• The Coolest Job + Job Security

    April 30th, 2009

     

    galenbackgrounddarrenbrown1Darren Brown, multimedia journalist for KWTV/Oklahoma City, says he has the COOLEST job in the place.

    Sample his work through the links below, and you’ll see several effective storytelling techniques.  They include effective use of the background in an interview, shown here,  and encouraging the interview subject to show-and-tell.  You might also appreciate Darren’s candor.

     HOW DID YOU GET STARTED?

    I got into the VJ/OMB thing about 4 years ago.  I started in production way back in ’87.  Started with studio camera, then tape room stuff, etc.  But I always thought the photogs had the COOLEST job in the whole place.  I started shooting in ’94 and, truth be known, I think that I have the COOLEST job in the place these days.  I’ve been shooting/reporting for our website News9.com for almost 2 years now.

     

    I get a kick out of reading message boards and blogs that decry the whole VJ/OMB movement as blasphemy.  The guys who write that stuff are either ignorant or just plain scared, or both.  It’s certainly not for everyone, but it’s called JOB SECURITY.  I wanna be the guy who management says “Now wait a minute, if we lose him, we lose a photog, a reporter, an editor, a writer, and one of our helicopter shooters.”  

     

    BIGGEST CHALLENGE?

     

    Often my biggest challenge working by myself is time management.  Luckily, my deadlines are nothing like they used to be in news.  However, working alone, it’s easy to get caught up in what I’m shooting and lose track of time etc.  Sometimes, it would be a great help to have someone else there to occupy the subject while I’m getting my b-roll.  I can’t tell you how many times I have gotten about 20-30 miles down the road and realized “Damn! I forgot to get an exterior.” (Or a CU, or any manner of great shots)

     

    Since I work alone, there’s no one else to blame if my product sucks.  Sometimes that can be very humbling.  But I try to learn from it.

     

    The biggest reward for me is knowing that I did the story “my way.”  All those years I was shooting, I always thought “Well I would do it THIS way.”  Of course, I wouldn’t be rude enough to tell that to a good reporter.  Be careful what you ask for.

     

    WHERE CAN OUR READERS ENJOY YOUR WORK?

     

    Here’s a sampling:

     

    http://www.news9.com/global/story.asp?s=10263667

     

    http://www.news9.com/Global/story.asp?S=9939740

     

    http://www.news9.com/Global/story.asp?S=9831751

     

    http://tinyurl.com/ccgpfb

    Posted in Multimedia Journalism, Power Tools for TV Journalists | 1 Comment »