In September I took the role of handling Special Projects and Creative Services at BCOP-TV Copenhagen. Why? because doing same day news is very taxing, to flip stories, edit them, voice them over and post them. I like to do longer form reporting on issues, and also promote the living crap out of them (that’s the part of Creative Services) as well high visual stimuli of videography and graphics.
My news reporting in the minifig world is biased to my life’s experiences of over 3 and a 1/2 decades. What brought me over the edge was a podcast where I went livid; and decided to get a report in time for November Sweeps (the month where the station juices stories up for people to get hooked into watching the news and with the ratings result would then set the advertising rates for the winter period.)
The management has been MIA and was unable to get the management to buy the idea just yet. Meanwhile I started to compile the outline of what is causing the alleged crisis, if it’s a crisis or it’s just me. On the weekend of November 5th, your humble minifig newsie had gone to Portsmouth for a weekend to himself.
I found a couple of ladies (Portsmouth is a city for tourists to go in pairs and spares but singletons are singled out.) The minifig sense, I had a freelance producer to tag along with me. We were not on 6’s time because I am not unionized, and any recording on BCOP’s time would cause ENG Camera unions to claim unfair working conditions (this is inside-baseball stuff) so the camera isn’t a unionized ENG device either (which would open more issues legally at Channel 6, another inside baseball stuff.)
But I got really lucked out by two younger ladies at Prescott Park, Kate and Jordan. I was extremely anxious, and I never did an Man on Street shot (better known as an MOS, despite them being ladies instead.) They literally agreed to go on camera and talk with the minifigure producer (I kid you not!) and surprisingly I got a lot of answers that I wasn’t expecting from lady on the left specifically because I was hearing them talk; the articulation was pretty decent. I attempted to listen, and just did the bare minimum. Now if I did this just 50 miles to the west, this would’ve gotten the attention of law enforcement or even people threatening me to sue me for “filming” them even if I wasn’t intending despite rolling in a public place like Prescott, which is a city-owned-managed park. As you probably recall, the First Amendment is selectively enforced in New Hampshire.
Now this on location MOS piece, if greenlighted by Channel 6 will most likely air in a 2nd or 3rd installment. If approved, I’ll be working double between producing the report and the annual Thanksgiving parade in Copenhagen. This could run on Thanksgiving night depending on the speed of the news department to put together the piece.
We are anticipating to have at least 4 to 6 packages done on the news to do a 22 minute special in February for winter Sweeps to grab ratings and eyeballs, perhaps getting black dots to watch our reporting.
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