When Strength Meets Technology - ID# 391
Homewood-Flossmoor
Natural Audio News Package
Entry Description
Segment about HF's strength coach, and the technology he has brung into the school.
Copyright Info
Recent Teacher Comments
- 4/30 3:50 pm - Strengths: The interview framing follows the rule of thirds, keeping the interviewees as the clear focal point in the frame, and the lighting is effective and flattering. The student interviews are very strong overall, though both could benefit from slightly more headroom, as their movement brings them close to the top edge of the frame at times. I also appreciated the variety of b-roll, particularly the treadmill shot and its accompanying sound. It added energy and authenticity to the piece. The use of natural audio throughout, such as cheering, treadmill noise, and workout sounds, helped create a lively atmosphere and made the environment feel real. Areas of Growth: Because the story focuses on technology, I would have liked to see and hear more of that element in action. For example, incorporating additional shots of the technology being used or capturing specific sounds from the iPads could further reinforce the central theme. Overall, this was an engaging story with strong interview composition and effective b-roll, but highlighting the technology more clearly through visuals and sound would strengthen the connection to the story’s main focus.
- 4/30 2:57 pm - Your story starts very abruptly with talking of the first interview within the first second, give me visual of an establishing shot or cover shot with people working out to ease me in to a story about the weight room. It all started so fast. There was so much talking throughout your package, and yes I get that it is a news story, but because there is always someone talking you never give your audience a chance to digest what they just heard information just keeps coming and they can’t think about what they heard or are seeing. It is like reading a book that has text all over the page with no margins or returns for a new paragraph - it would be alot. How to fix this… this is a natural sound package so put in a 3 to 5 second clip of a natural sound b-roll, it will really help your story. This is a story about how the technology is being used in the weight room, but I only see three scenes (10, 57, &1:50) where the technology is being used in the weightroom, otherwise all the visuals are what I would expect from a typical weight room story - young men lifting heavy weights. Use the visuals to help better reinforce the objective of your story as well as what the interviewees are talking about. Try and diversify your shots a little more. Most of your story had visuals with wide cover shots, with the exception of the feet running at the beginning of your story and the two shots of the ipad I don’t recall any other close-ups. Close ups provide the visual diversity to your story and also help drive certain points home because your audience sees what they should be focusing on instead of guessing on a wide shot. Your interviews are excellent, and help tell the story I think you set out to tell, and quite honestly sometimes that is the hardest part. Just make sure your camera work and editing match that attention to excellence and your story will dramatically improve.
- 4/29 6:48 am - Great topic for a news package. The athletes and coaches that you interviewed told a good story and you selected good sound bites. The natural audio from your b-roll was good as well. What was missing that I would have liked to have seen was video of one of the coaches or one of the players mic’d up - put a wireless mic on one of the coaches and let’s hear them interacting with the athletes. Put a wireless mic on one of the players and let’s hear them while they are working out. That helps to tell the story in a natural audio news package as much as the sound bites do. Hearing the coach explain the use of the iPads to the athletes would be a great addition to this news package.
Judge 1
Positives: 1. The composition of your shots with your interview subjects were really good. Not only were they framed properly, but they had a wonderful depth of field where the subject was clearly in focus and the background was more soft in focus. That was professional level shooting. 2. I also like that you captured natural sound and showcased it at an appropriate level throughout your piece. It didn't overpower any of the narration or interview soundbytes. At the same time, we could still make out what was happening. That said, it would have been nice to have isolated it every once in a while so that it was happening underneath soundbytes, but rather by itself. That would be what we call a "nat pop", which is 1-3 seconds of isolated natural sound that can break up a piece and make a story a little more exciting.
Improvements: 1. A few times, the b-roll video got a little bit shaky. Always remember to use your tripod if you have one to avoid those sorts of shots and keep your story running smooth. 2. I also noticed a few instances where shots became really shaky toward their end. I feel like those may have been instances in your raw video where you were transitioning to other spots in the room to shoot visuals or you were taking your camera off the tripod. That could be fixed with a little tighter editing where you could have cut those shaky elements out.
Judge 2
Positives: I like that you talked to the coaches and students to get a full picture of the technology Lots of good broll showing the technology in use
Improvements: Segment about HF's strength coach, and the technology he has *brought into the school. I would have like a few more nat pops in between sots Try to change up where you shoot your interviews. Everyone looked to be standing in the same spot
Judge 3
Positives: Your storyline was effective, I knew the point of the nat package right from the start. Lots of variety in shots and interviews which were well executed for clarity and sound.
Improvements: A detail that could use tweaking is better framing of interviews with athletes. You could tell they were more anxious during the process, so maybe meet them where they are...consider having them sit somewhere, maybe a bench. Or even mic an athlete up while working out. I'd love to see the interaction between coach and athlete to bridge interviews and add to the flow. Try to add more natural audio pops, someone stacking weights on the rack or the bar going back on the rack. Again, mic up those you interview for additional sound to utilize throughout. While background noise is suitable, these small improvements will take your content to the next level.
Judge 4
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Judge 5
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