Feed My Starving Children - ID# 517

Neuqua Valley
Natural Audio News Package
Entry Description

This natural audio news package is about Feed My Starving Children, a non profit organization that focuses on packing meals for starving children all around the globe. The primary focus of this story is what FMSC is, what goes into a meal that they pack, and why it’s so important for people to come and volunteer.

Copyright Info

Recent Teacher Comments

  • 4/30 4:08 pm - Strengths: The interviews told a clear and cohesive story. I had heard of this organization before but never really knew what they did, and your piece helped explain that very well. You did a great job aligning the a roll with the b roll, which made the story easy to follow. By the end, I felt like I had learned a lot about what the organization does and why it is important. Areas for Growth: You included a good amount of b roll, but I felt like I did not get to hear many natural sounds beyond general background noise from people packing and working. I would encourage you to try to capture more specific examples of natural audio in this environment. Hearing clearer moments of people talking, organizing items, or interacting while they work could help bring the viewer more fully into the space and make the story feel even more immersive.
  • 4/30 3:07 pm - Your interviewers did a great job of advancing the story, what it is, how it helps, the need (busy/slow times), and finally a call to action for help. Very well organized and systematic. The only interview I would have loved was from some of the volunteers of how it is fun, the time passed quickly, that they would do it again, and they were happy to help. Any of those would build excitement as you work towards that call to action. Your B-roll was supportive of what was being talked about and diverse from different aspects of the experience. My only suggestion would be to mix up what angle you are shooting at. It seemed like everything was shot from 4 ½ feet high, put your camera in unique spots to add a fresh perspective (high angle, low angle, close up of scooping etc. Point mostly is don’t shoot everything at eye level because that is all how we all see the world, when you vary the perspectives, your audience will appreciate a fresh perspective and creativity. Natural sounds were generally good, don’t be afraid to use people talking as well (did you get the rice in that bag, how do you do this…), rolling a skid etc. After awhile the sound all started sounding the same.
  • 4/29 6:47 am - This news package tells a good story and we can definitely hear what is happening in the background, and the sound bites chosen were good. But what is missing from this news package is the sound of the volunteers. What are they saying to each other? Why are they there? What would have been a nice touch is to put a wireless mic on one of the volunteers so we can hear what they are doing while they are there. Maybe they are talking with one another, maybe they are giving suggestions to another volunteer, etc. That is a key element that is missing and could have taken this news package from good to great.
Judge 1

Positives: 1. This was a well told story. The first interview subject laid out the ground work as to what the story/organization was about. The student then opened up the scope of the story by using certain soundbytes that showed why efforts like these were needed on a global scale making the story more accessible for people who may not live in the town where this pantry is located. 2. This story also had good video composition. There were few to no shaky shots, plenty of close-up shots to show us exactly what these volunteers were doing, and the student also make it a point to write to what the interview subjects were saying. That means when they were talking about things like shipping or packaging the food items, we actually saw the interview subjects shipping or packaging the food items. The viewer did not have to imagine those things happening. Good job!

Improvements: 1. The piece could used a little more compelling natural sound. For example, at the very beginning of the story, we heard natural sound, but it wasn't of one thing in particular. Rather, it was just ambient, cluttered sound from the room. Next time, try to focus your microphone on one thing happening in the room, like the sound of pasta falling into a bowl or one of the volunteers yelling out something to another volunteer. Those moments are more interesting. 2. Don't be afraid to explore different ways to shoot your interviews too. Technically speaking, all of your interviews were set up correctly. However, I really wanted to see something like you interviewing a person as they were packaging the food materials. Those type of interview compositions can give your stories an extra element that enhances it.

Judge 2

Positives: Nice job getting broll of all the parts of your story. Interviews shot well

Improvements: Be careful with nats. You can overuse it. From :35-:56, you kept pausing for things that don’t have or need a nat pop. A pallet doesn’t make noise unless it’s being moved or pausing on the shipping wall. This just made me lose interest Not every idea, event or story is a good topic for a nat pkg. This would have benefited from a reporter track. You jumped from what are we to we don’t have enough volunteers to the world’s hunger problem. Also the packing room sounded loud but the nats were all the same or not there. I would cut this down to 1:30 and get rid of most of the nat pops. This would have been a more complete story if you had interviewed a volunteer.

Judge 3

Positives: Good variety of shots at FMSC. This story has the potential for plenty of natural audio.

Improvements: Work on the storyline by attempting to bridge natural audio and SOTs more effectively. What you believe to be natural audio is just background noise. Natural audio pops would include the mic picking up a box being dropped, a clearer pour of the rice into the bag, the scoop digging at the rice, laughter or motivational moments from those participating in. A way to increase your chances at these moments stems from thinking outside the box with shots, placing your microphone on a surface that could encourage other sound, or having your interviewees wear their mics and filing their interactions for awhile with FMSC.

Judge 4

Positives:

Improvements:

Judge 5

Positives:

Improvements: