Old Rochester Regional High School students caught a glimpse of what goes on behind the camera at the noon news broadcast at WBZ-TV, a Boston-based CBS affiliate.

Students in Intro to TV Production, Video Journalism and Bulldog TV classes traveled to Boston for a tour and answer and question session.

Mike Noyce, set designer at WBZ, led the group on a tour of the facility. Students watched the live broadcast of the news both from the control room and in the studio.

According to freshman Griffin Dunn, “It was a very interesting field trip! I never knew how stressful working in the control room was. It looked harder than actually reporting the news.”

Senior Samantha Barrett said it was heartening to see women at work behind the cameras.

“I was pleasantly surprised to see that four out of the five technicians in the control room were female and a female was directing the news,” Barrett said.

After the newscast, anchor Paula Ebben and meteorologist Barry Burbank fielded questions. Set designer Noyce explained how the sets are interchangeable depending upon what shows are produced.

Shows such as The Phantom Gourmet and political debates are produced on the set. Noyce explained how the lighting and panels are changed for those productions.

“It’s a wonderful educational experience for students. They get to see TV news production up close and personal and interact with professionals in the field,” said Deb Stinson, ORR District Video Coordinator.

The field trip was funded through a grant from the Rochester Cultural Council, a local agency and the Massachusetts Cultural Council.