Category Archives: Pittsburgh

KDKA News at Noon, Meeting Kristine Sorensen and Touring the Set

Yesterday, July 19th, 2017, the Interactive Multimedia Workshop went to the KDKA News at Noon, met Kristine Sorensen, Ron Smiley, and got a tour of the entire KDKA building.

As watching Sorensen, we learned about how the producers work to perfectly time things, how the people in the control room work to get everything done as fast as they could and we got to see how it all worked together.

We saw the control room and how they put all of the screens together, how they make something go live, how some of the buttons and everything worked together to make the show and to make all other KDKA based television shows.

We saw the producer and Ron Smiley and Kristine Sorensen all working together and telling people whats going on in the world right now. Breaking news, stories, weather, just about everything.

We got to view the cubicles and see the stuff that they all do together to work and get the stories done and broadcasted.

We got to see how Ron Smiley works with all of the technology and everything that he has to do. We got to see him work with the Green Screen as well as being able to see him at work at his desk.

We got a sneak peek at how the teleprompters work and we got to see just how it all pieced together to form the show. We saw how it worked with only ONE of the anchors, taking the place of both, who one of the two anchors wasn’t able to be there.

Getting the Right Picture with an iPhone Camera; Campus Sights

Among all the unique qualities of Point Park University, the best is the campus sights located right in the heart of Pittsburgh.

Walking around, it is hard to not stop and take pictures of the unique architecture and all the skylines.

But how do you get the right picture? This is a common issue for many students as they don’t always carry the proper camera equipment and only have the camera on their iPhone.

How can you tweet a picture of your new home if your pictures are turning out too light or too dark?

In a lesson with PPU Grad student Rebecca Lessner, we learned how to do just that.

When taking pictures on an iPhone there are a few settings that can help you achieve the right picture.

HDR stands for High Dynamic Range. In photography it is the range from the lightest point to the darkest point that can be seen in a photo. When taking a picture, turn on HDR and your subject will be properly lit with a better balance of contrast.

Sky walk
Boulevard of the Allies Sky walk
Academic Hall

Though you cannot always rely on this effect, oftentimes it will help you achieve a greater picture.

Use the AE/AF Lock on your iPhone to access a perfect focus and exposure in a photo. To do this, hold your screen on the area you want to focus. You will notice a yellow box appear quickly around that area and your screen should read “AE/AF LOCK”.

CMI

This is most effective in videos because it will stay focused on the subject you want instead of switching to a new subject.

The last and easiest tip is to just tap on an area where there is too much light coming into the picture. This should also help balance the light exposure in a photo.

Hello Bistro
Studio View

It is best to never take a picture with too much light behind your subject, however if you can’t get to an area with better lighting, just tapping the screen will do wonders

Adjusting the light and color levels after taking a picture is also always resourceful in getting the picture you’re looking for.

Try using these tips to achieve the best pictures of your campus and all the surrounding sights..

Interactive Media Workshop Recap, First 2 Days

On day one of this years Interactive Media Workshop, we learned a lot of interview skills as well as the usages of phone cameras, mainly the usage of Snapchat in day-to-day life for journalistic use.

The first thing that we did this week was learn about how to use and conduct a professional interview.

We learned that a good reason to conduct an interview is for writers block, it can give extra information needed for the writing being done. We learned many tools for good interviews, including smiling, silence, open-ended questions, superlatives (or extremes, meaning questions using the words “best” or “worst”), control (for the journalist to remember that they are in control. It is always okay to stop and ask questions), flow and details (or specifics).

A big tip for all journalists to take up is you must always pulling the thread. Andrew Conte said, a question you should always ask at the end of an interview is “is there anything that I should’ve asked you,but I didn’t?”

After the lesson on interviews, we headed over to the Duquesne Incline for a photo walking tour.

But first, we got a lesson on Snapchat photojournalism. We learned about the usages for Grids on our iPhone cameras, as well as the HDR and AF Lock functions.

When we got to the incline, we took a lot of  pictures of the view of Downtown Pittsburgh from the Mount Washington Overlook.

Today, on day 2 of the interactive media workshop, we learned about more tips for interviews, we got a lesson from David Grande.

We learned about Comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable, that the truth is out there and to always be fair and balanced. Those are the cores of good journalism. As well as research, interview and observation.

We learned not to engage, but to instead listen and be silent. Give them the uncomfortable tactics of journalistic interviews.

“The here, the now, but I’m gonna spell here this way… [hear]”, said Grande.

We learned about how we should always be quiet and listen, engaging makes you lose impact.

We should always resist the temptation to have a conversation, to ask short, neutral questions.

“The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug” (Twain).

We also learned this and the inverted pyramid. We learned about the lead and the body, the news peg and the who, what, where, when, why and how.

We also learned about the readers preferences, how they normally prefer shorter stories, that they will normally only read about the first two paragraphs and that you should always rank the importance of the information given. We learned that space isn’t consideration, but time is.

We learned that, “stories stop, they don’t end.”

Shortly after the lesson, we took a trip to the PPG Paints Arena and learned a lot of the reasons that the building is promoted and built the way that it is. We learned about the importance of hidden stories in the architecture of the building.

We learned about the jobs that you can get through the Pittsburgh Penguins and internships, we also learned about the PPG Paints taking over the Consol and all other economical decisions that were done.

They talked to us about all of the stuff that goes on in the building and everything that happens within the large group of people working there.

They told us to “find a job that fits our personality”, and that makes us happy.

City of Champions

The City of Pittsburgh is so fortunate. We have teams with not two or three, but five or six titles each.

Fifth Times the Charm

Behind the success and the wins are the people that keep the fans up to date… People like Tom McMillan, the Vice President of Communications for the Pittsburgh Penguins. He does everything I want to do, but I had no clue that the job comes with a catch. He warned us that “[they] see less of the games than anyone”. Even the winning goal of the Stanley Cup Championship this year was watched from the television as they prepared for the impending media frenzy.

This truly put things into a different perspective. Even though working for the Penguins, a clearly successful organization, would be incredible, giving up the games might not be worth it. Honestly it probably would be, if in return you get a day with the cup and a giant ring to go with it.

A View I Could Get Used To

As much as I would love all of the behind the scenes, the outside media would not be too bad either. I could experience everything, plus other opportunities that have yet to be known. Going the traditional route does come with advantages like an incredible view of the ice and free food (and who does not want free food).

All of the things I have learned about the communication industry is sort of a whirlwind. There are so many routes and decisions to wade through in the upcoming years. Even though it seems overwhelming, I know this is the job route I want to explore. As long as I can write about or work for my Pittsburgh sports teams, the rest will figure itself out.

 

 

PPG Paints Arena Building

PPG Paints Arena

 

 

Touring PPG Paints Arena was an amazing experience. This building was built with a lot in mind, even the littlest details have meaning. The ceiling, the seats and the signs in the arena.

 

 

 

 

 

Below is a photo that shows the ceiling of the arena. The architect wanted this arena to be custom to Pittsburgh. So the architects decided to leave the ceiling unfinished because of the industrial past in Pittsburgh.

Ceiling of PPG Paints Arena

Below is a picture of the seats in the arena. The seats of the arena are colored with black and gold because Pittsburgh is one of the only cities with the sports teams having the same colors.

Seats of PPG Paints Arena
Women’s Bathroom Sign

 

To the left is a picture of the sign for the women’s bathroom. At PPG Paints Arena the signs all have a theme. The main brown area represents the steel, the 3 lines represent the 3 rivers in Pittsburgh, and lastly the glass behind it all represents the ice with skate marks.