tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-72232229212324055802023-11-16T09:28:56.795-05:00Production NotesJournals and notes from the production staff of E:60.E:60http://www.blogger.com/profile/01909826922764256814noreply@blogger.comBlogger107125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7223222921232405580.post-45121392250084278652014-08-05T10:07:00.000-04:002014-08-22T13:09:11.361-04:00Story of a Song<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Dream On’ was meant to be about
alienation, wrote Steven Tyler, its composer and lead singer of Aerosmith, in
his memoir.</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“The song started with a melody in my
right hand that rocked back and forth hypnotically, out of the ether,” Tyler
wrote. “I began it in F-minor with a C, C-sharp dischord. That gave it a
haunting, Edgar Allen Poe kind of feel...”</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>By
the time the lyrics were completed, at a hotel near Logan Airport, it had become
an anthem of hope.</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I’ve
always said it’s about hunger, desire, ambition,” he wrote, “...a song to give
to myself.”</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Dream
On” continues to give more than 40 years after its release.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In a recent incarnation, as the finale
to the Boston Marathon special of E:60 Presents, Tyler and guitarist Joe Perry
performed it with a new wrinkle.</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
E:60 version of “Dream On” is a collaboration with the Southern California
Children’s Chorus, which paired 50 fresh-faced youth, ages 11 to 17, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>with the two well-traveled rockers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tyler, Perry and the chorus paid
tribute to the bombing victims of the 2013 race, and to runners everywhere.</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Executive
Producer Andy Tennant saw and heard it recorded at the Vibiana, a
decommissioned cathedral in downtown Los Angeles.</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“When
Steven Tyler played those first notes on piano with Joe Perry’s iconic opening
chord, I looked down at the goose bumps on my arms,” Tennant recalled.</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
idea was hatched last fall when Tennant and feature producer Heather Lombardo planned
a special to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the bombings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tennant wanted a musical endnote to
reflect the images and story lines, and thought of Aerosmith, with its Boston
roots from the early 1970s.</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>ESPN
music director Kevin Wilson took the idea to Aerosmith, with whom he had worked
on a NASCAR show in the past.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Wilson suggested that the band record a special “Dream On” for iTunes,
with proceeds to go to charities for bombing victims.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Aerosmith jumped at the idea.</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Steven
and Joe were excited to do something for Boston, to give back,” Tennant
recalled.</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
initial idea was for an acoustic version, with just Tyler and Perry, absent
bass or percussion, in a recording studio. </div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“They
never had done the song like that, just the two of them,” Wilson recalled. “It
really interested them.”</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Then
Tyler and director Casey Tebo had another idea, to bring in a children’s choir.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>E:60 reached out to John and Lori Loftus, a couple who
founded the Southern California Children’s Chorus in 1996.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They had overseen its growth to 340
members in seven choirs, and had performed to good reviews at the Oscars in
2012.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They agreed.</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
Loftus’ spent a Sunday afternoon with Tyler at his West Hollywood home where
they wrote an arrangement.</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“It
was clickin’,” Lori, a keyboardist, recalled.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“He said ‘this’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I said ‘Do you mean this?’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He said ‘Yeah’ and laughed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I had ideas. He had ideas.”</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
challenge was to blend Tyler’s voice, “so big and rock and rollish”, as Loftus
described it, with the classically trained voices of the choir.</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“You
keep your sound,” Loftus told Tyler.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>“The children will put the force of hope behind you.”</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
arrangement tucked the choir in “from below and above” Tyler and Perry’s range,
Loftus explained. She was determined that the choir support Tyler and Perry
without “getting in their way”. </div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Tyler
suggested the choir echo his signature “Dream On” phrase for an angelic effect.
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
shoot took place over two days late in March.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>E:60 had Tennant, producer Martin Khodabakhshian, editor Tim
Horgan, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>four cameras, and several
photographers. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Aerosmith had a
crew of about 40, including legendary audio engineer Chris Lord-Alge.</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Visuals
were not a concern.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tyler and
Perry were elegant, as was the choir.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The old cathedral was atmospheric and well-lit.</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I
approached it like a music video,” said Khodabakhshian. “What’s the jib shot
look like? How to hit certain points of the song to accentuate the lyrics? How
to get the emotion on Tyler’s face and Perry’s focus on his guitar?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A lot of it was hands and faces.”</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Audio
was a concern.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The choir’s vocals
could bleed into the mikes meant to capture Tyler’s vocals and piano, and
Perry’s electric guitar.</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“That’s
where the Aerosmith crew stepped in and ensured that we captured all the audio
channels separate and distinct for the best mix,” Tennant recalled.</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Prior
to the first rehearsal Tennant met with Tyler and Perry in their respective dressing
rooms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He showed them the stories
slated for the special – about victims Marc Fucarile, Aaron Hern, and Karen
Rand; runner Kris Biagiotti and her special needs daughter, Kayla; and first
responders Joe Andruzzi and Carlos Arredondo.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Actor Ben Affleck voiced the piece about Fucarile, while
Patriots quarterback Tom Brady voiced the others.</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I
wanted them to have an idea of who they were performing for and to,” Tennant
recalled.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Both were deeply moved
by the stories that the victims told.”</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Tyler,
Perry and the choir rehearsed the song twice on the first day at the old
church. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was “Dream On” as
never before, stripped down and minimalist.</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Not
a lot was going on, which is why it sounded so great,” said Wilson.</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>After
the rehearsal, Tennant recalled, Tyler remarked, “in some ways this is how I
envisioned the song would always be performed.”</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Tennant
was happy, too. “The choir brought a certain mood, a certain innocence and
reflective, melodic tone that hit all the right notes for what we originally
set out to accomplish.”</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Said
Wilson:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“The choir added a touch
of sophistication -- a more inspirational sound.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It evokes emotionally in people.”</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They sang it twice, for keeps, on the
second day. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After the second take
Khodabakhshian asked the choir to do it again, without Tyler and Perry, to get
tight shots of the faces.</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
final edit included two specialty shoots.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>One was of items from a makeshift marathon memorial stored in a Boston
warehouse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The other was of Team
MR8, a group that runs in honor of 8-year-old Martin Richard, who died from the
second bomb blast.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Khodabakhshian
shot Team MR8 at daybreak, early in March, on the quiet streets of Boston’s
Back Bay.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Those shots, in slow-mo,
connected the studio/church in Los Angeles to the horror and redemption of
Boston. </div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“The
key to the edit was to balance the iconic rock stars with the somber and
powerful imagery of the runners,” Lombardo said.</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>To
her taste, it worked.</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“The
overall show came across as genuine, not forced or over the top,” said
Lombardo.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“We wanted the ending to
fit with that sentiment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Steven
Tyler and Joe Perry were very genuine about the reason they participated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The video is understated, all about the
song, and the imagery of Team MR8.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It fits the sentiment of just being genuine and raw.”</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Aerosmith’s
new version of “Dream On” was released on iTunes at the end of July.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All funds received by Steven Tyler and
Joe Perry in connection with this track will be donated to charities for those
affected by the Boston Marathon bombing.</div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">(Posted by Steve Marantz on August 5, 2014)<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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E:60http://www.blogger.com/profile/01909826922764256814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7223222921232405580.post-18099716379480429082014-04-14T14:05:00.000-04:002014-04-16T13:25:57.517-04:00Almost Perfect<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><a href="http://vimeo.com/65745449">“Perfect”</a>is the story of one of baseball’s rarities, the perfect game.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Only 23 pitchers have retired 27
consecutive batters, with no hits, walks or errors.</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>In
January 2013, producer Martin Khodabakhshian set out to interview the 17 living
pitchers who threw perfect games:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Don Larsen, Jim Bunning, Sandy Koufax, Len Barker, Mike Witt, Tom
Browning, Dennis Martinez, Kenny Rogers, David Cone, David Wells, Randy
Johnson, Mark Buehrle, Dallas Braden, Roy Halladay, Philip Humber, Matt Cain
and Felix Hernandez.</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Going
in, I thought I would get half the living guys,” said Khodabakhshian.</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Thirteen
consented.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Initially, four did
not:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Koufax, Rogers, Buehrle, and
Wells. When Buehrle heard that 13 were on board, he changed his mind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>That
left Koufax, Rogers and Wells. Khodabakhshian queried Koufax and Rogers at
least six times over a three-month period.</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Koufax’s
representative stipulated a contribution to a charity of Koufax’s choice.</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“My response was E:60 doesn’t pay
anybody for an interview,” Khodabakhshian recalled. </div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Rogers
never gave me a reason.”</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>That
left Wells.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was not favorably disposed
to ESPN for a past incident that did not involve Khodabakhshian or E:60.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Khodabakhshian contacted the sports marketing
agent, Andrew Levy, who contacted Wells’ wife, Nina.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She passed on Khodabakhshian’s number to her husband.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wells’ call came in to Khodabakhshian
as he pulled into a Magic Kingdom parking lot with his son.</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I
Know you’re upset with ESPN for whatever reason,” Khodabakhshian told Wells.
“But that shouldn’t keep you out of this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There are people in my family who hurt me – people I’ve done a lot for –
who don’t call on my kids’ birthdays.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But I’m not going to stay away from a family reunion because of one aunt
or one cousin.</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Don’t
look at this as an ESPN or E:60 thing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Look at it as a perfect game film.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>You are probably the most favorite of those pitchers, because of who you
were and what you did.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you
aren’t in this, millions of fans will say ‘Where was Wells?’</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“You
will regret not being in this. You will disappoint yourself.”</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Wells
finally agreed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He sat for an
interview at his home in San Diego the week prior to the airing of the 16-minute
version of “Perfect” in April 2013.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Khodabakhshian conducted the interview by telephone from an edit room in
Connecticut.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Wells
brought the tally to 15 of 17 living perfect game pitchers. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Before each was interviewed,
Khodabakhshian and producer Toby Hershkowitz reviewed the films to identify key
plays, moments and stats.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>E:60
also interviewed one of four pitchers – Mike Mussina – who lost a perfect game
in the ninth inning or later.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(It
happened to Mussina twice).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Two
others -- Armando Galarraga, Pedro Martinez – declined to participate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another, Dave Stieb, could not be
reached. Jim Joyce, the umpire who blew the call at first base that cost
Galarraga his perfect game, declined. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>But
none mattered to Khodabakhshian as much as Koufax and Rogers – especially
Koufax, because of his iconic legend.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“If
anything about ‘Perfect’ wasn’t perfect it was that we didn’t get all of them,”
said Khodabakhshian.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“The good
thing is that it’s timeless.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There
will be another perfect game.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You
can always add people.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">(posted by Steve Marantz on April 14, 2014)<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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E:60http://www.blogger.com/profile/01909826922764256814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7223222921232405580.post-26242193562889699912014-01-20T21:45:00.000-05:002014-01-20T21:54:17.022-05:00The Thug Question<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/d3cWjT9lpZc?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Last
summer Seattle running back Marshawn Lynch agreed to be interviewed and filmed by E:60 over four days of charitable activities in his hometown of
Oakland. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> P</span>roducer Frank Saraceno and reporter Jeffri Chadiha undertook the assignment
with some apprehension. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lynch is
famously reticent with media, so much so that the <a href="http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/10246065/marshawn-lynch-seattle-seahawks-fined-50k-media-silence">NFL
reportedly fined him $50,000 for shirking his obligations.</a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>On
the first day Saraceno tagged along with Lynch to his family picnic and shot video
on his own.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He found Lynch relaxed
and pleasant.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>But
the real test was the sit-down interview the next day, in front of the producer,
reporter and crew.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Initially,
Lynch was “restless”, Saraceno recalled, and tended to answer questions with
questions of his own.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>About
30 minutes in Lynch’s demeanor changed.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“He
opened up,” Saraceno recalled. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Once he opened up he talked three, four and five minutes at
a clip.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not just meandering – very
insightful. It wasn’t contrived -- everything felt original and genuine."</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>At
that point Saraceno and Chadiha were emboldened to steer the interview into a
sensitive area.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lynch has
had several scrapes with the law, including a DUI and possession of a
concealed firearm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In a 2008 incident
he was the driver of a car that struck a pedestrian and left the scene.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Chadiha referenced Lynch's cousin Josh Johnson, who had told E:60 that "some people" perceived Lynch as a "thug".<br />
"How do you deal with that perception?"<br />
"Me bein' a thug?"<br />
"Yes."</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Lynch
reflected, in silence (at 6:35), as the cameras rolled. Saraceno held his breath.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“He
kind of went ‘hmmm’,” said Saraceno.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Then
Lynch responded...and responded.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>His answer went on for a couple of minutes. In its candor and self-awareness, the answer belied Lynch's nickname of "Beast Mode". </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I
remember standing there and thinking ‘Wow, that’s going to make the piece’,”
Saraceno recalled.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Because it
gave you not only a window into where he came from, but an answer to his
critics.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>In
edit, Saraceno decided to let Lynch’s response run beyond a
minute.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He did so, he said, as a
matter of context and fairness.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“We
let it go on for a while,” Saraceno said. “He thinks a lot in that answer --
stops talking for gaps at a time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Normally
we would edit that up just for time -- I didn’t want to do that in this
case.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wanted that silence to
resonate with people, let it sit there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>You could see he was troubled -- he was really thinking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“As
a producer sometimes silence is your best friend – I think what made this
answer so special is what he didn’t say.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>If we had edited it down for time it would have taken all the emotion
and power away from it.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“We
wanted to do him justice by letting him struggle – because I think people
realize this isn’t a guy who’s polished. He’s not a guy who’s blow-dried who is
going to give the same answer over and over.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is a guy who is really thinking through what he wants
to say and then it’s up to the viewers to decide whether they like him or not.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“You
don’t want to misrepresent anyone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It’s not like you’re protecting people, but you want to be fair, and as
a journalist that’s always the struggle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Am I being fair to this person?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Is what we’re reporting accurate?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Is their answer fair and contextually right?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“In
this case I know the way we handled it was definitely the right way.”</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf_TkSlyzNHrxAZMwpUbHrQO_ks9PC99UGk8GttgZvPd0jGreYi7S_8NF_hcH-AHrZUU5ZVV8fx6XnqCZpZQa2rYvO4N9LC7Y0Dj23wGREeqOh-oAnbX-fOjIpZXPpIF1c_t4XBH3u5ac/s1600/e60-PN-Lynch-Photo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf_TkSlyzNHrxAZMwpUbHrQO_ks9PC99UGk8GttgZvPd0jGreYi7S_8NF_hcH-AHrZUU5ZVV8fx6XnqCZpZQa2rYvO4N9LC7Y0Dj23wGREeqOh-oAnbX-fOjIpZXPpIF1c_t4XBH3u5ac/s1600/e60-PN-Lynch-Photo.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Jeffri Chadiha (left) and Marshawn Lynch</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Posted by Steve Marantz on January, 20, 2014<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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E:60http://www.blogger.com/profile/01909826922764256814noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7223222921232405580.post-64942613808225854932013-11-14T13:06:00.000-05:002013-11-14T13:07:39.950-05:00The Bushwacker Interview<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/-ffKKwJ26i8?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>When
the opportunity arose to <a href="http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=9861424"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">shoot a feature about a champion bucking bu</span><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">l</span></a><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">l</span>, producer
Mike Johns jumped into the saddle.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>He
had produced “Monkey Rodeo” in 2012 -- about monkeys who ride on the backs of
dogs to herd sheep for the entertainment of humans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now he trained his rodeo sites on Bushwacker, a 1700-pound creature
known as the “Muhammad Ali of bucking bulls”. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Johns
gathered his crew and headed down to Oklahoma and Texas. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He shot Bushwacker’s handler and
owner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He shot a couple of the
cowboys who try to ride him for the required eight seconds
in Professional Bull Riding competition.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>He
and reporter/narrator Wright Thompson told the story of Bushwacker’s upbringing and
emergence as a star, with tongues firmly in cheek, and a nod to the ‘Western
Myth’ in American film and literature. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>No
story about a superstar would be complete without an interview, and Johns
delivered, so to speak.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At 1:53
Bushwacker rings in with his opinion of...something.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We aren’t quite sure of what, but the good news is that
Johns captured it for posterity.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“It
wasn’t like I had to be Barbara Walters interviewing him,” said Johns.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“I just stayed on the other side of the
fence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you wait long enough he
will make a noise.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“It
was easy because he can’t argue or give you trouble.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Overall,
the making of “Ballad of Bushwacker” went off smoothly, Johns said, except for
one hitch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When he started the
work Bushwacker had bucked off 42 straight rides, a record on the PBR
circuit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then in mid-August J.B.
Mauney broke the streak with an eight-second ride in Tulsa.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mauney’s ride shattered Bushwacker’s
aura of invincibility and caused Johns to pause.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“When
he got rode the question was do we even do the story,” Johns recalled.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>After
deliberation, Johns decided Mauney’s ride added texture to the story.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“It
gave us a third act,” he said.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Johns
offered up Bushwacker’s handler, Kent Cox, to explain Mauney’s ride:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I
don’t think the bull thinks he was rode,” Cox says.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“I do think he thinks JB was there longer than he wanted him
to be there, but in his mind, he still won.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
last word belonged to Bushwacker.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>It
was loud.</div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>(Posted by Steve Marantz, November 14, 2103)</b></div>
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E:60http://www.blogger.com/profile/01909826922764256814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7223222921232405580.post-74013322565004056152013-09-19T14:42:00.000-04:002013-09-20T07:33:25.852-04:00Hail Szczur<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/ih3zEkjAdrM?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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This
fall E:60 told the story of a young baseball player, Matt Szczur (pronounced Caesar),
who donated bone marrow to an infant born with leukemia. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The story comes with a teardrop warning
-- it has a powerful emotional payoff.</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>For
its producer, Lisa Binns, the airing of Szczur’s story was a triumph of
patience, perseverance and organization.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>When she pitched it late in 2009 she knew it wasn’t going to be easy.</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“These
type of (medical) stories don’t happen in a neat package,” Binns said. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>At
the time Szczur was a two-sport star in football and baseball at
Villanova.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He had signed up for
the national bone marrow registry, and had been matched with the stricken
infant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For a while it looked like
Szczur might have to miss Villanova’s Division 1-AA national championship football game.</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQr9fXljoo-do6Rzq4WH7iXSowPcN6BifLWj5YbO99YTGb6BFHzy-1hDpfDwG2gTAKvkOjRsfq3NXg93ixzvWTF8oOIafPO-AAOSKQ8G2gDQCOiCH94R68ACjGRM4d6q1yL4_92VyrnR0/s1600/e60-PN-ph-SzczurSaltersCloseEdit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="167" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQr9fXljoo-do6Rzq4WH7iXSowPcN6BifLWj5YbO99YTGb6BFHzy-1hDpfDwG2gTAKvkOjRsfq3NXg93ixzvWTF8oOIafPO-AAOSKQ8G2gDQCOiCH94R68ACjGRM4d6q1yL4_92VyrnR0/s200/e60-PN-ph-SzczurSaltersCloseEdit.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Reporter Lisa Salters and Matt Szczur</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>But
the extraction procedure was put off until May of 2010, in the midst of
Szczur’s baseball season.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Binns
shot his last game before the procedure, shot footage in the hospital, and
three weeks later, shot his first game back.</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Then
she hurried up and waited.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Recipients of bone marrow transplants are not revealed to the donors
until after a one-year waiting period and only if both parties agree. <span style="color: red;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span>The first
year after transplant is tense, with survival rates at about 65 percent.</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> Finally word came in May of 2011 that the transplant had worked -- the recipient had survived. The</span> national Be The Match registry gave Szczur the name of his
recipient. At this point Binns knew the donor and recipient -- or in this case the recipient's parents --wished to meet.</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
process became more complicated when he found out the recipient was a
Ukrainian girl, Anastasia Olkhovskaya, who had been treated in Israel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Through an agency in Israel, Binns got
the family’s e-mail.</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9bP4eb3mtHQX1EljSfrStaO7VOgxHDbgQFMWzLP7YGjg7p9tEZgiyFijPrK1TLSPNGzrNPTd9SVG0HVs0lN8MjjxXiKgEY4830aJNkmrVD_bq-y4-SrQsJccXjtwFfJs_GYftopnMI2Y/s1600/e60-PN-ph-AnastasiaMotherEdit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9bP4eb3mtHQX1EljSfrStaO7VOgxHDbgQFMWzLP7YGjg7p9tEZgiyFijPrK1TLSPNGzrNPTd9SVG0HVs0lN8MjjxXiKgEY4830aJNkmrVD_bq-y4-SrQsJccXjtwFfJs_GYftopnMI2Y/s200/e60-PN-ph-AnastasiaMotherEdit.jpg" width="178" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Marina Olkhovsky and Anastasia</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“The
problem was they only spoke Russian,” Binns said. </div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>So
Binns reached out to ABC’s bureau in Israel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The bureau assigned a translator to conduct the initial
interviews.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With the translator’s
help, Binns sent the parents a flipcam to shoot footage of their daughter. </div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Now
Binns was positioned for the coup de grace -- a Skype conversation between
Szczur on one side of the ocean, and Anastasia and her parents, Ivan and Marina
Olkhovsky, on the other. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
translator from the ABC bureau was on board.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All she needed was a camera.</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>That
need was filled when shooter Bill Roach was assigned to film a feature in
Ukraine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He went to Israel first
to shoot the Skype conversation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It took place in May 2012 -- two years after the successful transplant.</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Binns
filmed Szczur, now in the Chicago Cubs farm system, when he finally talked, over
Skype, with the little girl, now almost 3, and with her
grateful parents.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Binns’ reaction?</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6X-7_kI6iRmyePHBmN1YRuDqTAN4f-IwwOOzTImHc3z2Tyfv0_tJtBuo9-dnAdvGs-TE_FMlKGFRMrBuMBhR2gGK4rLiUFYadS_1Fx4exzXdMhq3f597NON9G58FVaE8JvjqQf4lMuz4/s1600/e60-PN-ph-AnastasiaFishingEdit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6X-7_kI6iRmyePHBmN1YRuDqTAN4f-IwwOOzTImHc3z2Tyfv0_tJtBuo9-dnAdvGs-TE_FMlKGFRMrBuMBhR2gGK4rLiUFYadS_1Fx4exzXdMhq3f597NON9G58FVaE8JvjqQf4lMuz4/s200/e60-PN-ph-AnastasiaFishingEdit.jpg" width="138" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Anastasia today</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Pure
delight,” recalled Binns.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Not as
a producer, but as a person.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Really touching and heartfelt moment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think it was effective for just that reason.”</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNkmAxp3WH5GGWYIMkz5fE4WUX2hkuGlzaxawmVbQ53Fh19MTKun0PGKpF75TK66V5Hiyf4ZXgeouT-XME1BFoO2CDU-vOYPSqYBvl5BlLF1B8B8mBAJ1yecdnrLm6UUsJlqjTBXtJSgs/s1600/e60-PN-ph-SzczurCubsedit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNkmAxp3WH5GGWYIMkz5fE4WUX2hkuGlzaxawmVbQ53Fh19MTKun0PGKpF75TK66V5Hiyf4ZXgeouT-XME1BFoO2CDU-vOYPSqYBvl5BlLF1B8B8mBAJ1yecdnrLm6UUsJlqjTBXtJSgs/s200/e60-PN-ph-SzczurCubsedit.jpg" width="185" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Szczur is a Cubs prospect </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>By
the time the segment aired this fall, nearly four years after her initial
inquiries, she had come to appreciate its resilience.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Had
the recipient not survived, Binns said, “I don’t know if you have a story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Everybody wants a happy ending but with
stories like this you can’t predict the ending.</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“I would have said we should still do
it, because it’s the reality of what happens, and it’s still about his act of
generosity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But you wouldn’t have
all those things that are the total payoff.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You wouldn’t have the adorable little girl with glasses.”</div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
(<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">posted by Steve Marantz on September 19, 2013)<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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E:60http://www.blogger.com/profile/01909826922764256814noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7223222921232405580.post-22083978430705540272013-05-14T15:52:00.000-04:002013-07-18T17:17:17.711-04:00Mellor Off Camera<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihg7tOaDPn1c5h8UndUHDoYo3S9kv2m1M0xiSk5kotI4azq4d_bB78eD5AGxIAmqLjOLIcSyR1RZ_COaUi2SmUGmpnlDzpopWKkXAbXv5kRaXLf80pCHrPSh_FBF3AXI6Z1JZ9inNNKWI/s1600/mellor.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihg7tOaDPn1c5h8UndUHDoYo3S9kv2m1M0xiSk5kotI4azq4d_bB78eD5AGxIAmqLjOLIcSyR1RZ_COaUi2SmUGmpnlDzpopWKkXAbXv5kRaXLf80pCHrPSh_FBF3AXI6Z1JZ9inNNKWI/s320/mellor.jpg" width="180" /></a></div>
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<span style="line-height: 150%;"> </span><span style="line-height: 150%;">In
the photo above Red Sox groundskeeper Dave Mellor stands next to E:60 producer
Heather Lombardo.</span><span style="line-height: 150%;"> </span><span style="line-height: 150%;">It was a Saturday
morning in late April, as Lombardo interviewed Mellor on his struggle with Post
Traumatic Stress Disorder after 37 surgeries. </span><span style="line-height: 150%;"> </span><span style="line-height: 150%;">The photo shows a mutually respectful producer
and interview subject. </span><span style="line-height: 150%;"> </span><span style="line-height: 150%;">What it does not
show, due to Mellor’s jacket, is a bracelet on his wrist.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
Off
camera, Mellor told the story. It was
about a fallen soldier, Corporal Jessy Pollard, of Springfield, Mass., who was
killed in a helicopter crash in Iraq in 2007.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
Mellor
said that he proudly wears a KIA (killed in action) bracelet for Pollard. Army Sgt. Lucas Carr gave it to Mellor after the
Run to Home Base fundraiser at the ballpark in May 2011.<o:p></o:p></div>
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“He
said that if I wear it Jessy will look out over me and help me in my
challenging times,” Mellor recalled.
“That was an amazingly powerful experience for me. Waves of emotion washed over me. I went into my office and called my wife and
cried.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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When he returned to the field a familiar ESPN cameraman saw him rub the
bracelet and asked him about it.<span style="line-height: 150%;"> As Mellor related the story about Pollard, a helicopter flew above the ballpark, and hovered over home plate.</span><br />
<span style="line-height: 150%;"> The
cameraman, who filmed military events, identified it as a Black Hawk
helicopter, with sonar and radar, instead of guns.</span><span style="line-height: 150%;"> </span><span style="line-height: 150%;">Pollard had gone down in a Black Hawk.</span></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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“I
looked up and took a deep breath -- chills ran up and down my spine,” Mellor recalled. “In my 29 years working on fields in stadiums
I had never before seen any type of helicopter hover over home plate -- never
before, and never since.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
“I
really believe that was a sign from Jessy and a higher power that I am not
alone and there will be strength when I need it. I continue to proudly wear his bracelet every
day and feel its power.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
(Posted by Steve Marantz on May 14,
2013) <o:p></o:p></div>
E:60http://www.blogger.com/profile/01909826922764256814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7223222921232405580.post-51286403464170630392013-04-10T12:17:00.000-04:002013-07-18T17:18:01.296-04:00Music and Sound for ‘Hayward’s Heart’<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/C8VlTueGDcA?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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Hayward
Demison was an Oregon high school football player who died - and then came back
to life - on the field. His return to
action, a year later, after heart surgery, was the basis for “Hayward’s Heart”,
a 2012 story by producer Martin Khodabakhshian that has a stylized mix of music
and sound.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Here
Khodabakhshian describes his use of music and sound:<o:p></o:p></div>
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“The
story starts off that he’s dead - it tells the story of a kid who died. We used a lot of stills and screen
grabs. At that point the music strategy
was to be spare. Music can be typecast - you want to avoid that. Droney means something is going to happen. Piano keys are melancholy. Triumphant means somebody has won.<o:p></o:p></div>
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“Leading
up to that point, no music, just ‘nat’ sounds from the game - then you kick in
the music to set an ominous tone.<o:p></o:p></div>
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“When
he died it was a surreal ambient high, then thunder cracking, and nails of
lightening. Then the music picks up --
the reveal is a quarter of the way into the piece -- then the music comes alive
like Hayward does.<o:p></o:p></div>
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“Where
we reveal he’s alive we brought in the chaotic heavy percussion - sound effects
more than music. Then the music
stings. He is staring at the camera -
the music does the talking. When you see
him in the interview setting and see he is alive it is underneath music that
stings. Then the piece continues.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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Following
is the music, in sequence, for “Hayward’s Heart”:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
TIDES /AZ20
(nonstop)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Non Stop International Publishing bmi / Yoni Gileadi <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
All Media Synchronization, Performance and Master<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
COMPELLING FORCE
/Kpm774 (apm)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Kpm Apm ascap / Christopher Willis<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
All Media Synchronization, Performance and Master<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
BARREN LANDS/ATMOS270 (Killer)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Atmosphere Music Ltd prs / ANDREW BLANEY<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
All Media Synchronization, Performance and Master<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
DISTRICT 10 /NM302
(Killer)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Soundcast Music ascap / David Travis Edwards<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
All Media Synchronization, Performance and Master<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
LOSING TOUCH /Kpm774
(apm)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Kpm Apm ascap / Christopher Willis<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
All Media Synchronization, Performance and Master<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
FAREWELL /DWCD 0422
( dewolfe)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
De Wolfe Music Library prs / Troy Banarzi <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
All Media Synchronization, Performance and Master<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
DISMAL THIRD WORLD /
NM302 (Killer)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Soundcast Music ascap / Christian Telford <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
All Media Synchronization, Performance and Master<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
THE DUST WIND /CHAP368
( firstcom)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Chappell Recorded Music prs / Richard Mead<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
All Media Synchronization, Performance and Master<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
THE LAST ONE /Chap 368
( firstcom)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Chappell Recorded Music prs / Robert Hartshorne<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
All Media Synchronization, Performance and Master<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
JUST SHY OF ZENITH FULL/E60-002 (espn)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
BIRCH STREET MUSIC
ascap / Neil & Matthew Deluca <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
All Media Synchronization, Performance and Master<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
AT PEACE IN THE WILDERNESS /Br475 (apm)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Bruton Apm ascap /
Giovanni Parricelli<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
All Media Synchronization, Performance and Master<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
THE INVERTED STORY/ Kok2319 (Killer)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Koka Media Universal Publishing sacem / Laurent Levesque<o:p></o:p></div>
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All Media Synchronization, Performance and Master<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Posted by Steve Marantz, April 10, 2013<o:p></o:p></b></div>
E:60http://www.blogger.com/profile/01909826922764256814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7223222921232405580.post-24883782279644370372013-04-05T12:56:00.000-04:002013-04-05T12:56:07.628-04:00Music for “The Ball”<script src="http://player.espn.com/player.js?&playerBrandingId=4ef8000cbaf34c1687a7d9a26fe0e89e&pcode=1kNG061cgaoolOncv54OAO1ceO-I&width=576&height=324&externalId=espn:8598087&thruParam_espn-ui[autoPlay]=false&thruParam_espn-ui[playRelatedExternally]=true"></script>
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In
“The Ball” producer Mike Johns tells the story of a soccer ball that became an
international ambassador. Lost in the
Japanese earthquake and tsunami of March 2011, it was carried by ocean currents
to a remote Alaskan island, where a middle-aged couple found it, and returned
it to its teenaged owner in Japan. Actor
George Takei narrates the piece.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The
music in “The Ball”, said executive producer Andy Tennant, “is used incredibly
well.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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“Watching
it without the music doesn’t have the same experience. When you see the visual
of the vast ocean and you hear George Takei’s voice with the majestic score -
those three things coming together create a certain mood and experience for the
viewer.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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Following
is the music in “The Ball”: <o:p></o:p></div>
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THE
GREAT LAKES / Bbcpm006 (firstcom)<o:p></o:p></div>
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Bbc
Production Music ascap /Unwin Wayne Tyrone<o:p></o:p></div>
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All
Media Synchronization, Performance and Master<o:p></o:p></div>
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SUSPENDED
EMOTION/ ATMOS289 (Killer)<o:p></o:p></div>
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Atmosphere
Music Ltd prs / Chris White &
ANTHONY PHILLIPS<o:p></o:p></div>
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All
Media Synchronization, Performance and Master<o:p></o:p></div>
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ALL
HOPE LOST /bbcpm014 (firstcom)<o:p></o:p></div>
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Bbc
Production Music ascap / Barnaby Taylor & Ben Salisbury<o:p></o:p></div>
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All
Media Synchronization, Performance and Master<o:p></o:p></div>
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INTO
THE DEPTHS /ATMOS244 (Killer)<o:p></o:p></div>
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Atmosphere
Music Ltd prs /David Goldsmith & Andrew Britton<o:p></o:p></div>
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LIFE
CHAIN / Bbcpm014 (firstcom)<o:p></o:p></div>
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Bbc
Production Music ascap / Barnaby Taylor & Ben Salisbury<o:p></o:p></div>
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All
Media Synchronization, Performance and Master<o:p></o:p></div>
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PASSING
GENERATIONS /Bbcpm014 (firstcom)<o:p></o:p></div>
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Bbc
Production Music ascap / Barnaby Taylor & Ben Salisbury<o:p></o:p></div>
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All
Media Synchronization, Performance and Master<o:p></o:p></div>
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MIRACLE
OF BIRTH /Bbcpm014 (firstcom)<o:p></o:p></div>
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Bbc
Production Music ascap / Barnaby Taylor & Ben Salisbury<o:p></o:p></div>
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Media Synchronization, Performance and Master<o:p></o:p></div>
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SIMPLE
LEGACY /ATMOS266 (Killer)<o:p></o:p></div>
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Atmosphere
Music Ltd prs /Mark Sayer-Wade<o:p></o:p></div>
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All
Media Synchronization, Performance and Master<o:p></o:p></div>
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The
first track, “Great Lakes” was not Johns’ original choice. Tennant wasn’t satisfied with the original
track.<o:p></o:p></div>
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“You
need something bigger - not overpowering - but something that compliments those
grandiose shots of the Pacific Ocean,” Tennant told him.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Johns
tried two or three tracks, and finally hit upon “Great Lakes”, which is
orchestral, soft and majestic.<o:p></o:p></div>
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“Perfect,”
Tennant said. “This is the way we want to set the table.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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When
“The Ball” was completed Tennant felt it was special.<o:p></o:p></div>
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“In
terms of just a story I think it was one of the most powerful we ever told,”
Tennant said. “It’s a story of how we are all connected in this world - it put
a human face on global tragedy. It
captured humanity - acts of kindness and being connected as neighbors - what
we’re supposed to be about.<o:p></o:p></div>
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“After
I watched that I will never look at a soccer ball in the same way again. In some way it symbolized survival, the same
way ‘Wilson’ the volleyball did in the film ‘Cast Away’ to the Tom Hanks
character. <o:p></o:p></div>
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“Mike’s
use of music in that feature is a classic case of where it enhanced the
experience but didn’t take over.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Posted by Steve Marantz on April 5, 2013<o:p></o:p></b></div>
E:60http://www.blogger.com/profile/01909826922764256814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7223222921232405580.post-28978748621853409902013-03-15T15:42:00.000-04:002013-11-25T17:49:36.258-05:00Putting Sound and Music to Ray Lewis, Part 2<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>E:60’s profile of Ray Lewis in 2012 called for music and sound to match the dark hues of Lewis’ story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Producer David Salerno focused on Lewis’ relationship with his father, distant and troubled in youth and early adulthood.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Only in recent years have they reconciled. </span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><strong>Marlon Hidalgo</strong></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Marlon Hidalgo of Anderson Productions edited the piece and explains the music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It starts with Lewis meeting children in Harlem for his charity foundation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A music cut, “You Will be Home”, runs for about 30 seconds.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Hidalgo: “Very light and neutral for that part of the story.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Then Lewis answers his cell phone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His father, Ray Jackson, is calling.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We hear Jackson singing a gospel tune, “I Feel Like Going On.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At 1:05 the story moves forward with the reporter’s voice-over.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lewis’ career success is summarized before his ordeal as a quasi-fatherless child is introduced.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The section uses four sound selections that start with a driving percussion and end with mysterious-spooky. The four cuts are called “Jump Cut”, “Antarctic”, “Harbor”, and Incantation.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Hidalgo: “I love to combine songs and audio design on my own.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The next four cuts were used for a total of 45 seconds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I used them to jump from a fast-paced action to pensive and reflective mood.”</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The story transitions to Lewis’ Florida childhood at about 1:55.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The music is “Travels”, a light piece with strings.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>At 2:10 Lewis’ father is introduced as an absent figure in and out of jail for drugs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The music, “Rainy Days”, a dark piano cut, runs for about 10 seconds.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Hidalgo: “We thought it fit the mood.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>At 2:45 come details of the father’s drug habit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The tense music,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“The Basement”, is followed by “Mist on the Lake”, to 3:15, wherein the story turns toward Lewis’ fatherless childhood.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Hidalgo: “We go from a dark mood to a mood of uncertainty.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Lewis’ loneliness and yearning for his father, and his immersion in athletics, is underscored by a melancholy piano in “Still Water” at 3:25 to 4:05, followed by a slow horn in “Earth Drama” at 4:15 and a soft percussion and ‘whistling wind’ in “Pensive” at 4:30 to 5:00.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Hidalgo: “We went from a mood of emptiness to a resentful mood as Ray started training to forget about the pain his dad left in him.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Lewis coped through athletics at Kathleen High, and erasing his father’s achievements from the school record books.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This covers two cuts, “Floating Current”, and “Adventures in Relaxation”, from 5:30 to 5:50. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Hidalgo: “They are both sort of atmospheric cuts that went well with the training and pain Ray felt in high school.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Lewis’ career advances to the University of Miami, where he becomes an All-American linebacker.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He begins to see more of his father, but their meetings tend to upset Lewis.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The music, “Future World”, runs from 5:52 to 6:15.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Hidalgo: “It is a neutral cut that finishes with a down side.”<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>At 6:25 Lewis’ career takes off with the Baltimore Ravens, but still he craves a relationship with his father.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The music,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Reading Your Words”, runs until about 7:00.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Hidalgo: “A dark and somber cut.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ray never got to have a father/son conversation at that time in his life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Song was perfect for that.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The story becomes darker, as Lewis’ father flits at the margins of Ray’s life, mooching money but avoiding a relationship.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>In 2000 Lewis is convicted of obstruction of justice, and in 2001 he wins a Super Bowl, but his father remains distant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Call for Help” runs from 7:16 to 7:36.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Hidalgo: “A mysterious cut.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ray testifies about the stabbings -- we thought the cut fit the mood.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The father talks about his relapse into drug addiction at 7:55, to a sound called “Suspensory”.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Hidalgo: “It has a sort of dark investigative mood.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>At 8:15 the father rejects Lewis’ offer to pay for treatment of his addiction, and determines to do it on his own.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The music, “Great Salt Lake”, which runs to 9:00, is “very dronie and a little dark”, Hidalgo said.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The reconciliation of Lewis and his father began with a six-hour motor trip to visit Lewis’ grandfather and Ray Jackson’s father.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Sun Rise and Shine”, at 9:15 to 9:30, is described by Hidalgo as “very reflective”. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>From 9:30 to 10:45, as Lewis’ father recounts how, during the drive, he poured out his guilt and remorse to his son, and Lewis recounts how he received it, no music or sound is used.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Catharsis begins in this segment.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The story advances to their meeting with Lewis’ grandfather at his North Carolina home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lewis had never met his grandfather, Shadie Ray Whitehead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The music, “Earth Rise”, was “another reflective and mysterious cut,” Hidalgo said, that ran for about 45 seconds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As three generations talk of the family “curse” of paternal abandonment, and Lewis vanquishes his bitterness, catharsis is achieved.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The mood swings upward at 11: 55 as Lewis vows to be a good father to his six children and to help disadvantaged youth through United Athletes Foundation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hidalgo used “The Waiting” because it is “reflective and light”. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The story comes full circle at 12:35 when it returns to Lewis taking the cell phone call from his father, who belts out “I Feel Like Going On”, by The Five Heartbeats.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The tune gets a 20-second run, and then reappears at 13:45 as the story wraps.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Hidalgo:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“The best cut of the piece.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is Ray’s Dad singing and it fits the mood of the whole piece.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We all thought it would be the perfect way to end a father and son feature.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is very powerful and has a great message.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It gives the perfect ending.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Times','serif'; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Posted by Steve Marantz on March 15, 2013.<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span></b>E:60http://www.blogger.com/profile/01909826922764256814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7223222921232405580.post-88983874690102003012013-03-15T13:40:00.001-04:002013-07-18T17:18:24.998-04:00Putting Sound and Music to Calvin Johnson. Part 1<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGOGm-dNDLMTmZAljFZIW5j0jRELJ8OGuoQtNWbrLZyYH6RXLFInaRBEGTVvlFlAnz1312Dciz3GLFUDwg-0NgsJD5TR0ofZCH45DJ-FSM5oppW_6R-gZ4nESEebzCxV77eCHCeQv1Abo/s1600/Hanson3editGood.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="303" psa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGOGm-dNDLMTmZAljFZIW5j0jRELJ8OGuoQtNWbrLZyYH6RXLFInaRBEGTVvlFlAnz1312Dciz3GLFUDwg-0NgsJD5TR0ofZCH45DJ-FSM5oppW_6R-gZ4nESEebzCxV77eCHCeQv1Abo/s320/Hanson3editGood.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><strong>Phil Hanson</strong></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Sound and music, as production elements, distinguish E:60 stories among ESPN content.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s the opinion of Phil Hanson, music coordinator at ESPN. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“What you get with E:60 is music that ties you here,” says Hanson, tapping his heart.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“We’re taking viewers into other people’s lives and worlds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Music is part of that storytelling.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have a chance to go in different directions with music and film score.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s a more elevated form of storytelling.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Hanson helps E:60 producers use sound and music to define and reflect emotion, mood, action, location, pace, and time period.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>As with food and flavors, sound and music are better understood as sensory experience than in words.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s why Hanson took us into the Music Room, 4<sup>th</sup> Floor, Building 13, to show how sound and music are used.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Within the music room is a library with thousands of licensed selections labeled descriptively: suspense-tension, bebop jazz, kitsch, easy listening, percussive, world travel, mambo madness, surreal images, glued to the box, tribal dance, popular Dvorak, gator legends of rock and blues, questioning and curious, comedy classic, earth horizon, scenic emotions, computers and robots, lite whimsy, aggressive punk, electro rock, Latin pride and glory, moods, surf score, swamp rock, and country hard rock.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>It also contains 20 custom scores composed for E:60’s exclusive use, soon to be 30 custom scores.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>None were in the E:60 piece about Lions All-Pro wide receiver Calvin Johnson, first aired in 2012, that Hanson queued up as an example.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The story highlighted Johnson’s supportive family and comfortable upbringing in Georgia, his work ethic and humility, and his steady ascent to stardom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was relatively devoid of struggle and darkness, save for his second year in the league in which the Lions were 0-16.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The sound and music had to match the story.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“We look at three key areas,” Hanson said. “The location of the footage -- Georgia for the most part.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The period is contemporary.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the overall mood -- nothing too dark or dramatic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You also have the fact that he’s an NFL player, which lend itself to a hard-hitting sound.”</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The piece opens with “Sandstorm Tambur” against a montage of Johnson’s on-field feats.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sandstorm Tambur is a driving percussion, or as Hanson put it, “Kind of action-adventure.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>In succession followed “Stars and Sand”, “Undercover Agents”, and “Epic Action Combat”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>More of the same.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>At 2:10 the story shifts to Johnson’s family and upbringing in Georgia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The music is “Central Position” -- a slower tempo with folksy strings.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“That’s a major shift - more of a background score for storytelling,” said Hanson.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>As the family story unwinds a slow cut, “Hidden Valley”, is followed by “Sparxx”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the mention of Sparxx Hanson lit up.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“That’s one of our ESPN country drama sounds,” he said. “The story is looking into his background in the south.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Basically it combines some country elements with drama.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Asked to describe Sparxx, Hanson said, “It’s not a melody you can easily hum.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s going to give you drama and rising moments, with flavors that are southern.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s also called ‘crunk’, which is country funk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It goes with long-form storytelling on athletes from the south.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Something called “Tribal Landscapes” is used for a few beats before the story shifts to Johnson’s high school and college feats.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The music becomes “Illest in the Game Instrumental”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Rather than the traditional highlight music we’re giving it a dramatic twist,” said Hanson.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“You can take any kind of basic music style - country, hip-hop, rock, pop - and give it different dramatic twists by putting in more minor chord changes, and changing the pace and the beats underneath.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As the story winds through his high school and college (Georgia Tech) career, the sound is “A Change of Sky”, which is soft, and “Epic Fight Action”, which is used for highlights, often in montage. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>A reflective cut called “Pensive” plays under the account, at 10:50, of his dreary 2008 season in which the Lions went 0-16.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After Pensive comes more up-tempo percussive sound to underscore the arrival of quarterback Matthew Stafford, and Johnson’s first Pro Bowl.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lively strings accompany his signing of a huge new contract.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The summation, at 13:30, of the enviable and admirable world of Calvin Johnson is accompanied by “I Guess We’re Friends”, a bright pop acoustic number.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“That’s for a happy ending,” Hanson said.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Times','serif'; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Posted by Steve Marantz on March 15, 2013</span></b>E:60http://www.blogger.com/profile/01909826922764256814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7223222921232405580.post-79280609361420878172012-11-20T12:54:00.004-05:002012-11-21T11:53:50.550-05:00Preempting Sandy<script src="http://player.espn.com/player.js?&playerBrandingId=4ef8000cbaf34c1687a7d9a26fe0e89e&pcode=1kNG061cgaoolOncv54OAO1ceO-I&width=576&height=324&externalId=espn:8654198&thruParam_espn-ui[autoPlay]=false&thruParam_espn-ui[playRelatedExternally]=true"></script><br />
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As hurricane Sandy barreled up the east coast the last weekend in October E:60 producer Heather Lombardo rushed to complete her story about a filly that was rescued from starvation and abuse. The filly grew up to be a racehorse, and her name, “Notinrwildestdremz”, was a metaphor for the storm that bore down on Connecticut.<br />
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Lombardo was one of four E:60 producers who raced against time and nature. Sandy was due to hit Connecticut on Monday October 29. The next night E:60 was scheduled for its next-to-last show of the fall season.<br />
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Normally last-minute edits are made the night before or the day of the show, but not this time. Fresh in memory was the “Snowtober” storm of the last weekend of October 2011. That freakish event drubbed central Connecticut with a record amount of wet snow and knocked out power to thousands of residents and ESPN workers. <br />
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“Considering last year, we tried to be pre-emptive,” said executive producer Andy Tennant. “Last year was in the back of everybody’s mind.”<br />
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Lombardo finished her edit at Bluefoot Entertainment in West Hartford on Friday evening. All it needed was the voice-over by Bill Nack, the venerable horserace writer, who lives near Arlington, Virginia. Nack was supposed to voice the piece at a studio near his home, but was prevented by a personal circumstance. Monday would have been do-able if not for the storm. So on Friday Lombardo got a hold of a voice-over recording device.<br />
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“We decided to overnight one to Nack so he could track and e-mail the audio files without leaving his home,” recalled Lombardo.<br />
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Nack gave the device a try on Sunday, but reported to Lombardo that the operating instructions “looked like they were for an F-16 fighter jet.”<br />
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Fortunately, reporter Jeremy Schaap was familiar with the device, and agreed to call Nack Sunday evening, and walk him through the procedure. On Monday morning Nack used the device to voice the story.<br />
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“As the winds started whipping on Monday I received the audio files via e-mail from Mr. Nack and we finished the piece that afternoon,” Lombardo recalled.<br />
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Sunday morning found producer John Minton in Chicago completing his story about high school wrestling coach Mike Powell, who battles a rare disease called polymyositis. The edit was in Chicago because Powell coaches in a Chicago suburb, and the shooter/editors, Joel and Jesse Edwards, are based there.<br />
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By that time Minton knew that Sandy would prevent Fed-Ex from delivering his tape to Bristol on time.<br />
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“We looked into sending a high-res version through an FTP site,” recalled Minton. “But we were nervous about our edit house, Bluefoot, losing internet connection and not having the ability to download.”<br />
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The solution was to set up a satellite feed - at 11 p.m. Monday - from another private production house in downtown Chicago.<br />
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“We fed out the feature to the in-house feed to Bristol,” Minton said.<br />
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Tuesday morning producer Vin Cannamela dubbed out a tape and brought it to Bluefoot, where it was digitized and dropped into the show’s timeline.<br />
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Saturday and Sunday found producer Mike Loftus at Anderson Productions in Bristol at work on his story about MMA welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre. Tennant and senior producer Ben Houser asked for changes on Sunday afternoon. Loftus realized he would need Monday morning to complete the edit, but before he went home he took a precaution.<br />
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“In case Sandy did its worse we outputted a version that could air,” Loftus said. “We outputted a mix and split just in case. It was only four to five minutes long but it could have aired.”<br />
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On Monday morning Loftus returned to the studio to complete the edit. Reporter Rachel Nichols re-voiced the new version, and Loftus drove it to Bluefoot late Monday afternoon, just in time to beat the storm.<br />
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Monday morning found producer Mike Johns at Northern Lights in Bristol, completing his edit on 49ers tight end Vernon Davis. He had worked double shifts on Saturday and Sunday to beat the storm.<br />
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As it turned out, Sandy walloped southern and coastal Connecticut, causing two deaths and knocking out power to 630,000 utility customers. Damage was moderate in the central part of the state, where the ESPN campus is. No E:60 personnel lost power in their homes, as was the case in Snowtober.<br />
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Some felt an impact. Tennant’s parents left their home on the New Jersey coast to take refuge at Tennant’s condo in Hamden.<br />
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Minton flew back into Hartford though he had flown out from LaGuardia. His car was at LaGuardia, and his family was in Comack, in central Long Island. The storm damaged their yard but left their house largely unscathed.<br />
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“We counted our blessings - we were among the more fortunate,” Minton said.<br />
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A week after the storm Tennant praised his staff.<br />
“Despite the stress and angst of the media reports, everybody kept their composure,” said Tennant. “Everybody was home safely when the storm came in late Monday afternoon. That’s how teamwork is supposed to work.”<br />
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Eleven days after Sandy ESPN President John Skipper e-mailed employees:<br />
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<em> “As is now all too clear, the hurricane significantly impacted much of the U.S. East Coast. Many ESPNers and their families—especially those in the New York/New Jersey area— were personally impacted by the storm. To those colleagues I want to say that our thoughts remain with you. Please know that the ESPN HR and Outreach teams are here to help. I also want to thank everyone for your support of each other and your commitment to keeping ESPN business operations running smoothly in the face of significant challenges during and after the storm. You proved once again that ESPN has the best employees in the business.”</em><br />
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posted by Steve Marantz on November 20, 2012<br />
<br />E:60http://www.blogger.com/profile/01909826922764256814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7223222921232405580.post-88055114431581428352012-11-01T11:12:00.000-04:002012-11-01T11:12:31.905-04:00The Kellyton Shot<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/SB0V1F7-DOw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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E:60’s
story on Justin Tuck tells of his attachment to his hometown, rural Kellyton,
Ala., even as he captains the defense for the Super Bowl champion New York
Giants. Kellyton has a few more than 200
residents and many are relatives of Tuck.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Producer
Frank Saraceno wanted to show Kellyton in a way that explained its hold on
Tuck. In August Saraceno shot scenics,
along with reporter Jeffri Chadiha, and with Barry Dycus on the camera and Ray
Sullivan on audio, near the railroad tracks.
Saraceno mentioned that he hoped to find a “local” to go on camera and
describe the town.<o:p></o:p></div>
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A
pickup truck pulled up nearby. Neil
Moseley, who grew up in Kellyton, and whose father lives near the tracks,
greeted the crew. Moseley, a friendly
sort, chatted with Sullivan before he went over to his father’s driveway.<o:p></o:p></div>
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“There’s
your man, right there,” Sullivan told Saraceno.<o:p></o:p></div>
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“What
do you mean?”<o:p></o:p></div>
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“Talk
to him and I think he’ll give you everything you need.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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Saraceno
went up the driveway and introduced himself to Moseley. They chatted. Then he asked Moseley if he would describe
Kellyton on camera. <o:p></o:p></div>
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“Yes
siree. Ah can do that.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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Soon
enough, Moseley and Chadiha were at the railroad tracks, next to Moseley’s
pickup. Saraceno suggested to Moseley
that he “speak to what you know”. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Dycus
shot with a wide lens, to accentuate the town Moseley described in the
background.<o:p></o:p></div>
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“I
had no idea he was going to describe the different locations in town, but he
just kind of naturally did it,” Saraceno said.<o:p></o:p></div>
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“By
framing it the way we did it’s a memorable shot, because now Kellyton is a
character. If we framed it tighter it
would be another sound bite, but by framing it wide you not only see what he’s
describing but you get a sense of the town as a character. <o:p></o:p></div>
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“It
was perfect.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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Saraceno
had two takeaways from the shoot. <o:p></o:p></div>
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“One,
listen to the people you work with,” he said. “We work with camera crews that
in a lot of cases have more experience than we do - it’s imperative that you
pay attention to their instincts as well as yours.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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“Two,
be aware and nimble. Always go in with a
plan but understand that something could pop up that makes your plan better.<o:p></o:p></div>
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“This
was one shot in an 11-minute piece, but it’s the shot people will
remember. That’s what you want.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>posted by Steve Marantz, November 1, 2012<o:p></o:p></b></div>E:60http://www.blogger.com/profile/01909826922764256814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7223222921232405580.post-32797732323230888102012-10-25T10:38:00.003-04:002012-10-26T16:00:05.223-04:00Shooting Ben Petrick<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/99cyiDGHHOo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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The
story of former major league catcher <a href="http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=espn:8421632">Ben Petrick’s</a> struggle with Parkinson’s disease
is emotional, at its essence. Producers
Vin Cannamela and John Minton wanted to tap the emotion.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Petrick
was a baseball and football standout at Glencoe (Oregon) High School, where his
father Vern was athletic director. A five-tool natural when he was drafted by
the Colorado Rockies in 1995, Petrick had All-Star and even Hall of Fame
potential. He reached the majors in 1999
and was on his way to stardom. <o:p></o:p></div>
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But
in 2000 he was diagnosed with early onset Parkinson’s, at age 23. Petrick was forced to retire in the spring of
2004. By 2007, when his first daughter
was born, Petrick’s disease had stolen his motor skills, and reduced him to a
shell of the great athlete he was.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Brain
surgery in 2009, with a new technology, resulted in infection, and almost
killed Petrick. A second surgery, in
2010, succeeded. Petrick regained some
motor skills and resumed his life as husband, father, and high school baseball
coach. His second daughter was born last
January. He wrote a book called “40,000
to One”, and became an inspirational spokesman in the fight against
Parkinson’s.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Cannamela
first contacted Petrick last December.
Petrick was open to the story, but wanted to put it off until spring. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
Said
Cannamela: “It was a long process of keeping him in the loop and building trust
and being honest about what we would ask from him and his family.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
Before
the producers set foot in Oregon they sent cameras to shoot Petrick while he
coached high school baseball.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
When
they finally met Petrick, they took the time to build a rapport.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
“The
more you can get to know your subject on the front end the more it becomes
reciprocated and they let you know how they feel about you,” recalled
Minton. “What Vin and I both try to do
is show who we are, what our show means, the types of stories we’ve done in the
past, and how we could tell his type of story with as much genuine feeling as
we could.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
“Ben
and his family bought into that we were going to treat this with sensitive
hands. You could tell by the way they
opened their homes to us and the time Ben gave us, and the video and stories he
shared.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
“When
you’re able to not rush into something, and to work on the subject’s schedule,
you’re investing in the relationship.
The whole time it was an open dialogue.
‘What works for you?’ ‘This is what we’re looking to do - when do you
think you could do it?’”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
Once
Petrick felt comfortable, they made a few key decisions.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
The
first was to have Petrick read from his book, a memoir. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
“He
has slurred speech and we wanted him to read those passages because we thought
it would connect to the audience,” said Cannamela. “The short sentences he read in his own words
would be clearer than a face-to-face interview.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
Another
decision was to have Petrick speak - when he wasn’t reading from his book -
directly toward the camera, rather than toward reporter Buster Olney. They shot Petrick’s face in a tight frame.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
“It
created intimacy with the audience,” Cannamela said. “It brought out how
authentic a person he is.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
“We
wanted Ben to talk to us, and the other interviews to talk about Ben. If Ben could find a way to lock into the
camera and talk to people about what he was going through then you would
connect more immediately to him, while everyone else was speaking
off-camera. You would hear them like a
confessional interview, but you were listening to Ben. You were the one with Ben and you were
gaining information from your secondary interviews.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
Another
decision was structural. Petrick’s
father was diagnosed with Parkinson’s seven months before he was. The producers chose to hold back that
information until the narrative reaches the point of Petrick’s retirement from
baseball. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
“Being
that it was Ben’s story we opted for revealing Vern’s Parkinson’s in a way that
helped our audience connect to Ben in the sense that he was going through
something difficult and that he wasn’t going to be alone when he went through
it,” Minton recalled. “Holding on to
that bit of information, while it took us out of the chronology, we felt it
helped build to a bigger climax.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
Two
moments stood out as emotional peaks.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
One
was Petrick’s wife, Kellie's account of her decision to marry Petrick, despite
his concern that his illness would make her unhappy:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
“I
told him ‘you don’t know who you’re going to fall in love with - I’m in love
with you no matter what’.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
Another
was Petrick's account of his first surgery that failed, and how he had lost the
will to go on, until his father urged him to persevere for the sake of his
daughter. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
“Ben,
there’s a little girl at home,” Vern Petrick said. “Don’t you ever give in - you owe it to your
little girl - don’t ever give in.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="line-height: 150%;"> </span><span style="line-height: 150%;">The camera was tight on Petrick as he recalled
his father’s words:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
“He
told me to suck it up. He was right - I had a job to do more important than
me. I was so self-consumed with what I
was going through. He was just being a
good dad once again. That’s what I told
myself. Get back to my job being a dad
and husband.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
Said
Minton: “The most enjoyable moments of a
person’s life were filled with insecurity for Ben. His ability to talk about that brought out
his inner emotions and made him genuine on camera.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
(posted by Steve Marantz, October 25, 2012)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>E:60http://www.blogger.com/profile/01909826922764256814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7223222921232405580.post-35310805414406348862012-09-26T11:19:00.000-04:002012-09-26T11:19:20.104-04:00Monkey Rodeo<script src="http://player.espn.com/player.js?&playerBrandingId=4ef8000cbaf34c1687a7d9a26fe0e89e&pcode=1kNG061cgaoolOncv54OAO1ceO-I&width=576&height=324&externalId=espn:8423867&thruParam_espn-ui[autoPlay]=false&thruParam_espn-ui[playRelatedExternally]=true"></script>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
Shooting
the Monkey Rodeo is a dream assignment that comes along once a lifetime, if
that.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
Which is why producer Mike Johns was all monkey business
when it fell into his lap, like a winning lottery ticket.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
Monkey Rodeo features monkeys mounted atop Border Collies as
they herd sheep. The monkeys are dressed like Curly in ‘City Slickers’.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
Johns caught up with Monkey Rodeo at the ballpark of the
minor league Delaware Blue Rocks. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
This
was not “Planet of the Apes”. Johns did
not have the time and budget of a feature film.
He had one shoot to get it right. Monkey rodeo performed for one minute after
the third and seventh innings, and for five minutes after the game. Seven minutes of action. Johns fretted.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
“It’s
incredibly brief and hard to plan for,” he recalled. “There’s just no good way
to predict where a monkey is going to go.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
His
first decision, to maximize footage, was to shoot in slow-mo, at 60 frames per
second.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
Another
tactic was to mount a Go-Pro camera on the saddle to get a close-up of a monkey
as he rode. The first attempt was with a
monkey named Sam.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
“
“Unfortunately Sam decided to put his hand over the camera for the entire thing
and then he tilted it in the wrong direction,” Johns recalled. “So the first
round was unusable for Go-Pro.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
For
the second attempt Johns attached the Go-Pro to an extension arm, so that the
monkey could not easily place his hand on it. This
time he got his reversal footage of the monkey, but not as much as he wanted
because the camera was aimed too low.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
Now
he was down to the last roundup - the five-minute performance after the game.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
“It
was a bit of a dilemma,” Johns said. “Do you go for the perfect reversal
shot? Or do you flip it the other way
for a POV of what the monkey saw?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
He
looked Sam in the eyes - was the monkey egging him on? - and made the call.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
“I
decided that what we had was good enough and that I wanted the front-facing
shot,” he recalled. “Maybe if I’d had
three more tries I could have got it more perfect.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
Asked
what he learned from Monkey Rodeo, Johns was philosophical. “Expect the
unexpected,” he said. “It’s like
shooting any unpredictable act of nature.
You’re not really able to get the perfect shot you have in your
head. You can’t tell a monkey to hang on
so you can make sure you have everything.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
Posted by Steve Marantz on 09.26.2012<o:p></o:p></div>
E:60http://www.blogger.com/profile/01909826922764256814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7223222921232405580.post-13673120481842555392012-09-10T12:30:00.001-04:002012-09-13T13:36:51.259-04:00Salters on Interviewing<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
In
interviews with E:60 reporter Lisa Salters,
Detroit Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson revealed himself to be
thoughtful, modest, caring, and affable, with an endearing ability to laugh at
himself. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
But
those qualities emerged only after Salters broke through the shyness that has
kept Johnson’s off-field profile far below his mythical on-field profile as
“Megatron”. <o:p></o:p></div>
<script src="http://player.espn.com/player.js?&playerBrandingId=4ef8000cbaf34c1687a7d9a26fe0e89e&pcode=1kNG061cgaoolOncv54OAO1ceO-I&width=576&height=324&externalId=espn:8311082&thruParam_espn-ui[autoPlay]=false&thruParam_espn-ui[playRelatedExternally]=true"></script>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
They
weren’t total strangers. She had met him
several years ago when she covered a Georgia Tech-Notre Dame game - he was 20 -
and she reminded him of that. A shared
memory broke the ice.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
Salters
lives in Atlanta, where Johnson makes his home in the off-season. They chatted about local neighborhoods, parks
and restaurants. The ice began to melt.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
“I
like to find some common ground and go from there,” Salters says. “When people
are shy the best thing you can do is make them feel comfortable.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
Turned
out Johnson played the “Michael Jackson Experience” on his Ninetendo Wii. Ditto Salters. By now the ice was a puddle.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
On
camera, Salters’ manner was conversational and playful.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
“My
nature is to tease guys - he saw that,” Salters recalled. “I wanted it to be
fun, more like hanging out than an interview.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
“If
you have notes in your hand, and you’re reading the questions, one by one, that’s not how people talk. My style is conversational, and if a subject
veers on a tangent it can lead to material that doesn’t get used, but that’s
how conversations go with most people.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
Salters
has a rule of thumb: “Share a bit about yourself.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
In
an interview with Eagles running back LeSean McCoy that has yet to run, McCoy spoke
haltingly about his grandmother’s fatal battle with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease). Salters mentioned that the mother of one of
her close friends also was stricken with ALS, with the same symptoms.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
“The
interview went from him telling his story to him helping me help my friend,”
she recalled. “He opened up more,
absolutely.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
As
McCoy opened up he became more emotional.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
“I
could see LeSean feeling self-conscious and having a hard time controlling his
emotions,” Salters recalled. “Once he went back to her illness and death he was
really upset - even though it was two years ago he was upset all over again.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="line-height: 150%;"> </span><span style="line-height: 150%;">As
a second rule of thumb, Salters recommends empathy.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
“You
have to show that you care about them, too,” she said. “You’re asking them to be personal and honest
and to be very real. You have to show
that you’re hearing them, and you’re feeling with them.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
“When
they’re telling me something I’m feeling exactly what they’er feeling, as much
as they give me. I end up walking out
emotionally drained, too. You don’t want
to tell somebody something personal and not feel they are impacted.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
“It’s
kind of like being a psychiatrist. You
have to make them feel safe like a psychiatrist does. The environment has to be non-judgmental and
safe. Nobody will share unless they feel
safe. If they feel like you are a
million miles away, not really serious or trying to get to dinner, you’re not
going to get anywhere.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<b>Posted by Steve Marantz, September 6, 2012<o:p></o:p></b></div>
E:60http://www.blogger.com/profile/01909826922764256814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7223222921232405580.post-92175852103386049532012-07-17T15:55:00.000-04:002012-07-17T15:55:55.833-04:00The Art of Sound<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 200%;"><b> </b>The
difference between good television and good radio is as simple, and as complex,
as the difference between sight and sound.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
Many
of E:60’s stories make the jump from video to audio on “The Sporting Life”, a
weekly one-hour show (Friday, 10 p.m. Eastern, Saturday 5.a.m and 7 a.m, Sunday
5 a.m.) hosted by Jeremy Schaap.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
Some
don’t.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/8eA1756BvbI?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
“Cheese
Rolling” did not. That was the 2009
piece about a medieval race in England
where people tumble down a steep hill in pursuit of a bounding round of
cheese. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
“You
had to see the participants on that hill - I don’t know that the audio translation
would have cut it,” said Peter Ciccone, program director. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
Most
E:60 stories do well on audio, though some require slight tweaks. Subtitled dialogue on television needs voice-over
identification on radio. Lisa Salters’
report on a girls’ soccer team in post-earthquake Haiti required voice-over. ESPN Radio anchors Christine Lisi, Marc
Kestecher and Doug Brown often do the voice-overs.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
“We
want someone with no inflection - some of our anchors are so distinctive you
want to stay away from them,” Ciccone said. “You want a flat matter-of-fact
translation of the speaker. The idea is
to leave the speaker’s original voice in a way that the listener can gauge the
emotion of the speaker. It’s something
NPR (National Public Radio) does well.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
More
tweaks: TV can abide by silence if the
visual is good. Audio does not like
silence, unless it’s a dramatic pause in someone’s oratory. A mood-enhancing specialty shot for TV tends
not to help an audio broadcast. Audio
producers inject sound whenever possible.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
“If
we think sticking with the sound of a crowd in a gym or on a field a bit longer
would help we encourage that,” said Ciccone.
“Sometimes an additional play-by-play highlight - especially if it’s a
profile of a well-known athlete. We
might suggest something extra in the way of narrative in setting up a
scene. Anything to lend texture.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/CXiqSHE1AAQ?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
In
April 2011 E:60 aired “Hero: The Paco Rodriguez Story”. It told of a boxer who died from ring
injuries but whose donated organs allowed several others to live. Schaap was the on-air talent, so it was a
natural to bring to “The Sporting Life”.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
Conversion
of “Paco” to audio required that it be split into two segments.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
“We
look for the climax, we want to find the conflict - we use that to close
segment one,” said producer Bill Ennever.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
The
break came at the bite from Paco’s widow, Sonia Rodriguez, who said, “He wanted
to be a hero and he would always tell me that, and so I said you know, if that
was his goal in life then, you know, we’re going to do it for him.”</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dyREeCP0IxrUrJzNI_oqdfjoDYa1MIGGQoLO8yO4gBJJn1mIyIWtsfxHnvwfxAtpkzIW5fYV2DoV9OlCvU--A' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 200%;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 200%;"> Schaap
re-tracked the audio to provide identifications for the numerous speakers.</span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 200%;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 200%;">Producers had a difficult decision on an
emotional scene - subtitled in the video version - in which the mother of an
organ recipient whispered into the ear of Paco’s mother, and thanked her.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
“It
was tricky - I believe we left the whisper even though it was inaudible,”
Ennever said. “You could hear that they
were talking to each other in a solemn tone, so the meaning wasn’t completely
lost to our listeners.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
Producers
also grappled with a couple of visuals of women as they cried, but did not
speak.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
“The
visuals were incredibly compelling,” Ennever said. “On radio it was still
important to let it breathe, allowing the listener to be in the moment. But we felt that listeners would eventually
get lose or grow tired of the sobering silence, so we shortened those parts.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
In
June 2012, “The Sporting Life” won a
prestigious Edward R. Murrow Award, for Outstanding Audio Sports Reporting for
its version of ‘Paco’. The award cited
producers Vin Cannamela and Frank Saraceno, and editor Josh Drake. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<b>posted by Steve Marantz on July 16, 2012<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<br /></div>E:60http://www.blogger.com/profile/01909826922764256814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7223222921232405580.post-21914985001602961812012-05-04T13:17:00.000-04:002012-05-04T13:17:01.202-04:00Off the Cutting Room Floor<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dznM9jT-hbByVMBIKRqpoC11BDbZzuNdoG4S-jKI-VbS623ZPBt7F9iM__XvCYCUHshifUa2040D8COdLhzXg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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At
12 minutes Aaron Rodgers and Patrick Willis are compelling. At 24 minutes they should be twice as
compelling. At least that’s the
theory behind E:60’s new sub-brand called Profile E:60.</div>
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“Sometimes
we have great content on the cutting room floor,” said executive producer Andy
Tennant. “Why not branch out and dig even deeper and expand the story
further? It’s a way for our
producers to spread their wings.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
Profile E:60 was conceived last fall
after Yaron Deskalo produced a standard length feature on Rodgers, the Packers
star quarterback. The story was good at 12 minutes, Deskalo knew, but there was
more to tell. ESPN Programming
agreed, and Profile E:60’s first effort, on Rodgers, ran at the start of the
NFL playoffs.</div>
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In
doubling the length of the Rodgers piece, Deskalo used material about Rodgers’
friendship with a young cancer patient, and his foray into the music business, as
well as a sideline interview Rodgers gave reporter Jeremy Schaap prior to the
Packers’ 2011 season opener.
None of those elements had been in the original piece. Moreover, Deskalo expanded the section
in which Rodgers’ talked about being backup to Bret Favre.</div>
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“The
biggest thing was how to lay out the piece,” Deskalo said.</div>
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The
24-minute piece had three parts and two commercial breaks. Part One covered Rodgers’ early years -
he was underestimated at each step of his career - up to his arrival at Green
Bay. Deskalo decided to forego the
traditional “bump” - “E:60 Profile will be back with more on Aaron Rodgers” -
before a break in favor of a “cold” in and out. The first part ended with a question, “What was it like to
follow a legend like Favre?” </div>
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Part
2 required a decision. Fill it
with the Rodgers-Favre material and Rodgers’ Super Bowl victory or bring in the
cancer material. Deskalo decided
on the latter because it dovetailed with a comment Rodgers made to his mother,
which she repeated, about being a good man as well as a good quarterback. </div>
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“I
felt that led perfectly into his charity work and relationship with this kid
Jack (Bartosz),” Deskalo said. “It
was an easy way to end that segment because it was so emotional. Starting a segment with that would have
made it hard to keep the emotions running.”</div>
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With
the luxury of time, Deskalo let the Rodgers-Favre material run for about 2 ½
minutes.</div>
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“It’s
not that we glossed over Favre in the 12-minute piece, we didn’t,” Deskalo
said. “But some of the sound we put in really enhanced that section. You got a feel for what Rodgers went through
at that time.”</div>
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Part
3 focused on Rodgers’ marketability and business ventures, and on the Packers’
2011 season in which they won 13 straight before losing.</div>
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The long form enables the story to
expand beyond the playing field to a more rounded portrait, Deskalo said. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
Producer
Beein Gim’s profile on 49ers linebacker Patrick Willis, in expanding to 23:40,
brought in new material on the tragic drowning of Willis’ brother, Detris, in
2006.</div>
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“We
couldn’t get into that in the original story - how do you spend 20 seconds on a
death like that?” said Gim.</div>
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In
the long form, Gim uses Part One to tell about the abuse Willis and his
siblings endured at the hands of their drug-addled father. Part Two shows how Willis used sports
to cope with his problems at home, and concludes as he and his siblings are
taken in by his high school basketball coach. Part Three details his rise to stardom at Ole Miss and with
the 49ers.</div>
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“With
the longer piece you just let it breathe - you can tell a fuller story,” Gim
said. “The shorter piece is harder.
You have to leave things out and weigh things. You have to be more disciplined as to what fits the spine of
the story.”</div>
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Long-form
storytelling at ESPN has a proud history, with the SportsCentury series at the
millennium, the 30 For 30 series in 2009 and 2010, and more recently the
documentaries by ESPN Films. Profile
E:60 aspires to the tradition.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
Tennant
said MLB stars Justin Verlander and Matt Kemp could be the next Profile
subjects.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
“Our
fans look to us for the definitive profile now,” said Tennant. “We’re getting the sense that athletes,
agents and teams understand what we do.
Profile E:60 is now part of the conversation with agents - they’re
interested. It’s great
exposure. We’re getting a lot more
buy-in from agents and teams because of this brand.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<b>(posted by Steve Marantz on May 4, 2012) <o:p></o:p></b></div>
<!--EndFragment-->E:60http://www.blogger.com/profile/01909826922764256814noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7223222921232405580.post-11124381286135286072012-04-10T12:04:00.002-04:002012-04-12T15:56:16.646-04:00Salters Helps Rwanda Pay it Forward, One Girl at a Time<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_gULm5RMENO7sypM3NiqYsLuEvg1GwySuSvgs2FwtLFTbyjK1QgkHOqgsD0II1bNBMD7dHSV1TTgWsHdYA14cAhj9n7r0hI931qvdYPGn3OR6ckBtTkQyNlZhRlvRW3MiArKWgLAAxIU/s1600/rwanda7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_gULm5RMENO7sypM3NiqYsLuEvg1GwySuSvgs2FwtLFTbyjK1QgkHOqgsD0II1bNBMD7dHSV1TTgWsHdYA14cAhj9n7r0hI931qvdYPGn3OR6ckBtTkQyNlZhRlvRW3MiArKWgLAAxIU/s320/rwanda7.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">In late March, E:60 reporter Lisa Salters boarded a plane in Atlanta, transferred in Brussels and 20 hours later landed in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda. Over the course of the next three days, she would learn many things about the Rwandan people, history and (for better or worse) food. But she was there to teach. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"> “A friend of mine is the head communications person for the Nike Foundation, which is sponsoring a project called The Girl Effect,” Salters said. “The project aims to end global (poverty). It does that by equipping young girls through journalism. It tries to teach young girls a skill so that their voices can be heard and they can go work as journalists and pay it forward in their families.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">“When I was asked to be a part of this, I said sure. I’ll do anything you need.”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw_MDftTTvTbF7z32EFrIyISiU1c_vDMJ_JcROshWKxoa_GLD6aYs9jqE-ZCdLIvpVw-RKYb4eantwh7v4FQdSniV2l5_gHH2B4QNnR-h3GK-trJ1xe38r-7-4RE3t5Ae01aXrzizx4vE/s1600/rwanda8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw_MDftTTvTbF7z32EFrIyISiU1c_vDMJ_JcROshWKxoa_GLD6aYs9jqE-ZCdLIvpVw-RKYb4eantwh7v4FQdSniV2l5_gHH2B4QNnR-h3GK-trJ1xe38r-7-4RE3t5Ae01aXrzizx4vE/s200/rwanda8.jpg" width="200" /></a> Salters and two other journalists, ESPN’s Jessica Mendoza and CNN’s Suzanne Malveaux, signed up to teach a class of nine Rwandan students, ranging in age from 14 to 26. The goal was to teach basic principles of journalism, so the students could go on to write for a magazine the Nike Foundation established – think Seventeen magazine for Rwandan girls.</div><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj94fkbK9hybGAZdrlm9LJm9hzN523vgxulAv7rccM3qeLMw3DFu8bpxCbBmVZHzvJOHoIiQQQIAxEbhsGh_Ngr5bXTsWqnwxuKtcFEhCeGlm61JWGRdcMj5pvk306ZBYLs4489162f6HA/s1600/rwanda9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj94fkbK9hybGAZdrlm9LJm9hzN523vgxulAv7rccM3qeLMw3DFu8bpxCbBmVZHzvJOHoIiQQQIAxEbhsGh_Ngr5bXTsWqnwxuKtcFEhCeGlm61JWGRdcMj5pvk306ZBYLs4489162f6HA/s200/rwanda9.jpg" width="200" /></a> The students, some of whom spoke a little English, were divided into groups of three; translators were used when necessary. On the first day, they learned about conducting interviews and operating handheld cameras that shoot video (eventually the magazine will have a website on which video will be posted). On the second day they reported from the field, while on the last day they wrote first drafts of stories.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"> Salters’ students were assigned to cover a soccer team’s practice on the second day, only this was no ordinary team. It was the only professional men’s team in the country that was coached by a woman – the kind of story you might see on E:60.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"> Or so they thought. When Salters and her pupils arrived at practice, they were greeted with a dose of unwelcome news: none of the players, it turned out, were men. Salters used the misinformation to teach a lesson.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8DbUxF6qTmgdAlLHkvzTWfKUPEbxjoiN9oeuljmk6mx863P41KW9kn_5Wo3d3V2pzXJI7zyVGWUZev17mVBeH7kMewxDicJZ1dM3RggI1VInzluctnJqmO9DHsZ3fWQb1t1n-uQCJ6Zc/s1600/rwanda2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8DbUxF6qTmgdAlLHkvzTWfKUPEbxjoiN9oeuljmk6mx863P41KW9kn_5Wo3d3V2pzXJI7zyVGWUZev17mVBeH7kMewxDicJZ1dM3RggI1VInzluctnJqmO9DHsZ3fWQb1t1n-uQCJ6Zc/s200/rwanda2.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">“I told the girls, this is what happens in journalism everywhere,” she said. “Information turns out to be untrue. She was, in fact, the coach of a women’s team. So this poor girl, my poor student, her piece was about the female coach of a men’s team. She spent all night coming up with questions. So we had to sit there as practice was going on and come up with a whole new list of questions. Her new piece was just about being a female coach in Rwanda. The coach was still the only female coach in the country.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">“The girls were very enthusiastic. When they interviewed that soccer coach – I think I put the fear of God into them. I said look, when you’re out doing a story, you have to become an expert on that story. If we get back and I ask you how old the soccer coach was and you don’t know, I’m not going to be happy.”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">Dean Stoyer, Salters’ friend who runs the Nike Foundation office in Rwanda, viewed Salters as a natural teacher. “Lisa's calm encouragement and unwavering support made the girls instantly comfortable,” he said in an email from Kigali. “Lisa truly stepped into the mentoring role, gracefully guiding her students through Socratic questions, allowing the students to discover the information for themselves. Her girls owned it. And it was powerful to watch.”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">The days were long, starting at 7 a.m. and finishing after 5 p.m. But Salters, Mendoza and Malveaux still had time to explore Kigali. One day they went to the Reconciliation Village, where the Hutu and Tutsi peoples live side by side. It’s an image that not too long ago seemed impossible. In the spring of 1994, Rwanda garnered international headlines as the Hutus slaughtered an estimated 800,000 Tutsis in approximately 100 days.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">Salters knows all about the ethnic cleansing that took place in Rwanda. She reported from Kigali in the fall of 1994 for WBAL-TV in Baltimore, where she was a reporter before joining ESPN in 2000.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">“But I didn’t really get a sense of how big the scope of the massacre was until now,” Salters said. “I had always thought of it as a civil war. But there wasn’t a war here. It was slaughter, there was no fighting back. But I see now that the Rwandans have tried to move past it.”</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzBsBym0polpD92FIAAphtVb0SfZYWUNDbd_qyPmXaGV9kc8woPzLkkAV46ruc7qn_PUGcj_uKwYnXmaDlsUA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">At the Reconciliation Village, locals danced for Salters, Mendoza and Malveaux and served up a Rwandan delicacy: grilled goat on a stick.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">“I was like, please God do not make me eat this,” Salters said, laughing. “And they bring out these full plates. All these villagers are looking at you and are so happy to serve you. I’m like, ugh, I don’t want this goat. But I took a bite and it wasn’t just goat, it was goat kidney. And so it was the nastiest thing ever and I knew I couldn’t spit it out. I just had that one bite.”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"> There were other hardships along the way. The first of the two hotels at which Salters, Mendoza and Malveaux stayed was infested with moths. But Salters simply rolled with the punches. After all, she has seen much worse. Two years ago, Salters reported from Haiti for an E:60 story about the Haitian under-17 girls’ soccer team. At the time, the country had been rocked by a devastating earthquake.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"> “Haiti, that’s kind of what Rwanda reminded me of,” Salters said. “But I got to say, Haiti was much worse. It really kind of put it in perspective, how bad Haiti was. As bad as that hotel in Rwanda was, I was telling people, this is like the Taj Mahal compared to where we stayed Haiti.”</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"> Salters said she planned on staying in touch with her Rwandan students , all of whom have Facebook accounts. And she hopes to return to Rwanda in six months or a year to continue her role as a teacher.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">“It was a quick trip but really cool,” she said. “We were literally teaching these girls how to find their voice. Girls who didn’t have a voice before now feel like they do. Really rewarding.”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">-Submitted by David Picker </div>E:60http://www.blogger.com/profile/01909826922764256814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7223222921232405580.post-907343177296858592012-03-30T12:20:00.001-04:002012-04-02T12:26:03.361-04:00Art of the Tease<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwXuc-s3tSruPm7VV8dKsu_JtMBohCEzCu6DjZrip-BZdfFuf6wxP0aaKY-tuz2mtAsc46MRPz11KxofX7fkQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> It’s not as sexy as it sounds. We’re talking about the first minute of a show that introduces content and hooks viewers.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> Production Assistant Toby Hershkowitz, who works on E:60 teases, describes the creative process as “delicate and difficult”. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> “You want to highlight some exciting part of the story, but you want to leave meat on the bone so when they watch the story it will be new and exciting,” said Hershkowitz.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> Producers risk losing viewers if the tease gives away too much. And they risk losing viewers if it doesn’t offer enough.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> Typically, the tease promotes three long-form stories and a short “interstitial”. The E:60 tease, voiced by an unseen narrator, tends to be conversational and familiar. The language is energized, provocative and begs a question: what happened? Or: who is that?</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> A show in July 2011 featured three long pieces: a profile of Ozzie Guillen, then manager of the White Sox; a story on former middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik’s bout with alcohol; and a story on a 17-year-old girl who lost part of her left leg in a boating accident and recovered to play high school soccer. It also offered a five-minute piece on a triathlete who wrestles alligators, and a short on Albert Pujols’ visit to a bat factory.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> The tease started with Guillen. The key tracks were “a manager with no filter between his mind and his mouth”, and “Ozzie Guillen is the best interview in sports”. There was sound from Ozzie - “We played like bleep” - film of the White Sox celebrating a championship, reporter Jeremy Schaap handing Guillen a beer, and a specialty shot of Guillen’s head highlighted by thought balloons, among them “under the bus”, “family”, and “honesty”.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> “There are times when someone is so big that just having them is enough to sell the story - that was the case with Ozzie,” Hershkowitz said. “We said he was the best interview in sports - we thought people would tune in just to hear what he had to say.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> “That said, the thought balloons indicated we had something people haven’t seen before - a trip inside his mind.”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> Next came Pavlik. The first track, “Once the middleweight champion of the world, the hope of a struggling town.” - was over film of Pavlik in the ring and of deserted factories in Pavlik’s hometown. Then another shot of Pavlik in the ring, and SOT from a ring announcer, “He’s from Youngstown, Ohio.” The second track was, “Now Kelly Pavlik faces the fight of his life”, over a specialty shots of Pavlik in the ring and up close. Then a SOT: “In a 12-month period he had more interventions than fights.”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> Hershkowitz explained it:</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> “The line about him facing the fight of his life is the undetermined conclusion. The hook is ‘I wonder if he makes it, beats the addiction, and finds success again as a boxer? I don’t feel I have the whole story. I know it’s about addiction, but I don’t know the outcome’.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> “It’s less effective if we say Pavlik defeats his demons and comes back to glory. A tease is ineffective if the viewer knows exactly what the story is going to be.”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> The tease moved on to Lexi Youngberg, the high school soccer player, introducing her as she ran on to the pitch, with the SOT, “Number Four, Lexi Youngberg.” Tracked over film of her playing soccer is “A vibrant athletic 17-year-old”, and as the film cuts to a boat speeding over water, the track intones “a deadly accident, and a life forever changed”. Cut to an interviewee, who says, “I really thought she was going to die”, followed by a track, “the soccer comeback story of the year” over film of her team in a huddle.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> The key phrase was “a life forever changed” because while the tease tees up a boating accident, it does not disclose that Youngberg lost part of her left leg, and now plays soccer with a prosthesis. Those facts are held back for the story.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> “It’s effective if you give a sense of the story but withhold a pivotal turning point or a twist,” said Hershkowitz.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> The tease concluded with a track on the alligator wrestler, “extreme sport, extreme danger, poisonous snakes, deadly alligators and a death-defying triathlete”, over film of Paul Bedard running, swimming, and messing with snakes and alligators. The last track, “the best stories in sports tonight on E:60” is over film of Pujols swinging the bat, and an up-close specialty shot of the slugger.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> <a href="http://www.poynter.org/uncategorized/22405/12-tips-for-writing-great-teases/">The Poynter Institute offers 12 tips for producing a tease.</a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Posted by Steve Marantz on March 30, 2012</b></div>E:60http://www.blogger.com/profile/01909826922764256814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7223222921232405580.post-65820383284896932382012-03-02T11:58:00.000-05:002012-03-02T11:58:51.834-05:00Saving 9-1-1<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> Demi Moore’s divorce from Ashton Kutcher seemed a long way from ESPN and E:60 until a 9-1-1 emergency call was placed from her Beverly Hills home in January. A female caller revealed that the actress had been smoking something, and was “convulsing”, “semi-conscious”, and “burning up”. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> Moore was rushed to a hospital. A few days later the 9-1-1 call was aired by broadcast media. Subsequently, broadcast media came under attack by Dr. Travis Stork, who appears on “The Doctors”, a syndicated show in New York. “We’re gonna take a stand here on our show and say that, unequivocally, we do not feel as physicians that 9-1-1 calls should be sent out to be broadcast,” said Dr. Stork.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> He argued that 9-1-1 calls should be excluded from public record under patient-physician confidentiality, and vowed to “take it up with Congress”. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> E:60 producers have an eye on this. They have used audio from 9-1-1 to powerful effect, perhaps most memorably in Ben Houser’s 2010 story of a Florida teen, Nate Winters, who lost most of his left leg in a 2008 boat accident. The 9-1-1 call, placed by a friend of Winters from the boat, was used over video of the lake, and was cut between interviews with Winters and his brother as they reconstructed the scene.<br />
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</script></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> 9-1-1: “Fire Rescue”.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> Friend: “We need an ambulance. His foot got hit in the boat propeller and it got ripped off.”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> 9-1-1: “Is it amputated?”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> Friend: “It’s everywhere.”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> 9-1-1: “Do you have something to control the bleeding?”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> Friend: “All right, we’re going to try.”</div><script src="http://player.espn.com/player.js?pcode=1kNG061cgaoolOncv54OAO1ceO-I&width=576&height=324&externalId=espn:6589422&thruParam_espn-ui[autoPlay]=false&thruParam_espn-ui[playRelatedExternally]=true">
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> Another 9-1-1 tape used to memorable effect was in “Sacred Acre”, the 2010 story of Ed Thomas, a Iowa high school football coach who was shot and killed by one of his former players.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> Dispatcher: “County 9-1-1.”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> Darryl Myers: “We had a shooting right now in the bus barn down at the high school.”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> Dispatcher: “At the high school, where?”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> Darryl Myers: “In the bus barn.”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> Dispatcher: “In the bus barn, do you know who it was?”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> Darryl Myers: “No I don’t. Uh, kids just come running out and said somebody shot Ed Thomas.”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> Dispatcher: “Ed Tho (gasp). Okay.”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> In neither story did the 9-1-1 tapes have news value - their value was in narrative and clarity.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> But sometimes a 9-1-1 tape does have news value, as was the case in the 2009 hospitalization of then-University of Florida football coach Urban Meyer. University officials initially said Meyer’s December 6 hospitalization was due to “dehydration” and that he had been driven there by a friend. But when ESPN obtained the 9-1-1 call placed by his wife it revealed that he was rushed to the hospital by ambulance after complaining of chest pains and a tingling sensation on his side. The 9-1-1 shed light on Meyer’s health (which led to his resignation), but more importantly, it caught the university in a lie.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> The potential news value of 9-1-1 calls is just one reason media want them. Another is that they make transparent an emergency system that, all agree, needs to function at a high level.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> <a href="http://www.rtdna.org/pages/media_items/guidelines-for-airing-911-calls143.php">The Radio Television Digital News Association, in its 9-1-1 guidelines, emphasizes the media’s watchdog role.</a> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> Nonetheless, <a href="http://tinyurl.com/7juahpg">at the state level</a>, the trend in recent years has been toward the restrictions advocated by Dr. Stork. More state legislatures are passing laws exempting 9-1-1 records - audio mostly - from public records laws due to privacy concerns and exploitation, according to Paula Lavigne, a member of ESPN’s Enterprise Reporting Unit. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> “Blame TMZ and celebrity shows for that, because they don’t have much discretion in what they air,” says Lavigne. “Sure, in cases where the records are clearly public you have every right to air them in their entirety. But you need to look at the big picture in terms of any blowback from that. As long as you can justify a good reason for airing the audio - aside from just having a broadcast element - I think you’re on solid footing.”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> E:60 tries to use 9-1-1 tapes with discretion, said executive producer Andy Tennant. The calls are evaluated much as crime scene photos, with caution toward graphic and exploitive content.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> “I understand why there is a movement to ban 9-1-1 calls from public records - many people feel airing those calls is a violation of privacy,” said Tennant. “We in the media need to do a better job of using those calls only in situations where they have news value or can help explain a story. If they are used for the sake of melodrama or voyeurism, that’s when the media crosses the line.”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> E:60 producers have been rejected or ignored on several 9-1-1 requests. Dave Picker struck out on his stories about Dwayne Goodrich and Marvin Harrison. Vin Cannamela came up empty on his story about Lexi Youngberg, a teenager who lost her leg in a boating accident in Michigan.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> SportsCenter producer Chris Bloxom asked Lavigne for help after he made an abortive effort to obtain the 9-1-1 call in December 2010 that preceded the death of La Roche College basketball coach Scott Lang, 41, who succumbed to a heart attack during a practice.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> Her advice to Bloxom:</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> “Although 911 calls are public record in most states, Pennsylvania is a bit of an exception. The law states that, “The Act exempts 911 tapes but permits access to them or a transcript thereof ‘if the agency or court determines that the public interest in disclosure outweighs the interest in nondisclosure.’ Section 708(b)(18).</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> “The only upside here is that the agency has some discretion in releasing it to you. What you need to do first is find out which agency has that tape, unless you’ve done that already. You want the 911 dispatch center, which could be the city police department or some sort of city-county agency. You need to make the request to that agency. It would help if you could make a good argument as to why this 911 call is in the public interest. If that fails, then I’m afraid you will need a court order, which would involve making a request to a judge in that county. And you’ll likely need an attorney’s help with that.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> “One other angle you might try is to see if the family could help you. It’s possible that a relative could get the agency to hand over the tapes without a lot of hassle. I’m not sure what your relationship is with them, but if it’s good, you might go that route.”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> Bloxom filed requests through Pittsburgh police and the emergency response agency and was turned down. He decided against hiring an attorney to seek a court order, and let the matter drop. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> To all producers and reporters Lavigne offers this advice:</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> “When you make a request, you really HAVE to have an address...the calls are saved/logged by address and phone numbers. (And who knows what phone someone was using when he/she called.) They’re not usually logged by name...trust me on that. You should also have a date and an approximate time.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> “And make sure you use a public records request letter to ask for them. That’s usually helpful.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> “Finally, 911 agencies are organized in all sorts of different ways. In some places, the 911 dispatchers are part of the fire department or police department. In other places, the 911 dispatchers belong to their own separate agencies. And there can be multiple 911 agencies within a region. So, just make sure you have the right agency before you launch into a request.”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">(posted by Steve Marantz on March 2, 2012)</b></div>E:60http://www.blogger.com/profile/01909826922764256814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7223222921232405580.post-53952484027223980802012-01-19T11:17:00.002-05:002012-01-23T11:52:01.484-05:00Graphic Content: Part 2 Journalism and Voyeurism<div style="text-align: justify;"> In April 2007 Michael Vick’s dogfighting ring dominated the news. Outside the Lines and SportsCenter showed video of dogs in violent combat, and were stung by viewer backlash.</div> One viewer wrote: “I'll be honest: I turned that story off when they started showing the tapes of the dog fights...that was one of the few times where I completely and totally disagreed with an ESPN decision. Dogfighting is awful, we know it's awful, you don't need to show the tapes.”<br />
Those were the words of ESPN columnist Bill Simmons, in an online chat. Simmons laid bare the risk of graphic content. If he turned the channel, anybody might.<br />
But that’s only half of the risk - viewers also turn away from indifference. Graphic content can hold or build an audience, in its appeal to the intellect, through effective journalism, and to the gut, through voyeurism.<br />
In its decisions, ESPN must consider its own brand, as well as that of its parent company, Disney, says producer Ben Houser.<br />
Yet, if ESPN uses graphic content for journalism, and another network uses it to exploit voyeurism, a cynical public might not make a distinction, or care.<br />
This two-edged sword that is graphic content asks two subjective questions of producers: 1) is it too graphic? 2) is it necessary?<br />
When Outside the Lines pushed to use the moment of contact - baseball against skull - in the Gunnar Sandberg story, Sandberg’s parents refused. The two diametrically opposed views reflect the nuance of the issue.<br />
“Well, their motive was to protect the privacy of their child and their family,” said coordinating producer Tim Hays. “Our judgment is based on two completely different criteria; what's appropriate and what represents the best interest of our viewers. We have to make a call that balances those two factors. We wouldn't use a piece of video that is particularly gruesome or gratuitous, even if the viewer would like to see it. However, if we feel like it's an important part of the story, we have to consider it.” <br />
Said Dwayne Bray, head of the Enterprise Reporting Unit: “We never want to be gratuitous. We use what we need to tell the story, and nothing more. If the storytelling is strong enough, we believe, then you don't need to exploit graphic or violent video images to enhance viewer engagement.”<br />
How graphic is too graphic? Where is the line between necessary and gratuitous? <a href="http://www.rtdna.org/pages/media_items/guidelines-for-graphic-content155.php?p=10&g=37?id=155">The Radio Television Digital News Association</a> counsels “particular compassion to victims of crime or tragedy” and offers up even more questions to help news organizations decide.<br />
Lots of questions, no easy answers. <br />
Producers say they weigh criteria on a story-by-story basis, but it also appears to be the case that it is weighed on a show-by-show basis. <br />
The story about alleged pedophile Bobby Dodd, former head of the A.A.U, and his accuser, Ralph West, ran in December on Outside the Lines, while an abbreviated version ran on SportsCenter.<br />
“SportsCenter decided - after some discussion - to bleep out the word ‘masturbate’,” said producer Carolyn Hong. “Outside the Lines did not bleep it out of our long piece...I understand that some of the staff were complaining that their kids would see the broadcast.” <br />
Viewers were given a warning about the language in the lead-in to the story, Hong said. One broad area of agreement is that viewers should be warned if there is any doubt about the material.<br />
Producer Martin Khodabakhshian recalled an HBO story about black market horse slaughter that did not warn viewers.<br />
“They showed horsed being sliced through - it felt like the Silence of the Lambs,” said Khodabakhshian. “I felt offended that they didn’t warn us this was coming.”<br />
Beyond that, producers apply their own rules of thumb.<br />
Jose Morales, in his piece on motocross riders, used crashes in which the injuries were not permanent, though he would not use the fatal crash of Jeremy Lusk, nor would he have used the moment of impact - if he had obtained it - that paralyzed Stephen Murray.<br />
“I think it’s fair to say that the degree of injury has an influence on my decision,” said Morales.<br />
On the other hand, producer Yaron Deskalo said that, in his 2010 piece on the playing fields of Bhopal, India, he did not hesitate to use rows of dead bodies from the 1984 pesticide factory disaster “because there was not a lot of blood, which is the danger.”<br />
E:60 executive producer Andy Tennant advises special caution “on stories involving dogs, horses and children.”<br />
The time slot of a show is a factor, producers said. A weekend show in the morning or afternoon could have a larger viewership of children. Parental caution should be advised early and often for questionable material.<br />
E:60 coordinating producer Michael Baltierra suggests more restraint with domestic stories than with international, because the emotional impact is greater if the image is closer to home.<br />
“You probably wouldn’t show a severed head in Cleveland,” he said. <br />
To that point, graphic content is defined by community and cultural standards, which vary from region to region, country to country, and are in constant flux. But as technology evolves, and citizen journalists feed You Tube and social media, community and cultural standards change. Today’s graphic content may be tomorrow’s elevator music.<br />
Which explains why, in the future, Yaron Deskalo’s decision not to air a flapping skull in Bahrain will be even more difficult. <br />
“The definition of what a journalist is has changed,” Deskalo said. “Those of us trying to tell a balanced story have to be more aware of what is being shown across the full spectrum.”<br />
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Posted by Steve Marantz on January 19, 2012E:60http://www.blogger.com/profile/01909826922764256814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7223222921232405580.post-23161048961578335222012-01-17T11:50:00.000-05:002012-01-17T11:50:56.287-05:00Graphic Content: Part 1, Deskalo’s Dilemma<script src="http://player.espn.com/player.js?pcode=1kNG061cgaoolOncv54OAO1ceO-I&width=576&height=324&externalId=espn:7296147&thruParam_espn-ui[autoPlay]=false&thruParam_espn-ui[playRelatedExternally]=true">
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> Arab Spring brought revolution to the Middle East and, inevitably, graphic content to media. In producing a story for E:60 about political repression in Bahrain, Yaron Deskalo found ample video of carnage, much of it shot by non-media with personal devices.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> Deskalo’s task was to tell the story with proper context, texture, and tone - to use graphic content and not be used by it. Into his Sorcerer’s Brew went video of a bloodied man on a gurney, a bloodied protestor on a street, shootings of two protestors on the streets, and a man with a bloodied head on an operating table. Then a snippet gave him pause.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> “Someone’s head was literally blown up,” recalled Deskalo. “A grenade had opened up his skull and it was in fragments - the guy was being carried and his head was flapping.”<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> The shot had come from a private flip-cam inside a Bahraini hospital. On the one hand it conveyed the brutality of the conflict. On the other it was repulsive enough that viewers might click away. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> The tightrope was familiar to Deskalo. In May 2010 he produced an E:60 piece about Liberians who lost a limb in that country’s civil war more than 20 years ago and who found comfort in playing soccer. That piece, “Survival 1”, featured a severed head on a table and a decapitated body on a street, as well as a maggot-infested skeleton, and tape of a man being clubbed. Those images were appropriate, Deskalo had decided, because the story was about amputees - the graphic content spoke to the theme of the story. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> But this call wasn’t as clear. The Bahrain story was about political repression; the injuries were peripheral. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> Deskalo’s dilemma, as defined by the Radio Television Digital News Association, is that, “the visual images always overpower the spoken word. Powerful pictures can help explain stories better or they can distort the truth by blurring the important context of the report.”<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> Explain or distort, either or both, take your pick. ESPN producers routinely wrestle with graphic content.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> In June 2010 Outside the Lines produced a show about the dangers of metal bats. Gunnar Sandberg was a high school pitcher in California who nearly died after being hit in the head by a line drive off a metal bat. His parents had the only video of the incident, and they gave it to OTL with the stipulation that the moment of contact - when the ball hit Sandberg’s head - not be shown. But that was what OTL wanted to show.<o:p></o:p><br />
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</script></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> “We tried to convince them otherwise, because seeing it would make for a more complete telling of the story,” said coordinating producer Tim Hays. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> Sandberg’s parents held firm and the moment of contact was not aired.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> OTL pushed last summer in its reporting on Shannon Stone, the fan who fell over a center field railing, to his death, at Arlington Stadium trying to catch a ball tossed by outfielder Josh Hamilton. In an interview with a man who sat next to Stone, and tried to grab him, OTL ran tape of the fall not once, but twice. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> “The video clearly showed the man trying to grab Mr. Stone, and since it was such an important part of the story we used the video a second time so that the viewer could see what the man was describing,” said Hays.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> OTL producers knew the second showing could draw criticism.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> “Others might have seen it as gratuitous, but in our judgment it wasn’t,” Hays said. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> As often as producers push for graphic content, they pull back.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> In a 2009 story on the dangers of freestyle motocross, producer Jose Morales declined to use the crash that killed rider Jeremy Lusk.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> “After securing video of the crash and watching it, it was clear to me that I wouldn’t use it,” Morales said. “It was just too violent. Jeremy’s body literally snapped in half. It was gruesome.”<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> The story, which ran on OTL and SportsCenter, covered Lusk’s death with a SportsCenter announcement, and a sound bite from Lusk after he won a gold medal at the X Games.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> Earlier in the piece, Morales showed rider Stephen Murray at the start of a stunt that would end with him paralyzed from the neck down. Morales did not have tape of the moment at which Murray snapped his neck. Even if he had, he says he would not have used it. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> Instead, Morales dipped to black, carried the announcer’s call, and showed the reaction of other riders.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> More restraint? OTL reported the story of Bobby Dodd, the former head of the A.A.U. alleged to be a pedophile, and interviewed Ralph West, who claims to have been molested by Dodd. The interview was well along when West, visibly shaken, arose and walked toward the back of the room. Producer Carolyn Hong’s cameras stayed on West as he puked. He still was mic'd, and she picked up the sound.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> The question was not whether to air the moment - because it conveyed West’s distress and made his story more believable - but when.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> “We had a number of discussions amongst us, with some people believing that the moment should play up high in our piece,” Hong said.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> There also was a thought to amplify the sound of West puking. But in the final cut, the moment was aired when it occurred, near the end of the interview, and the sound was not amplified. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> Sometimes a compromise is struck.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> Producer Ben Houser had graphic photos of the mangled left leg of Nate Winters, a Florida boy who was in a 2008 boating accident and came back to become a high school pitcher. The photos came from Winters’ parents, both doctors, with permission to use them.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> “The photos were not easy to look at and I don’t have a weak stomach,” said Houser. “But in the context of the story we determined that you had to see what he went through relative to his coming back and pitching.”<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> Houser’s final cut for E:60 found a middle ground.<o:p></o:p></div><script src="http://player.espn.com/player.js?pcode=1kNG061cgaoolOncv54OAO1ceO-I&width=576&height=324&externalId=espn:5181546&thruParam_espn-ui[autoPlay]=false&thruParam_espn-ui[playRelatedExternally]=true"></script><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> “We blurred the photos - they’re not 100 percent crisp high def in focus,” he said. “You can make out that the leg was severed, but we took the edge off.”<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> In the case of the flapping skull, Deskalo put it into a rough cut and showed it to E:60 colleagues. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> Producer Martin Khodabakhshian took one look and said, “It’s too gross. You’re going to lose people.”<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> Nobody disagreed and Deskalo removed it from the final cut.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> “At the end of the day we just decided we had so many great images that we didn’t want to distract the viewers,” Deskalo said.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> Part 2 will explore guidelines and best practices for graphic content. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><b>Posted by Steve Marantz on January 17, 2012<o:p></o:p></b></div>E:60http://www.blogger.com/profile/01909826922764256814noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7223222921232405580.post-60398979087784331362012-01-03T11:10:00.000-05:002012-01-03T11:10:28.146-05:00Ashley Owens Quinter 1987-2011<script src="http://player.espn.com/player.js?pcode=1kNG061cgaoolOncv54OAO1ceO-I&width=576&height=324&externalId=espn:6390758&thruParam_espn-ui[autoPlay]=false&thruParam_espn-ui[playRelatedExternally]=true">
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> As the new year begins we remember Ashley Owens Quinter, who received the lungs of Paco Rodriguez, and breathed through them - with gratitude and exuberance - before she passed away on December 8, at age 24.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> Rodriguez was the boxer who died in November 2009, from injuries in the ring, so that others might live, through his organ donations. Ashley lived a bit more than two years with Rodriguez’ lungs. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> Vin Cannamela, who co-produced the piece on Rodriguez last spring, attended the memorial service for Ashley, in Birdsboro, Pa., on Dec. 18.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> The chaplain who presided over her wedding last summer, to high school beau Jesse Quinter, recalled that joyous event:</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> “At one point she turned to Jesse and said, ‘If I died today I would be happy’.”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> Three other recipients of Paco’s organs attended - Alexis Sloan (heart), Meghan Kingsley (liver) and Victoria Davis (kidney, pancreas). The four women had formed a “sisterhood” after they traveled to Chicago last spring, at E:60’s behest, to meet Paco’s family.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> Victoria’s husband, Stuart, spoke on behalf of the recipients, and talked about Ashley’s kindness.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> “It is said that every time a bell rings an angel gets her wings, well, Ashley was an angel on earth,” he said.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> Attendees received a Mass card, with a photo of Ashley and four hearts, which said, “I think you should never waste a second of your life.”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> After the service Cannamela reflected on Ashley and the story he co-produced.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> “I was struck by everything she did in two years - finish her degree, graduate with honors, start a teaching career, get married, travel,” he said. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> Asked about his own emotions at the service, Cannamela paused - for several seconds.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> Finally, he said, “I guess I was just honored to be there - to be able to pay tribute to her and who she was and how she lived her life and touched people.”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> He attended, he said, because, “As journalists we sometimes ask a lot of people in doing these types of stories. I don’t know if ‘obligate’ is the right word, but I felt it was the right thing to do. I wanted to see the other recipients and be there for them. In a real way we were the reason they got to know each other. For us to see the bond they created amongst themselves - that’s rewarding.”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">Posted by Steve Marantz Jan 3, 2012</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div>E:60http://www.blogger.com/profile/01909826922764256814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7223222921232405580.post-12040384749109933342011-11-22T12:35:00.001-05:002011-12-01T11:36:50.014-05:00Shooting Bahrain<script src="http://player.espn.com/player.js?pcode=1kNG061cgaoolOncv54OAO1ceO-I&width=576&height=324&externalId=espn:7296147&thruParam_espn-ui[autoPlay]=false&thruParam_espn-ui[playRelatedExternally]=true">
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</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> Before the Arab Spring, Yaron Deskalo had produced E:60 stories from India, Liberia, Serbia, England, Spain, Venezuela, Brazil, Mexico and the Dominican Republic. Not bad for a guy from Milwaukee.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> And then Bahrain erupted in six weeks of protests, which left 24 dead and 400 missing. Its Sunni royal family imprisoned and tortured elite soccer players, as well as workers at the Formula One racetrack, many of them Shias, who dared to protest. Bahrain is a mere speck of a country on the western shore of the Persian Gulf, but not too small to escape Deskalo’s passport.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> Shooting in a foreign country, particularly one in upheaval, requires a detailed plan.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> “I might have 12 things on a list, but I have a sense of four things we really want, and I prioritize,” said Deskalo.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> Nothing gets done without a “fixer” - someone who lives there and can act as a guide, intermediary, translator and reporter. Deskalo hired Lubna Takruri, a U-Cal Berkeley Masters of Journalism graduate (2006), who had reported from the Middle East for CNBC and Irish Radio. While Deskalo, reporter Jeremy Schaap and shooters Bill Roach, Joel Edwards and Jessie Edwards applied for media visas, Takruri reached out to potential interview subjects.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> “In a foreign country if you don’t speak the language you’re only as good as your fixer,” said Deskalo. “At the end of the day if you can’t communicate your vision to the fixer she can’t communicate to the government and you will have a hard time getting what you need.”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> A tight budget limited the shoot to 5 ½ days. First came Oman, another Persian Gulf country slightly larger than Bahrain. Two of Bahrain’s top soccer players, the brothers Alaa and Mohammad Hubail, had been banished to Oman. Late in September, after 20 hours of travel, Deskalo’s crew arrived in Oman. At Customs he was told he did not have the proper papers for ESPN’s gear.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> “We were screwed,” Deskalo recalled. “It was Wednesday night and Thursday and Friday is the weekend in Oman. My fear was that our gear would be in the airport for two days.”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> In the morning Deskalo appealed to a press officer at Oman’s ministry of information, and his gear was cleared, but half a day was wasted. Still, he got what he needed, in a day and a half. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> Next came 3 ½ days in Bahrain, which could be difficult, he worried, if government officials suspected a critical story. Officials were told the story would show “how the uprising affected sports in Bahrain, and how the country was moving forward”, Deskalo said. They were told athletes who were in the protests - and subsequently tortured - would be interviewed.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> But at the time Bahrain was alone among Arab Spring countries to retain the backing of the Obama administration. This likely worked in Deskalo’s favor. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> “I didn’t’ get the sense that they were concerned about a sports network,” said Deskalo. “There was no video of torture, and no wounds remained on the athletes. There was a level of arrogance from the royal family in terms of acknowledging the situation.”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> On the first day he interviewed a soccer official whose comments were too guarded, so Takruri lined up alternative interviews. On the second day, driving to the U.S. Naval base, Deskalo thought a helicopter was shadowing his vehicle, but nothing came of it. Coincidentally, the government handed down prison sentences to several doctors who had protested. Takruri knew the attorney of one of the doctors, and secured an interview.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> “You have to adjust on the fly - you only get one opportunity because you’re not flying back to Bahrain soon,” Deskalo said.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> Overall the E:60 crew shot 13 interviews and ample scenery and color. On the last morning, before his flight out, Deskalo still needed an interview with a Formula One official but his request had been ignored. Finally, he took his crew to the lobby of the Formula One office. A flak told him the official was unavailable.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> “We can’t go back without him,” Deskalo insisted.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> The flak went into a back room and then returned.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> “You can have 10 minutes in his office,” he said.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> Schaap interviewed the official, also a member of the royal family, who pleaded ignorance to the plight of 27 of his former employees who claimed to have been tortured while in jail. The man in flowing white garb did his best Sgt. Schultz “I know nothing” impersonation, but his furtive eyes spoke otherwise.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> “A good moment,” said Deskalo.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Posted by Steve Marantz on November 22, 2011</b></div>E:60http://www.blogger.com/profile/01909826922764256814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7223222921232405580.post-52288953045637679212011-11-10T19:43:00.000-05:002011-11-10T19:43:43.793-05:00Risk in Snowtober<script src="http://player.espn.com/player.js?pcode=1kNG061cgaoolOncv54OAO1ceO-I&width=576&height=324&externalId=espn:7217805&thruParam_espn-ui[autoPlay]=false&thruParam_espn-ui[playRelatedExternally]=true">
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> On Saturday afternoon, October 29, three E:60 producers worked on three stories at three edit houses - all near, but not on, the ESPN “campus” in Bristol.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> Martin Khodabakhshian was at Bluefoot Entertainment in West Hartford, Mike Loftus was at Northern Lights in Bristol, and Matt Rissmiller was at Anderson Productions in Bristol. Each was in a dash to complete a story for the special “Risk” show - about extreme athletes and their deathly feats - scheduled for Tuesday, November 2. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> Snow began to fall. It fell and fell, gobs of wet stuff, a record amount for Connecticut in October. Trees bent and power lines sagged. Lights flickered out and furnaces went dead. Though generators powered the campus, many neighborhoods and homes went dark and cold.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> Soon enough, “Risk” was something that crawled off the screen and into the lives of the three producers, and indeed, all ESPN employees and families in central Connecticut. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> At Anderson Productions, Rissmiller toiled on a piece about Tyler Bradt, a kayaker who plunges down steep waterfalls. A generator kept Anderson lighted and warm.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> Then Rissmiller heard the crack of a tree.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> “A large pine tree fell within inches of the post-production facility,” said Rissmiller. “The limbs broke a window in a nearby edit suite and caused some water damage.”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> The tree missed the generator, though. The building had power. The “Legends of the Fall” edit continued.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> Executive producer Andy Tennant stopped in, viewed the damage, satisfied his concerns about safety, and headed to New Haven, where he found his home with power.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> Over at Northern Lights, Loftus worked on “Kings of the Mountain” - about the ‘Red Bull Rampage’ mountain bike contest in Utah. At 8:30 p.m. Loftus and editor Nate Hogan called it a day. Loftus returned to his West Hartford home - minus heat and lights.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> “It was cold,” Loftus recalled. “I had to bundle up and use a lot of blankets.”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> Khodabakhshian, who conceived the “Risk” show, was in his third day of edit on “Land Sea Air” - about a high liner, free (ocean) diver, and sky diver - with editor Matt McCormick. Preoccupied, neither thought about the storm. But both received calls from their wives - stressed and anxious - so they broke off at 6 p.m. and headed home. Khodabakshian planned to return later to edit the ‘tease’. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> West Hartford’s streets were shrouded, an apocalypse - Khodabakhshian counted a dozen trees downed. In his car Khodabakhshian took another call from his wife, Shalom, at their West Hartford home with their three children.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> “The electrical wires snapped and are sparking like mad,” she said. “I think our house is on fire. I called the Fire Department.”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> Moments later McCormick, at his home without power, texted Khodabakhshian: “WOW. Do not go back to Bluefoot!”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> The Khodabakhshian family, without power, bundled up and hunkered down for the night. Khodabakhshian tried to get his Honda Civic off the street, but its battery died, and it was plowed in by two feet of snow. His four-year-old son became ill and vomited. Khodabakhshian made a run for supplies with his 4-Runner, but only after the vehicle spun and almost hit the house and garage. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> Rissmiller left Anderson Productions late Saturday evening and drove to his Bristol home. He lost power at midnight as he shoveled his driveway.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> “I was shoveling in the dark - awesome,” recalled Rissmiller.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> By Sunday morning the storm passed, but the temperature plummeted. Tennant returned to the campus and beheld a post-apocalyptic scene. Employees, spouses and children crowded into the cafeteria, seeking food and warmth.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> “People were showering in the locker rooms across from where we have E:60 production meetings on Friday,” Tennant recalled.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> But Loftus and Hogan returned to Northern Lights to find it now without power. Hogan called Bluefoot owner Tim Horgan - by a stroke of luck Bluefoot was spared. Horgan offered Hogan space at Bluefoot, at which point Loftus and Hogan transported an entire edit bay 20 miles to West Hartford and set up in an empty conference room. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> By now Loftus was worried. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> “All of this is cutting into precious edit time,” Loftus recalled.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> Khodabakhshian was at Bluefoot on Sunday, too. But as he worked he worried about his wife and kids in their cold house. Shalom tried to find a hotel with power - all were full. Later in the day Horgan invited Khodabakshian’s family to bunk at Bluefoot, in an empty edit room.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> “So we packed up,” Khodabakhshian recalled. “We got pizzas and moved to Bluefoot and my family was huddled in one room while I edited in the other two rooms at Bluefoot.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> “It was wild. Checking on kids. Encouraging the wife. Making L-cuts with Matt. Adding more insane-Asian-model shots with Tim. Surreal experience.”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> Also sleeping at Bluefoot were Horgan, his wife Hillary, an E:60 producer, and McCormick, whose wife and kids had gone to New Jersey. Hillary Horgan, who grew up in Florida, had spent the day editing ‘bumps’ on campus - but only after her husband had chauffeured her from their Avon home, and then to West Hartford.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> “I was too afraid to drive in the snow,” Hillary Horgan recalled.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> Tennant came by, and was amazed at the scene.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> “There were blankets, pillows, kids and bodies everywhere, on couches and floors, whatever space was available,” he recalled.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> Loftus chose to sleep at home.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> “Night was the worst, sleeping in a cold drafty house trying to stay warm and hoping that each day you would get the power back,” he recalled.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> Power remained out Monday for much of central Connecticut while edits continued at Bluefoot. Shalom Khodabakshian and her kids found a hotel room in Boston, at Logan Airport.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> About 80 to 90 percent of the E:60 staff, Tennant learned, had lost power, and had their families displaced.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> Loftus and Hogan logged 14 hours to complete “Kings of the Mountain”. At one point Loftus ventured out for food.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> “Lines were nuts,” he said. “One pizza place had to turn us away because they ran out.”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> Khodabakhshian finished his edits late Monday, slept for three hours at his 43-degree home, and flew out at 5:45 a.m. Tuesday to Birmingham for the premier of his ESPN Films documentary “Roll Tide/War Eagle”. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> E:60’s “Risk” show aired Tuesday evening, without a hitch.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> The next day, Wednesday, Tennant recalled, “we had a smile on our face. People told us they enjoyed the show, but no one had any idea what went into putting that on the air.” </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> That same day ESPN President George Bodenheimer issued a statement to employees: </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> <i>“It has always been true that the people of ESPN band together to meet any challenge placed before them. Its what has made this a special and exhilarating place to work.<o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><i> “The last few days of ‘Snowtober,’ which continue to leave so many in the Northeast without power and heat - and their families in distress as a result - are the latest examples of this. Schools and businesses are closed. Fallen trees and power lines dot roads and streets. Municipalities have declared states of emergency. Amidst this turmoil, our people are meeting their professional obligations to each other and to sports fans nationwide in exceptional fashion. Anyone consuming any of our content would have no idea of what our people have dealt with to present it.<o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><i> “From added meals for families in our cafes, to making showers available in a variety of Bristol campus locations, to the Kids Center going beyond to help families, to watching everyone pick each other up - the events on our campus these last few days have been truly inspiring.<o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><i> “My sincere thanks and appreciation go to all who have demonstrated the best of ESPN during a difficult time.”<o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><i> </i>Nearly two weeks after the storm, with Connecticut power crews still making repairs, Tennant looked back at ‘Risk’.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> ““To put on a show so unique and well-produced under those circumstances was truly remarkable,” he said. “I couldn’t be more proud.”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><b>posted by Steve Marantz on November 10, 2011<o:p></o:p></b></div>E:60http://www.blogger.com/profile/01909826922764256814noreply@blogger.com0