Bridget's Broadcast Blog

All the frustrations we’ve ever felt while working for 519OnlineNews have totally been worth it…we did a hilarious joke edition of 519OnlineNews affectionately named 226OnlineNews.

Fake stories, fake names, fake everything….we didn’t even have consistent hosts. I wrote the script for the hosts and it was a total blast. We still tried to make the stories has good as possible; good lighting, good camera work, etc.

Let’s be honest — no one actually goes to 519Online for actual news. I think it’s a great way for us to practice reporting and working in a newsroom environment, but it’s not like the stories really matter in the long run. We decided to use the skills we’ve learned in the class to make a very memorable and fun show.

Here’s a gem that was shot in my kitchen.

God, I’m so excited to get more visuals for my story! This is a picture of my friend Karlee in one of her costumes that she’s going to talk about in my documentary. I’ve gotten footage of different components of her costume including her fancy star guitar and her pretty wig. Next up, I’m going to talk to my friend Steph who makes not only her own costumes, but costumes for her friends as well. She’s really talented and I can’t wait to get footage of her loft. She works on all of her stuff there and it’s filled with all kinds of interesting costume stuff.

Steph and Karlee are both heading to a big convention soon, so I’m hoping they’ll be able to get some footage for me while they’re there. I wish I could go and film myself, but I’m just way too busy with school.

I was starting to get a little concerned about b-roll for the videos that Alyssa and I are working on. We had lots of footage of various objects around the hospital, but we both knew that wasn’t enough for a full length video. It’s tricky to get footage of people in hospitals because of privacy issues, but Maureen (the awesome lady in charge of our internship) was able to get us lots of footage of employees in the hospital. People are never very excited to be on camera, but Maureen is always able to convince employees to get on camera for us.

I’d love to get more footage of doctors interacting with patients, but again, privacy issues are going to make this difficult. We’ve gotten footage of heart charts and x-rays but even then, we have to be sure to blur out any names that appear on the charts. We’ll see if we can get any more people on camera!

For my second documentary this semester, I decided to do it on cosplaying. What is cosplaying you ask? You know those nerds that go to Star Trek conventions and dress up as their favourite characters? Yup, that’s cosplaying. Cosplaying is a play on words, combining the words “costume” and “play”. It’s a way for fans to show their dedication to their favourite TV shows, movies, and video games and a way for them to get involved in fandom and have fun.

There’s a strong sense of community in the cosplaying scene, and I was really excited to show this in a documentary. So far, I’ve gone to the Toronto Comic Con to get footage of convention-goers and cosplayers to get a taste of what conventions are like. I’ve also interviewed my friend Karlee who is an avid cosplayer and artist. I can’t wait to finish my documentary — I have a feeling that I’m going to have a great time shooting the rest of it!

….it also helps that I’m a cosplayer myself.

Yup, that’s me in the pink dress….

Man, did it ever take a long time for my internship to get rolling!

Alyssa and I managed to get into St. Mary’s Hospital to create videos for patients. It seemed like the HR person and the person organizing the actual internship were on totally different pages. Alyssa and I had to do a lot of running around, including getting TB tests and police checks. Even though we got the internship in January, we didn’t actually start filming until the end of February. We’re cutting it a little close to the end, but I’m sure that we’ll get everything done on time. It’s been a lot of fun so far — I feel kind of important being able to film in a hospital! I think it’s a great and unique experience.

We’re doing two videos dealing with heart attacks. The videos are meant for patients to watch to get informed instead of the nurses having to explain the same things over and over again to people. I think it’s great that the hospital is making connections with local colleges and giving us a chance to showcase our talents.

caitlinhenshaw:

I never thought I’d learn so much about light fixtures in my entire light. Yet here I am, doing a story about them. Not directly of course - the actual topic of my feature was light pollution but it somehow never occurred to me that doing my due diligence would mean learning the difference between…

I thought your feature idea was super cool. I remember you telling me how sifting through all your interviews was kinda boring and some of the stuff they were saying was super dry, but overall, your perseverance really made your story something special. It’s funny how sometimes our stories don’t go in the direction that you initially plan, but they can still turn out awesome.

I looked at a rather chilling story this week. Global National reported on the guilty plead of former hockey coach Graham James for sexually assaulting two of the players he was once in charge of, including retired NHL star Theoren Fleury. Fleury spoke out and made some haunting remarks regarding his abuse and how it’s still affecting him.

I thought that this was a really well done story. All of the interviews looked great and the soundbytes matched the visuals well. Sexual deviancy - especially in the world of sports - is always a news-worthy topic which needs as much spotlight as possible. It’s disturbing to think how many young boys and girls are currently being abused in organized sports. Who knows when they will finally raise their voices and speak up about the issue.

(Haha, who am I kidding?)

Doing a feature story was such a roller coaster ride. At times, I felt like tearing my hair out. At other times, I felt like dancing around because things were going so well.

I managed to get interviews with exactly the people I wanted to. Both of them were in the newspaper for issues pertaining to my story. They actually recommended that I talk to the other person without knowing that I already planned to. Both Mary and Michelle were incredibly nice and definitely made my story a success.

On the other hand, it was incredibly hard to get b-roll. I’m a little disappointed that I never actually got any footage of nursing mothers. It really would have made my story better, but it’s incredibly awkward to go up to someone and say “Excuse me, may I film you with your boob out of your shirt? It’s going on the internet.”

Regardless, I learned so much from doing this feature. It was an issue that I was genuinely passionate about and that made a huge difference in my performance.