Chris Vlahos Blog

MY FIRST VO PATROL
What a day…enough said… On Friday, April 3rd , I endured my first VO Patrol at KOMU. Survived may be a better word, but I’ll go with endured. When I arrived at the station I talked to the producer and received my story assignment. The producer wanted me to cover a story in Holts Summit about an election with no names on the ballot. Due to a mix up it was too late to put the names on the ballot, meaning voters would have to write the name of the candidate they wanted in office on the ballot. I looked at the press release, went online and looked for contact information on the two candidates. After some serious “googling” I found the phone numbers. I called both candidates, but neither answered the phone. I waited till three and then the producer realized it was time for Plan B. The statewide Geography Bee was taking place later in the day at Memorial Union. The winner of the event would go to Washington D.C. on May 19-20 to compete in the National Geography Championship I grabbed the gear and headed to campus.
Once I arrived I started talking to parents to see if I could get more information about the contest. Then I approached the proctor and spoke with him about the contestants and the event itself. I was concerned it may not end in time for me to conduct my interviews and get back to the station with time to write and edit. Little did I know my fears would be confirmed later that afternoon.
To my dismay not only were these kids smart, but they were borderline brilliant. No one could miss a question. As I anxiously waited for the contest to conclude, I looked for sequences and isolation shots of the competitors. I also wrote down a few of the questions, in case I decided to use a few in my script. After an hour it mercifully ended. I got shots of the winner and interviewed the proctor, winner, and the winner’s Mom. It was 4:40 I thought I had a chance to get back to the station with enough time to turn a VO/SOT/VO for the six o’ clock show. Then it happened………
A woman knew I was from KOMU, so she approached me and began to pitch what she thought was a great story idea. I politely listened, but packed my gear at the same time hoping she would get the message that I was in a hurry. She didn’t…..It was now 4:55 my gear was packed and she was now writing down directions and the idea. I didn’t want to be rude because I feared she might call the station and say a rude reporter just covered the Geography Bee and offended her. Finally I said, “I’m sorry but I have to get back to the station and edited this so you can see it tonight at six.” I quickly packed the car and left for KOMU.
Once I got back I scurried to an edit bay and put the memory card in the deck. I couldn’t write quick enough. I got script approval, but ran out of time and was only able to do a VO for the six o’clock show. Even as I write this I am disappointed and embarrassed that I didn’t do what I was supposed to do, which was do a VO/SOT/VO for the six.
I wrote my web story and made a copy of my VO and thought I was going to leave and then the ten o’clock producer told me she wanted me to do a VO/SOT/VO as the kicker for her show. “Great, I thought I could make up for my earlier debacle.” I started again, new script, edit and get it all approved. I finished up at 9pm and tried to transfer the story to the show, but it wouldn’t work. Why? Why more problems? I wasn’t the only one; everyone was getting the same error message. The system was full; don’t worry about it they said. I finished up a few last minute things and got ready to leave and before I went in search of dinner I asked one more time if everything was all right, but this time it wasn’t. My edit bay wasn’t working and the other producer then just laid down some shots to fill the runtime, leading to a story that didn’t make very much sense.
Not an ideal day and it hurts to write about, but on the positive side, I get another chance next Friday.
JOURNALISM
This was one of the more interesting stories I’ve watched in a while because there was no reporter. None. The entire story is visuals and interviews, but it is extremely effective. The story involves a couple getting ready for prom, but instead of buying an expensive tuxedo and dress the two have decided to make their attire out of duct tape.
I like the opening shot of a “Duck Tape” label and the sounds of the girl using the tape to make the dress. The package uses short quick edits and pithy, yet interesting bites that keep the viewer interested. The fast pace keeps me from getting bored with the shots on screen. The reporter was fortunate that the duct tape had vivid colors on camera that catch the eye. The entire story was shot off the shoulder rather than on a tripod, which for this type of story worked to perfection. I liked the way the piece was crafted and edited because it wasn’t about the reporter at all, just the story.
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2009/04/03/kinney.duct.tape.prom.ktxa