COVID College Experience News Package - ID# 35

Highland Park

News Package

Entry Description

COVID-19 led to an unprecedented start to college for Class of 2024 freshman. Stella Balaskas and Raquel Press take a look at how GBN alumni are adjusting to the situation, while still making the best out of their college years.

Copyright Info

Recent Teacher Comments

• 4/7 10:39 am - Great use of Zoom interviews and b-roll. Great structure. Some audio issues. Could use some anchor transitions and closing to cover the event a bit more and provide some more “guidance” to each section. Overall, really clean and informative news package. Keep up the great work!
• 3/28 8:57 pm - My one question would be who shot the video at U of I and at Mizzou? Overall, good story telling. Liked the different perspectives from the students.

Judge 1

Positives: Great story. I think you really told it well and showed the perspective from different schools and students. You did a great job using the resource you have in a pandemic. Zoom/facetime/skype never give great quality, but that also tells the pandemic story.

Improvements: Work on making your writing a little more conversational -- essentially write like you talk. You don't have to be so formal. Did you shoot all the video or pictures you used? If not, make sure to source it. This was a bit long for the topic. Try to go back and cut this to 1:15-1:20

Judge 2

Positives: - Your storytelling here was great. I feel like there was a good mix of reporter track and soundbites. Also, great job getting more than two interviews. Having more characters in your story only adds to your credibility. Doing the interviews over Zoom also made sense -- great choice. - Good job getting some b-roll of the campuses your interviews go to.

Improvements: - The story could have used more variation in shot composition and editing. You have a lot of great wide shots, but from there, zoom in to medium and close-up shots to paint the entire picture. Or when the students are scanning into the dining hall or room, get a close-up of that happening. It will make your story flow visually just as it does script wise. - Your story lacks some natural sound. It will help the viewer feel like they're there. Keep some audio higher on your b-roll and that will do the trick.

Judge 3

Positives: -I like that the video matches the reporter’s script. Visual Storytelling, well done! -well written and narrated. It flowed well and gave me good perspective into the life of a college student in the midst of a pandemic.

Improvements: -would have been great to see the reporter. Perhaps add a stand-up at the end of the piece to add an important face to the piece and show presence.

Judge 4

Positives:

Improvements: