Cherry Pit Cafe - ID# 145

Downers Grove North

Natural Audio News Package

Entry Description

The Cherry Pit, a beloved local mainstay greasy spoon tries to stay afloat amidst the COVID economic downturn.

Copyright Info

Recent Teacher Comments

• 3/28 8:51 pm - Good visuals for your story and great sound bytes from the 2 interviewees. What makes this category different from the News Package category is the use of the natural audio to help TELL the story. Bring the natural audio up full in parts where we are hearing the folks working at the restaurant - taking orders, talking to each other, etc. Let that audio help tell the story and not rely SOLELY on the sound bytes.
• 3/18 7:57 am - This project had a nice variety of b-roll- I liked the time lapse of the outdoor seating that you incorporated! Interviews were well composed and sounded great. I wanted to hear more of the natural audio of the restaurant- people talking, chefs cooking, plates banging. Make me feel like I am in the space with you as you are filming.
• 3/5 4:40 pm - Good interview audio- sounded good. Could always use a bit more variety in your camera shots when it comes to interviews. Each question, get a different angle to keep things interesting. B-roll was solid. Was hoping for a better ending to the story- it ended with an interview and then it just kinda stopped. This is Natural Audio- and although you DO have SOME natural audio, it really doesn't help tell the story too much. In this category, it should. Try to get those sounds of the restaurant- the customer buzz, the hustle of the cooks, the plates clanging- things that will help tell the story more. Overall, a good story was told.

Judge 1

Positives: Interviews are lined up well and there was a good variety of wide, medium, tight shots.

Improvements: Need to use a tripod. There needs to be more natural noise for this to be a nat package. I would have liked to hear noises in the restaurant, the chefs cooking in the kitchen, people sitting outside, etc.

Judge 2

Positives: The shot with Carmen was set up really well. Great use of the Cherry Pit Cafe backdrop. There were a good variety of shots (although some were repetitive, and taking more tight shots could help with that) and the time lapse in the patio was very creative.

Improvements: I would have loved an interview with one of the patrons sitting at the patio. What do they love about Cherry Pit Cafe? What makes them come back to support them at the patio? Every time you eat out, even outdoors it is a risk. What makes Cherry Pit so great that patrons are taking this small risk to support them? I would have liked to hear more about Cherry Pit's origins. We hear about how things have changed, but if one of the interviewees had talked about what it's been like to work there, how long they've been there, what the cafe means to them, how long it has been a part of the community, etc, it would have helped the audience feel much more emotionally invested in the cafe.

Judge 3

Positives: -Really great job organizing your nat piece with a beginning middle and end, focusing first on how the pandemic has impacted at the start, then how they're adapting at the current moment, finishing with a lookahead to the future. That's key to a lot of storytelling! -Interview framing was well done with rule of thirds being followed. -Really nice clean editing, both with audio and visually. All of the natural sound was present in the background which is important when we're seeing scenes like the inside of a restaurant or a road which we know have sounds associated with them. You flowed in and out of these sounds well. -Really loved the timelapse shot with a slow zoom in! Good creativity and energy spent get that shot.

Improvements: -Just a few ways you can take your piece to the next level! The natural audio was awesome throughout the piece, but don't be afraid to bring those levels up for some nat sound pops at the beginning and end, and in the middle when it works too. This helps break up some interview sound. -Your shows really varied and showed you captured all parts of the restaurant, but make sure you also get steady. Sit that camera on a tripod or still surface if you can and get some tight and medium shots too. The pans up and down and left and right can get repetitive. -To take your visuals even higher, get in on action shots wherever you see it. In a restaurant like this, if you were able to, get up closer or zoom in closer on those cooks frying up some food, or those hands of diners eating. That'll help work in even more natural sound too and mix up your shots.

Judge 4

Positives:

Improvements: