DHS Theatre Season - ID# 349
Deerfield
Natural Audio News Package
Entry Description
This year, the DHS theater takes the stage and returns to live audiences. Music: "Two Steps Back", Jules Gaia/Gavin Luke, 2020, source: Epidemic Sound - license obtained through subscription
Copyright Info
Recent Teacher Comments
- 4/7 6:53 am - At the beginning, I loved that you started with the natural audio up full, but let that play out a little longer before getting into the sound bytes. Then when we are listening to the sound byte, if we're not seeing the b-roll, don't let that natural audio keep playing. We should only hear it when we see it. Try to avoid what I call "ping pong" with your b-roll. That's when we see the person being interviewed, then there is one shot of b-roll, then back to the interviewee, than one shot of b-roll, then back to the interviewee, etc. String multiple b-roll shots together. Once you've shown who is speaking, you don't always have to go back to them. There were a few spots where we could hear that natural audio, but bring those audio levels up full in the spots where there are no sound bytes. Bring that natural audio levels up so we hear that audio of rehearsals, building the sets, etc and that those levels are as high as the sound bytes. The main purpose of this category is using that natural audio to help tell the story. Not just from the sound bytes, but the natural audio as well. Let your audience hear the students rehearsing. Let the audience hear the drills that are being used to build the sets. It shouldn’t be just the sound bytes that tell the story - the natural audio (whether it’s music in the background or people talking) should also help tell the story. Consider putting a wireless microphone on one person - the director, the lead actor - and use that audio to help tell the story instead of relying solely on the sound bytes to tell the story. Be careful to not reuse b-roll shots. When this happens, it's usually because you did not shoot enough b-roll. Always shoot more than you need. One thing to do that will help that, is for every place you go to shoot, shoot a wide shot of that location, at least 2 medium shots in that location, and then a minimum of 3 tight shots in that location. Then move to a different spot and repeat those types of shots. And remember, the b-roll should help to tell the story. So if you're talking about everyone wearing masks to keep safe, be sure your b-roll reflects that and isn't showing folks not wearing masks or showing b-roll that has nothing to do with masks. The story ended suddenly and didn't have a conclusion. If the story didn't have a conclusion to it when it aired (maybe the anchors of your news program added the conclusion), be sure to go back and add it to this story prior to submitting it to the video festival. You always want your news package to be a complete package and not leave anything out.
- 3/14 9:38 pm - I appreciated that you didn’t just jump right in with an interview, you gave me a sound to catch my attention, a visual that peeked my interest to find out what was going on, and then the interview started. Good Job. I felt like the first two interviews basically said the exact same thing, they said it in slightly different ways but anytime you can avoid the redundancy as you are gathering the footage think about how you want to use each piece and what it adds to the puzzle for example maybe Britnee’s point is that people from all over the country saw our performances, and Zach’s focus is more on how the performance changes with or without a live audience. Don’t be afraid to let the b-roll between subjects hang a little longer (example @ 38 seconds). This pause will give your audience a chance to think about what they heard and also help them better understand the different sections/topics of your story. When they all run right into one another nothing really sticks out, it is just talking, talking, talking. I liked the pause at54ish seconds, much better. Books have paragraphs and chapters (with brief pauses of space) do the same with your story. I didn’t always feel like your B-Roll was reinforcing what was being spoken, for example around the 45 second mark you were talking about masks and how half of the faces are covered and some of the acting is lost. You showed me a wide shot of actors, someone with their arms crossed sitting in a chair, and a guy working on a lift. Most of the masks were not a prominent part of any of the footage and actually often hidden. I would have loved close ups of a person acting with half of their face covered, but “amping up” the performance with gestures/movement. Other spots I didn’t feel like your b-roll really felt worked was when you were talking about people sitting apart from one another and showing me 5 drills in a row ? Which with a little creativity could have worked if you made a group of 2 drills apart from 3 drills, (to imitate how families should sit) but having them all in a row without much purpose made it seem out of place. Be careful not to use the same B-Roll twice, you used the same script shot at 18 and then again at 54, it was a nice shot, but in a short story like this go the extra mile and go back for some additional b-roll if you are falling short. Reused B-Roll doesn’t bother everyone, but when my students do it I remind them what they are communicating, and that is that they didn’t get enough footage the first time to do the job right. The interviews seemed to skip around a little, you started with the audience, then talked about the cast not getting sick, but then went back to the audience and seating capacity. I can follow a loose connection and flow, but it seemed a little disjointed the way it was organized. This is a natural sound package, I guess I would have loved a little more intentionality at bringing in the sounds of this production. The actors (with accompanied close ups) the noises those guys are making up on the lift, some of your b-roll came off a little sterile because the natural sounds were not prominent enough. It ends a little bit abruptly, I guess I would have loved a scene at the end to close with, or a challenge to come watch how the performers have overcome it. You have some beautiful shots, and great interviews overall if you make some minor different decisions in post production, I thinks your future stories will be even better.
Judge 1
Positives: This is more than sound bites and video. It tells a story from start to finish. The video and audio are all excellent. Compelling video and natural sound,
Improvements: A little more b-roll would be nice. Let's see more rehearsing with natural sound breaks. It could make the story shine even more. There is a little stray audio, especially on the last sound bite. There are a couple of random shots, like the drills, that don't add much.
Judge 2
Positives: Audio quality is very good. Microphones were close. Shots of people doing something helped move the piece along.
Improvements: Needs an establishing shot early on in the piece to help viewer understand the context of the story. Stops abruptly rather than having an ending.
Judge 3
Positives: 1. Lighting was excellent, and interviews were well composed. 2. Natural sound was good, and there was a good variety of b roll shots.
Improvements: 1. Not having an introduction or narration is difficult. I felt thrown into the story with the first soundbite and could have used more context/info. It's ok to ask your interviewees to provide that for you if you need. Ask them to say who they are, what they do. I like to ask the interviewee to try and work my question into the answer. 2. I would have loved to hear more natural audio from the rehearsals.
Judge 4
Positives:
Improvements: