Former Wildcat Donny Navarro - ID# 397

Neuqua Valley

News Package

Entry Description

This is a story done on former wildcat Donny Navarro and how he received a full ride scholarship to the University of Illinois after walking on last year.

Copyright Info

Illini Productions

Recent Teacher Comments

• 4/23 3:21 pm - I would second the comments about the introduction. I am wondering if you could re-arrange the order of you piece to start with former coach high school coach or Donny, then jump into the news of the scholarship. This establishes that this piece is about an alum and how he got there. Also, don't be afraid to ask Donny himself for b-roll of workouts of him at U of I or any footage he may be able to give you. If you are underclassmen, this is promising in moving forward and I think it is a good news piece which I think can be great. If you are a senior, I wish you the best in your future and congratulations.
• 3/16 8:11 pm - Sam and Hailey, I thought you had a nice assembly of interviews to tell your story, I appreciated that you didn’t always have to come on and provide the transition between each interview because the content of one interview basically set up the next one. That is either the result of really good planning, or a keen eye while you are editing, either way I thought you did a nice job with that. I have mixed feelings about the opening scene. I think it is impressive to get a glimpse into an illini football team meeting where the star of your story is being honored, but the way the guys all pop up it looks staged. And if it was staged I would have set it up better so you see faces, because the majority of the action by the characters in that scene their back is turned to the camera. If it wasn’t staged and that was the best the camera person was able to do in the situation (which I would understand) then I would question starting with it only because I don’t know who Donny is, I don’t know that it is coach lovie smith at first, and I am not even sure what is going on in the scene so it is hard to follow. Of course the reporters clear it up right away, I am just throwing in my suggestion. I thought your b-roll was good, although maybe a little more diversity because I just thought I was looking at game highlight reels if Donny. You kept telling me about all his hard work so I would have liked to see some of the b-roll paired with footage of him at practice, in the weight room etc. putting in all that extra work. I liked the background audio in the b-roll often some students leave it out, but then the footage ends up looking very sterile. The audio was generally matched among the interviews at one point I know was distorted, but I am assuming the feed you were getting of lovie smith was bad, and there was nothing you could do about it. I think you did a nice job gathering all the pieces for your story, and putting them together in an informative story.

Judge 1

Positives: - I love the use of natural sound at the beginning! Capturing that emotional moment is the perfect way to open a story like this. - I also admire the job of telling this story. When your story focuses on one person -- it's almost better to interview people around them. They give better sound. You did a great job of getting both coaches.

Improvements: - Your soundbites were a little too long. Try to tighten those up as best you can. In the industry, you won't see much more longer than :15. - Try to use your interview location and shots to your benefit. Getting Lovie Smith at the podium is great, but the framing was too wide. Maybe have Navarro and the high school coach go to the football field, get some depth of field, etc. Try to avoid interviews in the corner of an office/up against a wall as best you can.

Judge 2

Positives: I liked that you used that nats of the scholarship announcement Good interviews and letting the coaches/players do most of the talking

Improvements: The story seemed a bit out of order. I understand why you started with the nats, because it was the best thing you had. But then you bounced back to high school immediately with the track. I watched it more than once to understand. Why was that girl in your stand up? She wasn't in the track at all. Own your work Interview with the football player was a little blurry Sound with Lovie Smith was a bit hot

Judge 3

Positives: -Interview with Donny was well framed. -Good use of video to tell Donny's story

Improvements: -I liked the opening shot, but it would've been nice to hear the reporter describe what that moment was... to establish the WHAT in the story, by explaining the importance of that clip and how it relates to the rest of the story (example: show video of Lovie Smith speaking, players cheering... then say "THIS IS THE MOMENT DONNY NAVARRO FOUND OUT ABOUT A FULL RIDE SCHOLARSHIP AT U OF I... ) -Try to use more natural sound to tell the story. For example, when showing the video of Donny playing, let some of the natural sound from the game play for a few seconds before we hear the reporter track.

Judge 4

Positives:

Improvements: