#jeffsharon

[tkcsr]

Theopolis K. Caldwell’s Digital News Production Mastery Journey

What a journey it was during this course. My expectations for this course was to learn the core values of what it meant to produce and distribute news by video and audio. My expectations were what I thought they were. I had the pleasure to learn the nuances of multimedia reporting in a nutshell.

  The first couple weeks I admit were tough for me, being required to record audio narration and combine it with video was tough. To top it all off I had to write a script that had to line up word for word what was being said on the video. This course merged the television and print side that I never learned in undergrad ten years ago. Digital News Production opened my eyes to a world that I see each day that I read and watch content but to actually do was pretty awesome.

 When I covered a volleyball and had to narrate what was going on took a lot of guts for me. There was constant movement going on that at times required so many wide shots that it was hard for me to keep up. I was very proud that I was able to do it. I was able to display versatility outside of the major sports (baseball, football, basketball) and really do some research on the game. It was an exciting experience for me but exhausting going around the gym attempting to get the best angles for viewers.

 Every aspect that I’ve learned from this course I feel has made me a better journalist. I know that I have a long way to go before I can ever deem myself a professional. I feel that learning the jargon and skills of what is being used in broadcast journalism has helped me plenty. Learning about the terms a “SOT” or a Full screen Graphic , Rule of Thirds has showed  me that these small details that are being used in your story really explains to your audience your message. I thought it was it cool being able to know how to show the location of where and give the statistics at the end of the game using Keynote.

 As in for my career, I feel equipped with tools that I truly did not have before I started this journey back in September of 2016. There is always room for improvement, I know need plenty of that. My confidence in my abilities are slowly but surely getting there as a journalist. I credit God, my family, my classmates for their feedback and most of all my instructors for their guidance patience thus far. I feel that I will take each and every experience with me in my career.

[tkcsr]

Theopolis K. Caldwell’s Multimedia and Editing Development Mastery Journey

I can’t believe that we are already are in the final days of this course but just as like any course it must come to an end. So what did I expect? My expectations were to learn about the audio and visual aspect of media. I expected that this course would teach me to get up to par with how New Media is produced and distributed.

 My expectations were pretty high of this course because of the level intensity that is expected in month six. That leads to what my instructor Jeff Sharon expectations were.

 “I’ve always thought if it’s not intense, it’s not worth doing, “Sharon said.

 That exact statement is correct. During this course I was expected to be able to learn and execute the proper way use two programs from Adobe. The two programs were Spark and Audition. During this course all assignments were accompanied with a minimum 300-word story. The story had to include credible hyperlinks to source and my post that had to be embedded at the top of the article. My article was posted to my blog on Word Press with a Spark post that created by myself. The post and article were both published to my twitter page for my targeted audience. That was the expectation for each assignment.

 I enjoyed working with all of the content. Being able to have multiple skills in this industry is a plus. The content was a challenge; it even became I started doubting my decision to be a journalist. I will admit that being a first timer learning Spark and Audition that I became frustrated with it. I had to accept the challenge because its’ the career that I chose. The rigors of this program are only going to intensify and there’s no use of freaking out.

 MDV was a challenge like Researching was the month before. It gave me the tough skin needed survive in this dog eat dog world of journalism. My flaws were revealed and one of the assignments that I had week 2, wasn’t executed well at all. I was humbled by it but at the same time motivated. That assignment let me know that I can be a journalist. It helped me to understand that I didn’t fail, it should my potential. The feeling of failure gave me a snap shot of what is to come on this journey. This time is so critical for me to learn from my mistakes. Six months ago I wasn’t sure what I was getting into. I now know, it’s going to be awesome. Just have to stay focused and more so take my time.