I’ve been busy this week. Here’s a quick list of the stories I produced between Tuesday and Wednesday:
- A video aboard an elephant at the Big E in West Springfield. (Story here)
- A brief video interview/explainer post with Massachusetts Lt. Gov. Tim Murray (Story here)
- A video profile of a professional sheep shearer (Story here)
One of these things is not like the other. Let me explain.
For starters, I was tasked with spending a few hours at the Big E, “New England’s Great State Fair” and seeing what I could come up with.
I found Andy Rice, the professional sheep shearer, and talked my way onto the back of an elephant with my cameras.
The elephant story came out OK, but it is not among my strongest pieces. I should have gotten some natural sound. I should have had more of a human element.
I tried to find some interesting characters for the piece, but the petting zoo staff was either too busy tending to the giant elephant or not interested in talking to me. I tried to make conversation with the other folks riding, but they were there to ride an elephant, not talk to me. It was also getting late, and I still had to get back to edit the piece.
So I left, and made myself a character, the narrator. I don’t like to do that, because it’s not about me. But I figured the story was light enough and the subject novel enough that I could do it without sounding too TV-newsy. I’m learning the school of NPR voicing, not CNN. I think that shows. I hope, at least.
The sheep shearer profile, on the other hand, is a package I’m pretty pleased with. I’m not there, except in the very obvious sense that I composed the piece and my name is on it. I let Andy drive the story, and he’s good at it, because he’s also an agricultural educator. I think he’s a strong character, and his love for his craft shines through. It makes you interested. It sure as hell made me interested.
I ran into the lieutenant governor’s press guy in the elevator on my way back into the office, and he told me he’d be available for an interview. Show me another job where you can spend an afternoon riding elephants, switch gears and put questions to state policy makers.
Days like Tuesday are exhausting, and they remind me what I love about my craft.
This is a wonderful video, Sean. Great editing. I love when the sheep gets up and trots off at the end. I love this blog, which I’m just really discovering now. After 15 years as a reporter, I look back at election nights as being one of the very best things about the job. I love your description of them being like Christmas morning and going to the dentist in one.