National School Walkout - ID# 338

Riverside Brookfield
Natural Audio News Package
Entry Description

Students from Riverside Brookfield High School participate in the National School Walkout

Recent Teacher Comments

  • 4/26 7:09 am - Liked the variety of voices telling the stories, however I would have loved a little b roll in between each main idea to help process/digest what was just said. Ends abbruptly I am guessing there is more that follows.
  • 4/25 10:43 am - 1. This piece brought the viewer to an important event as it unfolded. Your interviews occurred with the walkout happening directly behind the interviewees, and this approach profoundly influences the viewer's involvement with the piece and the event. Imagine how different this piece would have been if you had shot the interviews after the event under more controlled circumstances. 2. Shooting a piece like this is not easy! Things unfold quickly and unexpectedly, and this complicates how the piece can be shot. Nevertheless, you managed to gather a significant amount of useful material. I am impressed with the manner in which you tackled this challenging task. 3. Because this is an excerpt, I am having a hard time determining how it was structured. I wish I had a better sense of how this piece is organized. 4. Continue to work on collecting and including more b-roll material. Generally speaking, you can't have too much! Imagine your interviews with less "talking heads" and more b-roll (colorful and informative b-roll).
  • 4/23 2:57 pm - Good job on the opening shot, but put it on a tripod to make it not move. The use of a tripod will be helpful in removing distractions. I like the aerial shots. The problem with the "orange" line is that they were not wearing it, so I might have removed that. Try to use sounds of students feet moving, and any chats they might have done during the event. Try to avoid jump cuts like at 1;32, put b-roll over them. Overall good job with this video.
  • 4/10 12:47 pm - I enjoyed the creative choice of starting the video with the first speech and illustrating the premise of the video with a couple b-roll shots. Always instruct the interviewees to look at the interviewer and not the camera. I would have liked to see more b-roll of the walkout and cutaways of students reactions to the speeches in the video. Jump cuts(1:34) are easily hidden with more b-roll but do make sure the b-roll makes sense(scoreboard?) The drone shots worked well in this piece! The audio seemed pretty good and clear throughout. Overall it was a good video with just a few minor technical issues.
  • 3/10 11:24 am - NICE DRONE SHOT, WANTED IT LONGER. DON’T GO TO BLACK UNLESS IT’S THE FINAL SHOT OF THE PIECE. SUBJECTS SHOULD BE LOOKING OFF-CAMERA, KNOWN AS “NEWS-“ OR “DOCUMENTARY STYLE.” TURN FIRST/ALL SUBJECTS SLOWLY TOWARD SUN UNTIL THEY START SQUINTING, THEN HAVE REPORTER LOWER HIS/HER SIGHT LINE SO THE SUBJECT IS LOOKING SLIGHTLY DOWN AT HIM/HER. THIS WILL ELIMINATE MOST OF THE SHADOW. 0:41 - SHOOT PEOPLE WALKING TOWARD CAMERA, NOT AWAY. FACES LOOK BETTER THAN BACKS & BACKSIDES. 0:52 - TOO MUCH TALKING HEAD. SHOW B-ROLL OVER THIS BITE. IT’S MORE INTERESTING THAN TALKING HEAD. 0:56 - SHE WAS ON-CAMERA FOR LESS THAN ONE SECOND. WHY? SCOREBOARD SHOT. WHY? NEED FIRST AND LAST NAMES FOR ALL SUBJECTS. THIS IS BASIC PRINT, RADIO & TV JOURNALISM. 1:32 - JUMP-CUT. MOST BITES HAD GOOD QUALITY AUDIO.
Judge 1

Positives: I think this was a great topic as a stand alone nat pkg. Your message came across immediately and I was able to follow along. I like your use of ground video mixed with drone shots. It gives a better overall view of what was happening that day. You did a good job mixing in nat sound from the walkout of students speaking with more personal interviews as well as sound from administrators. I think the sound showed good emotion and what the students were feeling.

Improvements: Have the interviews look at you as opposed to looking directly at the camera. If you're a MMJ and alone, then use a tripod. Shooting off the shoulder is very difficult and takes a really long time to master. Use a tripod so you don't have shaky video. There was a second of black at :19. Not sure if this was meant to be there but it looks like a mistake. I understand there was a 2 minute time limit but the last soundbite gets cut off. If you wanted that to end the piece, you should have trimmed something within the piece. Now this looks like a mistake or you did not submit the whole thing. I'm curious what that student had to say. There was 4 seconds of black at the beginning that could have even been used for more time for that soundbite.

Judge 2

Positives: - Captured great emotional soundbites - the girls who spoke about orange - allowing them to explain that stuck out in my head and I noticed hints of orange from that point all throughout the package. Maybe even put that up higher in the pkg? -Spoke to an array of different people with different backgrounds and therefor the package had a great perspective.

Improvements: - I would try and end on more powerful bite. Short, bold and to the point so your audience is left with something to think about. - Have more of an establishment of what you're talking about up front. If no one had an "anchor intro" or a "description" of what this was - how are you going to pull your audience in??

Judge 3

Positives: I liked how you put video over sound during interviews. I also like how the package starts with nat sound from the walk out and that explains why students are having the walk out.

Improvements: I would have liked a better flow from sound bite to sound bite, maybe laying over three second of video to transition between subjects. Also some of the shots were too short. Let each slip of troll be at least three seconds, so the viewer can develop a clear image.

Judge 4

Positives:

Improvements: