I'm the VJ from the NPPA mag. Any questions?

[formernews2er]

So Alex, I beg to differ with you, that the OMB and handycam format doesn't work at all for dosc, magazines and cable TV, unless you're doing one of those "funniest home videos" types of shows.

funny you should mention "America's Funniest Home Videos"

its popularity was actually presented as a selling point by GM Mike Sechrist during the first VJ meeting...something to the effect of "viewers don't care about video quality! look at how popular 'America's Funniest Home Videos' is!!!"

that was when i started looking for a new job

 

[Bluedog]

OMG!!! I can't believe he actually said that!!! I guess that would be the writing on the wall. Now we know what kind of thinking goes on there. One question for you formernews2er. I know of one of the reporters at News2 who quit and is doing freelance in Nashvegas, but what about the others? Has everyone who left landed on their feet? And, glad to see you're making it. I know the hours and weekends suck but at least you've got a job.

 

[AlexLucas]

Alex, first, I thank you for your frankness and willingness to tell us how it really is.


So Alex, I beg to differ with you, that the OMB and handycam format doesn't work at all for docs, magazines and cable TV, unless you're doing one of those "funniest home videos" types of shows.

Warren

Born into Brothels was shot on the OMB handycam formats. It won an Oscar last year for best documentary, and it was phenomenal.

You're arguing formats are blocking people. I know people that could take an Etch-A-Sketch and still turn out brilliant visual art.

Well, I think you're right. If you shoot on DV cameras, and use the DV format, it isn't as good as you would think it could be. However things are changing, and if you look around these days at the Sony Z1U that I carried at WKRN, or the Panasonic HVX 200 (which with P2 cards can shoot Varicam format) or the GY HD100U from JVC which has a smaller ENG lens on the front of it, you would notice that these little cameras turn a very fine image, if you make sure the workflow is solid. They all have XLR inputs, digital audio, and they all work in native HDV. The Z1U does 1080i, the Panasonic does everything, and the JVC does true 720p. I always bump around the camera websites, and whenever they offer up a DVD that has all of their new cameras, I put myself on the mailing list. So far I have gotten quite a few DVDs, and they don't just look good, they look great. HDV to HDV to HDV output is phenomenal, and cheap as can be.

If you're shooting a doc on an old XL1, then yes, it's going to look terrible and flat. A lot of people complained about the Z1U look when I was at WKRN. That was not the problem. The problem was the format. We were shooting in HDV, dumping out of cam at DV, and it was running through two compression schemes before hitting the air. I assume that KRON in SanFran is doing about the same. It barely looks passible. What did it look like? It looked like an XL1. What would it look like if you just went native all the way through with no compression? The Z1U shoots on 1080i HDV, and when you send it back native HD, and cut it native HD, it looks better than Beta. Beta is great, magnificent, but it's getting old. That's all. I bet you watch a lot of shows on the Discovery Channel about animals that you actually think were shot on film. Acutally, they were shot on Varicam, the new Panasonic HD format. It's a sweet cam.

So why use these little cameras?

Well, it looks so good that Steven Spielberg's creative team used a tiny Panasonic HVX200 to shoot plate shots for the effects in the movie Munich. That was to save time in processing, and remove the jaggies. It was mixed right in with the remaining 35mm stocks. It's a 6k USD camera. The movie Once Upon a Time in Mexico was shot on Varicam, and Collateral, the Michael Mann film was shot on a ViperCam system, which runs about 150k USD. Stephen Soderburgh just shot the movie Bubble using a Varicam, and he only used two practical lights throughout the entire production.

If you're interested, you should go check out http://hd24.com/ if you're interested on what a Varicam rig looks like, without any post effects. A Varicam runs 90k USD.

What I am saying right now is, it has nothing to do with the little cam. I got some short embarrassment out of it, but I got over it. It was the cutbacks and attitude that forced me out, not the technology.

It's never been the camera. It's been the person operating the camera. I've seen people take digibeta and make it look like utter burning home video crap. I've seen work from a XL1 look like a Hollywood production. The camera world has a lot of artisans, but not a lot of artists. True artists could make an incredible photo with a carboard box and a pinhole.

So how do I know about all of this?
When I was out of work for six weeks between news jobs, I just did about a month's research into cameras, prices, values, and the new digital switch. I am a self taught on the subject. If anyone buys a non-HD capable camera these days, they're a fool. The prices are ten times better than the old days.

 

[AlexLucas]

Alex, first, I thank you for your frankness and willingness to tell us how it really is.


So Alex, I beg to differ with you, that the OMB and handycam format doesn't work at all for docs, magazines and cable TV, unless you're doing one of those "funniest home videos" types of shows.

Warren

Born into Brothels was shot on the OMB handycam formats. It won an Oscar last year for best documentary, and it was phenomenal.

You're arguing formats are blocking people. I know people that could take an Etch-A-Sketch and still turn out brilliant visual art.

Well, I think you're right. If you shoot on DV cameras, and use the DV format, it isn't as good as you would think it could be. However things are changing, and if you look around these days at the Sony Z1U that I carried at WKRN, or the Panasonic HVX 200 (which with P2 cards can shoot Varicam format) or the GY HD100U from JVC which has a smaller ENG lens on the front of it, you would notice that these little cameras turn a very fine image, if you make sure the workflow is solid. They all have XLR inputs, digital audio, and they all work in native HDV. The Z1U does 1080i, the Panasonic does everything, and the JVC does true 720p. I always bump around the camera websites, and whenever they offer up a DVD that has all of their new cameras, I put myself on the mailing list. So far I have gotten quite a few DVDs, and they don't just look good, they look great. HDV to HDV to HDV output is phenomenal, and cheap as can be.

If you're shooting a doc on an old XL1, then yes, it's going to look terrible and flat. A lot of people complained about the Z1U look when I was at WKRN. That was not the problem. The problem was the format. We were shooting in HDV, dumping out of cam at DV, and it was running through two compression schemes before hitting the air. I assume that KRON in SanFran is doing about the same. It barely looks passible. What did it look like? It looked like an XL1. What would it look like if you just went native all the way through with no compression? The Z1U shoots on 1080i HDV, and when you send it back native HD, and cut it native HD, it looks better than Beta. Beta is great, magnificent, but it's getting old. That's all. I bet you watch a lot of shows on the Discovery Channel about animals that you actually think were shot on film. Acutally, they were shot on Varicam, the new Panasonic HD format. It's a sweet cam.

So why use these little cameras?

Well, it looks so good that Steven Spielberg's creative team used a tiny Panasonic HVX200 to shoot plate shots for the effects in the movie Munich. That was to save time in processing, and remove the jaggies. It was mixed right in with the remaining 35mm stocks. It's a 6k USD camera. The movie Once Upon a Time in Mexico was shot on Varicam, and Collateral, the Michael Mann film was shot on a ViperCam system, which runs about 150k USD. Stephen Soderburgh just shot the movie Bubble using a Varicam, and he only used two practical lights throughout the entire production.

If you're interested, you should go check out http://hd24.com/ if you're interested on what a Varicam rig looks like, without any post effects. A Varicam runs 90k USD.

What I am saying right now is, it has nothing to do with the little cam. I got some short embarrassment out of it, but I got over it. It was the cutbacks and attitude that forced me out, not the technology.

It's never been the camera. It's been the person operating the camera. I've seen people take digibeta and make it look like utter burning home video crap. I've seen work from a XL1 look like a Hollywood production. The camera world has a lot of artisans, but not a lot of artists. True artists could make an incredible photo with a carboard box and a pinhole.

So how do I know about all of this?
When I was out of work for six weeks between news jobs, I just did about a month's research into cameras, prices, values, and the new digital switch. I am a self taught on the subject. If anyone buys a non-HD capable camera these days, they're a fool. The prices are ten times better than the old days.

 

[AlexLucas]

Alex, first, I thank you for your frankness and willingness to tell us how it really is.


So Alex, I beg to differ with you, that the OMB and handycam format doesn't work at all for docs, magazines and cable TV, unless you're doing one of those "funniest home videos" types of shows.

Warren

Born into Brothels was shot on the OMB handycam formats. It won an Oscar last year for best documentary, and it was phenomenal.

You're arguing formats are blocking people. I know people that could take an Etch-A-Sketch and still turn out brilliant visual art.

Well, I think you're right. If you shoot on DV cameras, and use the DV format, it isn't as good as you would think it could be. However things are changing, and if you look around these days at the Sony Z1U that I carried at WKRN, or the Panasonic HVX 200 (which with P2 cards can shoot Varicam format) or the GY HD100U from JVC which has a smaller ENG lens on the front of it, you would notice that these little cameras turn a very fine image, if you make sure the workflow is solid. They all have XLR inputs, digital audio, and they all work in native HDV. The Z1U does 1080i, the Panasonic does everything, and the JVC does true 720p. I always bump around the camera websites, and whenever they offer up a DVD that has all of their new cameras, I put myself on the mailing list. So far I have gotten quite a few DVDs, and they don't just look good, they look great. HDV to HDV to HDV output is phenomenal, and cheap as can be.

If you're shooting a doc on an old XL1, then yes, it's going to look terrible and flat. A lot of people complained about the Z1U look when I was at WKRN. That was not the problem. The problem was the format. We were shooting in HDV, dumping out of cam at DV, and it was running through two compression schemes before hitting the air. I assume that KRON in SanFran is doing about the same. It barely looks passible. What did it look like? It looked like an XL1. What would it look like if you just went native all the way through with no compression? The Z1U shoots on 1080i HDV, and when you send it back native HD, and cut it native HD, it looks better than Beta. Beta is great, magnificent, but it's getting old. That's all. I bet you watch a lot of shows on the Discovery Channel about animals that you actually think were shot on film. Acutally, they were shot on Varicam, the new Panasonic HD format. It's a sweet cam.

So why use these little cameras?

Well, it looks so good that Steven Spielberg's creative team used a tiny Panasonic HVX200 to shoot plate shots for the effects in the movie Munich. That was to save time in processing, and remove the jaggies. It was mixed right in with the remaining 35mm stocks. It's a 6k USD camera. The movie Once Upon a Time in Mexico was shot on Varicam, and Collateral, the Michael Mann film was shot on a ViperCam system, which runs about 150k USD. Stephen Soderburgh just shot the movie Bubble using a Varicam, and he only used two practical lights throughout the entire production.

If you're interested, you should go check out http://hd24.com/ if you're interested on what a Varicam rig looks like, without any post effects. A Varicam runs 90k USD.

What I am saying right now is, it has nothing to do with the little cam. I got some short embarrassment out of it, but I got over it. It was the cutbacks and attitude that forced me out, not the technology.

It's never been the camera. It's been the person operating the camera. I've seen people take digibeta and make it look like utter burning home video crap. I've seen work from a XL1 look like a Hollywood production. The camera world has a lot of artisans, but not a lot of artists. True artists could make an incredible photo with a carboard box and a pinhole.

So how do I know about all of this?
When I was out of work for six weeks between news jobs, I just did about a month's research into cameras, prices, values, and the new digital switch. I am a self taught on the subject. If anyone buys a non-HD capable camera these days, they're a fool. The prices are ten times better than the old days.

 

[Baltimore Shooter]

Beta is great, magnificent, but it's getting old. That's all. I bet you watch a lot of shows on the Discovery Channel about animals that you actually think were shot on film.

Film is even older then Betacam, but it looks better than any format out there, even on a camera that's 50yrs old it will still look great because it's film, not HD, dv or BetaSP.

Actually, a lot of shows I've seen on Discovery, A&E, Speed Ch, etc. were shot on dv and I can tell the difference in a heartbeat, even hdv. That's why I don't watch TV much anymore. I'm paying $80/month and getting crap and I'm not happy about it the quality I'm receiving for my money, not high on the ROI scale. I think when the final Sopranos episode airs, I might just get rid of cable alltogether.
Warren

 

[Baltimore Shooter]

Last night the Olympics were on WBAL til 11:30, so I had no choice but to change the channel to see news at 11pm. I saw the news on WJZ (because I was watching CSI, so I guess a good lead in helps) and the quality of the show was aweful. Why? Because it was shot on DVCPro, as is WBFF and WMAR, however, WBAL uses Beta SX. And WBAL is the #1 station in the market for local news. Coincidence? You be the judge.

Warren

 

[Buck]

I saw the news on WJZ (because I was watching CSI, so I guess a good lead in helps) and the quality of the show was aweful. Why? Because it was shot on DVCPro, as is WBFF and WMAR, however, WBAL uses Beta SX. And WBAL is the #1 station in the market for local news. Coincidence? You be the judge.

Warren

I think we are getting off on a bad tangent here. I have a very hard time believing the station format has a direct cause for ratings.

Hoop Dreams didn't look great, but it was a terrific documentary. Sure, if the same photog shot it with an even better camera the look would be that much greater, but I don't think station format should be the end all be all.

 

[AlexLucas]

Thanks for the posts and the insight. I've been reading your former co-workers blog here: http://news2vj.blogspot.com/ He seems like a great guy, but clearly he's drinking the company kool-aid and keeping quiet (and I don't blame him).

Todd Dunn is a great photographer, and an even better person. It's no surprise he would win as a VJ.

I've never seen a cross face from Todd Dunn, ever. Never heard him moan or bellyache. I believe he's a firm believer of the "If you don't have anything nice to say.." principle. He's gotten a lot of heat simply for talking about a system that people don't want to see happen. Todd just wants to be the best person he can at what he does. He's the man they always send to hurricanes, Kuwait, or wherever. I've been with him (and Neil Orne)in a Winnebago in 100MPH winds. Good times.

The first time I met Todd Dunn, literally years before I ended up at WKRN, he helped me fix a flat tire in a tornado zone with rain pounding an inch and a half of standing water. My cam had humidity warnings so he lent his to me. All this, and he had to cut a pkg at the time.

He's a good person.

 

[cameragod]

But one day they will break him. And when that day comes do you think will they cut him any slack? No thought not. Loyalty is no good if it only comes one way... from the staff.

As to the little cameras, yes if you have enough time and control of the environment you can get some good pictures out of them but time is something you never have a lot of in News. So by definition they are not the right tools for the job.

 

[Baltimore Shooter]

... but time is something you never have a lot of in News. [/FONT][/SIZE]

Or in any other form of production, because as they say time IS money.

Warren

 

[formernews2er]

One question for you formernews2er. I know of one of the reporters at News2 who quit and is doing freelance in Nashvegas, but what about the others?...I know the hours and weekends suck but at least you've got a job.

of the 12 that I know have left, 5 have moved across the street to NewsChannel5 (myself and Mr. Lucas included), one has taken a sweet job with the Predators (Nashville's NHL franchise), and one is reporting at least part-time with WSMV

so, that leaves 5 people I haven't heard from and can't speak for

as for the hours and the weekends, you've got me confused with Mr. Lucas...I am weekday overnights (M-F midnight to 9am) and he is weekend overnights...my shift is AWESOME...i'll never go back to weeknights or weekends (if I can help it)...if you can take the lack of sleep it's the best shift to have...they'll have to move me to M-F 9-5 to get me off the overnights

 

[Frank McBride]

Alex,

I just finished the News Photographer article. I was impressed at how candid you and the others featured were in describing what is happening at WKRN. While the article did quote your former news director on how he would have done things differently, it seemed to be missing anyone who supports the new system there or forcast a bright future.

Was the article not fair in it's representation, or can VJ cheerleaders no longer be found, at least in Nashville? Do you run into former coworkers who still think it's the right direction for teh station?

I've noticed NBS, Rosenblum and the other rabid supporters on this message board have gone silent on the topic. Is the monorail built and now falling apart?

FMc

 

[AlexLucas]

Alex,

Was the article not fair in it's representation, or can VJ cheerleaders no longer be found, at least in Nashville? Do you run into former coworkers who still think it's the right direction for teh station?

I've noticed NBS, Rosenblum and the other rabid supporters on this message board have gone silent on the topic. Is the monorail built and now falling apart?

FMc

Well, from my opinion of the article, I felt it painted me as more of an angry little monkey than I thought I was, but keep in mind that at the time I thought I just ashed a ten year career in news, and blew myself completely off the ladder. I wasn't exactly as calm and collected about the situation as I am now. So at the time, I was a tad upset about leaving my people and a job I loved. That was my take on the article. But then again, I really needed the six weeks off to get my priorities readjusted, and remember why I want to do this job.

About the cheerleading: Nobody but management was a real fan of this plan. Nobody else was, as far as I can discern, really put into the loop on what equipment, what style, or what objectives Vjs were to go after. Also, we were told that there wasn't going to be an experimental phase. There was to be no testing. It was to be all or nothing.

I think Rosenblum is silent because he knows the system has failed in the USA due to the speed problem.

Once again, it might work great in Norway. But this is the USA, where there are ten bazillion pounds of syndicated shows. I knew a station in Nashville that counterprogrammed Andy Griffith to pull viewers away from the other stations 10pm. It worked. This is a competetive place. It isn't Norway. In Norway, there are a few stations, so you can recognize instantly what is going to work. In the USA, its a free for all.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. The American news cycle is freakin' crazy. We are in it, so we don't see it. No offense to the BBC or anyone like that, but they look so calm, so collected, so into worrying about lunch breaks that I have no idea how on earth they ever cover the news. How does that work? VJs worry about their lunch breaks. VJs don't worry about deadlines. As I have said before, if you relax covering something in the USA, you're going to get your lunch eaten by someone else... literally, in a couple of weeks. You run the edge of the blade or you don't run at all.

I think Rosenblum is of a different mindset. I think he knew when to push it when he got his foot jammed in the door with Young Broadcasting. He thought this was a real break out chance. He's not a fool. He knew that if it worked, he would be in hot demand, and things would be permanently better for him, and he could straddle two industries. He saw it as the next great shot, and if it works, he could be a multi-multi-millionaire. Now, VJ is not a marketable property, maybe not because of anything he did. Still, it's the Dolf Lundgren of TV. You just can't sell Dolf as a lead after the He-Man movie. Sometimes you just have to move on, spend your time on other things.

Like any other smart television person, Rosenblum goes with what works. And VJ is too slow, too buggy, and too dificult to find appropriate staff for US television now. He's probably busting it in cable still, making his millions doing what he knows works, and one day, when he has a bright flash in his mind of something that might be a real good idea, he'll work on that.

I bet he walked away because it just got to burdensome for him. You can't make any money beating a dead horse. You most constantly move on, work it all out. Rosenblum is a smart guy, I met him, and you would know it instantly if you did too. I just think that he's moved on, in my humble opinion, and is looking for fresher pastures to sow seeds.

 

[give me good glass]

Thanks for posting your thoughts AlexLucas. Very insighful information.

One thing I was wondering. MR always was quick to point out his Photo-journalism experience. All that time In the Middle East and in Africa with his wife. Did you get the idea he really was a good photographer. I mean did he get the importance of depth of field, good composition, steady shots and all those other little details a really good shooter lives and breaths for? Or was he fairly shallow in his speaking about the craft.

What about live shots? Has this guy even been in a live truck?

Again, thanks for your views on this topic.

 

[cameragod]

Alex, Michael’s claims about the BBC success were less than honest. I still have friends who still work there. Yes he ran a staff training course up north, the BBC have all sorts of fluffy feel good training courses for their staff, but many of the attendees didn’t even work in news. VJ catering, the next big thing.
The actual VJ roll out was only in regional news, many of the regional stations not adopting and then of those that did only a few if any of the staff were VJ, most of the news still being shot by two man crews. I wouldn’t call any of that a success. Did he make that clear at any point?

 

[upclose]

My 2 cents

I am also a former News 2 photographer/VJ, and I applaud Alex for opening up this thread. I went through the VJ training, shot a couple of stories, and I've now been gone for about 6 months. I do think MR knows photography. In fact, that's all he taught in our 1 week class. Anyone who's attended the NPPA workshop will recognize everything he teaches. That doesn't help a photographer transition to becoming a VJ, however. He would throw my tape at me each day and say "Good luck making a story out of that!" Thanks a lot. I still occasionally run into News2 VJ's in the field. Everyone I talk to is miserable. I occasionally watch their news in the afternoon or at 10pm. The big promise of the VJ model was more cameras flooding the streets with more stories. You're lucky to see 2 local packages per half hour. We had more news on the air with the old model. The VJ model is a failure in local news, and I feel bad for all of my friends who are doing their best in a bad situation over at The Deuce.

 

[Chicago Dog]

One thing I was wondering. MR always was quick to point out his Photo-journalism experience.

I've wondered this, too. The examples of OMB/VJ work he used to back up the system were just awful.

I don't think he has an eye for photojournalism at all.

He was often quick to offer NYC Street a plane ticket to check out a OMB/VJ shop. When I challenged him to take a look at my stories, he frequently beat around the bush. Funny -- I thought he'd jump at the chance to stack one of his trainees against half of a two-person crew.

I guess that says a lot.

 

[NYC Street]

FWIW, I didn't take him up on the offer...in case anyone missed that.

However, one net correspondent I know asked him for a copy of the DVD he was touting, the one that showed the best of the VJ work... I was going to get it through him.

I was told it never arrived.

 

[Chicago Dog]

However, one net correspondent I know asked him for a copy of the DVD he was touting, the one that showed the best of the VJ work... I was going to get it through him.

I was told it never arrived.

I was wondering what the outcome of that was.