Ahhh, the Solo Stand-Up. If you're not careful, they can be as painful to watch as they are to shoot. But Stephanie Stillwell has the process down cold. She should. Everyday the News 14 reporter goes it alone: shooting, writing, editing and FRONTING news stories from across the broadcast spectrum. It must get old. In fact, doing it ALL is a recipe for Burn-Out: that feckless feeling you get when the weight of one more assignment feels like more than you can bear. Yet Stephanie soldiers on - often with a better attitude than that wordy, furry photog she runs into so much. Hey, I may consider myself the King of Most Media, but at least I haven't got to cap off each grueling shoot with a star turn in front of the lens. Been there. Got the sweaty dress-shirt.
Perhaps that's why I have such mad love for all the one-(wo)man-bands out there. News crew purists will balk at that assertion; they'll claim the solo news-gatherer produces substandard work, that their pictures are less cinematic, their coverage less complete. Meh. You can't judge one journalist's output by the egregious sins of another. Neither can you convince me that someone willing to schlep hardware across the shifting landscape of news deserves to be there less than some overly-perfumed princess who tweets and primps and poses in the car while her photog slays the dragon of the day. Granted, Stephanie would welcome the help, but she's not letting her lack of a partner stop her from getting the job done and earning MY respect in the process. Guess I should tell her that one day...
Perhaps I just did.
3 comments:
Having been a One Man Band since April 1989, I appreciate your View. I remember Roy Hardee telling me that April, it was the wave of the future. Glad the future is getting here 20+ years later.
Greetings Prince of Petersburg, King of Colonial Heights. You are missing good BBQ.
Stephanie is one of the good ones that roam the Piedmont.
Jeff Amernick
stillwell = a class-act
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