In The Field (again!)

Hey, I'd be the first to admit that it was difficult to keep up my end of the relationship. Things are different now. I'm different. Let's not rush into anythi--



Okay, enough of all that. For anyone interested, I've got a new post up on the CBS2/KCAL9 web page. Just a few thoughts as I get myself geared up for my return to field work.

Wish me luck and remember, all those other blogs meant nothing to me.

Butterfly Effect

There's a brand new baby in the world and her name is Kacel. She's the daughter of Marcel Frank III and Antrineau Anika Flory. Marcel Frank III is my nephew, the son of my brother Marcel Frank Jr. who passed away in January.



I'm not exagerating even a little when I say, I'm profoundly affected by this tiny person.

Back in Action.

It was a long day and you can bet I slept hard after I got home last night. There were guys who physically worked harder than I did during the move, but this last week was tough.

A couple of back to back double shifts on the last two days of this week was really pushing me to the limit. I worked the Phil Spector trial on Thursday and our new station dedication ceremony on Friday. After each one, I stayed and worked as an edit coach until the 11:00pm newscast was done.

All I can do right now is try to get my weekend started. As I look at the pictures from the last couple of days, I can't help but wonder; can it really be over? Not just the long shifts, but the whole move and training thing we've been doing.



That's our Chief Photographer Jeff Mailes and this was before the crowd arrived before the dedication ceremony. Did I mention we started our day at 6:00am to get our trucks and cameras into position before the chairs and tables were put into place?

It really feels like a period of my life is over, but I can't see myself missing it. I'm proud that it feels like I made a significant contribution to the success of our move to the new facility, but every one of the few field assignments I've had recently just showed how much I miss doing the job I love.

I'm capable of doing other things. There are greater loves in my life (I'm looking at you, Dellis "Action-Wife" Frank!), but as far as working for a living goes? There's no higher calling for me than being a News Photographer.


Photo by Scott Mackie

I ran cables and carried heavy gear, then stood while running camera under the shade of an umbrella yesterday for two hours. Oh, yeah it was hot and I was thankful for the umbrella, but I would have stood there without the umbrella and still felt the same way. I was tired and a nap would have been welcome, but I had my camera, my microwave truck, an assignment and the company of people I enjoy.

Not exactly an adventure, but more than just a job. It was a paid opportunity to witness a historic moment (with the extra benefit that I'd also get the chance to capture a souvenir still photo or two for myself).

It is a simple and uncomplicated life that suits me perfectly.



Outside of my hours at work, there are challenges and ambitions that I juggle in order to work towards goals greater than what I do for a living.

Remember, as an employee enjoying the heck out of what I do, that doesn't preclude me from wanting anything more or different. It just means that I can be content with what I have. As a person, I'm always going to learn and experience as much as I can.

As a person, there's no reason to be content. As far as I'm concerned, there is no practical limit to knowledge and experience. That's how I improve my life and I'm going to always want to be better.



I'm glad they didn't go to all the trouble and expense of the new facility just for me. It's like Christmas and I appreciate the new gear, the new building and everything, but I don't think anything has changed for me since the day I got hired. All I needed and all I wanted was the opportunity to cover the news.

Opportunity.

Again, thankful for all that's new (building, gear, yadda-yadda), but mostly thankful for that.

Hanging on the 12th Floor

Waahooooooo! Yeah, Baby! I'm enjoying the view from the 12th floor of the criminal courts building. I'm getting a little taste of the Phil Spector trial.



It's a tough day, but having Ultimate Fighting Champion Carl Stein doing most of the heavy lifting and blocking makes it easy for me to take a minute to get an actual post filed from the field.



My day started here at 8:00am and I'll be working a double shift. My out time is scheduled to for midnight. No, wait. It gets better. Tomorrow morning I have be back at the new station at 6:00am to start setting up for a big Grand Opening Extravaganza.

Hee-hee. I'm loving it.



Take a sniff of that room. You smell that? THAT'S HISTORY IN THAT ROOM!

I've shown it before for a couple of other court cases, but it was first thrown together during the O.J. criminal trial. A little before my time, but still interesting to me.



Probably a bunch of other stuff, but a little disinfectant should take care of it.



Between liveshots, I've had a pretty good chance to snap a couple of pictures. At some point, I may get a chance to grab a bite for dinner, but I'm still going to have a long evening ahead of me. Not the easiest way to make a little overtime, but I'll take it. It could be worse.

This is what I did today.

I was addressing this email and just realized that I'm babbling in a language that most normal people don't know and don't care to know.

Chief,

Heads up. Procedure clarification (if it should come up).

Standard def 4:3 materials (480i, composite video, analog audio) distributed on DVCPro tapes or XD discs that have already had "pillars" added should be ingested into the Aurora truck computers in the following manner.

Aurora environment needs to be set to 480i resolution and 16:9 aspect
(Tools --> Options --> Video Settings --> Video Resolution = 480i)
(Tools --> Options --> Video Settings --> Video Aspect = 16:9)

After ingesting the materials, the environment settings need to be changed back to 1080i (the aspect will automatically change back to 16:9 aspect ratio.)

Standard definition materials that have already had "pillars" added does not need to be manipulated in a way that involves "stretching", "cropping", or additional "pillaring". Standard-def materials (480i) will be upconverted to HD (1080i) when brought to the timeline.

Any questions?

Bryan Christopher Frank

Two more days and I'm back in the game full time. Two loooooooong days. That's okay, I'm still looking forward to it.

Cactus Gallery

My lovely wife Dellis is one of the artists with works on display at the Cactus Gallery in Eagle Rock. There was an artist's reception on Saturday and I guess the smart thing would have been for me to tell people about it before Saturday.

Here's a few pictures from the reception.



The show will be going until May 10th.

Later I'm going to go buy some flowers and a box of chocolates. Right now I'm going to put on a sweater. It's kind of chilly in here.

Goodnight, Columbia Square

Oh, the highs and lows of being me. On Friday, I got sent out on an SNG assignment which is almost as good as actually doing my thing as a news photographer. Shucks, under normal circumstances that is as good. I love running the SNG trucks and it's a nice change of pace.

Good for me

Weather story in the snow and I wasn't exactly dressed for the cold? Uh-oh. "Hot" I can take, I don't like being cold. Plus, there were two things I really wanted to do on Friday night. One of my fellow photogs had a short film being screened at the Newport Beach film festival. If you start hearing the name Jason Roberts popping up in the Hollywood trades, then just remember you heard it here first.



Dilema; I also wanted to be at Columbia Square for the final newscast. Yes, we're done putting people on TV from that building. Our station is now officially located at the CBS Radford lot in North Hollywood.

Woo-hoo!



By the end of my day, I was too tired and frozen to even think about heading down to Newport Beach. Since I had to pass Columbia Square on my way home, it just made sense to drop in and snap a few shots around the newsroom. That felt good to have a little bit of closure.



Darn it though, my timing was bad. I was too late and missed barbecue Paul Magers provided from BBQ King and too early for the champagn Pat Harvey was going to break out after the last newscast. I'll tell you though, I'll have to satisfy my craving for barbecue and champagn at some point soon. Having missed out, it seems like that's been the only thing on my taste buds since Friday.

In my mind, I keep picturing myself as a living dead zombie, shuffling around looking for barbecue and champagne (and yes, I'm drooling a little).

"Chaaaaaaampaaaaaaaagne!"

Still, I want to thank Paul and Pat. It was a cool and classy thing to do. Those gestures immediately became a rock solid part of my memories of the last days of Columbia Square and I love being able to hold onto that.



Walking through the newsroom, I was tempted to add to the signatures and sayings that had started popping up on the walls. Maybe since I was already spending more time over at the new station, it just didn't seem like I still had the connection to Columbia Square. I also wasn't positive they weren't going to file charges.

Not empty, but a heck of a lot less full, the building resonated differently. I walked the hallways and snapped a few pictures. I'm an honest guy, but the idea of looting a few souvenirs crossed my mind. It seemed like all the good stuff was already at the new place and like I said, I wasn't positive they wouldn't file charges.

Goodbyes were said to a few friends (even though I'd see them on Monday) and I headed for home. My plan was to pick up Dellis and drive back to Hollywood for the final newscast. I was tired and a little drained emotionally, so I passed on the plan. No regrets. It made for a clean break.



It's Monday and I have to go to work. This is going to be interesting, because I'll pass my old exit off the 101 Freeway at Sunset and continue over the hill to Ventura Boulevard. Slightly longer drive to get used to, but I'm looking forward to the future.

I'm ready. Bring it on.

Hmm, I wonder if there's a good place for barbecue near the new station.

Codename: Snowman!

News Photographers generally expect the unexpected, but I'm going to have to be honest. . .



. . .I didn't see this coming.

I knew there was a likely chance of rain today, but being so involved with the big move, I didn't consider it a possibility that I might get sent out into the field.

Oh, no! Not the snow!



The rains and cold weather was expected to blanket Fraiser Park with a layer of snow. I've seen how bad it can get and understood why I was being sent out with a SAT truck. I understand why the truck had to go. I'm still figuring out why I had to go.

Well, nothing for me to do, but cowboy up and do the job. Any work waiting for me back at the station will just have to wait or be reassigned. I've got SAT shots to uplink.



It's funny how just last night I had made peace with not going out during our first full week at the new station. I was cool with it. I understand where I'm needed.

Today, I''m needed in a satellite truck in Gorman in the snow. I'm lucky enough to have at least brought a heavy coat. My only complaint is that my legs are cold. One pair of jeans in snow weather just doesn't do it for me.



Not a complaint. Just an observation. No matter how bad my situation might feel right now (and it's not all that bad), I know there are other people in the world suffering more than me.

Happy Friday. I may try to attend the closing of the newsroom tonight. If I do, I'll keep you posted.

The Day Before The Day Before

I've tried to get to work early all week and I'm going to give myself a big old pat on the back because I have absolutely and spectacularly failed to do so. We're not talking just didn't show up early. Nope. We're talking, "hey, maybe it's time to buy a new alarm clock" got there late.

The pat on the back isn't an "atta-boy" for a job well done. It's more like a "there-there, you did the best you could" kind of thing.

We know what that means, don't we?



It means you didn't do what you were trying to do and now you suck. Uh-oh!

Fine. Well, I guess I do. I just don't think it's entirely my fault. After all, I didn't tell anybody to move the TV station.

That's right, we're moving. Where have you been? If you're just joining this blog in progress, CBS decided a while back to move its' two Hollywood based TV stations a few miles North into a brand spanking new broadcast facility.

Hmm, just a few miles and yet, they're killing me in the morning. I've tried Highland and I've tried Wilton. The 110 to the 101 through downtown isn't an option at 7:30am (welcome to morning rush hour gridlock).



It's pretty sweet for some people. At least two of my fellow photographers are within biking distance and, why yes, yes I do hate them. Okay, I don't really hate them. I think maybe I'm just touched by a small twinge of stress over the big switchover coming up this weekend. At 12:01am on Friday night we shut off the old station and go live at the new station.

I'm part of the team working to make it happen as smoothly as possible. Today I spent the bulk of my day training and answering questions about our new gear.

I've come to a conclusion.



It's not enough.

It doesn't matter how many questions I answer or how many hours of I've spent on training. We'll muddle through, but I know it's not going to be enough. We don't have the budget (time or money) to fully prepare everyone for what happens next. Mistakes are going to be made. There will be panic and confusion and there won't be enough people around to help fix the things that don't work the way we expect them to work.

Don't get me wrong, I'm looking forward to it.

I expect this is going to be one of the most exciting weeks of my life. As much as I might miss being on the front line out "In the Field" covering the news. The real story for the next few days is going to be happening all around me inside our new station. There will be problems. There will be short tempers and lots of yelling. There will be moments when it might seem like the ship is sinking and there's no hope of making everything work. Guess what?

There is no turning back.



This afternoon I piled a bunch of my personal junk (laptop, both still cameras, portable printer, GPS unit, XM satellite radio, toolbox, iPod, and spare bandannas) into a one man unit. I left the sheepskin seatcovers.

Uh-oh! This is serious.

My van is going to be sent out with other photogs and I'm not going into the field until a week from Monday. Next week, I'll be working a nightside shift inside the station every day. The job title we've been calling what I'll be doing is "Edit Coach", but I don't think that really describes the job. I'm going to be one of a few who people will turn to for answers. I've studied and worked with the new system. At this point, I think I'm ready for anything.

Next week is going to "be" interesting. I'm really going to try to "be" on time.

SuperGlo -vs- The Geek Squad

This was from last week, but it was one of the few stories I've caught a piece of lately.

So you think you'd like to be me? Okay. Let's start you out with something easy (just to get your feet wet). Gloria Allred is holding a press conference at 10:30am at her office on Wilshire.

What's the first question you ask?



The correct answer would be, "Who is she suing?" but I could also accept, "Do we have time to stop at Starbucks?"

Lawyer's office + press conference = lawsuit. That's not a rule written in stone, but gosh, it's pretty often the case.



Grab your sticks and your camera. Try to remember to bring an extra audio cable and the table-top mic stand. Don't bang up the walls with the tri-pod as you make your way into the conference room.

Set up your tripod and camera. Throw your mic on the expensive looking conference table and hook up your audio line. For gosh sakes, don't scratch the expensive looking conference table.

I don't believe she'd sue you for scratching the table, but it sure doesn't pay to take chances.



Talk with the other photogs until the press conference starts. When does the 10:30am press conference start? That could be anywhere from right away to just after every second of extra time budgeted for you and the reporter to do a "good job" when you cut the piece.



The story in a nutshell: Geek Squad technician plants his cell phone in family's bathroom to record older daughter taking a shower. Camera is spotted and family gets the guy arrested.

Don't you dare ask me if we got to see the video. . .I mean it. . .um, no. They didn't show it.

Now go shoot some cut-aways and maybe a reverse shot of the room. We want to be able to show that your media brethren were there.

Got it? Good, let's wrap it up.

The Geek Squad is now being sued and woo, Gloria Allred does not play games with these lawsuits. If you claim you hire people who can be trusted, then you better make darn sure they can be.

The press conference is over. Shoot a couple of the documents that have been handed out (in this case the filing papers and a Geek Squad brochure). As soon as you have everything, rush downstairs and out to the newsvan. You still have a piece to cut for the 11:00am show.

Just make sure and grab a couple of Gloria Allred business cards on the way out. You never know when you might need a good lawyer.

One foot in front of the other

That's how I'm getting through the day today. Slowly. One step at a time and just putting one foot in front of the other.

You probably wouldn't have any way of knowing this, but Katie Boyd passed away last week. She's the mother of Keith Boyd. Chances are you never heard of Keith. He's not famous, but he's been one of my closest friends since the eigth grade. If my real life had mirrored a sitcom during my teenage years, then Mrs. Boyd would have been June Cleaver and I'd have been Eddie Haskell to Keith's Wally Cleaver.

Actually Keith would have been "the Beaver", but I'd really rather not be Lumpy.

Dellis and I are geting ready to attend Mrs. Boyd's funeral this morning. I've got a lot on my mind and I'll be taking the rest of the day after the funeral to just deal with things.

After I heard about Mrs. Boyd's passing, I called up some of our other friends to let them know about Keith's loss. Some I talked to some directly and for some I could only leave messages. One of our friends, Ray Culberson (he's another close friend to Keith and myself) called me back on Saturday morning. He was on the way to his mother's funeral. She'd passed away earlier in the week.

I understand how death is a part of living. I think I'm on the same page with God's plan and the spiritual aspect of personal beliefs and all that. Yeah, I got it. I think. At least I have a decent handle on it all and I'm not going to fall apart or anything.

I'm saddened by the loss both my friends suffered this week. As you might imagine, it brings back some of the pain from my own loss of my brother earlier this year. I'll be okay, but it's just a very. . .very. . .difficult. . .day.

Windy Day

All I'm saying is that it got me out of the office. Totally unexpected, but I got a call to take out an SNG unit to Beverly Hills to cover the house fires that had started because of the high winds.



There's more to say about the day, but I gotta hit the road to get to work on time. you wouldn't want me to be late. I might miss something.

Happy Firday.

"Firday"? What's that, an esoteric foilage holiday? I really need to make more time to blog. As it is, I'm working six days a week for the next two weeks. After "the big move" all bets are off.

Happy Satruday!

Imus? Youmus be joking.

Help! Actual news assignments have been so sporadic lately that I've been reduced to living vicariously through other photographers and my trainees.

So, what's been happening? I got to drag my trainee out to a press conference at Wilshire Boulevard address that is the current home of CBS Radio. Guess what the presser was about.



Yup, Imus.

We thought we were covering a protest, but the protest had been cancelled late in the evening of the previous day. The announcement that Imus was going to be slapped with a two week suspension had decreased the urgency of the situation and the organizers called the protest off.

It gave me a good reason to take my training session off the lot. Of course, Imus wasn't going to be making any surprise appearances. I wasn't feeling any real interest in the story, but at least I'd be getting off the lot.

Today I realized that I've been missing all the small micro decisions we make when covering even a smaller event. Should I park on the sidewalk or in the red zone? Set up for the liveshot now or wait until after the presser? What's for lunch?



The sun was out, but the building put us in the shade and a slight breeze made it chilly even at noon.

We covered the presser and the main crew did a couple of liveshots. The folks who called the presser want Imus fired. I'm okay with that. When I started writing this post he was only on the two week suspension. As everyone went their separate ways and we prepared for our liveshot, I joked about seeing everyone in two weeks.

They actually fired Imus. I didn't see that coming.

San Francisco Slideshow

I'm falling asleep at my desk and wouldn't trust myself to string two words together in any way that might make sense. Here's a few more shots from our San Francisco weekend.

I have some more, but I seem to recall some cliche about people who share their vacation pictures. I won't hold you captive and force you to-- Hey, where do you think you're going? Come back here.

Testing Photobucket

Looks like it's going to be a busy day for me at work and at home. I'm still trying to recover from my vacation, so I'll catch up with everyone a little later.

I think I like this. Has anyone seen Flickr slideshows within a Blogger post? I like to keep things simple and this might just suit me. What do you think? I'm open to opinions.

Pulp Fiction

The adventure continues. It's early for me to be up on a vacation day, but I'm that kind of person who has to be up before everyone else and look out the window and have a moment to myself to collect my thoughts.

Plus, I have a blog to feed.



As I stare out the window at the wet ground and see people with umbrellas on the street below, I can't help but appreciate the humor of the situation. Rain? Yeah, rain. Remember our Hawaii trip last year? We remember it. I don't want to talk about it.

We're used to it by now. I'm going to ignore it for the most part.

Spent the morning and early afternoon yesterday hitting museums and art galleries near Union Square. Being a photographer, I was looking forward to the Ansel Adams Museum.



We were told by a guy at the Cartoon Art Museum that the Ansel Adams Museum had been closed. . .since about 2001. I really wish somebody would update the tourist maps.

Enjoyed the "Rejection Collection: Not in the New Yorker" exibit.



Dellis and I spent the second half of the day with our two older kids. They were fun. I did a good job raising them. . .okay, Dellis and I did a good job raising them.

What?

Fine. Dellis did a good job raising them and they didn't seem to suffer too greatly from my corrupting influence. There, happy now?



I'm going to go take some pictures and see about breakfast. We might as well eat hearty. At this point, I'm going to figure that Fisherman's Wharf may be off the lunch menu because of the rain. Speaking of lunch, yesterday we ate at John's Grill. A pretty famous place, it was a setting in The Maltese Falcon" by Dashiell Hammett. We're big fans of "The Thin Man" movies, so I'm feeling pretty hard boiled and maybe a little "noirish" after that.

I should have brought my trench coat.

Romantic Interlude

There's a small voice in my head that belongs to my mother. It's telling me not to broadcast when we're going to be away and there won't be anyone at home. Bad things will happen. Burglars will break into our house and steal all our stuff if we tell people when we're going to be out of town.

I can just picture her sensing a strong disturbance in "the force" as I let the whole blogging world know Dellis and I are off to San Francisco for a little get away weekend.

Sorry, ma.

If we get home and the house has been ransacked, I know I'll have nobody to blame but myself.



We're taking a vacation. Just a get away weekend.

There's not much I want to think about over the next few days. My plan is simple. We fly to Oakland, get picked up at the airport by our daughter (thanks again, Dania), check into the hotel and spend the next few days acting like a couple of people who haven't been married for almost twenty years.



Sometimes that's pretty easy for us. We laugh with each other and for the most part enjoy where we are in life (yeah, I still buy lottery tickets). We're not Mega-Millions lucky (so far) and spending a long weekend away from home is a "considered" adventure.


Powell Street near Union Square

Even if we're not so comfortable that we don't have to budget and save to get away from it all, we don't have to worry during every meal how much the dessert costs.

On the other hand, those nearby shopping opportunities and the way Dellis' hand is twitching near her purse is making me a teensy bit nervous.



Dellis is sleeping right now and I'm sitting in a chair near a window. We're on the third floor of the Union Station Hotel and I can hear the early morning sounds of San Francisco. Lots of trucks and the occasional low rumble and bell of the streetcars. We're not staying at a resort. If you're bothered by the sights, sounds and smells (eew) of downtown, then this wouldn't be the place for you.

I'm digging it.

I'm looking forward to exploring the area and snapping a few pictures. I'm going to tell Dellis how beautiful she is and make her feel all "floaty" from my attention. I feel like we're both blessed to have each other and any life ambitions will keep until Monday. There's lots of nothing of consequence and simple pleasures to be had over the next few days. I'll be happy to share some of the less intimate moments.

If you're a burglar, just promise me you won't break into our house while we're gone.

It's how you say it.

It's getting scary. We're just a few weeks away from the big splashy fu--

Whoa, time out! Flag on the play.

Sorry, I've been listening to Eddie Izzard (he's the British comedian who used to perform in drag and now he's currently in that cable show "The Riches" playing a guy who doesn't dress up in drag) and because my writing process is kind of stream of consciousness driven, I keep wanting to write "fuck-all" because I keep hearing Eddie Izzard saying that in his British accent in my head.

So I almost wrote. . .

. . .big splashy "fuck-all" move to the new station. . .

. . .but I didn't, because I generally write like my kids, my parents, heck, even your parents (I mean ya' never know) might be reading this.

I don't mean to offend.



I also worry (well, "worry" might be too strong a word) that people might be offended by the use of the f-word in my blog. Worse than that, someone might read this and think the f-word was a negative slur against the station and that couldn't be further from the truth.

Truth be told, I'm pretty impressed with what's been built so far. I've always been enthusiastic about what we do (my job? love it? heck yeah!). We're being given brand new tools to get the job done in a way that hasn't been done before here in this news market.

Even cooler than that, for all the complaining I've done it's pretty mind blowing to me that I've played as large a role in the move and the implementation of the new gear as I have.



I don't doubt that we've got a talented and capable group of people leading the way as we change gear(s) and head towards a hi-def 16:9 world. If it wasn't me, then someone else would be filling my spot.

Yeah, I know that's true, but it isn't someone else. It's actually yours truly (somebody pinch me, I must be dreaming).



Ouch! Not so hard.

The clock is counting down and I'm resting as much as possible. We're going to be busy and I'm betting that I'll be looking back and missing the quiet easy days before the move.

I'll be missing the quiet as much as right now, I'm missing the adrenaline rush of seeing little bits of history happen right in front of me.



Like the fire last Friday afternoon. Most of the city was a witness to parts of it as they went about their day to day. They saw it happening and maybe wondered about it as they carried on with the stuff of their lives.

When I see big things looming in the sky, I know it's likely going to be a part of my day at work. Most of the city will remember a day like last Friday. It's a part of our shared history. I'll see it up close and I'll be involved in it. I'll have a first hand up close perspective on it.

(sigh) That used to be what my job was like. It hasn't been much like that for a while, but it will be all that and more again pretty soon.

So I hope you can understand the excitement I feel. I hope you can pick up on the quiet subtle completely understated tone and inflection in my voice when I tell you. . .

. . .yeah, it's pretty fuck-all cool.

Push those buttons like you mean it!

Three days into the new month and nothing posted yet? I can't let that happen. Even if there really isn't that much to say. Just another day at the office (and a Monday at that).



The only thing different today (from just about every other day of the last two months) is the type of training session I held. We took a jump to SNG training work for one of our bureau guys.

It went well. Thanks for asking.

I drove the trainee around our parking lot, stopped the truck, popped the dish, then had him find our main satellites. We did this about ten times. He made me proud. I'm under the impression that he'll have no trouble finding our birds (satellites) as long as we keep him in the parking lot. Outside the lot and I don't really know what to expect.

I'll keep my fingers crossed.

Happy Monday.