This semester in practicum I
learned a lot from my hands-on hours. I worked on the news show and Go Healthy
FSC. I think that the biggest issue that I overcame this semester was
transitioning from the equipment I was used to working with at my high school to
the equipment here. I learned how to operate a switcher again because I was
used to a Tri-Caster with a digital switcher. I also learned to troubleshoot
when people messed up the wires and lights in the studio. The studio was very
different but transitioning made me realize that I have to be flexible and
apply what I know to any situation in broadcast.
Working with Go Healthy FSC taught
me a lot. First off, I learned to not endorse the use of electronic cigarettes.
Second, I learned that I need to include more research in my packages. Third, I
know that I should always use a microphone and not let my camera mic pick up
sound because it sounds awful with wind in the background. People also get
extremely annoyed when you ask them to reshoot an interview so it has to be
done correctly the first time. Another thing I learned is that there are no
shortcuts in broadcast. Cutting corners only produces bad work and it is
extremely obvious to other people who know broadcast. I also discovered my
biggest pet peeve in the world – when someone shoots something without a
tripod. I don’t work very well with people on packages because I am a control
freak but will never speak up. When someone does something such as shooting
without a tripod, I always feel bad speaking up but I learned that it is
necessary to. Even though it is uncomfortable making suggestions against
someone else, it is better to have a good final product. I have gotten better
at working with others on projects and packages since the beginning of the semester.
Working on
the news show also taught me a lot this semester. Other than learning how to us
the studio, I learned that it is difficult to find new and interesting news
going on at Florida Southern. We often ran out of story ideas because there
were no events that we knew of or the campus announcements didn’t come out yet.
It is easy to report on things that you are involved in, but that isn’t fair to
the rest of the viewers. I also learned that no one knows we have a campus
channel, or news show, or Go Healthy FSC show. It is difficult to publicize and
get others to watch the shows and frustrating that we don’t have an audience. I
hope that this changes in the future and we find a way to get the word out to
the students and faculty of FSC. It would also be great if the cafeteria and
wellness center could have our channel on for students to see what we work on.
Overall, it
has been a very productive semester and I learned a lot in these four short
months. I look forward to practicum and more broadcast classes next semester.
