Unlike last week, this week’s episode went very smoothly. Not that most shoots do not, but sometimes you get into a groove and things just work out. We didn’t have to be as mindful of the time nor did we rush any shots. We just got down to business, ploughed through it and had some laughs along the way. Laughter on set is of the utmost importance.

Most of the day involved poking fun at each other and ourselves. I proclaimed it remix day and scratched everything before saying it. I think I was the only one who actually participated in remix day, but it kept us amused. As an on camera host, getting your energy up for a shot can be difficult. The more you practice, the easier it gets. When I started working on camera, I had this trick where I would cackle in a ridiculous voice right before a shot, so that I was laughing at myself when we began to roll, and then deliver the line with a naturally upbeat energy. Today I wasn’t doing it on purpose but things kept cracking me up right before we rolled on a shot. Everyone on set (even Rob, the director) would look away so as not to burst out laughing and get me going again. Our stomachs got a serious work out.

The star of the shoot was Lola (the puppy), hands down. Luckily, on the day we’re featuring a piece on Doggy Grooming, so we had access to our mascot…or should I say, my co-host?

One of this week’s segments stuck out to our team. VJ JD Cohen’s piece on the surf culture in San Diego was a beautifully shot, dynamic piece that inspired us to hit the waves. Daisy, one of our crewmembers, surfs and contributed the beautiful board featured in our intro to JD’s piece. We were so inspired by JD’s shots of Nate surfing we spent all our down time talking about our own surfing experiences (I have only gone twice but love it). It wasn’t just JD’s gorgeous shots of the ocean that made this piece stand out. JD pulls a sick back flip as part of his intro…very creative! His piece is packed with sick beats, dynamic B Roll and natural interviews. His web cam interview with me was super fun as well. It definitely put surfing back on the top of my list. Thanks JD!

This week’s episode was a tough one for a few reasons. We unknowingly booked a studio that’s close by the location of a huge event on the same day. We didn’t notice many sound issues until about half way through the shoot. Cue helicopters, horn honking, singing, sirens… you name it! We wouldn’t even get halfway through a shot and what sounded like Armageddon would erupt around us! Being in a studio with skylights likely didn’t help. Each of us found it was a real challenge to keep our cool while starting and stopping over and over again. As it turns out, the noise was not a big issue in post. The editors didn’t have too much trouble, and we could/should have just rolled through it. Live and learn. It is important to be aware of your sound quality, especially when you do not have a team of wizards working on post production, as sound can really make or break a piece. The challenge is to realize the times you need to stop and the times you need the shot promptly and have to go for it. We also learned the value of being aware of community events in the area you plan to film. Even if you’re filming inside, doesn’t mean you won’t hear what’s outside.

Another issue was the temperature inside the studio. We had to keep the door closed for sound, and with our light set up blazing, the temperature rose throughout the day. For the piece on the intentional blackout in Nashville, our concept was to have all the lights on me, unfiltered and then turn them out at the end of my intro. That was one of our last shots of the day and with two shirts on I was absolutely roasting! Amy, our makeup artist, had to keep blotting my forehead so that my bangs wouldn’t go crazy. I was less than stoked when the choppers kept interrupting our shot and I was stuck under the lights for what felt like and eternity!

Struggles aside, we were all really impressed with newcomer VJ Lauren Back’s piece on Frozen Dead Guy Days in Nederland, Colorado. Being new to the field, she chose a totally offside event to teach about with good use of VO’s, background information, wicked action shots and full on participation herself. I’m stoked to see what she brings us next!

The production office is a hive of activity.  More and more VJs are hearing about the opportunity to get their work on national TV.  And some of them are pumping out some great work these days.  It all starts with the VJs pitching us stories that they want to cover instead of vice versa.

Go For Gold TV and Green Generation TV are slowly coming together.  We are interviewing editors for the new shows and also looking for a few more people for the segment team.  Interviews are taking a bit of time but they are well worth it as we want to build a wicked team.

Some upcoming segment highlights:

We go to Miami to wrestle some alligators!  And we also will check out a fashion line at their launching.  Then see what the fuss of Earth Day was all about.

All in all the production team is amped on the direction of the show(s.)  Woohoo.

Yaris, the ginger faced devil cat. At first, we thought she was pretty cute (not as cute as Lola the puppy from our previous location, but still cute). As the day wore on it seemed that she got into a mild altercation with everyone in the crew except for myself!  In fact, I was the only one who didn’t receive at least a gentle bite.  Amy got the worst of it.  As we were filming the outro, Yaris leapt onto the back of the swivel chair that Amy was occupying and nearly clawed her skull!  Amy has long beautiful hair that must have been irresistible. In any case, Amy leapt out of the chair, swiveled it around trying to dis-lodge the claws and eventually tipped the chair over until Yaris gave up her grip.  Boy, what a grip.  We had to wait several minutes for the laughter to subside before we could roll on another shot.

Our location for this episode was a huge open concept studio with lots of natural light due to many large skylights that we were thrilled about.  That is, until the rain came.  Rain may not sound like much of a setback for an indoor shoot, but the sound of rain hitting a sky light is remarkably loud and never consistent.  Eventually we gave up worrying about the ambient noise and forged on ahead…hopefully the editors didn’t mind too much!  Over all, we really did enjoy the location and hope to film here again…sans ginger faced devil cat. I’m beginning to think we’ll meet another four legged friend no matter where we go!

Our second “best of” episode; it felt great to look back at the last 8 episodes and all the great pieces we’ve had!  Narrowing it down to 6 pieces is unbelievably tough (I love all the VJ’s for their high quality work, but when it comes to selecting the "best of" they are killing us!).  As always, it’s a team effort from everyone at VJIAM.tv.

Difficult decisions aside, there are other ways in which the "best of" episodes are challenging.  With segments already cut to perfection and without any web cam interviews, we had to be uber precise about the length of our intros, voice over and outro.  We were not…how shall I say… AS precise as we should have been and it caused our editors and producer migraines. The saying “you learn something new everyday” never rung more truthfully for our crew.

Moving on from confessions of VJIAM crew, I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge one of the most inspiring and certainly the most remote segments we have had on the show to date.  VJ Jeremy Briggs tells the story of Rita Riewerts and her journey from visiting Africa and witnessing suffering to reflecting on a school project from her youth and finding a way to implement the sun oven in Africa through her own NPO.  Simply put, “less talk, more rock”.  Indeed the story is incredible, and so are the shots!  Jeremy used amazing stock footage from her time in Africa and cut it together with an intimate and compelling interview with Rita creating a piece that is both personal and worldly.  A huge shout out to Rita for her initiative and efforts and to Jeremy for bringing us this well crafted story!