Taping at Atlantic Station

Saturday night while you were watching "News To Me" we were out taping this coming weekend’s show at Atlantic Station... one of Atlanta’s cool spots to see and be seen. It was only the second time I've been on a night shoot since I started working on "News To Me" and it was a GREAT relief to be recording Eric's "on-camera" stuff after the sun had set. It's been HOT in the ATL lately! Plus, I love the way "News To Me" looks at night. Sleek and sharp.

Taping in a busy location like Atlantic Station means there are PUH-lenty of people who want to know why the bald guy has a camera crew following him. "What are you filming?" was how almost everyone said "Hello" to us. That question always cracks me up because we really aren't filming anything. TV news crews haven't used film in a very long time... we use video tape... so technically we are taping. In some cases crews aren't even using tape anymore! I guess they are just recording. In the "News To Me" vernacular we usually just call taping or recording "shooting" but that can sometimes be misconstrued as something all together different.

It's kind of like people who call the TV remote "the clicker." Remotes haven't made a clicking sound for decades, but the nickname has stuck. That will probably be the case for TV news crews... we'll always be filming no matter how digital things get.

On the next page we've got pics of the gourmet catering that we get when we are filming on location...

Yes, in the rock-star world of TV production we get nothing but the VIP treatment wherever we go. In the pic above you see we've retired to the opulent parking garage where "News To Me" Producer/Camera Guy Teague and Eric are dining on a sumptuous array of boxed snack foods and bottled water while Turner Audio technician Chris points out that while he may not have a snack, he DOES have hair.

Earlier in this post I talked about all the people who came up and asked us what we were "filming" and you know what? Not one of them will be in this show. But several people who were just out minding their own business, completely uninterested in what we were doing WILL be in the show. I guess when it comes to getting your face on "the tube" it pays to be nonchalant!

Take (for example) the happy family in the pic above: Earlier in the day Eric spotted this group innocently minding their own business. Having a nice, alfresco, hot dog dinner. So of course he crashed their party. Mom wasn't so interested in being on TV, but Dad and daughter "Princess" were naturals!

Tune in on Saturday to see if the very nonchalant Princess and her Dad and their hot dogs make it into the final cut of "News To Me!"