TV production crew provides ‘learning experience’

The Shield spoke with Bobby Barnett who was on the production crew for the 14 News Gubernatorial Debate coverage Tuesday evening. Barnett spoke about what the crew has been doing for set-up, debate preparations and working with USI students to cover the debate effectively.

The Shield: What have you had to do to set up technology-wise for the debate tonight?

Bobby Barnett: We have four cameras shooting, a production truck with graphics, satellite transmission and HD technology. It’s taken about six hours to set up.

The Shield: How is it going so far?

Barnett: It’s going pretty well. It’s a simple one, we’ve done bigger things like ball games.

The Shield: I know you guys did a lot of sports coverage, what are some differences between that and the debate coverage in terms of setting up?

Barnett: We used to do a lot of sports, but now it’s mainly news coverage. For sports the coverage is fairly similar, but with sports you have more cameras involved and more microphones.

The Shield: Are you looking forward to anything during the debate?

Barnett: Hopefully it will be trouble free and there will be no issues or problems.

The Shield: I heard that students are allowed to help with the event, is that true?

Barnett: They have been helping with set up and they are going to be running cameras tonight as well. It takes several entities to pull something like this off and a number of folks. There is about 20 people involved.

The Shield: What has it been like working with the students?

Barnett: It’s nice. It’s good for them too, it’s a learning experience. It’s been fun and  is good training and teaching. That’s the part of it, they are the replacements, we have to show them the ways.

The Shield: Have you done anything like this before?

Barnett: Not with a debate, but I’ve done stuff with ESPN. This is much smaller. I’ve been fooling with this stuff for 30 years, it just takes time to do it.