Calm Classroom - ID# 80
Geneva
Natural Audio News Package
Entry Description
A look at the "Calm Classroom" program and how it's helping teens at GHS
Copyright Info
Recent Teacher Comments
- 4/30 4:09 pm - Strengths: The story was clear and easy to follow. Your interviewee did a great job explaining what Calm Classroom is right from the start. The piece was well organized and kept my interest throughout. Your a roll and b roll were well aligned, and I appreciated how you paused to let us hear the b roll along with the natural sounds, which added to the immersive feel of the story. Areas for Growth: The student interview appears very yellow; consider placing her in a different lighting environment to improve color balance. I would also love to hear more examples of the calm environment beyond the bell, students talking, and the group meeting. Capturing additional natural sounds or moments that illustrate the calm classroom in action would help deepen the audience’s understanding and engagement.
- 4/30 3:09 pm - I had to watch your story twice to make sure I understood what calm classroom is, I am assuming it is a workshop that teachers can go to to learn strategies that they can bring back to their rooms to help students relax a little more before stressful times. I could infer that but not being familiar with the program, I think it needed to come out and be said a little more. I think a demonstration or explanation of one of the techniques woul have helped to so I could see the strategy and then how it plays out in the classroom. You skipped some of those steps and made me guess. I saw the intentionality of bringing some sound into your natural sound into your story but other than the bell at the beginning and end, there wasn’t much else except the sounds that happen in every classroom - people talking. Show me a breathing exercise (which I know isn’t alot of noise but it is an element that we would all hear in our head and would actually be doubly impactful for that reason when we see it and kind of hear it (the viewer's brain would fill in the rest) The pace and edit points at times was a little awkward, you would sometimes cut someone off during mid-sentence or while they were still having more to say. The problem was that you would cut it where it was the inflection of their voice didnt help your audience gauge main ideas and instead leaving choppy feeling at points in your piece. It wasn’t a bad story, it just didn’t maximize the visuals and sounds I think you could have brought in given the topic and I felt more of an explanation up front would have had me more focused on what it is and can offer rather than me trying to figure it out while the story keeps going and I am trying to create context.
- 4/29 6:50 am - Good story topic. While you told a good story, there are some technical things that can be improved upon for a news package in this category. Good start to the story with the bell. That gets people’s attention. Good first sound bite from the social worker telling us what this program is all about. At :12 seconds, we miss a little bit of what’s being said in the b-roll. Bring that audio up full so we can hear it. At :17, you bring the social worker’s audio back in, but the beginning of what she said there can’t be fully hear because you dissolve it in. For this transition, bring the natural audio from the b-roll clip (that is up full at this point) down and then bring the social worker’s audio in full - not with a dissolve, but with a cut so that none of it is lost in the transition. At :29 seconds, we see one clip of b-roll, then it goes back to the social worker. String together multiple clips of b-roll - otherwise, the one clip looks a little out of place. At :33, bring that natural audio up full so we hear the students speaking. Then bring it down (over a 15-20 frame span) and then have the teacher start talking. At :41, there’s a spot for a natural audio pop - at that point, bring the natural audio up full for 2-3 seconds, and then bring it back down before we hear the teacher again. At :49 we can see the start of the camera zooming out - cover this zoom with b-roll from your story. If you used a cut instead of a dissolve, we probably wouldn’t see the zoom. Same with going back to the teacher at :53 - we see the camera zooming back in a little. At :57, bring that natural audio up full for a audio pop - then bring it back down before the next sound bite starts. The video of Abby looks too yellow. Make sure you are white balancing your camera. That light in the background is not helping - I would move her away from it.
Judge 1
Positives: 1. The story flowed at a logical and fast pace, which made it more interesting. The editing, natural sound use, and soundbytes all supported this effort. 2. There was no point in the piece where it was unclear to me what the story was about. It was told in a logical and informative way.
Improvements: 1. This is a very hard topic to shoot a compelling story about. However, the story still could used some better visual composition. Many of the shots were wide in frame instead of varied between wide, medium, and close-up shots. Using a different variety of shots can make your stories more engaging. Also, take your camera to parts of the room where viewers would not expect it to be. Shoot visuals from behind a student's desk or from behind the teacher looking at their class. Those sorts of shots will help make your video material more exciting. 2. Another visual aspect. The story was a bit too dark. Make sure to use more lighting or rely on natural light from windows in the room if you shoot a story in a similar setting in the future.
Judge 2
Positives: I like how you opened with a quick nats and then got to a sot right away. It was able to quickly understand your storyline and it kept my interest. I like that you had a main character describing calm classroom then you added a few other people to make the story full. I like your use of nats to show calm classroom
Improvements: If you put up a name CG, try to leave it up for 4 seconds or more so people can read it. The sot at :35 would work better if you let the teacher finish on camera, then do the classroom nats. You don’t have to use transitions. They did not look good. Make sure you always white balance especially when it’s a dark room or odd lighting like the interview at 1:02
Judge 3
Positives: The ding of the bell off the top captured my attention. A good hook into your story. Props to multiple interviews. The sound helps educate the viewer on why your story matters from all angles. In the future, try mixing their storylines.
Improvements: Natural audio to bridge interviews needed the same level of attention as interviews. Consider mic-ing up those you interview for awhile even if its just for a simple interaction or two. This will enhance the overall story. Make sure all interviews are white balanced. Abby's appeared very yellow. The transition or fade in between video clips can become distracting after awhile.
Judge 4
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Judge 5
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