Autos Class - ID# 167
Maine West
Natural Audio News Package
Entry Description
This is a news story about the autos class at our school and its benefits for the future.
Copyright Info
Recent Teacher Comments
- 4/30 4:08 pm - Strengths: You included a wide variety of b roll and audio that aligned really well with what your interviews were saying. I especially liked how we both saw and heard the welding when it was discussed, which made the story more engaging. The interviews were well framed and had strong lighting, which helped keep the focus on the subjects. Areas for Growth: It would be helpful to include more interviews that specifically address the career connections this course offers. Hearing more about how the skills and experiences relate to potential careers could strengthen the story and give viewers a clearer sense of the real-world impact of the course.
- 4/30 3:08 pm - You had a lot of good interviews that advanced the story well. I loved the variety of perspectives and what each student had to say. Your story never got boring because interviews and b-roll kept advancing the story. However, that fast pace never allowed your audience to slow down and process and understand each of the pieces of your story, because as one piece would finish the other would immediately start. Put a clip of broll with a sound in between to break them up, give your audience to digest what they heard, and then be ready for the next idea. It is a little like reading a book where there are no paragraphs and no margins just words covering the whole page, it gets a little overwhelming give your audience that chance to take a break. Last thing I would say about interviews is it would have been nice to have heard from the instructor to balance the student perspectives. Not a dealbreaker but just something to consider. I appreciated that each interview took place in different locations and not all in the same spot with the same background. Your B-roll supported what was said and was generally diverse, generally supportive of what was being talked about. Don’t be afraid to pull in even more natural sounds, ratchets on a wrench, the sound a lift makes as a car goes up or down, students talking together about how they are assembling an engine (this goes there), someone asking for a tool. Don’t get me wrong you had a lot of sounds from the environment as the story went on, but sometimes you also want to show the sound being made (as opposed to it just being in the background of a wide shot or interview) You did a good job assembling the story. I hope you are proud of your work.
- 4/29 6:49 am - Good topic for a story, but for this category, there’s a few things you missed out on that would make this a true Natural Audio News Package. It’s not just about having natural audio, but it’s about how are you using that natural audio to help tell the story. Put a wireless mic on the teacher or a couple of students. Follow them around with the camera to see what they are doing each day. You’ll hear different things that could help to tell the story. Maybe you’ll hear the teacher talking about how to fix something, or you hear them working with a student and giving them a tip for what to watch out for. You may hear a student helping another student learn a particular skill. Those natural audio clips help to tell the story and help to move it forward. Put some natural audio pops into the story. The auto shop is full of them!! From the sounds of a ratchet, an air hose, the clanking of a wrench, etc - bring those sounds up full in various spots during your story. At the beginning, start with that natural audio up full, then gradually bring it down as the sound bite begins. A couple of your b-roll shots were repeated - this means you didn’t shoot enough b-roll. Every time you move the tripod, shoot a wide shot, a couple of medium shots, and many tight shots from that one location. Then move your camera/tripod and do it all again from the new location.
Judge 1
Positives: 1. The story's narrative framework became stronger and clearer as the piece progressed. When the story was over, I understood the message the student was trying to convey about the topic. 2. The story was properly lit and appropriately shot. There were no visual shots in the piece that stood out as improper and everything made sense given the context. Meanwhile, all the interview subjects and most of the b-roll footage was lit to such a degree that it was easy for the viewer to understand what they were and why they were being shown.
Improvements: 1. The first 30 seconds of the piece was a bit confusing. Unless, you have lengthy, very compelling natural sound and visuals, it's best to introduce sound from an interview subject sometime in the first 5 seconds of your piece. Unfortunately, for the first 15 seconds of your story, I could not clearly understand what the story was about because there was no interview subject to guide me with their words. 2. In future natural sound pieces, make sure to include more "nat pop" situations where 1-2 seconds of elevated natural sound is highlighted. It can help break your story up, make it a little more exciting/interesting, and minimize monotony.
Judge 2
Positives: I definitely got the storyline and understood what was happening. Great getting sound from multiple students in the class. Good use of nats throughout and covering interviews with video.
Improvements: Great to start with nats but get to the sound a little sooner unless the nat sound is a huge attention grabber. Was Keelo chewing gum? You can always ask interviewees to remove their gum for a minute or take off sunglasses during an interview. Make sure you get enough broll. I noticed the same shot at :03 and :35 Be mindful of that 2nd audio channel during interviews. I know you can’t always control the setting but you could hear other people
Judge 3
Positives: The sound bites included describe everything you needed to know about the class and what it meant to learn the trade.
Improvements: Use a tripod for more stabilized b-roll camera shots. While there was background noise of the auto class, try to incorporate pops of natural audio to break up interviews.
Judge 4
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Judge 5
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