Why yes, that is my video over Brian Williams' shoulder!

You know those little pictures, or sometimes video, that appear either next to or over the shouldesr of news anchors?  The technical term for those graphics is OTS, which stands for, well, Over-The-Shoulder.

In the following segment from NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams, there are four video clips in Brian's OTS as he intros the story: First, a Saturn SUV; second, a flood guage at the 2-foot level; third, water flowing through a drainage culvert next to a road; and last, a shot of cars on a snow-covered highway.  The first and last clips came from other NBC affiliates, but I shot the videos of the flood guage and the drainage culvert...both at N. 18th and Treadaway.  Pretty cool, huh?

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

This story was from Thursday, Jan. 28, when Abilene received over 2.6 inches of rain.

Thanks to the magic of high-speed internet, it's now daily practice for affiliates and network hubs across the nation, and world, to share video almost instantly.  I shot the video around noon, had it back at the station by 12:30, it was edited by 12:45, and then the broadcast-quality video file was on it's way to NBC News via the internet.  A random editor in New York was likely searching through video files from the day, liked what I shot, and inserted it in Brian's OTS.

Not too many years ago, the fastest way for either KTAB or KRBC to get video to the networks was to drive (or sometimes fly via American Eagle) the actual videotape to the big stations in Dallas-Ft. Worth, where it was uplinked to a satellite to New York.  That was a very expensive, and time-consuming process....

Abilene...the city that cares

Wow. Folks in Abilene are kind. I was standing on the corner of E.N. 11th and Judge Ely today shooting video of the intersection for a story on road improvements. A person drove up and asked if I wanted any money. I said no, then they asked if I needed a burger or something. I didn't think I looked like a homeless person, but I guess I did. I had the camera and tripod set up. Oh well...kind of funny.

Technology brought you the earthquake

If you are reading this blog, chances are you've already checked out our coverage of the Haiti earthquake. If not, see that portion of our website:

http://bigcountryhomepage.com/content/aid_to_haiti

It's incredible. Per my previous blog entry, the way we bring you the news is changing. Every report from Haiti was brought to you via I-phone. We also used FTP to send some video, but the I-phone is what really counted on this story. It enabled Katherine and Tim to QUICKLY shoot a piece of video and have it on the way to the station almost immediately. They had no time to stop and edit/feed video. They were also able to send constant updates using Twitter. Without that phone, much of what you saw on our air between Sunday and Wednesday would not have been possible. We would have had to wait for them to return to bring you the video.

It's hard to appreciate what Katherine and Tim did over the past few days without going through it yourself. I know that from covering Hurricane Katrina. I don't know of any other local TV station in a city our size that sent a crew to Haiti. As an added bonus, our reporters were embedded with the military. Even the networks couldn't make that happen. The point is...what you saw is absolutely INCREDIBLE...and EXCLUSIVE. Watch for our video on the national news...CBS, NBC and CNN. We sent it to all 3.

Oh..just so you know...I was not on the Haiti trip. Katherine and Tim shot all their own video.

The Magic of Live Television

One really cool part about our jobs is that we get to witness events firsthand that most people only see on the news (because we're the ones putting it on the news!).

I've been in this business for many years, but one of my most memorable moments happened on live television.  On Monday, November 16, 2009, a large warehouse on the east side of downtown Abilene caught fire.  Coincidentally, the fire was reported about 5:20pm, and Goose and I were already downtown with two of our live trucks preparing for 6pm live shots from the AISD building.  So we just moved the trucks a few blocks to the fire, and we were up and broadcasting well before the 6pm newscasts started.

Goose was taking care of the KRBC live shots with Tim Johnston, while I was teamed up with Victor Sotelo for the KTAB shots.  Bob and Angela came to us many times during the show, but here's a link to what happened during one of our live reports:  Wall Collapses on Live Television

Luckily, there was no one in the warehouse, and no one was injured.  If you watched the clip, you noticed that Victor, who was standing beside me, was talking about the heat from the fire.  It was quite chilly that evening, but as soon as the wall collapsed, a blast of heat hit us.

I've covered countless fires in my career, but this was one of the "big ones."

Wave of the Future (or present!)

Last night, I brought you Katherine Lane's report from Brownwood at 6PM via an IPhone. Those of us in the business are well aware that this is the direction our business is heading in. As a viewer, you are probably aware of it too, but I thought I'd bring it to your attention just in case you aren't. Why are we heading this way? Because it's cheap and easy. To get video back from a remote location (what we call "feeding") requires a signal between the station and the remote location. Locally, we do this with our live trucks, which operate using microwave signals. The trouble with this is range is limited. We can feed you video or a live report using one of our 3 microwave trucks (which have been referred to as ENG-9, ENG-32, and the Chase Lab in previous blog posts by Andrew) from about 20-30 miles away from the station. It all depends on where the hills, trees and buildings are. All of those things will block a signal. When you are in an area where no signal is possible, in the past, the only way to get a signal would be to use a satellite truck. We do not have one readily available in Abilene. If a big story breaks, we have access to one at our Lubbock sister station. Satellite time is VERY expensive. It costs $5 to $10 a minute depending on whose satellite you buy the time on. The average story requires at least 10 minutes...5 to feed video and 5 for a live shot. That's $100! It adds up fast. The advantage to satellite is you can get a signal from anywhere in the country, provided you have a view of the southern sky, which is where all the satellites are. And, any station in the country can pick up your signal if they need your video. In the age of new technologies, we have found ways to feed cheaper. The first way is via FTP over the Internet. FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol. Basically, we create a video file using a laptop and send it over the Internet. The drawback to this is it takes time. The file has to upload on the remote end, then download on the station end and be imported into our video system. The speed varies. The whole process generally takes at least 30-45 minutes. You need an Internet connection on both ends of at least 12-15Mbps to make it efficient. The average cable connection? 6-8Mbps. DSL is even slower. At about 20Mbs it becomes as efficient as feeding over microwave or satellite (which happens in real time). Connections that fast are far and few between. Oh...by the way...you have to be in a remote location with Internet access to make this happen...an air card, even at 3G speed, is WAY too slow. The quality of video sent via FTP on the air is generally the same as what I shoot in the field. Sometimes it degrades a bit depending on the type of compression used. Using FTP is free. So, while all this technology is being perfected, along comes the I-Phone and other "smart" phones. It works on the same principle...We shot the video using the phone's camera and sent it over the Internet using the phone's 3G network. This is MUCH faster, except the quality is not near as good. (the phone shoots low resolution video). The point of all this? You will be seeing a lot of lower quality video, not just on our station, but on stations across the country. News is becoming more and more URGENT and about what's happening RIGHT NOW. It is also more competitive. Technology gives us the tools to bring you the news faster and as it's happening. The technology will improve. Someday, you will not know the difference between cell phone video and that shot by a $3,000 camera. Until then, enjoy live news from places we couldn't have even dreamed of 10 years ago. If it hadn't been for the IPhone, you would not have seen any video from Brownwood until 10PM. And by the way, you can help us cover the news using this technology. See the "SHARE IT" section on bigcountryhompage.com to send us your pictures.

FIRE!!!

You probably didn't even have to be paying attention to the news to hear about the big fire downtown. Everyone could see the smoke. It was a monster. When it broke out, both Andrew and I had no idea. We were already downtown working 5 & 6pm live shots from AISD, just a few blocks away. It must have been the only place in town where smoke wasn't visible. It took a few minutes for someone to call us and let us know how big of a deal it was. Suddenly it's 5:40 and we are having to move both live trucks, re-establish a signal, run cables, and get live at the top of the 6. It sounds easy, but trust me, it's not. It's very stressful. Andrew had the "chase" truck and was able to break away quicker than me. I was in ENG 9. When I got to the scene, my generator wouldn't start. I didn't know where Andrew was, but the first familiar face I saw was KRBC's Tim Johnston. That made me the KRBC photographer. I was at the corner of 4th and Plum. Victor Sotelo and Andrew had found each other a block down the street (5th and Plum) on the other side of the fire, making them the KTAB team. (keep in mind Andrew and I work for both stations and the reporters only appear on one or the other). At that point there was no real plan; it just came together that way. It's now 5:50 and I have no electricity to raise the mast or transmit a signal. Tim is running back and forth between Andrew and me. I'm getting MANY phone calls from various people in the newsroom asking for my status. They requested I find an outlet to plug the truck into. At that point, I heard someone say in the background that it was going to be a 30 minute spectacular. Oh boy. It's almost 5:55 and I still have no working truck. There was NO electrical socket anywhere in sight, nor was there an open business nearby. I looked down the street (toward 3rd and Plum) and saw an open garage door at an electrician's shop. I pulled up and asked them for an outlet. We ran an extension cord inside. Then, like a madman, I raised the mast, powered the transmitter up and RAN down the street with an audio and video cable. I plugged into the camera just in time to get a confirmation on a usable signal, and then it was time to hit the air.

They came straight to us. Tim didn't know much. The fire department didn't have time to give us any information yet (nor was there any to give). He simply described what he was seeing. Every now and then he stepped out of the shot to see what was in my viewfinder. He did a great job ad-libbing. Every few minutes he tossed it back to the anchors and they would ad-lib over my live picture. Mark, the producer, was on the phone with me the whole time making the decision of what to do next. I never had time to give Tim an IFB (earpiece), so he did the whole show without being able to hear what the anchors were saying. At some point during the half hour, the roof and walls of the warehouse started collapsing. I'm sure you, the viewer, after watching, realize that makes for some pretty incredible live television. Actually being there is even more incredible. I've said it before and will say it over and over again-the camera never does it justice ("it" being anything I shoot, not just fires)

So what next? All the reporters raced to find different angles to the story. They did a good job of it. By about 7pm they had all gone back to the station to write and edit their stories. Andrew and I, meanwhile, decided to stay on scene because we had great positions to shoot from. When something this big happens, after a certain period of time, police and fire block off the area and don't allow close access. We were there early enough to be right across the street and didn't want to lose our positions. There was also the possibility of the situation getting worse, so it was a good idea for us to be there to capture it on video if it happened. This is the perfect example of how this business is a lot of hurry up and wait. Andrew and I had been working under extreme stress and chaos, and now we had 3 hours - from 7pm to our 10pm live shots- to do nothing but hold out positions for those upcoming shots. Then it was back to normal for us until the next big one......

Election night irony

On election night they sent me to Baird to get what we call MOS, which stands for Man-on-the-street. That's where we go to some random public place and ask random people their opinion on something. It's not easy to do because you have to approach complete strangers with a camera. The issue this time was the alcohol proposition on the ballot. I was supposed to get some opinions on both sides of the issue. Baird was voting on whether or not to allow alcohol sales in stores. Well, after 5pm it's extremely difficult to get any people on the street (or town square) because everything closes in small towns like Baird. The only other option is to knock on doors, and that's even more awkward. I tried a local Mexican restaurant. Everyone eating inside was from Clyde. So I looked for another place to go. There was nothing. I noticed a place (which shall remain anonymous) with the lights on and lots of cars out front, so I went in to ask if anyone would go on camera. As soon as I walked in I noticed some flyers on a table. I had walked into an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting! I couldn't bring myself to tell them what I was inquiring about, so I just asked them where else in town I could go to ask locals about the election, not mentioning the issue. If I hadn't noticed the flyers or they hadn't placed them on the table, who knows how embarrassing the situation could have been. My thanks to the folks there for pointing me in the direction of a local steakhouse where I interviewed the cook (because there were no customers at the time).