Recent content by Frank McBride

It's that time again, and the B-Roll All Stars FF league (Yahoo!) still has 2 spots open. The draft is this Saturday, so join quickly if you are interested. Here's the info: League ID#: 290203 League Name: B-Roll All-Stars Password: nolockout FMc

I highly recommend watching the contest entries for the b-roll awards. Even if you don't intend to vote, there is a lot you can learn by watching them. Since these are what the submitters consider their best work, it's mostly good stuff. The first thing that stuck out for me is a number of...

I was trained up in traditional shooting and editing. One of the things that was branded onto my brain is that we must always hide the tools, meaning we don't stick a big old mic with flag in the shot, we don't shoot into mirrors, we don't throw a shadow on our subject, and we don't frame a...

The B-Roll All Stars league has 4 more team slots available for fantasy managers. It's a no-money, pride and fun only league of mostly TV types. Here is how to join: http://football.fantasysports.yahoo.com/f1 League ID#: 530130 Password: b-roll FMc

The other night I got caught in a classic YouTube domino series and ended up watching some of the coverage of the loss of the Space Shuttle Columbia. The NASA-TV feed seemed unreal in that even when it was apparent something was seriously wrong, there was no visible reaction in Mission Control...

I've seen a few places where people list their opinions of the all-time greatest guitar players. Hendrix is almost always #1, and I tend to agree with that. I'm interested not so much in who you think is/was the greatest, but who are your favorites? The difference is subtle, but like with...

I just got a Rifa and am interested in what people think about it compared to the Chimera which is what I have used up to now. I am planning to use it mostly for night live shots. Some of the questions I have are: What can it do that Chimera can't and vice/versa? How fast is it? Is it...

We have three more slots left in our 12 team league. Feel free to join in. Here's how: Follow this link, then enter this information: (You may not need to, but here it is in case) League ID#: 218988 Password: b-roll First come, first to play. FMc

This article or I guess officially blog from wired is a quick read and is somewhat counter to the "TV is doomed" trend. Here's a summary quote: "PCs and other portable devices are mostly unsatisfying for anything longer than 30 minutes. So, until most Americans have fully networked their...

Much like newsshooter's tax-tips assignment, reporter Lee McGuire and I were assigned to do a week's worth of stories about the results of our Belo Texas Poll on the presidential candidates. It's similar in that we have to try to keep viewers interested while covering some potentially...

I first saw the video of the car sliding on ice in Missouri yesterday on the usual feeds. Today, CBS led with it. So, congratulations to the shooter on getting a great shot. And why a day late, CBS? FMc

The National Geographic Channel ran this show that showed the process of imploding the old hotel/casinos on the strip. In 1997 when the Alladin was brought down, a "local television station" placed "closed circuit cameras" in the building. That's as specific as the track got. I'm curious...

I got to cover a story Wednesday about a mile from my house where a man heard glass breaking, saw two men burglarizing the house next door and called 911. Then he grabbed his shotgun. Yesterday the tape was released. It's the best sound quality of a 911 tape I think I've ever heard, and the...

I had just sat down with my 6" Turkey and Ham (it is Monday, after all) when I got called out to a house fire where CPS was requested. I put the food on hold and pulled up to a house that had very little firefighting going on, but an unusual amount of police action. I noticed that one of the...

Nielson has the latest list of market ranks on their website. You need to download the pdf file listed. If you click on the various tabs, you can see comparisons to last year. FMc