Today I was able to switch it up a bit and instead of just producing the morning news, go field produce a piece. The story was just a fun one on the bobsled rides at the Olympic Park in Park City. We had our anchor team: Dan Plante, Ann Sterling and Glenn Willey.
I Can Predict The Future
I printed off directions and gave everyone my cell phone in case they got lost. I knew Dan was going to get lost. Not because he can't read directions but because he would try and figure it out on his own. So I told everyone to be there by 4:30 and to get there early. They didn't need to be there until 5:00pm. Good thing too, Dan didn't arrive until about 4:50pm.
I'm Bossy
I told everyone what to do. I had a vision for how this final product would look and so I made sure we had everything we needed. I told the anchors what questions they should ask the silver medalist bobsledder. I told the photographer the exact shots we wanted. I told the anchors exactly what kind of promos we needed and would use. I wasn't micro-managing, I would just tell them what I wanted and why I wanted it and let them do their thing. I'd watch to make sure it worked out and it alway did. It was fun. I won't see the final product for another week.
Bobsledding Is A Good Team Building Experience
On the drive up to the top of the bobsled run, the camera was rolling and everyone was partially chatting. So I started asking questions and joking around with them. I realized I needed to manage the moment, the emotions and bring them together. I think they became more relaxed and natural because of it. I don't think they even realized that collectively they had tensed up.
There Is An End In Sight
Once we had what we needed I went through my mental checklist at least twice. Wrote the story in my head from the video that we had gathered and realized we were okay. I then called it a day. It worked out wonderfully. The final product should air on Good Morning Utah on Feb 10th.
