Ducky Derby - ID# 51
Maine South
News Package
Entry Description
Thousands of rubber ducks are sponsored each August to race down the Chicago River in support of the Special Olympics. WMTH reporter, Nicole Scimeca, takes viewers to the Chicago Ducky Derby and Family Festival in downtown Chicago.
Copyright Info
Recent Teacher Comments
- 4/25 10:31 pm - Fun piece on this community event. Reporter has a fun personality to go with the piece. Some fun animation to go along with good audio, solid broll. My only criticism...there isn't any perspective other than yours. Get some interviews! In news packages, we want the reporter to help tell the story but not BE the story. There is a lot of potential here...keep working!
- 4/1 1:38 pm - What a fun story - well done and well told!
Judge 1
Positives: Thank you for sourcing the video you took from Fox Chicago. Very few entries have sourced video. I love how playful you were with this. Its a great topic but also really fun. Great job with the walk and talk standup to start. It definitely helps make a story more interesting when you move even a little.
Improvements: Remember, you are not the story and this even isn't about you. It's great that you donated, but that has nothing to do with a news story. It looks like you had a great time at the event, but this piece seemed like an influencer vlog instead of a news pkg. Why didn't you interview anyone? Let the people tell the story. There were clearly a lot of people there. Why didn't you shoot any of your own video of the ducks in the river? You mentioned that they had just poured in the ducks and then didn't immediately point the camera in the water. Too many standups. Again, you are not the story.
Judge 2
Positives: -Very creative! Loved the fast pace... it really moved the piece along while keeping me entertained. -Great energy by the reporter! The narration was unique and fun! She sounded natural and did a great job in engaging the viewer.
Improvements: -I would've liked to hear from those attending the event. It's always important to get perspective from people who attend those type of events to give their perspective. -The music was great but if you can include some natural sound in the piece, that would amplify it. Perhaps NATS of the excitement when the ducks were thrown in the water, etc.
Judge 3
Positives: - You have excellent energy on-camera, perhaps the best I've seen of anyone at the high school level! This is so incredibly challenging to achieve, but I think you nailed it. You match the event, which gets the viewer to the right space to comprehend this story. Great job! - The video you did shoot, as well as the duck graphics, really added to this story. The graphics were outstanding (better than some I've seen professionally). It really helped me understand what was happening.
Improvements: - A traditional news package does not have music underneath. That's really only saved for rare, emotional stories. Also, you incorporated some natural sound from the TV stations (which was good), but you need soundbites here. This will help move your story along. Those varying perspectives can provide your story depth, too. - If the story is about the ducks, then you need better video of them. Was there a spot you could set up to get closer shots of them in the water? Were people gathered to cheer as they went in the water? The variety would have helped the story flow better.
Judge 4
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Judge 5
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