Today wrapped up the first week of NTTV for this semester. On Tuesdays I am a technical director for Lets Talk North Texas in the morning, then the Director for NTTV News at Noon. On Thursdays I am the Operations Volunteer for news at noon. Of those roles, Director is the most important and I was very surprised when they called me and told me they would like me to direct. Ive never pictured my self in a Directing position, I always see camera work as my specialty but im very excited to take on that role.
Technical directing involves me running the camera switcher board and live switching cameras and video feeds based on what the director of that show calls out. When T.D.ing i almost have to be one step ahead and predict what the director wants before he calls it out.
Operations involves making sure all of the equipment such as cameras, lighting ect. is set up and working properly for the specific show. It also includes “shading” the cameras, which means adjusting the iris and how much light each camera lets in from the master control room. Filling in and helping out other positions is also a big part of operations.
Then theres Directing. As a director, i’m the captain of the show, once the producers hand it over its all mine. All responsibilities and changes fall on me. I have to run through scripts and rundowns and write down which cameras to use on what stories at what times. Then be ready to call out all the shots to my crew. Directing is very high stress, and very faced paced, you have to go into it confidently and if there is a mistake, you have to just keep moving and not worry about it, if you do the mistake could snowball and effect the rest of the show. A lot of times the viewers won’t even notice small mistakes. As director theres a lot of things i need to work and improve on, wether its my call outs or how the cast and crew are working in their positions. I also realize its the first week and everyone is new to their positions so I don’t hold anyone accountable for their mistakes yet, and every one needs to improve on something, especially me.
After week one, Technical directing is my favorite of the three positions, operations is ok but theres not much to it. I see once things improve, hopefully by week three, Directing will be my favorite of the positions.