When Should You Go Live?
At ATVN, our goal is to produce accurate and informational newscasts that mirror those of local news stations. And of course, that means including live shots. Live shots may appear to be casual and simple, but they do actually require a good amount of thought, preparation and training.
The first question my teammates and I ask ourselves when we consider throwing a live shot in the newscast is "Why?" First of all, a live shot needs to be relevant to the time the newscast is airing. For example, if the show airs at 6 p.m., we need to make sure that the event we are covering is still happening or will happen at 6 p.m. After all, who in the world will care if we are live at an event that has already taken place?
Secondly, we need to ensure that our viewers will take interest in the event we will be live at. Will they want to wait a couple of minutes after we tease the event to watch live coverage? The event should be impactful, fascinating and local. We don't want to do a live shot on an event that our viewers will not care enough about to watch.
If we do decide to do the live shot, my teammates and I will then think about how we will need to prepare for it. Doing a live shot may seem simple since it appears that we just have the reporter on camera reading a few lines, but there are many questions we need to ask ourselves prior to shooting it. What time will the reporter arrive at the scene? What will the reporter be saying? What will be happening in the background behind the reporter? How will we get the footage back to the studio crew? Live shots may not appear to be a daunting task, but trust me, they involve much more thought and coordination than you think.
As for live interviews on set, I know that my teammates and I are always excited to have them. Live interviews not only help break up the show, but they also bring more energy and excitement. It's always interesting to have our reporters get the inside scoop on the people behind our stories. It gives the reporters and anchors a chance to dig a little deeper and to bring out more personality from the guest. And not to mention, live interviews provide everyone with a good laugh when anyone says something unexpected, whether it be our anchors or our guests.
