A news show with a field report adds more production value and gives us another tool for telling stories. Field reports are especially useful for getting the unique perspective of a reporter who is at the location of a news story or event, and also of the people in attendance through interviews. When the news anchors introduce the field report, and the switcher operator transitions to the finished video, you will take the audience to another place besides the studio - all from the comfort of their classroom or living room! In the last chapter and production activity, we put a lot of effort into making a finished Field Report segment, or a News Package. Now it is time to integrate it into our news show and broadcast the story to our viewers. Creating a field report and integrating it into the news show encourages students to be Empowered Learners. They can take what they learned from filming a Field Report and demonstrate their learning by presenting it in the morning announcement news show.

First, double-check to make sure that the video file is in the correct format, which is either 1280 x 720p60 or 1920 x 1080i60.

You will want to transfer your video file from your Post-production/Editing Computer to your media laptop. A USB flash drive is an easy way to complete the transfer. Do not use email to transfer a video file. Email servers cannot accept large attachments.

Playing the File

Once you transfer a field report video file to the media laptop, you can use either VLC or QuickTime to play the video. Play the entire clip of the video on the media laptop to make sure that the file plays smoothly and there is no audio distortion. This step needs to be completed before your production begins to avoid any delays if the file needs to be re-edited.

Troubleshooting

If you are using a hard drive and it is not recognized on either your Post-production/Editing Computer or Media Laptop, you may need to reformat it. Transfer any files you need onto another hard drive, and reformat it in EX FAT format, which is friendly for both Mac and Windows. If your video file is not playing smoothly or is not recognized by the VLC Player or QuickTime, reference Chapter 9, Section 9-4 for the recommended output settings.