Lights, camera, action for team Review

POLOKWANE – A few months ago Northern Media Group, home to your favourite community newspapers namely Bonus Review, Polokwane Review and Capricorn Voice, met up with Dia van Staden from Milestone Events and Training as well as Chris Pelser from Pro-Video Productions, to come up with a plan to get the image of NMG out there even bigger and better than before.
Last week my two colleagues, Raeesa Kimmie and Riana Joubert, had the opportunity to do the pilot video where readers were given a preview of what to expect in that week’s editions.

This week it was my turn along with another colleague, Cheryllee Hamman. Raeesa and Riana set the bar quite high and between Cheryllee and myself, I’m not sure who was the most anxious and stressed.
Cheryllee wrote a script for us on Wednesday and after Joline Nash, our group editor tweaked it here or there, the learning of lines started. Learning my words off by heart, however, did not help alleviate the stress I was feeling at the time.
On Thursday morning, dressed for success and ready for action, or not quite, we entered the studio together. It was a little intimidating seeing all the professional equipment, but Chris made us feel welcome and explained the process.

We had a few more minutes to practice and then Chris announced that it was time for action and set up our microphones. Everything was so professional and I felt like a presenter on a TV show,  something I never dreamed of experiencing.

We were seated at the table, our script, that we knew by heart, in front of us, but before the cameras could roll our director Dia, entered, gave tips on how to present ourselves (get our appearance camera ready and improve our posture). It was then time for action.

We had a few practice runs without the camera rolling, but somewhere along the line, Chris pressed record. Both he and Dia, both old hands in this industry, assisted us all the way through, encouraging us, making us comfortable.
Then just like that, it was over. I did not expect it to be over quite so quickly, and as soon as the confirmation came that we had a wrap, I hi-fived Cheryllee and was finally able to relax. We got the opportunity to see the draft immediately. It looked quite impressive if I say so myself.

Were the nerves necessary? Not at all. Working in a newsroom keeps me on my toes and has taught me to never back down from a challenge. I’m sure after doing this a few more times, we will all be stars in the making, and who knows, maybe someday, television will call for us.
Please be on the lookout for the video that will be publish online every Thursday evening and keep following Review on our various social media platforms.
maretha@nmgroup.co.za