As I arrived at the Golf Club of Estrella in Goodyear, Arizona, I was full of excitement because I knew that today would be an eventful day with Crew West. MLB baseball player Tim Raines was being inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, so our job today was to shoot a live interview of Tim Raines for the MLB Network. I had the opportunity to understand the full particulars of this process from experienced professionals; Andy Patterson (camera), Doug Podkowsky (audio) and Mike Tomas (satellite truck). Over the course of my journalism career thus far, I’ve witnessed numerous interviews occur on camera. However, I’ve never seen what it takes to make a satellite live shot happen. The team today had an incredible work ethic to create an admirable setting with prime lighting. The camera was positioned accordingly to get the shot that was needed. As the time for the live interview got closer, we did our audio and lip-sync checks on the producer line (PL) and the IFB (interruptible foldback) line to ensure that our audio and video signals would run smoothly. Once all the checks were completed we waited for our guest to arrive. Before we knew it, Tim Raines walked in with his agent and family members. I put on my headset to listen to the producer line, and I watched the process of a live interview happen while I was “behind the scenes.” This was an experience that I will never forget.
-written by ASU intern Delaney Wood
