ABC 20/20 - Multi-camera Train Wreck

[prosheditor]

The Amateur Broadcasting Company is at it again.

Did anybody happen to see the 20/20 episode 2-3 weeks ago when they went after the underground counterfeit pharmaceutical market dealers? Well, they must have put out an open crew call on Craig's List or used one of the new crowdsourcing apps to get their shooters at the last minute saying no experience necessary and bring your own camera no matter what it is.

There must have been five different camera systems rolling at any given time and it was an all over the place train wreck free-for-all with mismatched color, under/over exposure, soft focus, shaky frames with snap zooms and whip pans, you know, for ABC's new target demo. I can't recall if the audio was bad.

It was very fast paced & there must have been 5 cuts every 4 seconds. With that and all the Mtv-type effects, it was almost impossible to watch and whoever organized and approved that should be ashamed. The only impressive part of that show was when David Muir broke out his fluent Spanish in mid-sentence and interrogated one of the counterfeiters on the spot. That lady wasn't expecting that and didn't know how to react to someone who knew how to play her game. It showed how he got into the story more than just being there. The only other reporter I've seen do that is John Quinones but I'm sure there's more in all market levels.

 

[Run&Gun]

Well, they must have put out an open crew call on Craig's List or used one of the new crowdsourcing apps to get their shooters at the last minute saying no experience necessary and bring your own camera no matter what it is.

It was probably worse than CL: I'm guessing it was all producers.

 

[Douglas]

ABC isn't even a news organization anymore. Have you watched the evening news lately? It's just 10 second blurbs, human interest garbage, and lots of Youtube clips. A complete waste of time.

Fortunately CBS is still respectable (usually) and NBC is a close second, but ABC has more in common with Extra or TMZ. Sad.

BTW, it's nice to see Lester Holt taking over the helm so we won't ever have to hear that blowhard Brian Williams inject himself somehow into the lead-in of every story.

 

[prosheditor]

It was probably worse than CL: I'm guessing it was all producers.

I wouldn't be surprised and would not like to be a logger or editor trying to piece that mess together. It was really bad.

Years ago, I worked as an AC/PA on a Travel Channel show shooting on DV and Beta. Of course, the DV was shot by the field producer and I was also the 'boom operator' straight lined into the camera, cheapness beyond belief.

After seeing things that made me close my eyes and bow my head, I wanted to take that camera from her so many times to salvage what was left of the shoot at that location and just settle for a camera operator screen credit instead of battling for a miniscule rate bump. But I kept my mouth shut and endured the carnage.

ABC isn't even a news organization anymore. Have you watched the evening news lately? It's just 10 second blurbs, human interest garbage, and lots of Youtube clips. . . .

. . . Fortunately CBS is still respectable (usually) and NBC is a close second, but ABC has more in common with Extra or TMZ. Sad. . . .

Yep. They're going after that new younger demo. The first one to hook them wins. It's kind of scary to know that kind of content is appealing to that many people.

 

[The Thing on The Sticks]

Years ago, I worked as an AC/PA on a Travel Channel show shooting on DV and Beta. Of course, the DV was shot by the field producer and I was also the 'boom operator' straight lined into the camera, cheapness beyond belief.

After seeing things that made me close my eyes and bow my head, I wanted to take that camera from her so many times to salvage what was left of the shoot at that location and just settle for a camera operator screen credit instead of battling for a miniscule rate bump. But I kept my mouth shut and endured the carnage.

Yep you are pretty much describing my situation, when I first went freelance I did a lot of audio jobs as I was buying my kit. As a matter of fact I was considering switching over to pure audio for a while until I had about a 6 month string of jobs like this.. It has gotten bad and the DSLR= quality crowd is the worst.

Yep. They're going after that new younger demo. The first one to hook them wins. It's kind of scary to know that kind of content is appealing to that many people.

They will never get it until they fire most all of the talent and drop the network newscasts, in favor or the web. The 30 and under crowd in my opinion mostly doesn't sit and watch a full newscast, nore do they want to. They want something that is presented in a on demand format so they can get what they care a bout now. While they are getting close nobody is there yet and until they start posting to the web as soon as air or before there will be no major demographic shift.

Also on a personal side note about the 35 and under crowd, nobody wants to see, jump cut dutch angle seizure inducing crap either. If I had a nickle for every time I have been told that that is what the young people want, than I would have a sack of coins to hit people with every time they tried to peddle that crap. A decent percentage of my clients are my own age or even often times younger and they love my work because it is consistent and I know when to mix it up and when not to.

 

[Run&Gun]

Fortunately CBS is still respectable (usually) and NBC is a close second, but ABC has more in common with Extra or TMZ. Sad.

The really bad thing... TMZ is doing better journalism than some of the big boys. How many big stories have they beat everyone to the punch to and had the facts right? As much as I loathe the celebrity gossip scene, at least they can make fun of themselves and not take themselves too seriously. So many of the big boys are turning crap AND still think they are God's gift to TV and journalism.

 

[Douglas]

TMZ is just an entertainment show and they don't pretend to be anything else. I give them full credit for that. More power to them if that's what they want to peddle. I have more respect for TMZ than I do for ABC News, GMA, Today, 48 Hours, and that ilk that still claim to be "news".

But let's not pretend TMZ scooped the big boys on anything that matters worth a damn. I expect journalism to give me more than a shaky video clip or a soundbite they got from someone baggage claim. What big stories that actually matter are you referring? The only thing I can find on Wikipedia is regarding Northern Trust Bank in 2009. Wow, one story in 6 years. That's scooping the big boys for sure. And I'll be willing to bet that story dropped in their lap rather than from anything they did to dig it up. That's not journalism.

 

[Run&Gun]

Well, I guess you can debate the worthiness of the "scoops". I work mostly in the sports world and I was referring to high profile athlete related stories(which unfortunately are basically celeb news when they get to that point). Just like the thread from At The Scene, it may not be what some consider news or even journalism, but big sports pays me well.

 

[Douglas]

The really bad thing... TMZ is doing better journalism than some of the big boys.

Making money from sports, gossip, celebrity bull****, reality TV, is one thing -- but you posted the comment above. That is just crazy talk.

 

[Run&Gun]

Doug, I wasn't trying to give the impression that I think TMZ is some sort of journalistic pillar breaking stories on secret government policy, though my words didn't exactly convey that. I guess a better way of putting it is, that with so much of what "news" has become (notice the quotation marks around news), they are beating the big boys at it. Everyone is sprinting down this hill of crap and it's a race to get to the bottom. My take on it is it's a two-fold problem. The un-washed masses eat this crap up and think it's "newsworthy". They think what Kim Kardashian did on vacation or what kind of underwear Tom Brady wears is more important than what's going on in the middle east or the homeless problem here in our own country. So with the fear of losing (even more) viewers, the (once real) news outlets started following suite.

Several years ago I was out working with one of my longtime producers(she's been doing it at least 30 years). We were on assignment for what was going to be several day and she got pulled off while we were there to go to a "big developing story" (there was some news worthiness to it, but at it's base, it was a celeb story). I looked at her and asked, "When did we become TMZ?". She just kind of shook her head and laughed and said something to the effect of this is what it's turning into and this is what we do now. Sad.

 

[canuckcam]

'Shakycam' is a style and skill that very few people know how to do properly. It's really only possible with a shoulder-cam as the pivot point is not in your hand but further back and you don't 'shake' the camera with your arms but use your entire body swaying back and forth while dampening the shocks.