Oh the irony

I just read my last post prior to the one I just did, and I said I chose USA Today specifically because it wasn't black and white.

wireframe

So, I've decided to completely change my website from my original concept (again). Originally I was trying to mimic the format of the front page of a newspaper, but after I experimented with the wireframe project, I realized that format looks too cluttered. So, I've decided to stay with the newspaper theme, but instead of it being so obvious, I'm going to create a graphic that looks like a torn piece of a newspaper and blur the background and highlight certain words which will become my links. The colors are going to be black and white, but I am going to add a bevel affect to create a glossy, sheen effect on my text to make it pop. I think this version of my site will look modern and classy. Let me know if anyone has any suggestions. Thanks=) Oh and what do you think about the heading being at the bottom right hand corner=)

specs

I've chosen to go with the front page of a news paper idea.  I am styling to mimic USA Today because it is not black and white, and most stories finish on the first page.  My colors will be 

 2 variations of blue, white, black, red, and yellow.

I am going to include a story I wrote for the paper at school, an audio news story, and segments from my video work categorized by what common paper sections would be: sports, arts and leisure, news, politics, etc.

Final Concepts

I’ve decided to return to my original concept of the picture of the shadow of the flowering tree. Initially I agreed with Meg that it wasn’t very “newsy”, but after putting together a rough demo reel to take with me to an interview at Montclair, I realized my reel at this time is comprised of so many different types of productions. And, the purpose of my reel is not to get a job, but rather to get into a 4-year university, so its important to show all the work I’ve done while at Mercer. I’m rambling to day…sorry.=) So, I’ve decided to use Civilian for my name Chrysti Neuman , Charlemagne for my titles Education and Browallia for my text Mercer. I am going for an earthy, victorian-esque feel with my site because that is the style that visually appeals to me. I am going to use the colors that Kuler suggested and take my picture and place it on both sides of my site with pictures hanging from the branches that will actually be my videos when you click on them. My bio, education, resume, and awards will be available when flowers (also shadows I photographed) are clicked on the bottom of my page. The groupings I plan on using are: politics, non-profit, news packages, sports, and special interest. The videos I plan to include are: a flower show news package (2/08, entertainment, beauty), a recycling news package (5/08, inform, beauty, environment), the BCRC documentary (inform, beauty), an episode of the Hall Institute (10/08, inform), my holiday show (12/08, entertain), sections of the basketball games I directed (2/09, entertain, fast-paced, exciting, show leadership), and interviews with politicians (9/08, 11/08, inform). As far as mapping and the schematic for my site, I will provide links to the Hall Institute website, MCTV26, and BCRC. Of course I have all of these crazy ideas of having birds fly in to deliver the titles, but with minimal drawing ability and no experience with flash, I am unsure if that will be possible. I am also considering doing voice over or shooting an introduction to my website which will play in the main screen after my demo reel to introduce the user to the site and how to navigate through it, but I’d like Meg’s opinion on whether this will look cheesy.=)

Concepts for my reel

Sorry, I did my blog posts out of order and kind of combined them. As I said before, I don't see concepts necessarily when watching other demo reels. I want to make sure that what I present is visually and mentally interesting. I also want to make sure that it is of high quality regarding audio and visuals. I want it to demonstrate my ability to report on a variety of topics, and most importantly, I want it to explain my capability to handle a majority of the reporting process such as graphics (minimally), shooting, editing, and writing.

what my demo reel needs

I've been looking over news demo reels. I think when I am preparing my professional reel after college, it will be important to show a variety of story types, include my contact info (this person didn't), include exciting music that fits the content, state what my contribution to the packages (this reel is very exciting and interesting to watch, but the reporterBlogger: DMA250 Blog - Create Post's responsibilities are unclear, and also use creative techniques when reporting on my packages like this reporter has done.

Interesting Website

Interesting website especially for any students considering a career related to advertising.

Formats

Of the formats explained in our text, I do not think I would use a CD for the reasons listed (compression, lesser quality); I also do not think I would send my work in an email attachment because I've been told video takes forever to download in this format. I didn't find very many galleries or resource books for broadcast journalists, but I have found during previous assignments some reporters are now uploading their work on Youtube and its news channel, Truveo. Not many, but this format does allow a potential employer to compare your work with other journalists. I would just have to make sure mine looked better=). I think the two formats which would be most effective for submitting my type of work would be DVD and a personal website.

My Portfolio

So, after determining what I believe my target audience would be looking for, I've realized my portfolio needs alot of work. I am producing the student new show here on campus this semester, so I am going to focus on taking the time t create interesting news packages which are portfolio worthy. I am also writing for the paper, so I think it would be interesting to include a moving jpeg of my paper article and then also cover the story on the show. Some of the visuals I liked on other reporters demo reels featured them reporting in severe weather and incorporating documentary type, human interest stories. The reporter I am referring to, Sean Michael Thomas, didn't necessarily have a theme to his reel, but he included all the types of reporting a sation would be looking for.

Target Audience

I returned to the CBS 3 news site to research my audience. I looked over the bios of the current anchors. Unfortunately, I had a tough time locating any information about the news producer's names and history. I'm going to watch the morning broadcast and write down the producer's name during the credits=). I also looked into the current job offerings which interested me which are a news producer and reporter. Some words which repeated throughout the job descriptions were: honesty, fairness, accuracy in story telling, and a bachelor's degree. I also inferred from the current anchor's bios that they would like someone who is intelligent, seeks out not only the current situation, but also it's cause, contributes to the story selection process, and can work well on his or her own. CBS is a very large company which news locations across the country and in many different markets, but this offers me the opportunity to apply to positions within a multitude of levels.

More Fonts

Vimeo

Two videos up on vimeo...yea!


Philadelphia Flower Show from chrysti Neuman on Vimeo.



After Effects Launch Animation from chrysti Neuman on Vimeo.

Logo Ideas

I've posted some pictures on flickr, let me know what you think.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/neumanc/

Vibha memories

Six Little Ducks - 1st PremierePro Project from Vibha Patel on Vimeo.

My 5 things Lists

Lets begin. You're going to make several lists about you. Don't think too long or hard on the answers. Just write the first 5 things that come to your mind for each topic:
List 5 things that you love to do:be outside, take care of animals in need, spend time with creative, happy people, watch fireworks, go to older shore towns (I love things with a history)
List 5 things that you hate to do:wait in lines, drive long distances (I'll go, I just don't want to drive), argue with people, cooking, misjudging people or situations
List 5 things you are proud of in your life: taking care of my parents, directing and producing the news, what I've learned in television, creating a holiday show
List 5 things you are good at: tv production, organizing, conceptualizing, following through, collaborating with an effective team
List 5 things that make you unique; my reaction to my medical condition, returning to college and finding my career at a later age, my participation is so many extracurricular activities, lived at a restaurant down the shore as a child
List 5 adjectives that describe you: Smart, funny, impatient, punctual, creative
List 5 adjectives that describe your work: pretty, imaginative, varied, original, engaging
List 5 topics your work deals with: news, worthy causes, special events, environment, social commentary
List the media you use in your work: television, internet, newspaper,
List the colors that you use most often:white, black, blue, brown, orange,
List 5 emotions your work conjures: inspiration, joy, relief, secure, admiration
List the titles of the work you would like to highlight, if you don't have titles, come up with them now: Recycling Package, Breast Cancer Resource Center, Space Shuttle Launch
Lastly, think about the job you eventually would like to have.
List 5 adjectives to describe the kind of company you'll work for: trusted, reliable, prominent, innovative, secure
List 5 adjectives to describe the kind of boss you'd like to have: smart, creative, funny, compassionate, unbiased
List 5 things you will have to do for your job: work in a team, meet deadlines, edit and write packages, schedule and seek out interviews
List 5 words describing your industry: informative, biased, deceptive, thought and action provoking, evolving
List the reasons your job exists: Ad Revenue, Public wants info/entertainment, watchdog objective

My experience

I want to believe that I have extraordinary skills to bring to the table when I begin my job search, but of course, I think I have alot of deficencies as well. I have held a leadership role in previous employments. I was a hospital manager for several years. I'm also an extremely hard worker and fast learner. I think I have good organizational skills. Also, I think my writing skills are sufficient, although I could improve. I would like to learn to write under pressure well. I also would like to greatly improve my after affects and photoshop skills. And the link to my prior work experience is on my blog below. Let me know what you think. Thanks=)

http://www.linkedin.com/in/chrystineuman

Work Experience

I googled news producer skills and found a site which summarizes the skills you need and how to go about acquiring this type of position. Carl was right. They recommend internships as a starting point as well. But some skills I possess which this site thought was important, but I didn't even think about was leadership and the ability to work within a team. I was a hospital manager for several years, responsible for delegating work, and interacting with customers and corporate offices. While I've been at Mercer, I've takne advantage of all of the extracurricular activities taking place at the TV studio. I have been a director, reposnsible for preparing the studio for a live news show, assigning crew positions, and interpreting my producer's script. I have also been a videographer, responsible for constructing and writing video news packages. And my first experience with the news was as a floor manager interacting with talents and relaying the director's cues.

Entry Level positions

I returned to careerbuilder.com and to my surprise found many entry level jobs which did not involve answering phones or running for coffee. Although I would have to move to lesser market areas, the opportunities are out there for a student interested in news production. Some examples of results I found were for a reporter for the Sinclair Broadcasting Group in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, another reporter job for Sinclair in Springfield Illinois, and a summer news intern in New York City to which I actually applied. It would be awesome if I got it! Jobs I searched with similar requirements were a Second shift summary writer, News writing intern, and a Morning show PA. All of these jobs involve "having a passion" and "being a hard worker." But mostly, they want candidates who know some type of editing software, have superior writing skills, and understand how to operate a camera. I also found radio dj jobs which required no experience in CA. I found that you can't search under the entry level category because then it is saturated with internships. If you take the time to look in a specific industry, you will come across some listings.

Continued Job Search

There is a variety of technology, hardware, and software I will be using in my intended field. I think regardless of which media you choose, to remain employable you have to be versed in internet technology knowledge. Also, in my profession of video production, HD is a major factor. The hardware I would be using is HD cameras and computers. And, the software would would range from graphics focused programs such as After Effects to editing software such as Premiere or Final Cut.

Additional job sites I found are the history channel, MTV, and E!.

I think what I am learning is that there aren't very many players in the television media. As I thought of shows that were relevant to my career goals and whose content I enjoyed, I found that many of them were blanketed under the same corporate owner. I'm still enjoying this search though. I never thought that so many large shows would give you access to their employment opportunities.

Compan Links

CBS
NBC
Discovery Channel-so awesome. They also own TLC and animal planet.

ABC
PBS

What software do you know?

• Premiere Pro
• Photoshop
• After Effects
• Adobe Audition

What creative skills and talents do you have?

• shot framing and timing,
  
• writing,
  
• producing,
• organization,
  
• audio correction

What are you favorite things?

• visiting museums
  
• trying new restaurants
  
• learning new things relative to art and video production
  
• creating video

What are you interested in?

• creating news packages about topics relevant to my audience and will bring about awareness to a cause I believe is worthy
  
• learning more about graphic design
  
• traveling
  

What are you passionate about?

• Television is my passion and working with people to create video.
  

What do you HATE, can't stand, or despise?

• I don't hate anything; I dislike people who are lazy and self-centered, but I just think they're missing out on alot of things life has to offer.

Job Links

Initially I looked on Mandy.com and idealist.org for news producer positions with no success. However, when I searched on careerbuilder.com, I found the website easy to navigate with a few listings related to my search. I found a news editor , line producer , sports anchor,
web designer, and news reporter opening on this site. Although I did not specifically find a news producer position, I believe I did find jobs which would provide the necessary experience needed to attain a position of that caliber.

What I want to be when I grow up

After my experience at MCN Live here on campus, I have always aspired to be involved in the production of news. I think it's a very important form of television media, and I find the creative process fascinating. I understand that it will take many years of education and experience, but ideally, I would like to eventually become a television news producer. I think I would enjoy interacting with a staff of journalists to come up with story ideas and angles.

First Blog

Hi everyone! I hope I'm doing this right.