Ito na ang Saksi! Bandila! We are all familiar with these famous news shows which keep us informed about what’s happening in our world today. Let’s not forget about the famous anchors like Mike Enriquez, Julius Babao and Karen Davila who bring us the latest happenings in our country and in the world. We watch these shows everyday at around dinner time to keep us updated but what really goes on behind the scenes? Are the anchors what they appear to be? Is it like the typical movie sets where pandemonium ensues as the director barks out orders and tantrums flare?
Recently, I went behind the scenes in the news show top story in ANC. I was given a tour of the facilities by the news director, Levy Amante. He brought me to the different departments which are also the three major parts of the news department namely, the newsroom, editing and the control room.
The newsroom was like any other office with the cubicles and xerox machines. The only difference was that the idea of silence was something very alien to the news room. People were screaming at each other. “Hey, Piolo was seen in this place with this girl!”. “ GMA is leaving for the US!” There were people running around looking for their editors. It was total pandemonium and this was just the first stop in the tour. From there,we went ot the editing department. It was like an internet cafe with so many people typing away on their computers. They had to finish editing so many videos to get them ready for the show.
We then went into the control room, the brain of the whole operation. It was where they manage all the aspects if the show. This is where I also watched the show. Even for a news show with so little special effects, there were so many people working behind it. There were technicians, sound crew, video editors and a director. The sound crew handled the music and the sound fx during the show. The video editors were the ones adding the transitions and fixed the order of the videos as they played.
We all know what happens when we watch a regular news show but watching it behind the scenes is a completely different story. It is quite interesting to see what the anchor does off camera. I remember the anchor eating some biscuits and another fixing his coat. You don’t see this kind of stuff on a regular news show. While the news anchor reads the news, the people in the control room were going crazy. Pandemonium erupts as the floor manager barks out orders for surveys or other information to be added to the program. Breaking news is like fuel to the fire. The whole control room erupts as people the video and sound crews rush to fix the video and add it into the news report. The director has to find a way to add it to the show while worrying about the time constrictions.
Needless to say, the show went on smoothly despite the panic in the control room. It’s always refreshing to see things from a different angle and the news show was no exception. Every time you watch the news, try to imagine the people behind the scenes who are working hard to bring you the top news.
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