Nicolas LaBonte is the Communication Department’s new broadcast engineer at UMass Amherst.
He oversees the video studio, troubleshooting any equipment challenges and assisting students and faculty with using cameras, microphones and digital audio recorders.
“I like the energy that the students have… and the college atmosphere,” he said.
LaBonte also likes to be helpful.
For instance, he prepared video field kits this summer for students recording the Valley Blue Sox in Holyoke, a New England Collegiate Baseball League team. He made sure the students had everything they needed to cover the games.
LaBonte has a suggestion for students. “The more time you get with equipment, the more able you are to finesse everything,” he said.
He explained if students are recording an interview in a noisy environment, they should know something about a microphone’s pick-up pattern so they can zero in on the speaker’s voice and deemphasize the background sound.
“If you are trying to tell a story, you want people to focus on the story,” he said. “If there is something technical that is glaringly wrong... people are not going to concentrate on whatever story you are telling.”
LaBonte has had a lot of experience making sure production is done correctly.
He worked for nearly 17 years at the NBC affiliate WWLP-22 News, serving in different roles including technical director, sound mixer and camera operator. He also wrote, shot and edited special holiday segments.
When he was an undergraduate at Ithaca College he majored in film, photography and media arts and minored in audio production. Sound mixing was one of his main interests.
LaBonte first studied the media arts at a time when the industry was shifting from analogue to digital.
Today, his knowledge continues to evolve. He is delighted to learn new technology, such as the department’s 360-degree camera and virtual reality headsets.
In addition, LaBonte brings his own fun to the Communication Department. A variety of stuffed animals perch in his office, including a smiling green monster, called ‘Goblin,’ who LaBonte featured in a comic ‘whodunit’ video for WWLP that he wrote and produced.