Sorry you've had to wait so long for the weekly blog. We've been really busy getting ready to go on the air with Eagle TV! We debut on Friday the 23rd and have a few tricks up our sleeve for the show.That being said, we will resume gathering news stories next week. Eagle TV students seem to be pretty adept at telling a story and editing a story, but getting the story seems to elude them. Knowing how to GATHER news stories will get you the best material to work with when you're in the edit room and when you want a really strong package to show your audience.
Let's start at the beginning: Research. You have to do research in order to know WHO to ask questions about your story. Let's say you're doing a story on teen sleep disorders. You need to first call someone....oh, I don't know.....maybe a doctor who specializes in sleep disorders. So, you call a doctor at a sleep disorder clinic. The person you get on the phone happens to specialize in geriatric sleep disorders, not teenage problems. What do you do? Ask that person to refer you to someone they feel is more appropriate to answer the questions you have. After all, they know a lot of people in that business.
While you're on the phone with these people, you happen to ask them to send you an information packet or press kit about sleep disorders and if there is any interesting recent studies on teenagers and sleep. Voila! It just so happens that a doctor who works in their office released a study last week that says that teenagers who get less than 6 hours of sleep do better on standardized tests! (Ridiculous, I know....I made this up for the sake of the blog). There is your "hook" and the angle of your story! You also need to set up an appointment with this particular doctor who released this study.
Let's also talk about camera work. Please, please, please, please hold your shots....steady....for at least 10 seconds. Please don't shoot your video as if you are frantically scanning the crowd for a movie star! If you are all over the place with your video, I worry that you're having a seizure. Also, panning is evil. It's called "firehosing" because it looks like your holding a water hose instead of a camera and trying to put out a fire. The ONLY time it's okay to pan is when your subject refers to something offscreen and/or points then we'll need to see what he/she is talking about, but do it slowly! Try this experiment: focus on something to your left. It could be a spot on the wall, a pattern in your bedspread or a lampshade. Then, find something on your right to affix your gaze to. Then, go back to the item on the left, then to the right, back to the left, then again to the right, then back to the left. Were your eyes panning? Or, were they just "cutting" from one object to the other? If you said, "panning", I suggest you get an eye exam.
Frame your shots properly. Watch for backlighting and weird background clutter. Pull people AWAY from the cinder block walls we have at our school. Don't cut off their heads or, conversely, their bodies. Do some close ups! Frame sequences: wide, medium, tight. Look at that viewfinder....don't just point the camera in the area of your subject. Put some thought into the parts that make up your entire picture.
Interview people while you're at all events. You have an entire football stadium full of people who would love it if you asked them a few questions about the homecoming game or the track meet. Why not get a few good soundbites while you're there? You don't have to use them, but what if your package could use some perspective? Get those interviews. Every time!!
While we're talking about interviewing......let's talk audio. Wear your headphones. Every time you take out a camera. Listen to that audio. Is it clear? Is it combined with other distracting audio? Is the air conditioner on or the hand dryer in the bathroom blowing? Move that mic closer to their mouth so we can hear them! Don't be afraid to get close to them. I promise they won't bite. They are probably more likely to step back away from you!
Ask the right questions. What is your angle and ask questions pertaining to that angle. What do you want your story to sound, feel, look like? Keep that in mind while you're formulating your questions. Ask a lot of questions. Ask them to add anything else that they'd like to add.
Respond to this blog by talking about what you do well out in the field and what you could use some work on. What will you work on? What other things can you think of that we need to work on?
Can't wait to see what you guys turn in next!
What I do well in the field is finding my point of interest. Such as senior events or club activities, just finding where the action is. What I need to improve on is my unmotivated panning. I do this normally when I can not find a point of interest or trying to find something worth recording. Though, I also believe that finding certain material is hard if you are doing the package solo. So, the groups are a boon to the work we just need more communication.
ReplyDelete-Stephen Birt
When it comes to interviewing, i know that i am good at using the camera. I know when to open & close the iris, when to white balance, & how to focus on the camera. But the things i need to work on is speaking up & not being afraid to ask follow up questions when its my turn to interview someone. When other people are interviewing , I can see & pick-up where & when to ask the follow-up questions . But in all, I need to work on interviewing & my overall appearance on the camera.
ReplyDeleteIn this field, I feel I am good in researching the story. I feel that I can get great information pertaining to the story. However, I need work on interviewing. My questions are not always the best and dont usually get you much information. Also, I feel I need work on editing. I need to learn how to use some of the techniques used in editing.
ReplyDeleteI think that I'm pretty good at asking in-depth questions while I'm interviewing. I do think i can work on going a little more into detail with the interviewers responses, though. I think we need to think out of the box and come up with really unique questions! Maybe spice up our packages & include different angle shots.
ReplyDelete- Lunna Zamarron
I think i'm good at researching a story.I just have a little problem when it comes to interviewing people.I try to plan ahead and know what I am going to ask that person,but at times I frezze up.I need to work on my follow up questions too.Also I need to learn how to edit better.
ReplyDelete-Amanda :p
I think I'm good at visualizing how a news story should look and asking simple questions when it comes to interviews. I could work on going into deeper question to pull a story out of my interviewee and I could also work on framing shots a little better. I am good at editing but I could use different techniques to make a package more appealing to my audiance.
ReplyDeleteI think im good at planning what is going to happen exactly and interviewing as long as i write the questions down before the interview. I need to work on staying focused on everything because sometimes i get distracted while im interviewing someone. I also agree with Lunna when she said to spice up our packages and include different angle shots
ReplyDelete-Priscilla Bonnet
i think im good at tape operator and make up because. i love directing ppl. and with tape operator i think i know to do it because brandon helped me. i take good direction so when priscilla tells me what to do i can jus follow through with it
ReplyDeleteInterviewing comes easy to me. I know how to work the camera. I try not to do anything wrong when I interview people. But one thing I know I can work on is having alot more questions. When I interview people I tend to runout of questions. I mean my question are very good and they are open ended questions. Its just I run out of questions which make my interview shorter then usual. But thats a working project with me.
ReplyDelete