Occasionally I head out with a crew to the field to keep those skills up-to-date, too.
No, you will never see me on air.
Yes, that is planned!
Ah, the glamorous life of local television news reporting. Thanks to the fabulous KGW field crews of Kurt Austin & Nina Melhalf (dayside) and Cory Long & Mike Benner (nightside) for letting me tag along.
Ah, the microwave live truck. I took these pictures because these things are going the way of the dodo. Yes, this is the stereotypical live truck like you see in the movies. This used to be THE way to go live. Now, we do most (but not all) live shots out of a backpack. But we’ll get to that.
The mast is up for transmitting. Most of us who have ever been in or around a live truck have gone through the training of how to A. Not put a mast into power lines, and B. How to not get electrocuted by said truck should the mast do so. “Look up and live.”
No power lines in this part of downtown Portland, near Portland State.
The live truck is literally a mobile newsroom. Nina just tracked (recorded the audio for) her 5pm package into the camera from the front seat right after she finished her 4pm live report. Kurt will soon be editing at a station immediately behind him.
Like I said…Kurt editing in the truck. By the way, it was about 947 degrees where I was standing. They had the A/C cranked inside and it was still toasty.
Equipment in the truck for feeding video back to the station, talking to the desk, making sure there’s a picture, charging batteries, and, of course, storing lunch.
Kurt’s camera gear.
After editing, Nina and Kurt got ready for their 5pm live hit. Don’t forget to white balance! White balancing ensures the picture doesn't look blue or orange.
Sandbags are your friend, particularly when it’s breezy. That’s keeping the light stand steady.
Nina waiting for her package to end to tag out.
I unfortunately didn’t take many pictures when we headed out for the 11pm. This time, we took a regular news vehicle (no live capabilities) with a TVU. TVU is one of the brands of backpack live shot contraptions tv stations use. It uses cell phone technology to send out the shot. So as long as there is a cell signal, there is (usually) a live shot.
As you can see from the picture below, there are many fewer wires and no mast to deal with. Literally, flip a switch and go. The backpack is in the trunk of the SUV. Cory (photographer) used the light on his camera to light Mike’s face while keeping the background visible at the same time. That script Mike (reporter) is holding was used for white balance not long before this picture was taken. The lights on the field of the ballpark behind Mike turned off seconds after his live shot concluded. Phew! #timing
TVU is literally a backpack. This is what our crews wore while marching with protesters live on the air. No cables, no trucks, relatively light.
Comments