My Overall Experience

My time spent at WHAG was very enjoyable for someone in the field of communications. I now have a better understanding of how a live broadcast works. My hours there were very flexible and I was able to get the hours I needed for the course.  There were days that I wasn't able to come to work because of the snow storms. I was able to make up for those days without any problem. The staff was very friendly and they enjoyed having me work there.  I had my picture taken with some of them.  The picture up above shows me with the talented and lovely evening news anchor, Amy Hudak.  I will miss working there and the people I got to know.  I feel like my time there will lead to a possible career in broadcasting. If I could recommend a good place for someone who is interested in broadcasting, WHAG would be the place to start working.

Graphics

The graphics is another essential part for a live news broadcast.  This is when images and captions appear on the screen.  Some of the images they commonly use would be the DotBiz Events, Kidscaster Pictures, Maps, Mugshots,and anything in the OTS Box.  Captions would introduce the news cast and the people being interviewed in front of the camera.  For the person that controls the graphics, they need to be ready to make that graphic appear on screen at the proper moment.  They also make sure that they take the graphic down in time for the next one to appear.  Graphics could be edited using another computer if it's needed. They don't have the director telling them what to do, so it's their job to handle their work well on their own. I didn't get to use the graphics at all during my internship.  Like the audio board, I just watched how it was done and kept track of the show through the rundown sheet.  I felt like that I was able to get a good understanding of how the graphics work during a live broadcast.

Reporting

During my internship, I wanted to know how the reporters do their work.  I talked to Nate Stewart, about how he does reports on a story.  According to Nate, one story is assigned to a reporter per day.  If the reporter has an idea for a story, they have to pitch the story to the station manager.  They travel to the site of their story and record all the shots themselves.  He interviews at least two people per story.  Once he gets back to the station, he arranges the shots together in a way that he sees fit and does the voice over in between the interviews.  The story that Nate covered had to be ready in time for the 11:00 news.  When I was break from my job at WHAG, I spent time with Nate learning how to put together a news package.  It wasn't part of my internship, but I wanted to learn about reporting and to make the most of my time there.  I felt like I have learned a lot about reporting from Nate and we became good friends through our conversations together.

Audio Board

One of the toughest parts of working in production at WHAG is working the audio board.  The person working the audio makes sure that the broadcasts sounds right.  One of their jobs is to turn on the microphones for the anchors when it's their turn to speak.  If they accidentally turn them on when they are saying something offensive, the whole crew could get into some serious trouble for that.  Luckily, that didn't happen when I was working there. During the mic checks, they tell people if the mic is working or not.  The audio person also starts the packages and cues the music at the end of each segment.  Like the camera people, they have to listen to what the director is telling them to do through the headsets.  I wasn't able to work the board at all.  Sometimes it was hard to stay awake when I was watching the board. I mostly kept track of the show by looking at the run down sheet and answered questions that the audio person asked me regarding the audio board. I felt like I got a good understanding of how the board works, but I wish I could have been more hands on with that part of my internship.

Telepromter

Another piece of equipment that the production crew uses during live broadcasts is the teleprompter.  This shows the script that the anchors and sportscasters need to look at during the show.  The weather meteorologists use it sometimes, but most of what they say on the air is improvised.  Anchors can control the teleprompter by stepping on a pedal at the bottom of the desk.  During packages, the people in the control need to run in while the story is going.  If they get lost, they can find their place on the computer next to them. The computer is used to getting the scripts together for each broadcast.  I would set it up on the right show for whoever is running the equipment. For whoever is behind the teleprompter, it's important for them to get things ready for the anchors.  I have learned that the teleprompter is a very delicate piece of equipment.  It takes some getting used to before you can keep up with the packages and the people in front of the camera.

When Cats Attack

https://youtu.be/xhDtaPE9yeM
I thought of one of the most unusual things I witnessed behind the camera at WHAG was having a black cat named Midnight on during Pet of the Week,  That black cat got a little too crazy when he was being held by news anchor, Taniya Wright.  He had scratched Taniya in the cheek.  It was shocking at the time when it happened, but it was funny when we looked back on it.  Taniya wasn't hurt too bad.  According to Kirk Livers of the Animal Shelter in Hagerstown, Midnight was quarantined for ten days before he got adopted.  As a result of that incident, the news anchors are not allowed to hold the pets anymore.  The link in this blog post has the whole footage

Camera

During my internship at WHAG, I was taught how to set up camera shots.  At the beginning, I was in the studio watching how everyone was setting up the necessary shots.  I had the trainer headset on so I could listen to the director giving everyone directions. I had to cue the anchors to let them know when to start speaking and how much time they have left before the break.  The Green Xs on the floor of the studio showed the camera people where to go for a specific shot.  The main shots I learned at the station was the opening shot of the anchors at the desk, Straight up shots, OTS, Three person, Weather Desk, Weather Wall, and Orange Wall.  Learning when to push and pull was important too.  For opening shots I pushed and pulled at the end of the segment.  Learning how to do camera is easier said than done. I made sure that I set up shots according to what I saw everyone was doing.   As long as the camera person listens to the director and moves to the right spot in the studio in time, they should be alright..

Studio

One of the first things that I learned how to do at my internship was setting up the studio.  Everything in a television is on a strict schedule.  I made sure that the cameras were in the right places. Microphones are checked before each broadcast.  I made sure each of them were working before I gave them to the anchors and meteorologists.   On Mondays when the station would have Pet of the Week, I would bring out the large mat and chairs to the live shot screen.  The important things about setting up the studio was to make sure everything is in place and looks neat.  Setting up the studio was the easy part in working at WHAG.

WHAG Internship

For my college internship, I was hired to intern at the WHAG news station in Hagerstown, Maryland.  I met with Greg Suchanek, one of the directors at WHAG, for an interview on Tuesday January 20th.  He gave me a tour of the studio and introduced me to the staff.  I told Greg that I am going through my senior year at Shepherd, my major was in communications, and that I do my radio show at the Shepherd radio station.  After the interview, Greg gave me a key to the building and my first shift started two days later on Thursday January 22nd.  For that day, I watched one of the cameramen do all the required shots for the 5:00pm, 6:00pm, 7:00pm, and 11:00pm broadcasts.  I had to learn how give the cues to the people in front of the camera.  It's to let them know when to start speaking, which camera to turn to, and how much time they have before going into a commercial break.  Memorizing the cues is not too hard, it's knowing when to cue them is the tricky part. You have to always pay attention to what the production crew is telling you through the headphones So far, I enjoy my internship at WHAG and if they are looking to hire full time, I would be happy to accept the job.