Today I....

HighDef

Well-known member
Shot a firetruck, in a dark alley, in a bad part of town. Supposedly somebody through a firebomb into a rowhome. Great stuff!
 

Newshutr

Well-known member
I was at a end of a car chase for a car used in a murder. Then, at the scene, 4 cop cars take off in unison in the same direction hauling ass. I go follow them and they're staking out a building where another suspect is. I get cops sneaking around, pistols and shotguns being brandished, and a guy being frisked ansd put in a cop car....

And not one frame gets on the air.....

AAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!

:(
 

tiffenkj

Member
Shot a story about a couple of guys robbing a BK. One impersonated a cop and was in the BK eating, while the other came in and robbed the place. When the robber ran out the other fellow got up, flashed some sort of badge and said he was a cop and would handle it. After 30 minutes, and the "cop" not returning, the BK called the real cops. Not much vid to play with; ext., BK, PIO bite, badges and sound from local cop supply store, and web sites where you can buy badges without id. The focus, as you might figure out, was how anyone can purchase a badge without proper id.
 

HighDef

Well-known member
Shot some locater video. Street signs, Etc...

The dial was tuned into 103.1 -WRNR- Annapolis

"It's raining in baltimore"

The clock has struck 4 a.m.

I am yawning. A bit tired. I'm ok now. Everything's cool.

[ March 05, 2003, 06:06 AM: Message edited by: HighDef ]
 

geek

Member
alright I registered.

fat tues drunk amatures flashing each other in public.

then the cops closed the park.

thought we had a shooting only he was shot in the foot.
 

geek

Member
my last one was scarry for me anyway.

a huge liquid oxygen tanker rolled over and leaked most of its contents. huge pond of liquid 02. car breaks down on the ridge of it and catches on fire. I'm clear view and 800 feet away and the fire guys are retreating. car burns to the ground, with extra oxygen. fotunatly no one hurt I think had this happend on a hot summer day it would be a different story.

messed up traffic so bad some commutes that normally take 45min strethed out to 6 hours.
 

SeagateNews

Well-known member
Got home from school awaiting the arrival of severe storms (i'm a weather freak, too). Went online to check NWS radar and found on one of the local station's sites a breaking story of another group of people in a boat falling into a flooded river that is about 5 minutes away via moped (ha ha). So, i leave, assuming breaking news means within the last 4 hours (my bad, shoulda known). All of the 4 fire depts were gone, along with the police and coast guard helicopters, but i talked to a guy who knew the two fisherman who had drown. From the way he said it, it seemed like this wasn't the first time the two had dropped anchor off the wrong end of the boat causing it to capsize. Now, with my gear in a sports bag on my shoulder, I headed home.

An hour later I've got The Weather Channel and local stations on, waiting on those severe storms...it looks like they're gonna miss us. I go up to my room to start my homework and see a huge thunderhead outside my window...time for a walk. I rush outside with my bag BACK over my shoulder (might I add I've already got backpains at my age-- computer + camera = asprin) for a walk which included a trek through a local ditch (anything for a great shot). I walk up into an in-progress subdivision to set up my tripod. I shoot a little bit, not much exciting, and it starts to hail. I want to keep rolling in case it gets heavy, so I run to some houses across the street for shelter. I get there and the hail stops. So I walk back out to the street to get some more footage, and the hails starts again, but a little bigger (about two or three peas put together...I'm not a wuss, I just can't afford a new camera). So I'm back in some person's driveway, when THE PERSON WHO LIVES THERE pulls up. I get out of his way (duh) and apologize. I tell him I'm a freelancer escaping the wrath of the hail (not the wording I used--this guy was muscular and seemed a bit angry), then I apologized and walked away quickly. Where'd I go next? The stupidest spot ever (next to a driveway)...the middle of a field. It did pay off, though, I did catch some rotation and a couple vertically protruding clouds, not yet funnels. As I was shooting the rotation, a whole bunch of sirens simutaneously sounded and scared me pretty bad--then I realized it was the fire department on their way to a call. The extent of the storm--a little rain, some sweet lightning, and barely any hail. But hey, it was fun... :D
 

HighDef

Well-known member
...Stood outside all morning in the live truck on Inerstate 95 near Baltimore city. I was shooting trucks being inspected by the trasportation authority. The new homeland security measures being taken, I guess. Then I went to talk to some Israelis who live (and still live) in the Gaza strip. It just so happens they came to America for a convention when the "War" started. It was interesting, to hear their views and stories about living in Israel.
 

cosmic

Member
Had to get pictures of patriotic yellow ribbons around town and was very dissapointed. After two hours of driving around I found 2 houses and 1 church. I ended up buying yellow ribbons and stringing them around town on my own. Amarillo TX sucks.
 

HighDef

Well-known member
PROTESTERS... Shot a package on protesting going on in downtown Baltimore at the Federal Courthouse. Great NATS, Good pictures. Horses were running over protesters who refused to get up from lying on the lawn. Cops were yanking, then lifting these people off the grass to the cement. They eventually arrested all 140 protesters! GREAT STUFF!!
 

TC

Member
Flew up to a plane crash from the day before that, convienently enough, they hadn't cleaned up yet. Got video. Flew back to town, saw smoke, went to check on it, found a decent house fire in a part of town we'd had several fires lately (cops arrested guy who set it, but he's not connected to the others)

Took off again in the evening, trying to get a police chase through town. Guy bailed just as we got off the ground. Flew down the interstate to check on a church parsonage fire, but never found it, came home.
 

sneakybastard

Well-known member
Did some refurbishing on my pool table. It seems as though some of the bolts that hold the rails in place had stripped out. So, using the engineering department's equipment, I bored out the stripped holes, plugged them using dowell pegs, remeasured exactly where I needed to drill the new holes and retapped the bolts. After that I borrowed a level and relevelled my table. Talk about a tough day on the clock.
 

shootcam

Active member
Spot news is a very unrewarding part of the job. That is unless you like having flashbacks for years about subjects to disgusting and shocking to talk about. You wanna tell war stories to a
veteran about some lousy firetruck, or a robbery?
Not very sexy.
Go to a real war....
Now is your big chance.....
Ya think being an adrenaline junky is cool, ya like gettin shot at by unfriendlies, as well as friendlies?
Go now young man, and see what being a cameraman is really all about....
Compassion for the unfortunate person who was in the wrong place at the wrong time,will temper your false bravado.
These are real people we shoot, in very compromising positions, either dead or dying. Actually I do not mind shooting dead bodies, for their souls are gone. It's the half dead ones screams of pain and agony I can never forget. Remember to remember or you will wind up in denial that bad things happen to everybody, while you scream alone in the shower with your flashbacks, about those coldblooded, nonfeeling shots of a dying person, you went for, and after 6pm ya figure you'll never have to see them again. Wrong! This is part of your soul now and forever, till death do you depart from this earth.
Flash years forward....
Somebody you never saw before gets to your accident scene, and with no regard for your condition,and calmy and cooly starts rolling on the last moments of your life. Now you finally understand how you should have done it. To late man. You are nothing but a 30 sec vo on the 5:00 show. You did not warrant a position in the 6:00. Nothing spectacular here, cept this is where your movie ends, and the viewers don't even blink, as they enjoy their supper and watch you die. The circle will remain unbroken.
:(
 

HighDef

Well-known member
Chance,

Were you talking to all of us when stated,

"Go to a real war....
Now is your big chance.....
Ya think being an adrenaline junky is cool, ya like gettin shot at by unfriendlies, as well as friendlies?
Go now young man, and see what being a cameraman is really all about...."?

Do you think all Photojournalists should go over to Irag or Afghanistan and make $2500/per hour, so we could see how hard war is?

Your post, to me, sounded like it could make for a pretty cool short film. If you don't mind, I think I will take your idea, make some final drafts, and then tape the story. I especially liked-

"to everybody, while you scream alone in the shower with your flashbacks, about those coldblooded, nonfeeling shots of a dying person..."

I don't take spot news that personally, but I can kinda relate to the journalist who does. It makes your soul grow up alot faster then if you were sitting in a cubicle, Selling insurance to various customers with no window on the outside world except for the 6pm newscast, which one might only watch on occasion.

Anyways, interesting post.
 

Nooze Hound

Well-known member
Just sitting in the news room late at night, my shift is over but I'm still surfing the web @ the station (small market pay, I can't afford my own computer). The overnight producer and I hear about a hit and run in a town about 45-50 miles away, we try to reach our reporter AND photographer in that town but they apparently don't understand the concept of a cell phone. So I get my gear ready and drive there... Turns out a man was walking across a divided highway and didn't see the 18wheeler coming down the road. So I get some good video, alot of it I can't use!! :( I was zoomed in and focusing when the local coppers decide to lift the tarp... Wow, not pretty. And I rolled on the whole thing. EVERYBODY wanted to see the video the next day... I work with some sick people, I'll tell you what :rolleyes: But we kicked the hell out of the #1 station in the market that are based in that town. My on the spot video, what do they have?? Next day shots of the highway... oooooooohhh, compelling.

Another incided I get called in late at night to hear the overnight producer freaking out "HORMEL IS ON FIRE!! WE NEED YOU IN NOW!!" so I get dressed, and speed to the station expecting to see a raging fireball of destruction!!! no, there were several small explosions inside the rendering plant. And guess what? We can't get inside the perimeter fence... Hosed!

This one happened just a couple days ago. really rainy and wet out, I hear over the scanner about a rollover on I-90. Run to the car, everything is already loaded which was good, the bad? It was sunny and 65+ earlier in the day, so i'm wearing a short sleeved cotton shirt. So after sitting ouside in the pouring rain for 30 min I finally get the extracation (jaws of life=cool vid!!!) and I race back to the station at about 5:45, edit it and kick the competition's ass AGAIN!!! but i'm wet and cold, so I don't enjoy is quite as much.
 

Trybe One

Well-known member
worked on a crappy story about a stupid kid who jumped on a car. but the lazy ass reporter said it was the best thing he could come up with today ! the F$#king kidd had a scratch!!!!
wasnt dead or anything!!!!!!!! only 1 sound bite :mad: NO SCENE NO COPS NOT A DAMN THANG!!!! JUST AN EMPTY STREEET!!!!!! but you know i aint bitter..
aint my fault my station had no direction!!!!!! :mad:
 

shootercub

Well-known member
did a breaking news live shot where some JACKASS blew his brains out, in his car, ZIPPING down the road @ 40mph.... ended up driving right into some guy's bedroom....

HA!
 

2gigch1

Well-known member
Kicking back at the airport when the station calls and launcehes us on a dip**** little shooting call. Waste of time, but our motto is 'maybe something will happen while we're up.'

Arrive on scene a few minutes later, fire up the microwave and begin feeding video when we spot a couple cars peeling away real fast. I follow them to see what was up since the shooting scene will still be there. Four blocks away they latch onto a red car (which had been tailed by an unmarked detective's car) and it was off to the races! One minute forty one seconds and fifteen frames later the speeding car wrecks and the perps are in custody. What fun! (only the third chase I've ever got on tape in the chopper)

Later during the 5:00 show the desk calls on the 2-way; "Please respond to Redwood and Calvert, Ladder 49 wants you there." Ladder 49 is a new John Travolta movie being shot in town with Travolta as a Balt City firefighter. A few minutes later we're hovering 50 feet from the Legg Mason playing backdrop for a rescue scene. Folks in the high-rise were amazed looking out at us for the fifteen minutes Roy was pulling the guts out of the machine holding an overweight Bell Jet in a hover... Held it for two takes, I rolled tape on the action.

Not an average day...
 
Top