As the semester comes to a close for my cmat466 Trends News Story class, so does my final 1:30 piece. I decided to do another technology themed story, this time on the rise of smart tv’s. Since we have our show, Trend Center, and the class is all about trends, I focused on the trending aspect of the story as opposed to making it a gadget piece.

                It was a very fun story to work on. It was interesting doing the research and learning the facts about the percent of the population who own a smart tv (just under 20% in America), to the numbers supporting sales have indeed shown significant growth over the past few years. I also enjoyed being allowed into people’s homes to watch their prestigious smart tv’s operate and learning all the cool features they have. It really is amazing how far the technology has come and I definitely think after everything I’ve learned that smart tv’s will become the new “normal” television.

                One of the issues I had during this particular project was getting home and going through my equipment and realizing I didn’t have a wired lavalier microphone even though I asked for one. I learned that you should always check to make sure they give you everything you ask when checking out equipment, so as to save some gas. Luckily, I went through my stuff before I went to conduct the actual interview. It could have been a lot worse!

                The other issue I had was conducting my first stand-up interview. This is where I record myself saying one of the more interesting lines in the piece in front of the camera. It’s a good way to insert yourself and also fill some b-roll space. It ended up being harder to do than I anticipated all by myself. It took a while to flip the viewfinder and get the shot composed on myself and then remember my line. It was especially difficult because it was filled with statistics and numbers that I had to keep straight. It also wasn’t easy to find a nice, quiet place where people wouldn’t interrupt me.

                In the end, I’m happy with my final project as well as my performance in the class as a whole this semester. It’s been a lot of fun covering trends and producing news packages for TrendsCenter Delmarva. Thanks for keeping up with my stories and keep on top of trends, it pays off!