The Struggle Behind The Win - ID# 291
Homewood-Flossmoor
Natural Audio News Package
Entry Description
A Natural Audio Story following the work and hardship that goes unseen in wrestling.
Copyright Info
Recent Teacher Comments
- 4/23 3:54 pm - Excellent story, Great variety of footage (close up, backgrounds etc). Great pace, you covered alot of ground and yet it never felt rushed. I appreciated the variety of interviews, each one adding to the story you were trying to tell. I loved the way you edited between interviewers, you gave your audience a chance to digest what they heard before the next person jumped in. Sometimes it was a whistle blow, sometimes it was b-roll where the voice of the next speaker would start and then we would eventually see the speaker. Very nicely done, the same way I would have coached my students to do a story like this. Great job!
- 3/25 7:10 am - Great start to the story with the sound byte from the official. Some of the sound bytes were upcut - we need to hear every consonant that is being spoken. There were a few good natural audio sound pops in your story, but I would have liked to have heard a few more. Put a mic on a coach and let’s hear what he’s saying in the huddle. Let’s hear the wrestlers cheering each other on. Great variety of b-roll. A lot of it was shaky. I know it’s difficult to put a camera on a tripod in a wrestling gym, so what else could you use? Possibly a monopod, a stabilizer, a gimbal - something to help you keep that b-roll a bit more steady. Loved the variety of interviews for this story - it really helped to share different perspectives of the world of wrestling.
- 3/4 11:31 am - I loved your lower thirds text. For your interviews, I would zoom out a bit to add some headrooms. Many of your interviewees have their heads cut off. I did love how many interviews you were able to capture to tell this story. I loved how you had a variety of sounds- coaches coaching, exercise bike, ref. This was an interesting piece with many great audio examples. I loved the low angle of the coach. Very nice work!
Judge 1
Positives: Great nat pops. I felt like I was in a wrestling practice. The variety of tight, medium and wide shots really show different perspectives.
Improvements: Use a tripod so your shots aren't shaky. Make sure the people you interview don't have their heads cut off in the future.
Judge 2
Positives: Great, clean audio of the ref to start the piece! The sound of the whistle was almost like a signal to start the story. That was great and worked really well. Great nats of the trainer stretching the tape! Little details like that add a lot to a nat sound piece. I liked your handheld shots when you got really close to your subject. Handheld shots work well to add energy to a shot and set the tone for the story.
Improvements: On your wide shots, I would've loved to see you use a tripod. The opening shot for example, would've been even better had it been stable. Speaking of that opening shot, I loved that you mic'd up the ref. I wish you'd done that with the coaches and some of the students. That would've allowed you to capture crisp audio of them practicing and interacting with each other.
Judge 3
Positives: *Good use of natsot from the official on the mat. Audio was clear and easily understood. *The narrative fit together and clearly outlined the challenges the wrestlers face. And very nice ending shot. It brought the story to a logical and impactful conclusion. Great job!
Improvements: *Think about how you use your cutaways to amplify the points being made by your interview subjects. For example, the shot of the wrestler's feet on the scale could have been used when the wrestler talked about diet. By moving that shot just a few seconds, you can enhance the narrative. *Be careful with the edits around your soundbites. There were a couple of places with extraneous audio or cut off audio. For instance the first sound bite with the coach ("This whole sport is brutal... ") was a perfect way to start the story. But there were some extraneous words at the top that took away from the impact of the soundbite.
Judge 4
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Judge 5
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