Joe Gagnon - The Appliance Doctor

I am in a television class at Madonna University. The class produces a biweekly television show called Celebrate Michigan, that airs at 6:30 AM on channel 20 (MyTV 20) in Metro Detroit. The show focuses on community leaders who give back to their area. A recent guest on the show was the Appliance Doctor, Joe Gagnon. To learn more about Mr. Gagnon, check out his website.

I got a late phone call the Saturday before Wednesday's show, asking if I could film Mr. Gagnon's radio show, that he does Sundays at WTKD 1400 AM from 2 PM to 4 PM. Always wanting more experience, I gladly accepted and went to the studio a mere 14 hours later after getting the phone call.

I had a very enjoyable time watching a radio station operate. I remember how neat and clean everything looked, and looking at all the equipment that is needed to be on air. When I was there, the station was following the snow storm that was coming in to pound Michigan, so that was big news.

My directions for filming were pretty simple. Shoot enough footage to cover a 2 to 3 minute piece to air during Celebrate Michigan. With that in mind, I knew I wanted to shoot about an hour of footage. I made sure I got shots of Mr. Gagnon on air, as while as shots of his producer operating the equipment, and the equipment itself. Looking back on what I shot, I am happy with what I got, although I think my "film mind" got the best of me because I did an awful lot of zooms and pans. I wish I got more longer still shots. I think my steady cam skills worked well, although I wish I had a tripod. Being on such short time to film, I didn't have access to one.

I did three edits of the piece before Wednesday's show, with the final edit happening right before class. I did find an awesome tool in Motion for Final Cut, which allowed me to stabilize some of the shots that I wished I had a tripod for. I was amazed on how well Motion stabilized the shots and it looked great when I imported it into Final Cut.

WATCH "JOE GAGNON - THE APPLIANCE DOCTOR" ON YOUTUBE

The assignment itself had some challenges. Besides not having a tripod, I really wanted to make the piece exciting with what footage I had. I was lucky to obtain a copy of the first hour of Mr. Gagnon's radio show that I imported into Final Cut. On the show, Mr. Gagnon has an opening theme song. To keep the pacing going, I made some adjusts to the theme song, and extended the non-vocal parts of it during the clips of Joe talking with his call in guests. I am happy with how it turned out.

The Celebrate Michigan episode with Joe Gagnon on will air some time in the future, possibly in late Spring 2011. Hope you check out! Fridays at 6:30 AM on channel 20. (My TV20 Detroit)