The Greenville News from Greenville, South Carolina • Page 105

the restaurant for some home cooking. It's easier to get a good interview when the subjects, who otherwise might tend to shyness, already trust him. But the interview was only the beginning. "You won't see me doing much today," admitted Hunt. "My job is back in the editing room.

I'll spend an hour in there for every minute that comes out on film." About, two minutes -jSJl you he's just one of the 'folks' he's always talking about. As reporter for WFBC's Caijiera 4 features, the Elberton, native likes nothing more than to scoot back into Georgia for a day of leisurely talk with some fellow Georgians and get paid for doing it. Not that he doesn't think there's a need for it. On the contrary, his folksy brand of journalism is every bit as important as the hard stuff, he contends. "There's a need in local television to bring out the the folks in our coverage area," Hunt said.

"Most of our viewers are rural; they don't live in Folks are basically interested in what folks are up to." And furthermore, what folks are up to is news. "Real life is not planes crashing as much as planes making nice trips," he explained. "Most planes don't crash." Camera 4 was one of many feature segments instigated when Of course, he didn always cover the "nice trips." Hunt, 26, has known days of covering police, crime, emergencies and govern-; ment meetings both at WFBC and at a radio station in Elberton. "County Council meetings are important, but Mickey (Hancock, WFBC's chief photographer) and I have had to wake each other up in a couple of those. "Light features are my strong est point.

I do better going around uling, looking like I having a od time rather than coming I Mickey Hancock ross as a hard-nosed reporter. i good time. And he definitely is having i WFBC went to an hour-long newscast in January, 1976. Stu Campbell began in the feature reporter spot, but Hunt took over in August of that year when Campbell was made executive producer, Other features have come and gone, or have been relegated to other newscasts, but Camera 4 remains an ongoing part of "The Scene at Six." Also, NBC network has purchased two of the segments for broadcast over any of its 212 affiliates that want to run them, and is considering four others. The two an interview with Ronnie Milsap's grandfather, Homer Frisby, in his Haysville, N.C., cabin, and a feature on a "Whattsit," a motorized conglomerate of auto parts in Elberton County were aired again locally as part of "The Best of Camera Four," a half-hour of highlights shown in May.

Hunt conceded that "the national exposure would be tremendous" if he were seeking another job, but shrugged off the idea of moving. "I came to Greenville thinking I'd spend the rest of my life here. Folks here are the nicest I'd ever want to find. I'm pretty well set in." Initially, Camera 4 was aired three nights a week, but with Hunt's recently added duties as "Scene at Eleven" weatherman, he manages only two a week. In addition, he's replacing Monty DuPuy in the recently renamed "Rascals' Clubhouse." "I hesitate to say I'm taking Monty DuPuy's place," said Hunt, who has a 1961 "Monty's Rascals" certificate hanging above his desk.

"You don't take a guy like that's place. "It's an feeling, though; I'm quite honored. Those are pretty big shoes to fill, you know. Gee, they did that for 18 years." As a matter of fact, it was DuPuy who gave Hunt his introduction to WFBC. While he was a student at Clemson, working weekends at his hometown radio station, he wrote DuPuy and asked for career advice.

DuPuy invited him to Greenville to watch him work his morning radio show. Shortly afterward he began stringing, or sending stories from his area, for WFBC radio and TV, He had had no journalism or broadcast training, but worked for several years as announcer, news director and just about every other job at Elber-ton's WSGC. He came, to WFBC-TV in 1975 as a reporter-photographer. Some rather grandiose jfi Camera 4 as Hunt prepares to spend next weekend in Hollywood interviewing the stars of NBC's new fall series. Then in August, he and Hancock will accompany the Furman Singers on a two-week tour of England and Scotland, taping an hour special of the group's singing engagements.

Yet, the feature's strength lies in its folksy style of reporting, agreed the pair. "It's making the newscast real real life," said Hunt. "It's letting the viewer relate to what's going on." Apparently, filming the 'folks' is a lot more fun, as well. "You've got to get into the mood for these," said Hancock. "You can't just jump out and start shooting like you're at a wreck.

You have to listen to the person, get the feel for what he's saying so you'll know when to zoom in on his face. Each one is different. Each one's a challenge. "That's why it's so much fun." Paget? fin roront expedition to Dillard, Ull leCtmi Hunt and Hancock, who besides being Camera 4 cohorts are also roommates, hadn't made plans to shoot a specific feature. That's not unusual, said Hunt, who depends upon contacts there to steer him to some colorful characters.

They didn't disappoint him. On arriving at the famous Dillard House, the duo found the restaurant's owners had arranged to have their friend Lester Nichols demonstrate his corn-shucking abilities for them. Seated under a huge old tree, chewing a little tobacco, surrounded by crates of corn, Lester calmly shucked away while Hancock set up his cameras and Hunt shot the breeze. It turned out Lester was quite good indeed, exceptionally good at his craft: He'd spent 28 years in various penitentiaries for turning his product into corn liquor. "And he's still dealing in corn," shrieked Hunt.

"I love it." When Hancock had the cameras ready to go, Hunt perched on a tree stump and began chatting with Lester, asking him about his moonshining days, his 11 captures by sheriff's depu-ties, his present occupation of shucking corn for the restaurant. After minutes of the rambling conversation which would be edited down considerably back in the cutting room Hunt asked Lester about his future. "I guess I'll just keep shucking corn," he replied resignedly. "They can't send you up for that." "That's it. You can cut it now." Hunt slapped his knee excitedly.

"I've been trying to work him around to that all along." After filming the segment which will be aired on Tuesday's "Scene at Six" the talk went on much as before. "The thing about good contacts is that you don't have to break the ice," said Hunt, as he and Hancock headed toward Hunt with Lester Nichols, and Earl Dillard in June iS June 24.