How Long Does it Take You?

[SuperDuperAnchorMan]

...to write a package? In my prime before I entered the slothful anchor ranks, I could do a 1:15 pak with into and tag in ten minutes.

I once wrote a 5:40 series piece in 20 minutes and won a Murrow for it.

Now, I see reporters who struggle to get a 1:15 pak and a vo-sot in their eight hour shift and they all complain they don't have enough time. It takes them two to three hours to write a mediocre pak.

Not to sound superior, but WTF?

[Purplehaze]

For a minute to 1:15 pkg that's not loaded with nat pops, 15 minutes to write and edit.

You want an award-winner, give me at least an hour.

[The Fedora]

it usually takes me 1.5 to 2 hours to log, write, voice and edit my packages. I can do it much more quickly if I have too, but I like to try and get things... just right.

EDIT: I like to use a lot of nats... I really try to line things up prefectly.

[ March 28, 2005, 05:21 PM: Message edited by: The Fedora ]

[Producer Beast]

One reporter in my shop who thinks she's all that (and she's nowhere close), spends all day on a shoot (only 20 minutes from the station), and comes back at 4:30, starts writing her package at 5:00 (forget that other producers wanted vo-sots from her), then starts to edit it at 5:35, only to pass it off on the news director because she has to make a 6:00 live shot that is supposed to include the package. She's easy on the eyes, but that is about her only redeeming quality for being on TV. graemlins/icon_pidu.gif

[Lazlo Toth]

A 1:15 package? 45 seconds to write it.

I once wrote a half hour special in three minutes and won a Peabody award for it.

Yeah .. that's it .. a Peabody ...

[SuperDuperAnchorMan]

Originally posted by Lazlo Toth:
A 1:15 package? 45 seconds to write it.

I once wrote a half hour special in three minutes and won a Peabody award for it.

Yeah .. that's it .. a Peabody ...Okay, smart-*ss. I could care less about the award. It's in a box in the attic.

My point is, why should it take two hours to write a 1:15 package? If you're doing so much interviewing that you have to log the interview you're wasting time and chances are your stuff doesn't look that much better than the person who took half the time. Also sounds like the photog/editor isn't having much imput if you have to micro-manage nats.

I think that's a common sin among inexperienced reporters--too much interviewing!

Then again, if you're doing it so that the assignment desk doesn't pile you with a bunch a worthless crap, I understand.

[sinclairscared]

I adlibbed a script for a 10 part series in the car on the way back to the station and won the Congressional Medal of Honor for it.
Oh, also a knighthood from QEII herself!

[The Fedora]

so. it's about quantity huh? I'll have to remember that.

I can do quick turn if I have to, but if I don't, why not take my time?

[MI_reporter]

I was wondering if any of you all had any advice for someone just starting out on how to get packages written faster.

[faux pas]

My keys for writing faster: pick out SOTs as you go. Write down key words in your notebook as soon as you hear the bite you want. Even if your only note is, "bite before budget question," it will help you figure out what you wanted when you finally get to log the tape two hours later.

Also, don't use the camera as your notebook. Not only do photographers hate this, it means that you have tons more tape to slog through. Get the factual stuff out of the way during cutaways at the end or, better than that, while you're waiting for your photographer to get set.

[Purplehaze]

Some tips:
1. Discuss your vision story with the photog on the way to the location to make sure you're on the same page.
2. Note the time code of what you know would make a good soundbite. I've worked with photogs who'll lean over and whisper the timecode as the interview is going on.
3. After the photog gets all the b-roll, talk about nats, possible opening and closing shots.

[Sultanosurf]

Was that a Peabody Peabody?

Or an O'Reilly Peabody?

[southwesternguy]

I once wrote, shot, edited, and hosted a 1-hour special in 10 seconds. I won an academy award, a grammy, a pulitzer, and the nobel peace prize for it.

Also, while writing this post, I just set up a 1-on-1 with President Bush, and he's going to give me the exclusive on the REAL reason the U.S. has troops in Iraq.

[jrat33]

A good reporter will write on his/her way back from the story, that way it's ready to go into the computer once you get back. You should already have a good idea what was said in your interview (if you were paying attention) so you can get a good outline on paper on you way back. Once back, log your bites. Once you get your VO/SOT done, give it to your editor so they can get started, and then start on your package. When it comes down to it, take other peoples jobs into consideration when you are doing yours. That way nobody gets pissed that you take too long and everything runs smoothly.

Time management people, it's not that hard.

[Fire Hydrogant]

Originally posted by SuperDuperAnchorMan:
...to write a package? In my prime before I entered the slothful anchor ranks, I could do a 1:15 pak with into and tag in ten minutes.
How long does it take now that you're not in your "prime?"

[HolyToledo]

SuperDuper,

Hyperbole aside, I wonder if the answer to your question is "you get what you pay for."

How large is your market?

How much experience do the newbies have, compared
to the newbies coming into that market five or ten years ago?

What are they earning, (adjusted for inflation)--
compared to five or ten years ago?

"Young and cheap" solutions seem to be causing all sorts of problems.

[Mr. Rugen]

I wrote six novels in my sleep with toothpicks and a shovel, but it took me an hour.

[ March 29, 2005, 06:16 AM: Message edited by: Count Rugen ]

[videogirl]

Originally posted by jrat33:
When it comes down to it, take other peoples jobs into consideration when you are doing yours. That way nobody gets pissed that you take too long and everything runs smoothly.

Time management people, it's not that hard.Thank you very much. Early on I edited and ran playout for the 5 o'clock. I consistently had a reporter that insisted on logging every fart on his tapes and then at 5:55 hand me the tape to cut the vo/sot for the 5. I repeatedly insisted that I had to run tape as well as edit and I couldn't wait on him. No difference -- he would even refuse to let me simply take the tape for a few secs and dump it.

When I began doing promos I learned that I could hit the eject button and run faster than he could.

[upandown]

Writing takes as much time as I have, or as little.

5 minutes---or five hours.

[imported_Mr. Vengeance]

Knowing the subject makes a difference, too. Do your homework before you leave the building AND while you're en-route to the interview. It'll help you organize your thoughts when crunch time comes.

[videogirl]

yeah that was supposed to be at 4:55 --- needless to say it felt like 5:55

[Shot A Load]

Originally posted by SuperDuperAnchorMan:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by Lazlo Toth:
A 1:15 package? 45 seconds to write it.

I once wrote a half hour special in three minutes and won a Peabody award for it.

Yeah .. that's it .. a Peabody ...Okay, smart-*ss. I could care less about the award. It's in a box in the attic.

My point is, why should it take two hours to write a 1:15 package? If you're doing so much interviewing that you have to log the interview you're wasting time and chances are your stuff doesn't look that much better than the person who took half the time. Also sounds like the photog/editor isn't having much imput if you have to micro-manage nats.

I think that's a common sin among inexperienced reporters--too much interviewing!

Then again, if you're doing it so that the assignment desk doesn't pile you with a bunch a worthless crap, I understand.</font>[/QUOTE]Notes on tape suck. There's these things called notepads that some forget to use.

[Lazlo Toth]

Originally posted by Sultanosurf:
Was that a Peabody Peabody?

Or an O'Reilly Peabody?It was a Mr. Peabody ... and his boy, Sherman.

[Sultanosurf]

Help Me Mr Wizard! I took time code notes in wrong format! (Ever happen to you?)

Actually, doesn't time involved depend on the subject and elements? Easiest thing in the world is to wallpaper b-roll with a coupla bites, slap it together and be first racked. If it's a breaker, you're doomed.

I've also found there's a downside to turning quick packs -- then they want more a day...

[Red5]

Here's one rule of thumb I've heard: split your time with your editor.
If you have an hour... you get to log and write for :30 and your editor gets to edit for :30.
If you have 3 hours it becomes 1:30 for each of you... and so on.

As for taking all day, is management aware of this? Is the reporter's work not up to standard? Perhaps the proper authorities could impress on him/her why he/she needs to get stories done on time.

[SuperDuperAnchorMan]

Originally posted by upandown:
Writing takes as much time as I have, or as little.

5 minutes---or five hours.Now, there's the truth. Well said.

[TV's Frank]

Once, through telepathy and the use of mass hallucinations, I was able to air a package as it simultaneously played in my mind. So, in effect, it took no time at all.

[A. Colmes]

i remember working with a reporter that would take 4-5 hours to write a pkg and give us 30-40 minutes to edit.
we would go out on a story say 2:30 or whenever the afternoon meeting was over, on a good day we would be back in house around 5. she had nothing to do for the early shows so they never got in the way, meanwhile our other nightside reporter couldn't go out until after she was done anchoring the 5, so we didn't sometimes start shooting her pkg until 7 or so, and without fail that reporter who couldn't go out until the 5 was over would voice her package before the other reporter. now that's ridiculous.

[morning guy]

I agree with upanddown when he said it can take him 5 minutes or 5 hours depending on how much time he has. It also helps if you know your subject. When I worked in sports, I could knock out a pack in no time. The first news story I did was a medical story. A lot of big words. In my early years, I wrote my entire sportscast in the car heading back to the station after a game went long. I was one-man banding. This was before computers and my typing was horrible. I wrote basic lead-ins for the director and did the rest of the show off my notes. It wasn't the best show. But I certainly had worse.

[TVShootist]

It depends, sometimes it can take a minute, sometimes it can take an hour.. just depends on the moo... oh wait, we're talking about something else here.. my bad.

[Tripe Face]

The longest it's every taken me was 3 1/2 minutes... ooohhhh, I just read the first post... we're talking writing here not..ah... you know. Nevermind!

[Yeah, well...]

3 1/2 minutes? And you'd admit that?

[Tripe Face]

That was a GOOD night.

[Tripe Face]

Hey, I just realized I'm finally an Open Line Veteran!

Party at my house tonight. I'll supply the pretzels, peanuts and porn... someone else bring the beer!

[14 GHz]

Well, I used to write a hour documentary in 4 minutes, using my own blood as ink, while sitting in a boiling pool of acid, after working 27 hours at the station. I had to go to work at 3AM, 2 hours before going to bed, and then have my ND beat me over the head with a U-Matic VTR until I was dead! :)

(inspired by Monty Python)

[toxicmogwai]

Originally posted by Dicky Mighterson (TV's Frank):
Once, through telepathy and the use of mass hallucinations, I was able to air a package as it simultaneously played in my mind. So, in effect, it took no time at all.Is it the hash or is this funny?