This time, we're going to look at the videos/tweets/blog posts as a unit, to see how each medium cross-told the story. Off we go:
Bella: news stress video / blog 1 / blog 2 / tweets #badnewsstudy
Angelica O: student voting video / blog 1 / blog 2 / tweets #postelection2012
Alex: college hockey video / blog 1 / blog 2 / tweets #msuhockey
Tia: dining halls video / blog 1 / blog 2 / tweets #dininghallsjrn
Carly: housing video / blog 1 / blog 2 / tweets #housingatmsu
Nourhan: movie screening video / blog 1 / blog 2 / tweets #crossingbordersmsu
Okay, now the next four I'd like you to also look at after class, because included are links to the related written out-of-class stories, as published by spartanedge.com. If you want to get an idea of what all parts of your third out-of-class story should look like, this gives you a pretty good and thorough idea:
*****
Danielle: campus safety video / blog 1 / blog 2 / tweets #msucampussafety (spartanedge.com version)
Brytanie: Body image video / blog 1 / blog 2 / tweets #menonbodyimage (spartanedge.com version)
Nick: campus smoking video / blog 1 / blog 2 / tweets #smokingjrn200 (spartanedge.com version)
Shelby: student stress video / blog 1 / blog 2 / tweets #midyrstress (spartanedge.com version)
*****
Now, back to the rest:
Cait: student voting video / blog 1 / blog 2 / tweets #msuvote
Matt: instant replay video / blog 1 / blog 2 / tweets #jrn200 #mlb
Liam: student voting video / blog 1 / blog 2 / tweets #msuvoters
Amber: student voting video / blog 1 / blog 2 / tweets #jrn200tweet
Angelica C: health care costs Video / blog 1 / blog 2 / tweets
Showing posts with label videos. Show all posts
Showing posts with label videos. Show all posts
Monday, November 19, 2012
Monday, November 5, 2012
Vid #1: Your Work!
Let's take a look!
Leah
Could have used more b-roll and a title slide, and it ran too long
Amber
A tripod would be nice. No matter how steady you think you can hold a camera, it will look shaky without a tripod.
Bella
Good use of captioning. See how much better the shot is with a tripod?
Nourhan
Nice back-and-forth interviews. But, tripod! And b-roll!
Nick
The audio is a bit uneven. Try to get the mics as close as you can to the subject.
Matt
Again, mic + distance = lousy audio
Carly
Better audio. Good thing you asked Brytanie how she spells her first name. Watch your editing at the end; the last sound byte gets cut off.
Stephen
B-roll was wise to use between segments, but would also have been helpful amid segments, too, to break up that constant head shot of your interview subject.
Brytanie
Good tight head shots, but needs more b-roll
Alex
Good audio; good b-roll but needs more b-roll.
Shelby
Under copyright law, you can't use copyrighted music without expressed written permission of the author. It's not enough to credit it. (Same with pictures.) So, no fatal, but you do get a federal lawsuit.
Angelica O.
Ambitious interviewing: you interviewed a FORMER student, too!
Danielle
Captions when we first introduced interview subjects would have been helpful.
Alyssa
Nice interviews, but a lack of b-roll.
Liam
Ditto
Tia
Fun opening b-roll!
Cait
Unfortunately, a fatal: be sure to double-check name-spellings!
Leah
Could have used more b-roll and a title slide, and it ran too long
Amber
A tripod would be nice. No matter how steady you think you can hold a camera, it will look shaky without a tripod.
Bella
Good use of captioning. See how much better the shot is with a tripod?
Nourhan
Nice back-and-forth interviews. But, tripod! And b-roll!
Nick
The audio is a bit uneven. Try to get the mics as close as you can to the subject.
Matt
Again, mic + distance = lousy audio
Carly
Better audio. Good thing you asked Brytanie how she spells her first name. Watch your editing at the end; the last sound byte gets cut off.
Stephen
B-roll was wise to use between segments, but would also have been helpful amid segments, too, to break up that constant head shot of your interview subject.
Brytanie
Good tight head shots, but needs more b-roll
Alex
Good audio; good b-roll but needs more b-roll.
Shelby
Under copyright law, you can't use copyrighted music without expressed written permission of the author. It's not enough to credit it. (Same with pictures.) So, no fatal, but you do get a federal lawsuit.
Angelica O.
Ambitious interviewing: you interviewed a FORMER student, too!
Danielle
Captions when we first introduced interview subjects would have been helpful.
Alyssa
Nice interviews, but a lack of b-roll.
Liam
Ditto
Tia
Fun opening b-roll!
Cait
Unfortunately, a fatal: be sure to double-check name-spellings!
Friday, October 26, 2012
JRN 200: Video/Blog/Online News #1
Per your request, here are the details of the first round of video/social media/online news assignment. Everything is due via email by 8 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 2 to omars@msu.edu.
If you have any questions on details of these assignments, or if you want to see examples of what these assignments in finished form looked like in my summer 2012 JRN 200 class, please see the appropriate previous recent blog posts.
The assignments are as follows:
Video: Create a news video no shorter than one minute and no longer than two minutes, reporting on the topic of what we've learned sofar in JRN 200 this semester. Your video must include at least two interview subjects from your video group, and no fatals.
When finished with your video, please upload it to your YouTube.com account, and make sure that account is set to public viewing. Then email me a link to your video by the deadline.
Tweets: Live-tweet an event you are following. It can be as simple as a TV show you're watching, or your roommate making breakfast, or some other routine activity. You need to do a minimum of 12 tweets, each with a unique universal hash tag unifying the tweet stream.
When finished with your tweet stream, please email me a link to your Twitter account (and make sure it's open to the public), along with what your unique hash tag is for this assignment.
Online news: You need to write a minimum of two posts -- one preview and one review -- of the same even you're live-tweeting. Each post must be at least 100 words and no longer than 200 words, and each must include at least two relevant hyperlinks.
When finished with your news posts, make sure they are open to the public and please email me links to each post.
Questions? See me ASAP, please. And good luck!
If you have any questions on details of these assignments, or if you want to see examples of what these assignments in finished form looked like in my summer 2012 JRN 200 class, please see the appropriate previous recent blog posts.
The assignments are as follows:
Video: Create a news video no shorter than one minute and no longer than two minutes, reporting on the topic of what we've learned sofar in JRN 200 this semester. Your video must include at least two interview subjects from your video group, and no fatals.
When finished with your video, please upload it to your YouTube.com account, and make sure that account is set to public viewing. Then email me a link to your video by the deadline.
Tweets: Live-tweet an event you are following. It can be as simple as a TV show you're watching, or your roommate making breakfast, or some other routine activity. You need to do a minimum of 12 tweets, each with a unique universal hash tag unifying the tweet stream.
When finished with your tweet stream, please email me a link to your Twitter account (and make sure it's open to the public), along with what your unique hash tag is for this assignment.
Online news: You need to write a minimum of two posts -- one preview and one review -- of the same even you're live-tweeting. Each post must be at least 100 words and no longer than 200 words, and each must include at least two relevant hyperlinks.
When finished with your news posts, make sure they are open to the public and please email me links to each post.
Questions? See me ASAP, please. And good luck!
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Vid #1: Your Video Group!
For the video exercise, each person will be assigned to a three-person group with which you will work on the vid assignment and interview each other. Each group has at least one person who told me they have a Flip camera or comparable video recording device; please share whatever video resources you have within your group.
For those of you who don't have a camera, please be sure to get a memory stick or comparable memory device in which to store your raw video.
You may edit your video on whatever editing program you have on your own personal computers (iMovie, ect.). If you lack such an editing program, the open lab on the second floor of the CAS building has such programs already loaded.
You MUST work with your group members and include their interviews in your story. However, additionally you MAY collaborate with other groups in working on this story and ALSO include their members among your interviews. You may NOT trade group members.
Green group: Shelby, Amber, Matt
White group: Tia, Cait, Leah
Sparty group: Nourhan, Danielle, Stephen
Izzo group: Angelica O., Alex, Nick
Breslin group: Carly, Angelica C., Brytanie
Munn group: Alyssa, Liam, Bella
(NOTE: The Munn group of State Newsers is being grouped together only because two of these three people will be at the same convention as I am, and won't be available at most times to work with non-State Newsers in a group. I would rather have mixed them up with the rest of the class, but this is a nod to practicality. Plus, this is my full disclosure of a conflict of interest, so nyah.)
For those of you who don't have a camera, please be sure to get a memory stick or comparable memory device in which to store your raw video.
You may edit your video on whatever editing program you have on your own personal computers (iMovie, ect.). If you lack such an editing program, the open lab on the second floor of the CAS building has such programs already loaded.
You MUST work with your group members and include their interviews in your story. However, additionally you MAY collaborate with other groups in working on this story and ALSO include their members among your interviews. You may NOT trade group members.
Green group: Shelby, Amber, Matt
White group: Tia, Cait, Leah
Sparty group: Nourhan, Danielle, Stephen
Izzo group: Angelica O., Alex, Nick
Breslin group: Carly, Angelica C., Brytanie
Munn group: Alyssa, Liam, Bella
(NOTE: The Munn group of State Newsers is being grouped together only because two of these three people will be at the same convention as I am, and won't be available at most times to work with non-State Newsers in a group. I would rather have mixed them up with the rest of the class, but this is a nod to practicality. Plus, this is my full disclosure of a conflict of interest, so nyah.)
Monday, October 22, 2012
Vid #1: Your First Assignment, Some Examples
For the first video assignment, I am asking you to do a news video on the topic of, what have you learned sofar in JRN 200?
In this assignment, I will split you up into groups, and you will interview your group members for this story.
As long as you meet the basic parameters of this assignment, I will give you a 4.0 equal to that of a practice story. Those parameters include:
-- Videos staying within the 1-2 minute range and on-topic
-- Videos containing at least two human interviews on tape
-- Videos containing NO fatals
The penalty for failing to meet these parameters is 0.5 of your grade, per error. In addition, a fatal resulted in a 1.0 grade. And failure to turn it in, of course, is a 0.0.
These same deductions will apply on all future multimedia assignments. But future assignments WILL include consideration of content and journalistic value.
Now, in doing a first video people demonstrate a wide range of starting points. Let's get a sense of what those starting points may look like, based on the first videos from my summer 2012 JRN 200 class. Let's point out and discuss good habits and ones that can be a bit better.
Off we go:
Justin
Lindsay
Molly
Emily
Tiarra
Lilly
Nubia
Kyle
Max
Julia
Katelyn
In this assignment, I will split you up into groups, and you will interview your group members for this story.
As long as you meet the basic parameters of this assignment, I will give you a 4.0 equal to that of a practice story. Those parameters include:
-- Videos staying within the 1-2 minute range and on-topic
-- Videos containing at least two human interviews on tape
-- Videos containing NO fatals
The penalty for failing to meet these parameters is 0.5 of your grade, per error. In addition, a fatal resulted in a 1.0 grade. And failure to turn it in, of course, is a 0.0.
These same deductions will apply on all future multimedia assignments. But future assignments WILL include consideration of content and journalistic value.
Now, in doing a first video people demonstrate a wide range of starting points. Let's get a sense of what those starting points may look like, based on the first videos from my summer 2012 JRN 200 class. Let's point out and discuss good habits and ones that can be a bit better.
Off we go:
Justin
Lindsay
Molly
Emily
Tiarra
Lilly
Nubia
Kyle
Max
Julia
Katelyn
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Vids/Blogs/Tweets #2: The Roundup
Let's look at some of the groupings!
Sam: beyond coal video / blog / tweets #jrn200msuenergy General comments: Video: Watch your spellings! One video caption has a misspelling. Blog: Give each post its own headline, not just one that's the old post name, plus "continued." Also, don't use the same hyperlink in consecutive posts. Use new hyperlinks.
Breanna: cosmetics video / blog / tweets #organicvsconventional General comments: Video: What is the attribution for the information in your text slides? Don't forget attribution there! Also, watch your editing. A latter caption had text saying "text here" or something like that; there was also a span with no video. Blog***: EXCELLENT use of embedded video and hyperlinks. Tweets***: EXCELLENT use of hyperlinks!
Trisha: housing video / blog / tweets #toliveonoroff General comments: Video***: Good range of interviews.
Jessy: roommate conflicts video / blog / tweets#roommateconflictsstory General comments: Video***: Notice the back-and-forth use of sound bytes, where you talk to one person, then another, then go back to the first person. It's more conversational and generally preferable to using everything someone has to say all at once.
Darcie: protest video / blog / tweets #MSUsafety General comments: Video***: note the use of narration to help keep the story moving between sound bytes. Blog/tweets***: EXCELLENT use of hyperlinks to give people more information. See how each medium tells a story using basically similar content, but parsing that content in different ways?
Mattie O.: college housing video / blog / tweets #collegehousing General comments: Video***; EXCELLENT use of captions to introduce each subsection and nice b-roll, but where are the minimum two interviews with a human being? Perhaps you could have introduced sound bytes to explain some of the subsections instead relying solely on what was otherwise strong narration. Blog***: Insert hyperlinks into existing text as opposed to saying, "Watch this!" Tweets*** Strong hyperlinks, including link to video. But make sure your hash tag is truly unique unless you WANT to let your readers see related topic tweets beyond your own.
Ashley: inclusion video / blog / tweets #MRULESouth General comments: Video: B-roll would have helped break up the long interview segments. Tweets: You have some tweets that are quotes. If they are from someone else, you still need attribution. If they are your observations, then you don't need quotation marks; tweets are assumed to be from you.
Nick: cigar tax video / blog / tweets #jrncigars General comments: Video***: When you're doing a news story as opposed to an opinion piece, please refrain from interjecting opinion, like you did at the end here.
Julianne: restaurant video / blog / tweets #recordbreakingnoodles General comments: Video*** Nice use of b-roll and neutral experts! The latter turns what could have been a one-sided puff piece into something more analytical. Tweets:*** Nice mix of quotes and facts.
Nicole: keg law video / blog / tweets #kegtags General comments: Video: more b-roll would help break up the interview shots a bit. Blog: Hyperlink on text and don't create a "click here" link. For example, instead of saying "To see what the tag looks like, click here," just create a hyperlink on your first reference to the tag. Tweets***: It flows well, like a story would.
Stefany: speaker video / blog / tweets #takethepledge General comments: Video***: This was a tough assignment, in that you were reporting on a speech that already took place. Smart back-tracking in getting an interview with the speaker, reactions from people who were in the audience. Blog***: Smartly updates and evolves original post on he speaker by delving into one of the subtopics of the speech. Tweets***: A basic play-by-play rundown of the speech.
Mike: dorm water podcast / blog / tweets #hubbardwater General comments: podcast***: something different, but the same. Note the structure: you still have a (narrated) lede, you still have quotes (via sound bytes), you still have attribution. Blog: Give each post its own headline, not just one that's the old post name, plus "continued."
Bethan: LGBT community video / blog / tweets #bethanstory General comments: Video: B-roll would be helpful, even with a topic where visuals aren't obvious. The story is about individuals becoming part of a community; show them interacting with others, on their daily rounds, ect. Blog: Insert hyperlinks into the text, not into a separate line. So, instead of having a line at the end saying, "All of these groups have pages" and then offering links, instead put hyperlinks over the first reference to each group.
Alissa: online dating video / blog / tweets #loveisintech General comments: Blog: Give each post its own headline, not just one that's the old post name, plus "continued."
Maddie F.: MSU entertainment video / blog / tweets #iloverha General comments: nice job all around.
BriAnn: dodgeball fundraiser video / blog / tweets#SKPhilanthropy General comments: Video***: Good use of janky-free b-roll and nice use of yourself as an on-camera narrator. But remember as journalists we need to present ourselves neutrally, which means don't wear a Greek shirt when doing a NEWS story about Greek life. Tweets***: a play-by-play of the event that complements -- but doesn't overlap -- the vid and blog.
Julia: holiday creep video / blog / tweets #christmascreep General comments: Blog***: nice use of an initial overview, then a post on reaction. Also, nice link to your own video. Tweets***: make sure your hash tag is truly unique unless you WANT to let your readers see related topic tweets beyond your own. Which, in this case, might be kinda useful.
Kevin: MSU entertainment video / blog / tweets #uabmsu General comments: Video***: your b-roll of the sales stuff would have been better used while the co-owner was talking, so you can show and tell at the same time.
Connor: Dorm security video / blog / tweets #msudormsecurity General comments: Video: a little more b-roll, pleez! Blog: Posts are a bit on the long side; you may have been better off in breaking up your two posts into four or five shorter posts.
Carly: Greek life video / blog/ tweets #missgreek2011 General comments: video: nice use of b-roll, but you only used one source when the assignment required at least two. Plus, unauthorized use of copyrighted music.
Maggie: Fan violence video / blog / tweets General comments: blog: Hyperlinking is best done when embedded in ordinary text passages, as opposed to at the end of all text. Tweets***: nice overview where the tweets collectively read like a story.
Sam: beyond coal video / blog / tweets #jrn200msuenergy General comments: Video: Watch your spellings! One video caption has a misspelling. Blog: Give each post its own headline, not just one that's the old post name, plus "continued." Also, don't use the same hyperlink in consecutive posts. Use new hyperlinks.
Breanna: cosmetics video / blog / tweets #organicvsconventional General comments: Video: What is the attribution for the information in your text slides? Don't forget attribution there! Also, watch your editing. A latter caption had text saying "text here" or something like that; there was also a span with no video. Blog***: EXCELLENT use of embedded video and hyperlinks. Tweets***: EXCELLENT use of hyperlinks!
Trisha: housing video / blog / tweets #toliveonoroff General comments: Video***: Good range of interviews.
Jessy: roommate conflicts video / blog / tweets
Darcie: protest video / blog / tweets #MSUsafety General comments: Video***: note the use of narration to help keep the story moving between sound bytes. Blog/tweets***: EXCELLENT use of hyperlinks to give people more information. See how each medium tells a story using basically similar content, but parsing that content in different ways?
Mattie O.: college housing video / blog / tweets #collegehousing General comments: Video***; EXCELLENT use of captions to introduce each subsection and nice b-roll, but where are the minimum two interviews with a human being? Perhaps you could have introduced sound bytes to explain some of the subsections instead relying solely on what was otherwise strong narration. Blog***: Insert hyperlinks into existing text as opposed to saying, "Watch this!" Tweets*** Strong hyperlinks, including link to video. But make sure your hash tag is truly unique unless you WANT to let your readers see related topic tweets beyond your own.
Ashley: inclusion video / blog / tweets #MRULESouth General comments: Video: B-roll would have helped break up the long interview segments. Tweets: You have some tweets that are quotes. If they are from someone else, you still need attribution. If they are your observations, then you don't need quotation marks; tweets are assumed to be from you.
Nick: cigar tax video / blog / tweets #jrncigars General comments: Video***: When you're doing a news story as opposed to an opinion piece, please refrain from interjecting opinion, like you did at the end here.
Julianne: restaurant video / blog / tweets #recordbreakingnoodles General comments: Video*** Nice use of b-roll and neutral experts! The latter turns what could have been a one-sided puff piece into something more analytical. Tweets:*** Nice mix of quotes and facts.
Nicole: keg law video / blog / tweets #kegtags General comments: Video: more b-roll would help break up the interview shots a bit. Blog: Hyperlink on text and don't create a "click here" link. For example, instead of saying "To see what the tag looks like, click here," just create a hyperlink on your first reference to the tag. Tweets***: It flows well, like a story would.
Stefany: speaker video / blog / tweets #takethepledge General comments: Video***: This was a tough assignment, in that you were reporting on a speech that already took place. Smart back-tracking in getting an interview with the speaker, reactions from people who were in the audience. Blog***: Smartly updates and evolves original post on he speaker by delving into one of the subtopics of the speech. Tweets***: A basic play-by-play rundown of the speech.
Mike: dorm water podcast / blog / tweets #hubbardwater General comments: podcast***: something different, but the same. Note the structure: you still have a (narrated) lede, you still have quotes (via sound bytes), you still have attribution. Blog: Give each post its own headline, not just one that's the old post name, plus "continued."
Bethan: LGBT community video / blog / tweets #bethanstory General comments: Video: B-roll would be helpful, even with a topic where visuals aren't obvious. The story is about individuals becoming part of a community; show them interacting with others, on their daily rounds, ect. Blog: Insert hyperlinks into the text, not into a separate line. So, instead of having a line at the end saying, "All of these groups have pages" and then offering links, instead put hyperlinks over the first reference to each group.
Alissa: online dating video / blog / tweets #loveisintech General comments: Blog: Give each post its own headline, not just one that's the old post name, plus "continued."
Maddie F.: MSU entertainment video / blog / tweets #iloverha General comments: nice job all around.
BriAnn: dodgeball fundraiser video / blog / tweets
Julia: holiday creep video / blog / tweets #christmascreep General comments: Blog***: nice use of an initial overview, then a post on reaction. Also, nice link to your own video. Tweets***: make sure your hash tag is truly unique unless you WANT to let your readers see related topic tweets beyond your own. Which, in this case, might be kinda useful.
Kevin: MSU entertainment video / blog / tweets #uabmsu General comments: Video***: your b-roll of the sales stuff would have been better used while the co-owner was talking, so you can show and tell at the same time.
Connor: Dorm security video / blog / tweets #msudormsecurity General comments: Video: a little more b-roll, pleez! Blog: Posts are a bit on the long side; you may have been better off in breaking up your two posts into four or five shorter posts.
Carly: Greek life video / blog/ tweets #missgreek2011 General comments: video: nice use of b-roll, but you only used one source when the assignment required at least two. Plus, unauthorized use of copyrighted music.
Maggie: Fan violence video / blog / tweets General comments: blog: Hyperlinking is best done when embedded in ordinary text passages, as opposed to at the end of all text. Tweets***: nice overview where the tweets collectively read like a story.
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Videos: Let's Take A Look ...
Okay, so your first video is done. Congrats! The good news is that by showing me basic skills such as shooting interviews and interspersing b-roll, you'll get a 4.0 grade worth one practice story on this exercise.
That is, unless you fataled or missed your deadline. I will be checking things like caption info, ect. for factual accuracy. It's a different medium, but the same rules apply: we have to get it right, and on time. Every time.
I'll comment on vids as we go. Here we go:
Darcie
BriAnn
Maggie
Jessy
Sam
Mike
Trish
Nicole
Breanna
Mattie O.
Bethan
Connor
Stefany
Julia
Ashleigh
Kevin
Alissa
Maddie F.
Carly
Nick
Julianne
What did you guys think?
That is, unless you fataled or missed your deadline. I will be checking things like caption info, ect. for factual accuracy. It's a different medium, but the same rules apply: we have to get it right, and on time. Every time.
I'll comment on vids as we go. Here we go:
Darcie
BriAnn
Maggie
Jessy
Sam
Mike
Trish
Nicole
Breanna
Mattie O.
Bethan
Connor
Stefany
Julia
Ashleigh
Kevin
Alissa
Maddie F.
Carly
Nick
Julianne
What did you guys think?
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Multimedia -- Video 101
I know this might seem to be a tough assignment, given that you don't have much to refer to and you don't have any detailed direction. But guess what? You do.
I'd say you need a full name and some sort of title; like Makia Brooks, JRN 200 student as opposed to just Makia.
Just like you, when it came to multimedia I threw my fall 2010 and spring 2011 JRN 200 classes into the lake to teach them how to swim. And actually, people picked things up fairly quickly, and became proficient with minimal instruction. Just like with writing, you learn by doing.
The difference is, you've been writing for most of your lives, and when it comes to video you may have never made an edit before in your lives. Hence, it feels a helluva lot more awkward. Just go with it; I think you'll be surprised how good you get in a short time.
In that we learn by looking at work, I've included some links to the first multimedia assignment from past classes. Let's take a look and see what it looks like when people stop being polite and start getting real ... no, wait, that's the "Real World" slogan.
So again, a reminder: when they did these videos, these people had the exact same amount of video training as you do now. This was their starting point, and I hope it will give you a template of sorts to know what this first assignment could look like in terms of a final form.
First up is a video where the problem isn't the visual. It's the audio. I can barely hear what some folks are saying. Can you?
Yeah, I know you're working with basic equipment, but make sure that you grab audio in as non-echoey and quiet a space as possible. And get a microphone as close as you can to the subject; in the case of using flip cameras, that means shooting very close-up if you are shooting an interview.
In the same way a print story must be easy for a reader to navigate in terms of word use and 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 visuals are clear and easy to follow for your viewers.
Plus, in that vid the captions are incomplete. Think about the same standard you'd use for attribution in print: what is the minimum amount of information readers need to know to sufficiently identify the interview subject and know why they are credible on this subject?
I'd say you need a full name and some sort of title; like Makia Brooks, JRN 200 student as opposed to just Makia.
You can help show and tell things to viewers via something called B-roll. B-roll is footage showing what your story is about. Like if you're doing a story about a bakery, B-roll would include cooks baking at the bakery, or customers buying tasty basked goods, or even external shots of the bakery building.
B-roll is useful to run while you are doing narration, or during transitions between sound bites, or to help break up a sound bite visual. Think about the typical sound bite; it's just someone going blah blah blah. Not that exciting to look at. But what you can do is start a sound bite with the standard shot of someone talking, then slip in a few seconds of B-roll of what they're taking about as they continue to talk, and then return to the shot of the person talking as the sound bite nears an end. That way, viewers get to see who is talking, and what they are talking about, as they talk.
You can see some decent B-roll use here.
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.
In all fairness, the producer of this vid had previous video experience, so he had a head start from many of you.
Still, I want you to notice -- and even emulate -- the strong points shown. Look at the creativity and variety of B-roll. Look at the use of captions. Look at the use of fairly short and to-to-point sound bytes. Look at the way the producer went to a bite, then someone else's bite, then back to the original person's bite. It nicely breaks up the first person's bite so the viewer doesn't get stuck listening to one person talk on and on and on. Note the narration at the start of the piece, offering a strong lede to the story.
There's a lot to learn from this vid.
Still, I want you to notice -- and even emulate -- the strong points shown. Look at the creativity and variety of B-roll. Look at the use of captions. Look at the use of fairly short and to-to-point sound bytes. Look at the way the producer went to a bite, then someone else's bite, then back to the original person's bite. It nicely breaks up the first person's bite so the viewer doesn't get stuck listening to one person talk on and on and on. Note the narration at the start of the piece, offering a strong lede to the story.
There's a lot to learn from this vid.
This next vid has a lede that's very fun and produced well but not exactly in the most journalistic style; still, for this first assignment it's fine. But what I really like is the back-and-forth use of sound bites. It doesn't feel like an interview; it feels like a conversation the viewer is having with two students. Very nice way to break up what was time-wise a verrrrry loooooong video. It's over three minutes; I'd like you guys to aim for between one and two minutes, max.
One person 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 previous versions of 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 the author 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.
One person 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 previous versions of 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 the author 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.
The standards are no different from print. Only the medium is different. We still have to get things right and on-time and organized in a sensible and easy-to-understand form and we still need to offer evidence from sources being quoted directly.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Out-of-Class Story #3 -- Some Multimedia Highlights
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Videos/Blogs/Tweets -- All Together Now . . .
Instead of looking at your second multimedia assignments by medium, let's look at things by topic and as a unified multimedia approach using video, blogs and tweets. I'll comment as we go along, and feel free to chime in as well.
But my general comments are these: you guys are quickly picking up multimedia storytelling. I've seen many good videos, original approaches, strong content via sound bites and hyperlinks and telling b-roll and factoid-style tweets and such. I'm very happy with your quick progress in this area that seemed so confusing just days ago.
Here we go:
ALTERNATIVE SPRING BREAK
video / blog / tweets
BW3 UNDER-21 BAN
video / blog / tweets
FOOD WASTE
video / blog / tweets
SMOKING BAN
video / blog / tweets
OFF-CAMPUS LIVING
interactive map w/video / blog / tweets
We'll look at some more combos next week.
But my general comments are these: you guys are quickly picking up multimedia storytelling. I've seen many good videos, original approaches, strong content via sound bites and hyperlinks and telling b-roll and factoid-style tweets and such. I'm very happy with your quick progress in this area that seemed so confusing just days ago.
Here we go:
ALTERNATIVE SPRING BREAK
video / blog / tweets
BW3 UNDER-21 BAN
video / blog / tweets
FOOD WASTE
video / blog / tweets
SMOKING BAN
video / blog / tweets
OFF-CAMPUS LIVING
interactive map w/video / blog / tweets
We'll look at some more combos next week.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Videos -- One Last Initial Look
I won't review every initial tweet and blog and video you all did (though you can expect more thorough class reviews in the future). Most were decent for a first try and exhibited the sort of things we've seen in previous reviews.
But I will pull out a couple of videos that I thought stood out.
In all fairness, the producer of this vid had previous video experience, so he had a head start from many of you.
Still, I want you to notice -- and even emulate -- the strong points shown. Look at the creativity and variety of b-roll. Look at the use of captions. Look at the use of fairly short and to-to-point sound bytes. Look at the way the producer went to a bite, then someone else's bite, then back to the original person's bite. It nicely breaks up the first person's bite so the viewer doesn't get stuck listening to one person talk on and on and on. Note the narration at the start of the piece, offering a strong lede to the story.
There's a lot to learn from this vid.
This next vid has a lede that's very fun and produced well but not exactly in the most journalistic style; still, for this first assignment it's fine. But what I really like is the back-and-forth use of sound bites. It doesn't feel like an interview; it feels like a conversation the viewer is having with two students. Very nice way to break up what was time-wise a verrrrry loooooong video.
But I will pull out a couple of videos that I thought stood out.
In all fairness, the producer of this vid had previous video experience, so he had a head start from many of you.
Still, I want you to notice -- and even emulate -- the strong points shown. Look at the creativity and variety of b-roll. Look at the use of captions. Look at the use of fairly short and to-to-point sound bytes. Look at the way the producer went to a bite, then someone else's bite, then back to the original person's bite. It nicely breaks up the first person's bite so the viewer doesn't get stuck listening to one person talk on and on and on. Note the narration at the start of the piece, offering a strong lede to the story.
There's a lot to learn from this vid.
This next vid has a lede that's very fun and produced well but not exactly in the most journalistic style; still, for this first assignment it's fine. But what I really like is the back-and-forth use of sound bites. It doesn't feel like an interview; it feels like a conversation the viewer is having with two students. Very nice way to break up what was time-wise a verrrrry loooooong video.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Let's look at some videos!
First up is this one. Note the nice use of b-roll; that is, video of something regarding what an interview subject is talking about, used while the interview subject is talking. B-roll lets you show and tell your viewer simultaneously, while also allowing you to break away from lingering on a static and boring shot of someone simply talking.
Two nit-picks about this vid -- first, the sound quality was poor. Yeah, I know you're working with basic equipment, but make sure that you grab audio in as non-echoey and quiet a space as possible. And get a microphone as close as you can to the subject; in the case of using flip cameras, that means shooting very close-up if you are shooting an interview.
B-roll would have helped this video. I know this topic wasn't the most visual: it's about what you learned in class; how visual can that be? But in an ideal situation where you had more time, you could b-roll students in class, working on stories and keyboarding in assignments and such.
This next one uses captions, but those captions are incomplete. Think about the same standard you'd use for attribution in print: what is the minimum amount of information readers need to know to sufficiently identify the interview subject and know why they are credible on this subject?
I'd say you need a full name and some sort of title; like Makia Brooks, JRN 200 student as opposed to just Makia.
One vid went a bit away from journalistic style and led with a bit of a scripted moment, but for this assignment it's okay. It's cleanly edited and well-structured and offers some telling comments from its interview subjects, once we get away from the start.
Here, I think captions would have helped as a form of attribution. Think of it just like a print story; you wouldn't put in a quote without saying who it's from, and what that person's title and relevance to the story is, right?
This one is fairly raw. Not atypical for a first assignment, and that's fine. I mostly wanted you to simply start getting used to shooting interviews and editing tape. What would you do to beef up this tpe? I'd like to hear some good ideas.
Now I'd like to hear from you guys about this assignment. What worked well? What did not? How easy or hard was it? What was fun and what sucked? What would you do different, now that you have one vid under your belt?
We'll look at some more video Wednesday.
Two nit-picks about this vid -- first, the sound quality was poor. Yeah, I know you're working with basic equipment, but make sure that you grab audio in as non-echoey and quiet a space as possible. And get a microphone as close as you can to the subject; in the case of using flip cameras, that means shooting very close-up if you are shooting an interview.
B-roll would have helped this video. I know this topic wasn't the most visual: it's about what you learned in class; how visual can that be? But in an ideal situation where you had more time, you could b-roll students in class, working on stories and keyboarding in assignments and such.
This next one uses captions, but those captions are incomplete. Think about the same standard you'd use for attribution in print: what is the minimum amount of information readers need to know to sufficiently identify the interview subject and know why they are credible on this subject?
I'd say you need a full name and some sort of title; like Makia Brooks, JRN 200 student as opposed to just Makia.
One vid went a bit away from journalistic style and led with a bit of a scripted moment, but for this assignment it's okay. It's cleanly edited and well-structured and offers some telling comments from its interview subjects, once we get away from the start.
Here, I think captions would have helped as a form of attribution. Think of it just like a print story; you wouldn't put in a quote without saying who it's from, and what that person's title and relevance to the story is, right?
This one is fairly raw. Not atypical for a first assignment, and that's fine. I mostly wanted you to simply start getting used to shooting interviews and editing tape. What would you do to beef up this tpe? I'd like to hear some good ideas.
Now I'd like to hear from you guys about this assignment. What worked well? What did not? How easy or hard was it? What was fun and what sucked? What would you do different, now that you have one vid under your belt?
We'll look at some more video Wednesday.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Video -- Some Editing Help
One basic video editing program is iMovie, which is available on most lab desktops in this building and for which I have a link to this guide on how to use it.
Hope that helps!
Hope that helps!
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