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A WRAL Team Effort: Kelcey Carlson Goes Over the Edge, Live
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WRAL-TV’s Kelcey Carlson gets support from the WRAL crew who is set to bring her ‘Over the Edge” rappel to viewers at home (l to r): WRAL’s Pete Sockett, Kelcey Carlson, Tony Gupton, Keith Baker & Tony Patterson. |
WRAL-TV Anchor Kelcey Carlson went Over the Edge to support Special Olympics last week, but she wasn’t alone on her rappel down the 30-story Wells Fargo Capitol Center building in downtown Raleigh. A crew of her WRAL-TV co-workers set up an elaborate shoot to bring her daring good deed live to our viewers.
Carlson’s descent for the Over the Edge fundraiser benefitting Special Olympics North Carolina was WRAL’s second year in a row of bringing the event live to WRAL viewers. WRAL-TV Meteorologist Elizabeth Gardner rappelled for the cause last year. Carlson rappelled during the noon news on Tuesday, October 1, 2013.
Capturing the event live was no small feat. WRAL-TV Studio Broadcast Engineer Tony Gupton said that for the live broadcast the WRAL crew used 4 live cameras, 3 microwave channels, a LiveU transmitter, cam-pac transmitter, a portable 2 Ghz transmitter and a remote truck.
WRAL-TV staffers and friends and family of WRAL’s Kelcey Carlson & Pete Sockett celebrate the success downward climb of the pair for ‘Over the Edge.” |
“This project has been a technical monster both last year and this year, a very exciting remote but tricky at the same time,” said Gupton. “We had to triple mic Kelcey to keep her audio clean from the roof to the ground.”
WRAL-TV Director of Engineering & Operations Pete Sockett rappelled alongside Carlson, to capture the action
“I’ve never repelled, but I did a couple of skydiving jumps years ago,” said Sockett. “I love stuff like that! The rappelling with Kelcey was the most exhilarating thing I’ve done in a long time!”
WRAL-TV News Photographer Keith Baker didn’t physically go down the side of the building, but he had a precarious position in the name of getting the shot as well. Baker had the camera on top of the building, shooting down.
Thankfully Baker said heights don’t much bother him.
WRAL-TV’s Tom Normanly captures the action from the ground. |
“It is a long ways down though,’ said Baker. “Holding a very expensive camera that weighs a lot is the hard part. It takes at least 20 minutes for them to repel all the way down so it’s a long time to hold the camera. ALL the weight is on my arm and not on my shoulder like usual so it makes it a bit of a challenge to hold the shot for so long. “
So why did Carlson go over the edge?
“After having two healthy children, I realized what can easily be taken for granted,” she said. “I have a long list of local YMCA, youth or recreational sports leagues to choose from if I want to sign my kids up for sports. Kids and adults with intellectual disabilities don’t have that access. Special Olympics North Carolina provides athletic competitions for people who wouldn’t otherwise have opportunities to participate in sports and SONC provides this service free of charge for families. I figured that I owed it to this worthy cause to challenge myself.”
Thanks to WRAL-TV’s Kelcey Carlson & Jamie Munden for these capcom photos.
