A few weeks ago I was able to shoot a little video about the remarkable Julia Sullivan during the Aurora High School’s band class. I didn’t think I got enough video, despite a good interview, so I went back a couple of days later with my still camera to get some more art for the piece.

A post part of the continuing effort to get some of my video work onto the blog.  This was from a little while ago. I had always been curious about what detasseling was and why it was so important.  Not only is it important for farmers to create their hybrid corn, but it’s an annual rite of passage for many area kids.  The ‘summer job’ of summer jobs, especially for kids who can’t drive themselves.

Found a sweet WordPress utility that will insert flash (flv) files into posts. I’m planning on adding my recent video work to the blog this way as soon as I figure out the upload file size issue.

This little project began because I needed a video and I thought it might be fun to do a little bright of a piece. I really worked the sequences and overlapping actions in the editing for the piece.

A couple of weeks ago I was finally able to set up an assignment to go follow some detasselers.  What originally was a video only piece turned into a still assignment as well with a story by Independent reporter Robert Pore. Check out the video and story. I had always been curious about the point of detasseling.  All I knew was that tassels were taken off to produce seed corn.  What I didn’t realize is it is a controlled hybridization process.  The tassels are taken off four rows of one strain, while left on one row of another strain.  This allows the male aspect of one strain to pollinate the other. It was good to finally understand the summer rite of passage and the purpose behind it.

So is this a news piece? Advertorial? Propaganda?

I don’t know.  I’m attempting to shed light on the people who work at the facility by attacking the story in a different way. I’m more interested in them than I am in visitors who have shown up and why they paid the admission. To many it’s a labor of love and a job that satisfies them in a way no other task could.

My intent is for news. Time to wait for the bread to come out of the oven. (So to speak.)

Today I’m going to work on a natural sound piece at the horse track.  It’s the last day of racing and I want to do a cool piece on the races with quick cuts and good sound.  Wish me luck.

I’m not an expert at video by any stretch of the imagination, but I think that I’m getting better.  It’s such a different mentality for me.  I can blend into a room with my still cameras and no one knows I’m there, but that’s not possible or even practical with video. You are going to be seen, and you have to get in people’s way; not only in their face for an interview, but also in their face while they are working. This will take a while for me to adapt.

Perhaps the most interesting thing to me is it isn’t coming easy for me.  I’ve got to work at it.  That means I can spend a couple of hours editing and not think anything of it, in fact in doesn’t even feel like that much time. (Depending on computer crashes.)  Since I’m slow at the editing process, I’m not afraid to take a little more time to experiment. If at first you don’t succeed as they say.

I should also say that I’m lucky. I’ve been choosing assignments that I don’t have to turn around the same day.  This is primarily because I still have my normal assignments to cover as well. Squeezing all these assignments in is a challenge, but I’m adapting.  This weekend I’m debating shooting a nat-sound video piece on the last day of racing at Fonner Park.  I’ll post that too, maybe even with a still photo.

After getting over only being allowed to know the schedule when we arrived each day, I quickly settled into the 13-14 hour days and routine of morning lectures, afternoon hands on shooting, and more lectures and extra sessions in the evening.  It was completely worth the effort and expense. Now I am working to keep my promise to the paper of producing 1-2 projects a week. The first two can be seen at:

Tax Help

Speed Stacking

So I realize that it’s impossible to remember and apply everything I learned about sequencing, cutting on action and screen direction.  I am trying though and I think that is progress.  I’m just trying to adapt to the changes of the industry and learn new skills.  That will be good for my paper and good for me.

One of the most important things that I came away from the conference was that you have to get off the sidelines and get into the game. Now I’m in.