Posted by Steve Guidry on 09/16/05 16:15

On a related note . . .

All the stories we did are on Beta SX. Any one got a deck they could use to
make me an SP copy of this ?

Steve


"Jona Vark" <noemail@all.com> wrote in message
news:l_kWe.1184$2J3.566@newssvr21.news.prodigy.com...
> interesting stuff Steve.. thanks. Kudos to you for doing the gig..
>
>
> "Steve Guidry" <steveguidry@earthlink.net> wrote in message
> news:YjiWe.11909$9i4.6460@newsread2.news.atl.earthlink.net...
> > I had the pleasure/horror of working in New Orleans and the Mississippi
> > Coast this past week shooting News for RTE, Ireland's National TV
Network.
> > For what it's worth, here are some of my impressions . . .
> >
> > On a human level, the devastation was just horrendous. The pictures on
TV
> > just don't do the devastation justice. Thousands upon thousands are
> > completely homeless. The Point Cadet section of Biloxi was particularly
> > hard hit. This is particularly notable because of the population
density.
> > Whole city blocks now look like one giant pile of used lumber. St.
> Bernard
> > Parish was inundated with a foot of oily sludge from the refineries, and
> > will likely have to be demolished. Venice and Port Sulphur are
basically
> > gone. Nature has reclaimed much of its own.
> >
> > While the human tragedy was immense, the gig was, from a professional
> point
> > of view, quite fulfilling. Here are some observations on working the
> event
> > :
> >
> > - First, the Irish were great to work with. Paul Cunningham and Robert
> > Shortt were great folks, and true professionals in the news arena.
> >
> > - I found that most European News agencies use Beta SX as their
mastering
> > format. They send their folks out with a luggable "laptop" editor,
> > although I wouldn't want it on MY lap for any length of time.
> Basically,
> > it's two Beta SX decks built into a suitcase-sized case, with 2 LCD
> screens.
> > Machine-to-machine editing is done with BVW-75 type front-panel
controls.
> > The networks put in the graphics.
> >
> > - Deadlines for European TV are murderous. With a 6 hour time
> difference,
> > we were feeding the 6 PM news about 11 AM. This effectively cut the day
> in
> > half, as the reporter had to do a live report at the same time. We then
> had
> > about 3 hours to grab lunch and shoot something nearby before he had to
do
> a
> > live for the 9 PM news at 2:30 or so.
> >
> > - The days were long, starting at 8 AM or so, and finishing about 1 AM.
> >
> > - Production and editing are time-crunched as well. One day, we had to
> beg
> > a power tap from the side of the sat truck on Canal St. and edit in the
> > shadow of the RV sitting next to it. We sat on milk crates, and
balanced
> > the editor on its own case, all the while breathing exhaust from the
> > generators. We finished most of the editing by feed time, (see below)
> and
> > fed a comp reel of stock raw video to the network for them to finish it.
> > Ain't news grand.
> >
> > - Feed times are absolute. They are typically booked in 15-minute
> > increments, and cost several hundred dollars per window. If you miss
> yours,
> > not only do you have to pay for it anyway (probably), it's unlikely
that
> > you'll get another before your newscast. AND you'll endure the scorn of
> > your editors and derision of your fellow broadcasters.
> >
> > - Sat truck guys work the longest hours of all. They're "on" from
early
> to
> > late, working 12-hour shifts, typically.
> >
> > - Sleeping arrangements are prized. We were lucky enough to have a
> travel
> > trailer, but some guys slept in their cars, and others drove 2-3 hours
out
> > for a hotel. Also, I'll never head into another emergency zone like
this
> > without a generator. So many things would have been easier with a
stable
> > source of power.
> >
> > That's my observations. More later, if there's interest. Check the
audio
> > and video clips at www.rte.ie/news. Click on the archive date; anything
> > from 9/5 to 9/13 related to Hurricane Katrina is ours.
> >
> >
> > --
> > Steve Guidry
> > Video Works, Inc.
> > Live events for TV and Video
> > www.videoworksinc.com
> > 800.844.4404
> >
> >
> >
>
>

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