You might not have realized it today, because we spent half the show in Obama coverage, but we had a set malfunction. To be more specific, the small wall – or the background wall that flashes graphics behind Hala during her camera shots – wasn't working. Thus, we had to move her to a position which she doesn't normally use. Steve, the director (of course you'll remember him from the last blog on Facebook) came into the studio early, as usual, and we repositioned the camera so that we could use the large wall, which we run our video on, as her backdrop as well.

The most important facet of the shot change, though, sits with the cameramen because they need to adjust to their new shots – which they're unaccustomed to – and maintain a fluidity, as if everything was scripted and part of a normal show.

I'll use all this as an ideal segue to introduce said cameramen. They are: Marc, the bald magician as I call him (he faintly resembles the great actor Sydney Poitier) and Matt, the dough-faced hawk-boy (he looks like a half-asleep Matt Dillon,) a nickname which I just came up with and kind of like.

Matt operates the steadi-cam, a camera designed to give the operator maximum mobility throughout the studio. It’s attached to a long arm which in turn is connected to a complex upper-body suit which faintly resembles a bullet-proof vest covered in buckles. All those roaming shots throughout the studio—they’re Matt.

Marc operates the Jib, which basically looks like a mechanical giraffe with a camera for a head. He gets all those glorious high, swooping shots.

Basically, without these two, the show would consist of a bunch of static shots—and a whole lot of the same. With them we get all the movement that makes I-Desk a symphony of alternating camera shots.

And before I go, I’d like to insert a gratuitous shout out to Javier, the producer, who is back with us after a bout with some phantom illness that surely kept him home from Salsa Tuesdays at the Mango Club. Javier, show your face more!

Till next time, behave.

Posted by: Video Journalist, Zach Pontz
Filed under: Behind the scenes •I