The Standup Struggle

You know when you're watching the news, and the anchor says "Our reporter so-and-so has more on this" and then you see a story that a reporter put together that day? Well, that's a package. You hear the reporter's voice, telling a story, you watch a bunch of video, see interview clips, and somewhere in the middle, you see the reporter. He or she motions to something, thereby telling us something while simultaneously showing it. That's a standup.

It's the reporter's shining moment within the package. An opportunity to be on camera and get creative with his/her story telling.

However, sometime's shooting these standups can get difficult:

See what I mean?

This happened to me last weekend when I covered the Wine Festival at Watkins Glen International. It took me more tries than I'd like to shoot a good standup, and that's when I realized a group of people had surrounded me. They were laughing...but not at me. Some guy behind me was in my shot dancing with his shirt off. Thanks, rude guy. I yelled at him as nicely as I could. As a reporter, I can't afford to be seen as a mean person, but at the same time, I have a job to do. And I can't have my work hindered just because some guy tasted too many wines.

So that's my rant, people. Respect a reporter when they're shooting a standup. After all, we don't bother you while you're at the office, right?