Cheerleading - ID# 296

Neuqua Valley
Natural Audio News Package
Entry Description

This story was created when the Neuqua Valley Cheerleading Team was preparing to compete at sectionals and state during their competitive season. The team was so excited to share their story. The coach had a mic on for the entirety of the practice to magnify his voice on the video. The team is full of energy and had a strong end to their season. I'm glad I could play a part in showing off their talents!

Copyright Info

Recent Teacher Comments

  • 4/19 9:51 am - I liked this story, you integrated alot of pieces well just a few details that I noticed. I would bleed the audio from the B-Roll to interview so they overlap into each other, each time your scenes change in the first 30 seconds, the audio just cuts in / out with the visual and makes your piece overall appear more choppy (at 31 it was really obvious, the audio just cuts out from the broll) same thing at 53), when you don’t bleed the audio together it makes the pieces stand out alone as opposed to being part of a whole single story. Some of the b- roll audio, was just too loud, as a result I just didn’t know what I should be listening to or focusing on. For example when the coach is talking 50ish to 60ish there is just so much audio being sent (and intensities from cut to cut) it makes it really hard to focus on what the coach is saying (especially since some of the broll audio is also the coach). The story should always be a dance between audio and video, you need to control what the viewer will see and hear and in the order that you want them to. When you control it, your audience gets exactly out of the story that you want them to. When you throw it all up at once you can’t always be sure what your audience will be seeing/hearing. what you intended. Work for more balance, control what your audience focuses on. While on the topic of sound, certain portions just were not matched well the girl always seemed a little louder and more intense in volume than the coach. Of course watch your meters, but one thing I suggest to my students when they think they are done is to turn the volume on playback just low enough that you can barely hear it (no headphones for this) the too louds or the too softs will stick out and you can adjust. I am not sure if you shot all this footage with hand held intentionally, or set it up on a tripod while practice was going on. If I was to guess it looks more like the latter, only because the shots all seem a little wide and generic. For example I felt like I just kept coming back to that wide front on shot over and over (12, 27, 57, 1:56) then the side shot (19, 39, 1:19, 1:32). Assuming that is the case, I give you credit for moving it around, and maybe even in some spots in post production scaling it in to make it look a little different (and if you didn’t I would suggest it) but I would still have gone in for the close ups, the intensity of a face shouting, hands clapping, feet landing, etc. In addition play with the angle, the whole story was shot at eye level, I understand this is news, but a creative shot here and there with a perspective that is not eye level is always good to draw a viewer in. Your story ends very abruptly, I get you have a time limit but then make a cut then to something in the middle so the end is more natural. I think your interviews were good, you had a story worth telling, when you get some of the details of post-production decision making mastered you will be good at this. Natural audio packages can be very challenging.
  • 4/16 1:32 pm - Great job with mic'ing up the coach - loved hearing his coaching of the team. You really get a good sense of energy from his sound bytes. Great variety of b-roll - work on mixing up the angles that you shoot from. Nice interviews - each added a different perspective to your news package. Nice job!
  • 3/6 2:21 pm - I loved how gave a mic to your cheer coach for the recording of this news package! This helped to make his energy and direction as a coach crystal clear for your viewer. I loved hearing the formal and informal cheering of the squad. You also captured a wide variety of b-roll. This is hard to do for a performance group where you can't necessarily get too close! Some of your audio cuts did seem a little abrupt between shots. Think about extending some of the audio into the next clip when editing and fading down so that these moments don't sound so choppy. This was a great story overall and made me excited to see how this team would do in the post season!
Judge 1

Positives: Great nat pop open with the introduction and clapping from the cheerleaders. It sets the scene for what's to come. Love the variety of shots and different angles.

Improvements: The sound from the routine b-roll is a little loud underneath the interview. I would lower it a tad. Next time try putting the camera on the ground while the cheerleaders are tumbling to show a different perspective.

Judge 2

Positives: Interview audio sound good. Coach McGhee is a good character to use.

Improvements: Great shot and nat snd to start with but then it comes to a screeching halt with a talking head. Show me more of the coach and team from that moment at the top. Turn off the automatic focus on the camera. Very distracting. Hide the microphone cord. Need more closeups to help avoid the jump cuts. People cannot be two places at once.

Judge 3

Positives: I love that you mic'ed up the coach. It made for a very compelling first bit of audio to introduce the story. The coach had great energy and you chose great soundbites to feature from him. I especially liked "The most successful Neuqua teams have been the most consistent."

Improvements: Lots of uhms and ahs in ther interviews. You can try to edit this out, or ask the person you interview to repeat their answer. I would have loved to see some tighter shots alongside the great dynamic medium and wide shots. Don't be afraid to get up there and into the action. Ask to stand next to the girls when they're holding up a teammate and shoot up from below at her foot, for example. Have a girl flip towards you and end with her head and hairbow right up against your camera. Don't be afraid to get up close and personal!

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Judge 5

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