Never too much?

This past couple of weeks I spent learning a lot of lessons the hard way. Granted, I have been told you aren't professional until you've made every mistake twice (and learned from it) but still, it was frustrating.

My first mistake, or ultimate challenge, however you want to look at it, was giving myself a ridiculous schedule this semester. Unfortunately the end result was me being a caffeinated zombie walking through what I called a life. I am now certain that life is more than being one step ahead of myself, so I can graduate and get to Wales faster, where a one-year graduate program on intercultural and global politics (emphasizing in war and conflict) and, oh yeah, my Danish boyfriend await me. I need to take more time to myself, actually get sleep, and enjoy a little bit of the social life that comes with college. I already feel like I'm three to four years older than I am so there's no reason to push it further.

Don't get me wrong, I love a challenge and I love proving people wrong that I can handle a lot and do well at the same time, but I think I may have outdone myself this time. Needless to say, I broke down a bit last Monday, but managed to talk to enough people and take enough time to myself this weekend to make-up for it. I'm never afraid to ask for help when I need it, but I am still too stubborn to drop any job, class or organization, and I plan to finish the semester full force.

My second mistake led me to learn to put my own work before friends' work. In short, I go out of my way too often for people. I am often told that I'm too nice and shouldn't put up with a lot of things that happen to me. I am a believer in what goes around comes around, but I am probably too much of a doormat sometimes, and I have a feeling that if I keep that up, I will be consistently giving away story ideas, stand-up ideas, script ideas etc. for friends going through "emergencies." I have to remember to get my own stuff done first and remember that in the end, if I keep that up, I may as well be giving away my career to someone else so they can take credit. Note to self: keep my good ideas for myself and learn to say "no".

I also feel like I am getting much better at seeing my final product sooner in the process of putting together a package. I am getting better at shooting all the elements I need, thinking ahead, and planning out my story in my head ahead of time.


Story for this blog: Gopher stadium

After the Minnesota Gophers got ready for and played their first game, I was lured to a long-form story that several of KARE 11's journalists put together. In short, I loved it. The story was wrapped around a few very interesting people, the creativity with the editing was really good and I felt a sense of being there.

I have always respected KARE 11 for their work and I think this story is a good example of why. I'll start at the beginning. I love that they used the young kid jumping in front of the camera. Normally that would be extremely cheesy, but when trying to show the excitement of the fans I think it fits in and adds to the story, showing a range of age and excitement.

I love the editing where they put shots of drums and aerial shots of the stadium setting an exciting mood for the viewer, like something big is coming up, and for the fans at the game, that's exactly how it was. They go through several people and try to get all senses from tasting to seeing to hearing to practically feeling the experience of getting a new stadium.

I love the shot where the photographer must have been riding in the back of the fan's truck as he pulls into the tailgating lot with the Gopher flag on top flapping in the wind.

At about 2:05 in the video, they do an interview with a man in the nose bleed seats. I like how they framed it. He is still in the moment of watching the game and his son next to him is still intently staring and experiencing the game. It's like we're right there with them at the game with the interview taking place within the context of all of it. And they covered more than all sides of the fan's stories from old to young, and from fans in the front row to those not even sitting in the stadium and they talk to an announcer and to a past player as well. That's what I think what makes this story so interesting, the array of people in it.

I also love that the sequences used throughout the piece are from several distances and angles that are impossible with only one photographer. I also love the use of photographs, emphasizing big moments of the game and slowing them down for viewers to see. I think the change of pace is okay in this case and the first time I watched it, I didn't feel like I noticed they were photographs. They flowed, except the photo of the first field goal and points of the game, that one may have hung around a bit too long. However, this story was very inspirational to me and it's great to see what journalist can put together as a larger team than we are used to working with.