Time to update Trends Today! It’s been a while since I finished my second story and I’m now on to my third project. I’ve been researching current trends and keeping up with the current local news in the Delmarva area.

                 I’ve thought of several topics on which I may conduct my next story. There was a local fire in a Salisbury outbuilding that caused $11,000 in damage. An ex-salisbury paramedic was sentenced in a sex abuse case. Perhaps the most interesting and even important newsworthy event locally is what’s going on with Pumpkin Chunkin. It has long been the prized competition of Delaware and become a local tradition. People of literally all types and ages love going and watching the pumpkins get tossed thousands of feet and the tailgating. Unfortunately, the owner of the farm land on which the event has been held since 2007 is regrettably not allowing Pumpkin Chunkin back. This is due to fear of more lawsuits, such as the one from last year in which an injured volunteer sued the farm. Now the creators of the loved tradition must find a new place to host it. But will they have to move it out of state? How much more might they have to end up paying? Will there be a Pumpkin Chunkin next year?!

                These are just some of the things I’m currently considering. The topics I cover can be of any range, so If you have any requests please feel free to voice them. Once I’ve established my topic and gotten it approved, the creation process begins for me. It’s a long and stressful process, but it’s also fun and very rewarding in the end when I see my finished product. I normally start by immediately looking up possible candidates I’d like to interview for my story. This is to give them the most time to accommodate their busy schedules. Also, it’s not unheard of to be stood up, so this allows for time to regroup from that as well. Once I have interviews set up, I like to go out on a couple nice days begin collecting b-roll. This is just a fancy term for the video to compliment my commentary in between interviews. Once I have all my footage, I have to then create a script and get it approved. The next step is to then go into the recording studio and record myself reading aloud my script. Once I have my own narration, I got into the video editing booths and finally put everything together into a story that’s hopefully good enough to be aired on television. Believe me, it takes a lot more work than people realized to make a quality news package, even if it’s only 1:30 long! In fact, sometimes that’s the challenge because there’s so much information I want to express and I MUST fit the time limit. We follow strict time constraints in class to prepare us for the real world. Television is like clockwork with its shows and commercials.

                In my next blog, I’ll be sure to let everyone know how the process went for my third story! Hopefully everything runs smoothly, but inevitably in this business you run into a roadblock or two along the way. Until then, stay current on news and trends. Looking forward to showing my next video!