuff I would like to "finish" so we'll see...Hope everyones summer is still going great!

Last Week

Hello hello. So I didn't post last week, my Friday got really busy. But we had our first show and tell on the video we have been working on and people seemed to like it. They had some great script and treatment ideas that actually make our job easier. It defintely won't be done by the time I leave, but I'm sure they will do great things with it. We have to get the new script approved, hopefully today, and then start shooting this week for the final product. I also had my farwell party last Friday which was very fun but sad. I have really come to like the people I work with and it will be hard to say goodbye. But hopefully I'll be back here when I graduate for a while. I can't believe it is my last week here. I'll post again on Friday which will be my last day here in Madison.