Winol - 18th May

This week was a DISASTER! I probably say it most weeks but this week was the epitome of awful.

We started out with a plan, as always but we had to pre-record an OOV in the morning which is where it all went wrong. The OOV script and package was not saved correctly so this took time to find and upload. The drop box where we were going to be putting all the packages instead of running back and forth with a hard drive didn't work also. We managed to record the OOV fine and Justina edited it just before we were due to upload the headline clips. This was OK, again a couple were not done by the deadline but they did not miss it by too much time.

Every week the headline script and straps were not as good as they could have been. This meant that we were then trying to come up with better ones when we should have been recording them. Just gone 1 we finished the headlines but we could not export any storiees to our hard drive until Justina had finished editing them and putting them on. This put us back on deadlines for colelcting the packages. If the drop box was working we would have been able to stop the constant backflow of missing deadlines.

Once all the packages were uploaded we then had trouble putting them on to the VT machine, once they were on it then kept crashing and disco wheeling so we closed the whole computer and it then looked like it would work. After last week having Andys package fail in the actual bulletin because I had not checked it meant that I was extra careful this week and I checked that every package worked correctly. What we did not have time to do was to fully play every package for timings. This meant that we found out Kieran had left his package long during the actual bulletin.

The production team did plan 30 minutes after we uploaded the packages to watch through them, make sure they work and for timings but we just did not have the time to accomplish it this week. However I will try again next week.

We also had Andy in as an interviewee about his package this week as well as Natasha as presenter and Sam as Sports presenter. This meant we needed three microphones and three talk backs. We only had two talkbacks which meant Andy went without one. It would have been better if he had had one as his alloted time was limited but Natasha did really well in getting him to wrap up his answer. We had three microphones but two of them kept cutting out and dying. Katie kept replacing them with batteries but in the end Corin checked mic 3 which is now not to be used and Andy and Sam had to swap a microphone I got out from the loan counter at 2.40pm.

After all that I was downstairs trying to get the new microphone to work whilst Justina was counting down to going Live. No one pressed record so we had to stop and start again meaning that we went live at 3.05pm. We still have not done a recording on the Tricaster for the last two weeks as it was messing up our voice syncing but I would like to try this next week.

After it was all recorded we had to put in packages that the VT machine did not allow to work in the bulletin. We also edited the ends and took out a problem we ahd with Kierans pacakge as well as a bad handover.

We then could not export it. We took out the two packages we had problems with in Final Cut and on the VT machine and it exported within three minutes. We could not log on to YouTube after the editing problem and then when we finally could log in YouTube would not fully upload our bulletin. I stayed in Tab9 until eight pm and Justina and Karen stayed until ten pm resutling the multiple upload failures and the bulletin still not being on the site.

The next day Brian managed to get the bulletin uplaoded and on to WINOL by the afternoon. He took out Stuarts piece on Vince Cable and went back through the rushes. I think this is what stopped the VT machine from working and stopped the export from working on Final Cut. This is the first week that I know of where the bulletin has not been up on a Wednesday.

My aims for next week are to use ustream, use and train people on the Tricaster and to have the bulletin up by four pm.