Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Live shots and one man band
We know a lot of places are going to one man band but how many stations are expecting or are going to be having their people one man band live shots. I am hearing from people at several one man band stations across the country that there are enginers or some photographers on staff who do live shots. Apparently the liability of having a one man band live shot is a little too much. I remember doing a one man band live shot and it did not end up well. When you are in a hurry during a breaking news situation sometimes you can't think about all the safety measures you should be taking. Any comment?
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We've been one man banding since 99,' and I think I can speak with authority on what works, what doesn't and what responsible managements should do.
Because of our union contract, we're required to put an engineer on the truck, but I'd do it anyway. In addition, we always have a second person to shoot the live hit - unless, of course, we're just taking a live picture of something, which seldom happens.
A few more general points:
- one man bands don't produce a different/better/more intimate type of journalism. They produce one man band journalism, which is a lot like two person crews...done with less.
- a one man band isn't as productive as a two person team, because there's no one driving or editing while you're writing. A news management that thinks otherwise is deluding itself.
- You will break more gear and need to budget for it. Period.
- You are asking people to do more with their bodies, add more stress and will get more sickness and injury. Period.
- If you're very, very clever and work very, very hard, you can produce good looking television news.
Fact is, most people who are good at the reporting side are not, instinctively, good shooters. You don't usually get both halves of the package in one person.
So you have to to train and critique and prize pictures in your shop, if you're going to get anything better than just getting by. And even then, you need to understand the limits of what you can expect.
Scott Atkinson
News Director
WWNY TV
Watertown NY
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