Business Interview, Music Portrait and Interlachen Work - 4 hours total

Friday December 10 - Today I did more interviews in the business department. I spoke to different teachers. Each time I interview them I feel like I get more comfortable. Sometimes the problem is making them feel more comfortable. They seem to start out nervous on camera, but become more comfortable once we get going. This lasted one hour.

Friday December 10 - Today Lauren and I went for the Interlachen to take the music departments staff photo. Because there were crosses in communication between our editor and the director, this took about an hour.

Saturday December - Today I worked with Lauren and Cynthia in the Interlachen lab for two hours. We worked on changing the layout. It was the first time I worked on indesign that wasn't in desktop class. Cynthia was really helpful and showed me out to change the different things and work the program in new ways.

Final

After completing one full semester of college as a Broadcast Journalism major, the most important lesson that I have learned is that I am in the right field for me. Through the different learning experiences I have had and through long thoughts and discussions with my advisor and family about my future I am confident with my major choice.

                Half way through the semester, I was not completely sure about broadcast being the communication concentration I wanted. I originally chose it because I loved being the anchor for my high school news show. The pressure of deadlines, the nervous feeling while counting down until show time, and the thrill of being live in front of thousands of people made my passion for journalism grow and I soon had my heart set on majoring in broadcasting.

                Once I began college I realized how much work it actually is to be part of a production. It takes many hours and an entire crew to produce a decent segment. The taste of broadcasting I got in high school was sitting behind a big desk on camera and reading from a teleprompter. That is not at all the case in college and in the real world. It takes a lot of work. I questioned myself not because I didn’t want to do the work, but because I didn’t understand what kind of work it was. I always was a writer and was used to that perspective of it, but I didn’t have any filming or editing experience. Working with people who have a lot of experience was a little intimidating for me because I didn’t know what I was doing.

                Over the course of the semester my knowledge of what it takes to be a broadcast major and my skills increased greatly. For the first half of the semester I focused mostly on The Interlachen. It was something familiar because I was on the yearbook staff in high school and was the editor of my paper. It was within my comfort zone. I worked a little on writing and learned about taking pictures. I learned how to use the equipment and work with different lighting. I learned to work with a large staff, including editors who had much to teach me. After midterms, I was told about a new show the Business Department wanted to make and put online for prospective students. When Dr. Tracy asked me to interview and anchor I was really excited about it. Once we started shooting I knew that I was in the right field. I was able to make up all my questions, set up interviews with all the professors’ busy schedules and ultimately interview them on camera. Now I’m in the process of transferring the interviews to the computer and beginning to edit it until it is presentable and ready to go online. I love being a part of something like this. Knowing that people from all over will be able to see it and learn about the school from something I created, with the help of others of course, makes me feel great. This is the passion that I’ve been waiting to feel. I love it and know I’m in the right major for me.

                Besides this major lesson, I also learned the technical skills I can use to be successful. I am now familiar with different equipment. I now know that some lessons are learned the hard way; like always make sure the camera batteries are charged. I am comfortable interviewing people who are both younger and older than me. Before I thought that an interview was just me asking someone questions. Now I realize that it’s a conversation while getting answers. If it wasn’t for the business interviews I would have thought I liked anchoring more than interviewing.  I learned that I need to learn from those older and more experienced than I am and that I have to work hard to get where I want to be. It is dedication that will get me far in this field.

Business Interviews - 1 hour

Thursday December 9 - Today I did business interviews for one hour. Each time I'm on camera I feel myself getting more and more comfortable. It just becomes mroe natural and I become less nervous. I had questions, interviewed and now I'm working on getting the footage on the computer.

Interlachen Work - 3 hours

Wednesday 12/8- Today I spent 3 hours in the Interlachen lab at different times during the day. At different ponits Lauren, Austen, Jess and Cynthia were all there and giving me work to do. I sent out emails from the Interlachen and had to get in touch with the heads of each club to set up times to schedule group portraits for early next semseter. I also was in contact with the heads of science department. That is the department that I am in charge of photographing over the course of the next semester. While I was doing this I was also learning different things from the programs the older students were working on like sound booth.

Business Interview - 30 minutes

Tuesday December 7 - Today I went to work in the Business Department and spoke with Dr. Tracy and Lisa about faculty interviews. Today I learned the hard way to always make sure the camera batteries are charged. I eventually met with Dr. Stancil and interview him about the accounting department here at FSC. This took about a half hour.

Second Christmas Tree Lighting- 1 hour

Tuesday December 7 - Tonight was a second Christmas Tree Lighting. This one took place by the water dome at 6pm. I worked with Lauren Lundell to take pictures. She has a lot of photogrpahy experience so I always like taking pictures with her. I learn alot. I used to have problems with focusing on objects in the distance but she taught me how to fix that. I also practiced taking more pictures at night and how to properly use the flash on the camera. We took pictures of the tree, and the small reception after.

Christmas Tree Lighting - 1 hour

Sunday December 5 - Tonight I went to the Christmas tree lighting on campus for one hour to photograph the event for the Interlachen. There were lots of people in attendance, a choir singing and even Santa so I got lots of good shots. It was a little tricky photographing this because it was the first thing I shot at night. For the pictures to turn out I had to use the flash and well as be in the spotlights provided around the tree.

Gingerbread House Making, Snowfest - 4 hours

Thursday December 2- Tonight I worked with Lauren Lundell to photograph gingerbread house making in the Spivey lobby for Interlachen. We originally wanted to photgraph the parade downtown but it was so crowded and got too dark so the pictures weren't turning out. I didn't realize that the pictures wouldn't be great at night. Luckily we had another event scheduled. We took pictures of the gingerbread making and there were even a few girls decorating a Christmas tree. The night totaled about 2 hours of work.

Saturday December 4- Today I went and filmed the Snowfest downtown in Lakeland. There were lots of people, vendors and even real snow so we got lots of good shots. We were there for 2 hours.

2 Interlachen Meetings, Business Department Interview Meeting- 3 hours total

Wednesday November 17- I met with the staff of the Interlachen in the Communications buildings. We discussed upcoming events and signed up for shoots.

Tuesday November 30- Today I went to work in the Business Department. I spoke to different faculty members about seeting up interviews times. I spent time planning a schedule around their office hours and my class schedule. I also reworked some of my questions.

Wednesday December 1- Today was a another Interlachen meeting. We all met in the usual place to discuss all the upcoming events. I signed up for lots of shoots. I also recieved the contact information for the science department. Lauren Lundell and I are working to photograph different events, and even action shoots in classes, for the science section of the yearbook.