Captured in a Flash: The Epitome of Bulldog Tenacity (Audio Report)

 

Marching 101 band member and drum major Trent Bryant had 15 minutes of fame that lasted three months or so. 

(Click here to listen to this story with Bryant's comments)

Bryant's image was selected last fall to be on SC State's homepage. Decked out in his colorful Marching 101 uniform...he is the first thing people see when going to S-C-S-U-dot-e-d-u. 

Bryant says he was back home in Georgetown, S.C. in December when friends began alerting him that he was on the school's front page...

SOT: Trent Bryant :29
In: When I first saw it...
Out: ...face of the school right now

The director of S.C. State University Relations...Sam Watson...took the photograph when the Marching 101 performed at halftime of the home game versus Fort Valley State on October 19. (YouTube has the show here!)

When Watson looked at the images he captured that day he saw something special in one of them. 

SC State's Website Features Marching 101's Trent Bryant

 

If you've been to SC State's website recently you have seen this image of a Marching 101 band member that some call the epitome of Bulldog Tenacity. 

Meet Trent Bryant, a senior mechanical engineering major from Georgetown, S.C. Bryant is one of the band's drum majors so he is front and center during performances. 

At an October 2024 home football game, he caught the eye of Sam Watson, director of university relations. Watson was taking photographs of the halftime show and snapped this focused, determined image of Trent in action. 

My feature writing students had the chance to interview Bryant in February. The students were assigned to write a feature about Bryant's 15 minutes of fame. I recorded his talk and had my radio production students produce an audio report. 

From the audio recording, here are three memorable comments Bryant shared about his unique experience appearing for several months on the school's homepage. 

Soundbite 1

Here's his first reaction when learning in December that he was on the website. 

Soundbite 2

When he looks at the image of himself, what does Bryant say was going through his mind at this moment in time? 

Soundbite 3

Bryant says it was in 2017 when he decided he had to be part of a university marching band.

Three Point Lighting Starring TK!

 

In my TV Production class we have been covering different lighting techniques. 

This exercise covers three point lighting, long a mainstay of video and still-shot photography. 

Three strategically placed lights can help produce a high quality, flattering look for someone at the center of it, whether in a video interview, a modeling scenario or a professional head shot for Linkedin or a newspaper or magazine placement. 

Ryan Stubblefield is in this image. 

Makayla Dotson sits for the three-point spotlight. 

Next in this post, I'll break down the steps needed to get the most out of the three-point lighting setup. 

Two years ago I wrote a similar post. Check it out here.

Full Sail University has on YouTube this tutorial on this popular and widely used lighting technique. 

TK Ayinmide is the model for this presentation. First we see her with the three lights turned off. You see the three lights: the key light (front right), the fill light (left) and behind TK is the backlight. 

New "Action Sequence" Production

I have always been fond of the assignment that I call "Action Sequence." It depicts one of my SC State University students getting up, leaving the classroom, making his or her way out the door, through the hall and down the steps from the third floor to the ground level of Turner Hall. 

Another student is the director and videographer, and later the editor using Adobe Premiere Pro to put it all together with titles and music and the clips that should be edited together into a smooth, flowing process. 

Last week I shot a sample "Action Sequence" with two students, Ariana Pinder and Andrea Fullington. 

The skills tested in this production exercise include communication and planning between the director and "actor", shot composition, lighting, white balancing the camera in different settings, editing and blog posting correctly. 

Here are some other "Action Sequence" examples from previous years. 

"Five Questions" Interview Project

 

In my Radio Production class here at SC State, the students are working on a project I call "Five Questions." 

The students have the chance to interview a classmate, a professor, a campus leader, a student-athlete, really anyone they choose. 

The idea is to conduct an interview in an interesting and informative way to help the listener get to know the subject and also get a sense of the host's style and personality. 

Listen to the three-minute interview here.

This is one example of such a "Five Questions" feature. Keira McGowan sat down with her classmate Ali Hardwell, who is a guard on SC State's women's basketball team. Ali, who is from Washington state, is in her first semester here after transferring from a two year college in Texas where she led her team to a conference championship last season. 

To learn more about these fine and talented students, check out Ali's blog and Keira's as well. 

"Fotos from the Field"- Students Shoot Interviews

 My SC State TV Production students are getting some practical hands-on experience recording interviews for their "Person on the Street" video project. Each student comes up with a topic question and then goes on campus with a camera crew to record at least five different interviews and their on-camera "stand-ups" too (check out these tips for better stand-ups). I'm looking forward to seeing their final projects!  

Here they are in action on the plaza: 

Aaliyah Felder conducts interviews with Ryan Stubblefield running the camera and monitoring the audio levels. 

Aaliyah does her on-camera open and close. The interview clips or soundbites will go in between her on-camera parts. 

"Me in 30 Seconds" Videos

 

This semester at SC State I'm teaching Basic Television Production and it's a very hands-on class. Students have been quickly exposed to the tools of the trade: cameras, microphones, lights and tripods. 

As a first project I asked them to be in front of the camera sharing "Me in 30 Seconds." Just talk briefly about yourself: where you are from, your major and year, hometown, hobbies, ambitions, what you like about SC State- things like that. 

The students rotated from in front of the camera to behind it. They operated the cameras and gave time cues so the student on camera would be as close to 30 seconds as possible. 

Here are some of the videos that the students will post on YouTube, then their own blogs.