Whenever I ask my boss for the go-ahead to fly for a story, I shake a little.
I don’t ask often. But when I do, I know I’m requesting an investment. A plane trip requires extra time, at least one additional workday if you combine both flights. It sends me beyond my market, for a story that must remain relevant for a local audience. Above all, it demands money: hundreds of dollars at minimum for travel, lodging, and food.
I know the stakes. So I never go too far with my requests. I research the cheapest flights and try to minimize my nights away, all while ensuring I give myself enough time to make the trip worth it. And “worth it,” in these cases, means gathering enough footage, interviews, and moments to allow me to tell memorable stories.
I got the chance last month, and I turned 23 hours into seven shoots, for a story that demanded each one.
An e-mail popped into WXIA-TV inboxes from a man in New Jersey who claimed to have found a message in a bottle along the Tuckahoe River. The letter, he said, was written by an Atlanta woman named Mary Carter, but he couldn’t track her down because “Mary Carter” is a relatively common name. He had been touched by Mary’s letter of prayer and didn’t want to give up his efforts to find her, so he reached out to us. I asked him to send me a copy of the letter, and within two hours I had located, contacted, and delivered the exciting surprise to Mary herself. I arranged an interview with her, and the man in New Jersey – a high school athletic trainer named Tom Connors – called in via Skype to say hello.
I hadn’t planned on traveling for the story … until I heard Tom and Mary’s conversation.
Mary’s “message in a bottle” wasn’t a frivolous note. It was a letter of prayer, written by a two-time stroke survivor who at the time was watching her elderly father suffer through pneumonia. On a quick trip with friends to Atlantic City, Mary wrote a series of prayers on paper, folded the paper into a pill bottle, and threw the bottle into the Atlantic Ocean.
Tom found the bottle – and its emotional letter – at his own point of prayer. Around the same time Mary wrote her message, one of Tom’s students had wound up on a ventilator with Guillain-Barre Syndrome. He had spent the last six months visiting his student, Amanda, in the hospital and helping her rehab back to full strength.
When they spoke via Skype, Tom and Mary realized how much they had in common. And so did I.
Driving back to the station, I called Tom to learn more, and I discovered a story that went far beyond Atlanta. I mused that I’d love to fly up to New Jersey for a day and shoot his side, but I didn’t know if I’d get the green light.
But I asked my boss. And I got it – by pitching a short, tightly packed trip that would maximize a minimal stay.
I spent the next few hours brainstorming and coordinating. I thought about every possible shot I might want to get on an overnight trip to New Jersey – shots I wouldn’t be able to get after I returned to Atlanta. I grilled Tom about his schedule to learn what times he works, when and where he’d be available, and what he’d be doing on specific potential travel days. I opened a Google Maps tab and plotted various itineraries. By the end of the day, I had booked flights with a solid plan. In 22 hours, I believed, I would secure enough footage to make the trip worthwhile.
Here’s how that plan looked and played out:
WEDNESDAY, 2 PM: I touched down at Philadelphia International Airport. While it’s in a different state, PHL is the closest major airport to Atlantic City – as well as Tom’s hometown in south Jersey. I landed, gathered my bags, and picked up my rental car.
WEDNESDAY, 3:15 PM: I left the rental car center and departed for Pensauken High School. The 30-minute drive gave me plenty of time to contact all the necessary parties for my various shoots.
WEDNESDAY, 4 PM: I arrived at Pennsauken High School for two shoots in two hours. I knew I wanted to capture Tom both at work as a trainer and with Amanda. He had scheduled a rehab session with Amanda for 4 PM, just before he crossed hallways to the gym to oversee a wrestling match. I shot each for an hour, with plenty of time to lob various questions to Tom and Amanda along the way.
WEDNESDAY, 6 PM: I departed the school for an hour-long drive to Atlantic City. I hadn’t figured out how I would use it yet, but I knew I would need footage of the city and coast to match Mary’s retelling of her throw-the-bottle story.
WEDNESDAY, 7:30 PM: I arrived at Caesars Atlantic City and shot video both inside and outside the casino. I had arranged this with the casino beforehand, and the planning paid off. I got a smattering of shots that wound up forming a montage at the start of the finished package.
WEDNESDAY, 9 PM: I called it a night. I ate a late dinner, charged all my batteries, and finally headed to bed to rest up for a whirlwind morning to come.
THURSDAY, 5 AM: Wake-up time. I had printed a dozen photos of Mary, her family members, Tom, and Amanda. I knew I would use these photos in Mary’s retelling, and I wanted to capture them in the picturesque scenery of the Atlantic Ocean at sunrise.
THURSDAY, 5:30 AM: I waked outside my hotel and onto the boardwalk, gear and photos in tow. I found a raised spot with the water in the background and shot Mary’s photographs in a span of 20 minutes.
THURSDAY, 6:30 AM: I kept walking and found a clear view of the coastline. On one side, I saw the endless Atlantic Ocean. On the other, I saw the lights of Atlantic City. I spent the next hour capturing every angle I could envision. I also set up the photos of Tom’s side of the story – namely the ones of him with Amanda in the hospital – and snapped various shots.
THURSDAY, 7:30 AM: I departed Atlantic City and, after a brief FaceTime with my wife and daughter in Atlanta, headed to the edge of the Tuckahoe River, where Tom had found the bottle.
THURSDAY, 8 AM: I met Tom along the river. He had agreed to meet me and take me through his steps, and it wound up being a worthy (and picturesque) scene.
THURSDAY, 8:30 AM: We left the river and headed for Tom’s home for one final shoot.
THURSDAY, 9:30 AM: I interviewed Tom at home, where he presented Mary’s letter and later placed it in an envelope to send back to Atlanta.
THURSDAY, 11 AM: I said goodbye to Tom, drove a half-hour back to the airport, and made my flight with an hour to spare.
THURSDAY, 1 PM: I sat down on the plate, closed my eyes, and napped the whole way home.
The finished product of all this effort is below. But the message here is one of vigorous planning and forethought. A 23-hour whirlwind seemed less so because I had thought it through and laid the necessary groundwork. I never felt overly rushed on the ground, and I gathered more than enough video to produce a memorable piece.
The Solo Video Journalist is available for purchase. You can find it on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and the publisher’s web site.
Matt Pearl is the author of the Telling the Story blog and podcast. Feel free to comment below or e-mail Matt at matt@tellingthestoryblog.com. You can also follow Matt on Facebook and Twitter.