Chris's Broadcast Writing Blog

The problem is my face. 

No, a twelve year old child didn’t tease me with a lame remark about being ugly. The problem is probably my face. 

I used to be manly. I had a beard. 

I was so popular in class, and I was ready to build decks, eat wings, shoot animals, and do other manly things. 

Then I shaved. 

And, this week, I did a story about butterflies.

It’s definitely the face.

In all fairness, Courtney picked the story. It wasn’t my idea. I didn’t come up with it, but I did (gulp) kind of enjoy it. A little bit. Sort of. 

It wasn’t as easy as it may seem. Filming moving objects while getting them into a steady shot, in focus is difficult, especially when you zoom in far enough to actually be able to tell what it is. I missed a lot of opportunities because I needed to focus or zoom in. The other problem was that when zooming in on a small object like a butterfly, it can be difficult to track it, especially when it’s moving, so you end up with a lot of shots of 

My strategy was to wait for a butterfly to land, film it and then wait for it to fly away. At first, this was a frustrating exercise. The little guys (and girls) wouldn’t land; however, I was patient, and eventually I got some good shots. 

Meanwhile, Courtney, my reporter was walking around, talking to the butterflies, trying to convince them to land on her. When I’m reporter I try not to step on the camera person’s toes (so to speak), but this was a strategy of staying out of the way I have never seen before. 

They never did land on her. Maybe next time, Courtney.