Vid #1: Let's Look At Some Videos!

Okay, so here's the video recap, in order in which video was turned in. I ask that you please look at EACH video and read my comments for EACH video (not just your own!), so we can learn like we've learned from each other throughout this semester.

Overall, I thought we did very, very well on this assignment, especially considering it was a first-time video in this class. Lots of good B-roll, good story flows, ect. Certainly some things that can be tweaked, but that's to be expected. Really, this was the best one of my classes has ever done on this assignment; congrats to all!

Let's look for what worked and what didn't and what we could borrow for the next time and what we need to avoid doing again.

BTW, unless you received an email from me noting a specific grade, your grade for this exercise was a 4.0, with it equaling a practice story in final grade weight. (Future assignments will be evaluated and graded much more specifically based on execution and will be of higher grade weight, though).

Here we go:

Starria C.: Only 1:05, yet three interviews and a ton of B-roll. We find out a lot in a very short amount of time. Solid work here.

Katie M.: Another solid example mixing interviews and B-roll.

Dimitri B.: We exceeded the time limit here, which was 1-2 minutes. In journalism if you are given a time for a story, you have to hit your time mark, as that is the space in your show that is being saved for you. You can't go over or under.

Plus, if we are going to let a single interview segment go on as long as we do here -- and really, it's too long -- then we need multiple B-roll segments to break up that head shot multiple times. We can't just be locked in on a talking head shot for very long.

Plus, we can go back-and-forth between two interview subjects, instead of just running everything one person has to say, and then everything another person has to say. It can break up long stretches of the same voice talking, and make your vid more conversational in tone.

Cyndi R.: Here, we're missing attribution in the form of captions when we first introduce interview subjects. No; having credits isn't enough at the end (and for news reports we don't do closing credits; that's something we do for movies). 

We need to show who is saying what when they are doing the saying, in the same way we attribute quotes in print right with the quote.

Krista W.: Again, we went way over time time limit here. Next time, this will be a fatal.

The cuts between segments were a bit abrupt, but that's okay on an early assignment like this, where we're getting used to editing. Less forgivable was a lack of proofreading -- in one caption we spelled "sophomore" as "sophomore."

What we didn't need was offering name attribution past the first reference. Why? Because after the first time we identify a talking head with a caption, we have a cue that tells us who it is from that point on: the person's face.

In print, we need attribution every time because we don't have that cue. But in video, we have it, so only a first attribution is necessary.

Brittany F.: Again, the jumps are a bit rough; we'll get better with practice. Be sure that background music and background noise in general don't blot out source voices; it wasn't a problem here, but it can be.

Gabriella G.: Let's make sure sound levels are consistent, m'kay?

Kayla R.: Lots of varied B-roll here. Even with stories that aren't especially visual in nature, if you're persistent and creative enough you can come up with decent B-roll.

Abby B.: Again, first attribution is all the attribution you need when the viewer has a facial cue to go by after that. I liked the alternative-type lede here, using a mix of B-roll to paint a picture of the class.

Gabby B.: Watch out for background noise overwhelming your interview sound. It happened around the 45-second mark.

PIG BREAK!!!!!!!!

Caitlin D.: To-the-point. Just one minute, and that's fine. You covered the issue; when you're done, you're done.

Jaylyn G.: Again, watch for background noise.

Xin W.: The opening captions go by so fast I feel like I didn't have enough time to read them. Make sure that captions stick for enough reading time to elapse.

Laura B.: Well-organized; good B-roll, but it all starts with good interviews. If we don't have that, all we have is show and no substance.

Jingwen Z.: We don't ever let that "talking head" shot go on for very long. With longer interview segments, we start out with the head and then go to b-roll; then back to the head; then back to the B-roll; back and forth like that. We never linger on any one shot. That's a very good habit to follow.

Will T.: A solid job, all around.

Adam T.: We need to proof captions and text as diligently for video as we do for print. It's Brittany, not BrittAny.

Kameron G.: Nice work here.

Emily L: This vid is a bit short, at 51 seconds. Again, we have to hit our time windows (for video, and length windows for print) in the real world because when they are "stacking" a newscast or laying out a paper, they are counting on you to fill your space in a precise manner, so that the newscast is exactly the right length and stories fit pages perfectly.