BIG MAC VISITS BAGHDAD BY THE BAY
by Mark Neuling
Videographer for TechTV
Jan. 9th, 2003
If you were a fan of Apple computers, San Francisco was the center of the
universe on Tuesday, January 7th, 2003. It was also my first anniversary
at TechTV.
The day started on somewhat of a down note. The producer was several minutes
late. I heard him plaintively knocking on the door; he had forgotten his
keycard. He told me that our talent would be here in a few minutes. He
had overslept. Combine their ages and they’ve only got me beat
by five or six years.
We head out to the Moscone Center. My crew is crabby. Not unusual
with these two. At least they only snipe at each other. They are
already thinking ahead to tomorrow when they will be in Las Vegas for the Consumer
Electronics Show. Once again the company has bought airline tickets at
the last minute, so the flight to Vegas, which usually takes 90 minutes, will
take them four hours because of a layover in Phoenix. The thought if getting
in so late has them moaning. I just want to get this one in the can. It’s
around 8 AM, they want to leave the event by one-thirty. This is the
lead story and it airs at 5 PM.
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Our “talent” isn’t
really a journalist, I don’t
believe he’s studied nor has aspirations of being one. He’s
a specialist. He
reviews products and software. He does that very, very well. He’s
also anchored our newscast, a national one, at the age of 26.
The producer is from Chicago; he has an edge to him. He knows a lot
more about news and producing than he lets on. Knows what he needs,
get it and get out. Follow the formula. I like working with both
of them. Relaxed, fun and sometimes creative.
We round the corner from 3rd Street and make a left onto Howard. The
Apple adherents are already lined up down the block. There is just
a mild chill in the air; their jackets won’t be needed in a couple
more hours. Great thing about San Francisco, it’s 55 degrees in the
winter and 55 degrees in the summer. The sky is a cobalt blue that
still has some gold in it. In years past I would have shot the people
lined up waiting to enter the convention; maybe gotten some sound, you never
know what the editors might need. But today that won’t be necessary,
it’s not part of the script, doesn’t meet the formula.
I had been to Moscone the day before to shoot some “man on the
street” interviews and to get my credentials. On Monday security
let us park right across the street from the convention center. Unusual
for them, unusual for Apple. My “S.F.P.D. OFICIAL PRESS BUSINESS” credential
has little sway over the security guards there. Would they let us park
in front today? We pull up. The guard says that I can only drop
my passengers off. I show him my press pass, we hit pay dirt. Parking
right across the street. Only yards distant from our shoot.
The Macworld Expo is a big deal. Lots of media very well organized
by Apple. There are two lines. One for still cameras and one
for “broadcast” cameras. We wait. Our talent goes
to get coffee, our producer looks around. “How many of these
crews are broadcast?” he asks. I told you he was savvy.
I look around. I see three maybe four BETACAMS besides my own DVCPRO
camera. The rest are mini-DV’s. Webcasters, crews from
Japan, probably local cable access as well. Funny thing, as the consumer
gear gets smaller there are more people in their crews. Just the
opposite of the broadcast industry.
There is a guy in front of us who has a shaved head and is wearing
camouflage pants. He’s doing a stand-up, he’s trying to
be funny, there must be three other people with him, I can’t watch. Our
talent returns with $2.50 cups of coffee from Starbucks, I pass the
coffee up; it would hit them a few hours later.
The guy with the camo-pants spots us. He watches the network. Strikes
up a conversation with our talent. Wants to trade tri-pods. Very
funny. Admires my camera. Who says size doesn’t matter. Eventually
gives our talent one of his company t-shirts which he conveniantly has stashed
in his backpack. It’s for his “magazine”. I
always thought magazines were printed on paper, the Internet has
sure changed things.
We begin our march to the camera platforms. Apple has provided ample
space and two mult-boxes for audio. But there are a lot of crews
heading for the platform. I pick up my pace and leave our producer
behind; he’s got the tri-pod. I just want a position. A Japanese
crew sprints past me with their gear on a luggage cart. The local
media is usually pretty mellow, but most of the local media hasn’t
arrived yet.
Get my tri-pod and camera set up. Another shooter wedges in next to
me, now I can’t pan to get audience shots with out putting my handle
in this guy’s ear. At least my view of the stage and of Steve
Jobs will be clear.
On to audio, big problem. Printed signs on the mult-boxes declare, “NO
WIRELESS DEVICES”. Nearly 19 years of doing this and this is
a first. I’ve got an XLR cord but it’s too short. Send
the producer to the car to get a longer one. I didn’t listen
to that little voice that said bring another XLR. I wasn’t
the only one that came up short. Fortunately there is a house audio
technician with spare cords. Passes them around like Mardi Gras beads. I
hope he got his back, saved my bacon but now I’ve got an extra bag
to lug around.
The keynote is uneventful. The producer and talent sit down in front.
I roll on most of the keynote address but not all of it, they don’t
feel the need to tell me what to shoot; I know the formula. Trust is
nice. Besides, we recorded the whole thing off the satellite feed. I
notice the guy in camouflage pants sitting near them. Don’t
know where his crew is. Steve Jobs is preaching to the faithful and they
lap it up.
We need to get reaction afterwards, the coffee our crew drank three
hours earlier has kicked in, no not the caffeine. Sound will have to
wait a few more minutes. We ride the escalators to the convention floor
and make our way to the Apple area. Real nice. Lot’s of
new laptops for people to play with. Crowds two and three deep. People
begin to recognize our talent. He signs autographs; we ask for comments
about the new product announcements from Apple. People are for the
most part positive. We take a break for lunch. Twelve dollars
for a sandwich, chips and coke. Now it’s my turn to find a restroom. At
least there aren’t any crowds.
There are still some stand-ups from our talent, an interview, and
a few b-roll shots to get. We happen upon Steve Jobs on the floor with
a coterie of Apple PR people. They all seem to be wearing clothing
from the “Steve Jobs Winter Wardrobe Collection,” in other words,
black turtlenecks, blue jeans and running shoes. Maybe this is Apple’s
attempt at stealth technology. The media hasn’t spotted Jobs
yet. I give a mic to our talent, turn on my receiver and put in my
earpiece. We thread our way to Mr. Jobs; he declines our request for
an interview, and the Apple PR gal asks why we have to get in his face. Are
these people trained by the Secret Service? I reply to her that if
she gets in front of me my only option is to get in front of her, I can’t
get video with the back of her head filling my viewfinder. I back off
though. By now other crews are getting their shots of the Apple CEO. No
pack mentality. Mr. Jobs seems unaware that we are there or chooses
to ignore us. Eventually he disappears into the crowd.
Time for the stand-ups. There are two for this package. Our
talent nails each one in only one take. Amazing what a crowd of on-lookers
will do when the talent has to do their read in public; I said this
kid was good, it’s not usually this easy. I manage to keep
the camera in focus and remember to white balance.
The producer still needs a few more shots of computer screens. Not
very interesting b-roll, but it’s what he wants for the story. I
remark on the way out that we could do a lot of human-interest stories
here if we wanted to. People wearing sandwich signs, people dressed
in medieval costumes, people with rangefinder Leica’s! The
producer says we could do an hour, but again it’s not part of formula.
TechTV is the world’s leading cable and satellite television channel
covering technology news, information, and entertainment from a consumer,
industry, and market perspective 24 hours a day. Available in more
than 75 million households across 70 countries, TechTV is also the world’s
largest producer and distributor of programming about technology.
Copyright TechTV 2003 TechTV Inc. All rights reserved.
The opinions expressed are solely those of the author.
Email info: markneuling@techtvcorp.com |
