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A Closer Look at CBC’s Video Art Collection: Smitten, 2011

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'Smitten' by Bill Leslie

A still from the video art piece ‘Smitten’ by Bill Leslie.

The halls of Capitol Broadcasting’s Western Blvd headquarters became a veritable art gallery during a remodel several years ago and part of that collection included several locations for video art throughout the buildings.  CBC featured the work of several North Carolina artists and now has gone a step further to feature the video art of a few of our very talented employees.

CBC’s Video Art collection rotates around the buildings and currently includes the work of three different CBC employees.

Today we take a closer look at the video created from the photography of WRAL-TV Anchor/Reporter Bill Leslie’s ‘Smitten’:

CBC actually has displayed a number of video creations by Leslie, all set to his own original musical compositions.  In June, ‘Smitten’ from his 2010 album ‘Simple Beauty’ is on display.  Leslie explains the origins of his video art:

My video art comes primarily from still photographs I used in making essays for my music.  You can actually turn up the volume and get the full effect.  Most of the photographs are ones that I’ve taken on various trips including Scotland, Ireland, New Zealand, Grand Tetons, Yellowstone and Washington State in addition to the NC mountains and coast.  But the most popular one, by far, was the visual essay on my dog Rufus.  The video is paired the song I wrote called “Walking Rufus.” 

I edited all of these using iMovie software on my home computer.  I also used images from a few other friends from Ireland and Scotland.  Their names are listed in the credits.   I use a pocket camera, a Canon S100 and a SLR Canon 5D Mark 2 for most of the shots. 

I’ve been dabbling in photography for about 20 years and making video montages for about 8 years.  I’ve never taken a photography class but I plan to when things slow down.  News and music keep me incredibly busy.  

Leslie believes he has his father’s eye; his father was a wonderful watercolorist and photographer.

Bill Leslie

WRAL-TV Anchor/Reporter Bill Leslie

About Bill Leslie
Leslie began working for CBC in 1979, first as a News Director for WRAL-FM and the North Carolina News Network.  In 1984, he moved to WRAL-TV as Managing News Editor and the following year transitioned to the weekend anchor desk.  He eventually became the station’s Tar Heel Traveler and environmental investigative reporter.  Leslie became the Morning News Anchor in 1994, and is one of the few people who have won a Peabody in both radio and television.

Leslie has won more 80 major news awards including two Peabody Awards, considered the Pulitzer Prize of broadcasting, along with five Emmys.  As a veteran anchorman and environmental reporter for WRAL Television in Raleigh, he has produced more than a dozen award-winning documentaries including “Troubled Rivers” which won the National Society of Professional Journalists Distinguished Public Service Award.  Leslie’s radio series and documentaries including “The Five Faces of Poverty” and “Victims” won The Edward R. Murrow Award, The Robert F. Kennedy Award, The National Headliner Award, the duPont-Columbia Award and the National Gavel Award.

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