Lafayette St. Tunnel

RESIDENTS IN THE MYERS PARK NEIGHBORHOOD ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO THE COMPLETION OF THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATIONS PEDESTRIAN TUNNEL PROJECT.THE PROJECT HAD BEEN IN THE WORKS FOR MANY YEARS. ACCORDING TO DOT STATS IN 2009 THERE WERE 103 PEDESTRIANS VECHICLE CRASHES IN TALLAHASSEE IN WHICH THREE PEDESTRIANS WERE KILLED, 81 INJURED AND 13 OF WHO SUFFERED SERIOUS INJURIES. THE STATE AWARDED THE $1.19 MILLION CONSTRUCTION CONTRACT TO INDIANA’S SUPERIOR CONSTRUCTION COMPANY ACCORDING TO A DOT NEWS RELEASE. THE PROJECT INCLUDES A LIGHTED PEDESTRIAN TUNNEL THAT MEMBERS ON THE NEIGHBORHOOD ARE EXCITED ABOUT. WORK IS EXPECTED TO BE COMPLETED ON THE PROJECT BY JANURARY 2011, WEATHER PERMITTING. MOTORISTS ARE REMINDED TO USE CAUTION IN THE MEANTIME WHILE TRAVELING TO THE WORKZONE AND TRY TO SEEK OTHER ROUTES IF POSSIBLE 

Running Rattlers

WHEN DEFENDERS COME TO PLAY THE RATTLERS MUST KEEP A EYE ON SENIOR RUNNING BACK PHILIP SYLVESTER. LAST SEASON, HE BECAME THE EIGHTH RATTLER TO REACH 2,000 YARDS IN HIS CAREER, HE IS NOW EYEING 3,000. SYLVESTER, THE 5-10, 185 POUND SENIOR, IS WITHIN RANGE OF THE 3,000 YARD PLATEAU, A PLACE WHERE ONLY THREE FAMU RUSHERS HAVE EVER REACHED. HE ONLY NEEDS 148 YARDS TO CRACK THE SHORT LIST. OVERALL THE GAME-BREAKING SPEEDSTER HAS RECORDED NINE 100-YARD PLUS GAMES, AND HE HAS FIVE TOUCHDOWN RUNS OF FIFTY YARDS OR BETTER.SYLVESTER THINKS REACHING WILL BE GREAT BUT IS MORE FOCUSED ON THIS WEEKENDS GAME. SYLVESTER WILL HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY  TO BREAK THE 3,000 YARD MARK AND A CHANCE TO WIN A MEAC TITLE AS THE FAMU RATTLERS PLAY RIVAL THE BETHUNE-COOKMAN WILDCATS THIS WEEKEND IN ORLANDO AT THE FLORIDA CLASSIC.  

It's Homecoming!!!

It's Homecoming 2010 at Florida A&M University! There is nothing like it, nothing compares to the spirit and Rattler pride displayed on the highest of seven hills in Tallahassee on this weekend. Hundreds of thousands of people travel from all across the country just to be back on the hill. This would be my last homecoming as an undergraduate at Florida A&M University; unlike many of my peers I had the opportunity to capture the essence of homecoming behind the lens.

I had the immense pleasure of working with the Annual Famu TV-20 Homecoming Show Special. The annual homecoming show is completely based student production, from the producers down to the anchors. I had the opportunity to serve as a package reporter for the show. I was very eager to find and shoot as many clips as I possibly could to devise a one minute and thirty second production, showing just almost every element of homecoming in the certain story, or in this case stories (plural) that I would cover. After debliration by my student producers asked me to take on the challenge of covering the Homecoming Game, knowing that sports journalism is my passion. I immediately began thinking of innovative ways to capture the things I wanted to be shown about the game; However, I wanted to do a little bit more because I could not shoot anything for the game until the actually day of the game. There was another package topic that I wanted to cover. I express my interest in taking on the Hip Hop package needed for the election show as well. Needless to say the producers trusted me a lot and let me take on the workload, not to mention having schoolwork, class, work, and personal life. But I was dedicated and still feel as if I have something to prove.

Many of my counterparts thought I was crazy for taking on two packages that I would have to serve as a one-man bandstand. I would have to shoot, write my own script, and edit! TEDIOUS!!!  (Funny thing is, I these were not the only packages I had been assigned, I also had to shoot a story about the election in Leon County that you can read in the next blog post.) But I am tenacious! My tenacious attitude, prayer, and an organized schedule helped me conqueror my goals regarding both stories.

Being that the game was the Saturday of Homecoming I began shooting for the Hip Hop package a week before homecoming. A few weeks before homecoming there were rumors curriculating that Hip-Hop Legend Christopher "Play" Martin was a professor at FAMU teaching a Hip-Hop class. After doing some research the rumors were true. One part of the duo Kid 'N' Play, Play, is a professor at FAMU teaching a Hip-Hop class under a new program, The Institute of Hip Hop and Music Studies, he would be the lead professor of the class. I immediately contacted many resources to get in contact with Play. I eventually got in contact with him, and he was very open minded to the story and asked me to come and tape one of his class sessions. While I was there I interviewed one of Play's students, Marcus Charles, and also Play. Everything worked better than I imagined! I began writing script and set the edit process so things would be easy for me once I get into the edit booth.

Its Saturday the most anticipated day of homecoming week! The parade kicked things off and the headline event of the day would be the football game. The Famu Rattlers hosted the Morgan State Bears at Bragg Memorial Stadium. I arrived at the game that started at 3 p.m., at noon. I had a little bit of trouble with a few of my peers getting into the game, but after being persistent we all finally gained our way to the field to get to work. I began recording the player warm-ups as I waited for the crowd to gather, the Marching 100 started the pre-game festivies, and before you knew it, it was game time! The fans displayed all signs of Rattler Pride. And not to mention the Rattler Football team came ready to play! I ended up having too much I wanted to show, the selection of shots was very difficult, I could only use the best, but there was so much I wanted to show.

The Sunday after homecoming I began editing both packages. I walked into the edit booth right after church, with to do list in hand and an 8 p.m. personal deadline that I met. I finished editing both packages by 7:30 and took the extra time to make sure everything was in order before I would have to turn the package in to my producers. 

Package #2 Cell Phone Tower Controversy

I found this package sort of difficult at the start. I had no clue of whom to interview, or any contact information and information regarding the issue was somewhat scarce. I began researching about the dangers of cell phone towers and I also contacted the City of Tallahassee to gain more insight in the situation residents in the Buck Lake Community were facing.

I happened to get in contact and interview City of Tallahassee Assistant Manager Michelle Bono on the issue. I strongly believe this was the best person to interview on the situation. She was very knowledgeable on this situation and also provided me with other people to get in contact with regarding the situation. Not to mention she had documents prepared for me to look at other cell phone towers that created controversy that were camflouged in the Tallahassee area. Speaking with Mrs. Bono opened doors for my story and I began to develop.

I faced a lot of technical issues however that would l prevent me from editing and having the package done in a timely manner I had initially planned, but I guess that is life. One of the major issues I faced is my camera battery died in the middle of an interview! I had no clue of what to do, also knowing that the person I was interviewing was leaving to go out of town that weekend. Mrs. Katine was giving great sound about the issue, so when the battery died…. My heart dropped and a million and one questions ran through my head. Who else could I interview, that could give me great sound like this?! Mrs. Katine was the former Home Owners Association for the Enclave, and she was very concerned about the issue her community was faced with.

I later replaced the battery defective battery that died on me and shot some more B-Roll about the subject and began laying groundwork, with shot sequencing, and I began writing my script already having a clear idea of what Mrs. Katine would say about the issue just to save time. I was able to interview Mrs. Katine again on Sunday afternoon and because of proper planning I was able to go to the edit booth and lay the groundwork for package in a timely manner.

Looking back I am glad I experienced what could happen in the real world with my battery dying so in the future I will already know how to PRO-ceed and PRO-gress with the rest of my story.

Package #1: Mosquito Danger in Tallahassee... How serious?

It’s Monday Sept. 10, 2010. Our first package for Prof. Jones TV NEWS is due for Group A, not to mention the 2,500 word essay he assigned! Love. Live. Life. Proceed. And Prosper. This phrase keeps running through my head as I continue to grind for the Pursuit of Happiness….. GRADUATION! And even better lord willing a job!

Prof. Jones gave me the topic of Mosquito Dangers in Tallahassee. At first glance, I was wondering how the heck am I going to get a tight shot of a mosquito? Where can I find these annoying little insects? I eagerly embraced the challenge. Being a self-proclaimed Sports Journalist, this was clearly a step out of the box! This would be an informative package for the Leon County viewers to decrease the risk of disease from mosquitoes, boy what a challenge! Thanks Prof. Jones!!!

I began researching everything about Mosquitoes I wanted to know it all. All the ill-borne illness that carry, where do they come from, where do they lay their eggs, how can I get rid of them, I had a million and one questions and I was determined to find out every answer! I knew my focus or what journalist would say, “angle,” but I wanted to know more.

I contacted Dr. Marjorie (Marge) Kirsch, medical director, from the Leon County Health Dept. first just to set up an interview with her. I planned on using her main SOT (sound on tape). She was great! She gave me great information, more than I could ever ask for. She also referred me to my next contact/interviewee Dr. Peter Jiang. Dr. Jiang displayed and showed me over 60 different types of Mosquitoes. He was very knowledgeable about the mosquitoes and I was able to get my tight shots!!! Main Problem solved!!! Now I could work on the lament SOT. God blessed me on this one; I had a customer come into my store complaining about mosquito bites he had contracted from golfing. As soon as I got off work and I drove down to the golf course and started shooting the hole. While I was there I was able to get my Lament SOT with a golfer that was having a bad golf game because of the mosquitoes! Didn’t I say God blessed me!

All systems were a go! Interviews in tack, had enough B-roll, I was ready to give Camille (the camera) a break and head to the studio to play on my new favorite toy Final Cut Pro. As I became more familiar with the software, I could not help but to hear Prof. Jones voice echoing in my head with his unique voice, “Remember your nat sound”…. “Watch that lighting”…..”Make sure your saving your work.” Just some of the many things Prof. Jones reminds his students. I started thinking of him as my General Manager. Asking myself, “would he like this shot?”…. “Is this shot appropriate for my script?”…. “Man I hope he doesn’t take any points off!”

With all that being said the finished product of first ever package for Prof. Jones seemed to turn out well. Time to see what he thinks!!!