Videos -- Some Examples

I know this might be a tough assignment, given that you don't have much to refer to. But guess what? You do. Here's some videos from my fall 2010 JRN 200 class, along with comments/critiques of their work.

First up is this video. It ran way over the one minute that you were allotted, but for now let's simply focus on how the story was told. The lede wasn't one I'd recommend with a harder news story, but in this case it was fine.

The problem was with the audio. I can barely hear what some folks are saying. Can you? Make sure you follow some of the recording tips offered in the handout I gave you last week and in the downloaded texts I offered in the syllabus: Journalism 2.0 by Mark Briggs and The Reporter's Guide to Multimedia Proficiency by Mindy McAdams.

In the same way a print story must be easy for a reader to navigate in terms of word use and sentence structure, a video story has to be easy to watch and listen to in terms of clear video and understandable audio. Make sure the audio and video are clear and easy to follow for your viewers.

This video also has some choppy audio, but what I want you to focus in on is the use of multimedia tools in this video, such as titles and captions and transitions (like the page-flip effect between interviews) and even background music. When you're in a visual medium, use the tools offered by programs like iMovie to maximize your presentation.

Such tools aren't just to make your video look flashy. The captions with each interview, for example, provide value-added information: the name of who is being interviewed. It gives the viewer MORE information. That's a good job of attribution, which is a basic journalistic principle. The tool, in this case, allowed you to seamlessly offer that attribution.

Instead of relying on titles and such, in this video you offered narration before heading into the interview sections. Note a common problem -- and a frequent problem for first-time videographers -- and that's poor sound. Try to avoid spots that create an echo (like a hotel hallway) or places with background noise. If you can use a microphone, put it close to your subject. If you are using a device lacking an extended mike -- like a Flip camera -- try to shoot the person as close to the camera as possible, so audio doesn't suffer.

Try to be precise in where you have transitions between interviews. In this video, the first person seems to get cut off. Perhaps you transitioned too quickly. With the last one, the interview subject kind of trails off at the end. Maybe the edit should have been a bit sooner. In the same way you try to be precise in using quotes in print, try to be just as precise in audio and video.

Now let's look at this one. And this one. Whaddya think?

One of you did something a bit different: a podcast. That is, an audio-only report kind of like a radio segment. It worked well, except for one thing -- it was a bit hard to keep track of who was saying what. Perhaps the person acting as the show host could have prefaced each new commenter with a quick identifier, such as "What do you think, Dave?" or "Devyne?"

You may ask yourself, "Where do you post a podcast?" I didn't know either. So I Googled "podcast upload" and found something in about five seconds. I used podbean.com, which is free (with registration) and which you can link to here.

That wasn't the only bit of different multimedia done by this class. This person did an audio slide show, where still images are used instead of video, and sound is run concurrent with the person pictured at the time.

Look at how you introduced animation of sort, by having the still image pan back slowly. That's a nice touch, making a static shot a bit more lively.

I'm sorry to say this story failed in a very critical area: one name was misspelled in the closing credits.

I wish I didn't have to, since otherwise this was such a nicely-done assignment. But no matter what the medium, the journalistic value of getting it right applies. If I gave you a pass on multimedia, I send the message that it is lesser journalism. It's not. I'm sorry to say this was a fatal.