This post is first and foremost a plug for my public access channel TV show.  It is Author Showcase on Oshkosh’s channel 2.  We also have a Youtube channel that has our shows on it. We interview local authors.

It is a time consuming doings, but do it if you can.  Several years ago, I think I brought it up at my writers’ club meeting. However, I did not pursue it. However, my cohost, Dixie Jarchow, ran with the plan. With a little sponsorship by the friends of the Oshkosh Public Library (they paid for our 45 dollar training), we went in and got trained on the cameras and the editing software. We would need constant guidance, but the people at the TV station were very helpful.

With the stations access to things, we downloaded a theme song and a graphic for the opening. We also downloaded a graphic to add when we want to add information at the bottom of the screen.

For the closing credits, I put together pics of our books and a shot of the library, added our theme song, and recorded a voiceover I recorded with my phone.

So we find someone that we want to interview and then we check out the camera and mics (no digital stuff), and just talked for 45 minutes to an hour.

Then we take the tape in and Scott digitizes the raw footage. (in 2019, we switched to digital taping and this equalled many, many, headaches and problems). We (usually me) slice up the footage to make everyone look good (cut out my flubs). 

Some of the editing tasks are easy. For example, to have a graphic come up where you can put up someone’s name, you just drag it to where you want it to pop up. Then you go to another setting and type in their name. 

However, there are many steps, so expect to be there forever editing. You have to make sure the graphics are the right size and add transitions.

While I hope to make our show continually more entertaining and educating, our speakers so far have been that. I recommend learning from them.

Below is a quick video before we recorded Mark J. Engels. It gives a little of the behind the scenes. (And #graybeard).