Hidden Gem Half Marathon - ID# 162

Homewood-Flossmoor

News Package

Entry Description

A recap of the first ever Hidden Gem Half Marathon located in the Village of Flossmoor.

Copyright Info

artlist.io

Recent Teacher Comments

• 4/23 6:18 pm - I like that you chose a unique event to your community to highlight. I second the comments below and do not want to be redundant. This was one of my favorite pieces. The diversity in shots, people, and b-roll made for an excellent piece. You had some sun flares in some shots that maybe in the future try to find different vantage points to avoid that. I also really love the energy in this piece. You really captured it well. If you are an underclassman, keep making pieces. If you are a senior, I wish you the best in your future and congratulations!
• 3/16 8:14 pm - I think the writing for this story was excellent, your words were perfect for setting up and informing your audience about this event. Also, you transition did a wonderful job of setting up what was coming up next. You went to B-roll at all the right times, however the b roll didn’t always tell the story, and seemed more generic at times rather than focusing the audience on what was being said. For example, about 107ish when you are talking about spirit captains and themes, I would have loved to have seen some of those themes, instead I just felt like I was runners warming up. Another thought with the b-roll is to frame it to support what you are saying. You are talking about this amazing race that is bringing the community out and yet there were certain shots that didn’t visually communicate that message. For example, at 1:26 I see a wide shot of two fans dancing on another wise empty street, no runners, not other fans, at the very minimum I would have zoomed the camera in so the lack of people wouldn’t have been so obvious. Also, be careful not to use the same b-0roll more than once, I felt like I saw those same dancing fans 2 or 3 times in this story. I thought your audio was balanced well, everything seemed matched, and I never felt like the music got in the way or took over portions of the story. I Liked how you introduced each person being interviewed to help the audience transition to point to point Nice summary at the end, I loved the parallel structure between your introduction and the conclusion about the hidden gem. I think you made a nice piece that flowed really well, told the story, and left me with no unanswered questions, work at getting the b-roll that consistently tells the story and you will have some amazing stuff. I enjoyed your video, great job.

Judge 1

Positives: - Your framing and lighting of your interviews is spectacular! - Overall, you did a good job of putting this story together. I think the writing is pretty well done at this point in your journalism experience.

Improvements: - I'm not sure if this was your doing or your interview subjects, but you want to have them look to the side of the camera -- not directly into it. If they're framed right, have them look left, and vice versa. - You missed an opportunity at the use of natural sound. News directors will tell you that there is no such thing as using too much natural sound. I want to hear runner's footsteps as they go by, what they're saying when they're dancing, etc. It makes the viewer feel like they're there. Also, try to avoid music unless it's a really emotional piece.

Judge 2

Positives: It was a nice story. Liked how you showed the community and what this meant. Loved the sot near the end mentioning this wasn't a hidden gem anymore. Interviews and broll were shot really well

Improvements: when you interview someone, have them look at you as opposed to directly at the camera I would love to hear some nats of the race or the people warming up. I'm guessing there was at least some music or nats of the race start. You didn't interview any runners. This was the inaugural race and would be interested in hearing some race participants.

Judge 3

Positives: -Interviews well framed -I liked the variety of shots used

Improvements: -Try to shoot more in sequence, less panning of the camera. Pick a spot, shoot it in three different ways (establishing, medium, close-up) -Try to write to video. Explain what it is we are seeing in the images.. use natural sound to tell the story. (example: start with an opening shot of the runners and say "STEP BY STEP- THESE RUNNERS ARE NOW A PART OF A NEW TRADITION IN FLOSSMOOR... )

Judge 4

Positives:

Improvements: