This is our last day in Broadcast Tech I. This class has been such a great experience. I have really enjoyed creating videos and using a lot of cool techniques to make the videos interesting. My favorite project has probably been the news package. It was challenging, but also really cool to work on. I liked having a lot of footage and sound bites and putting them together to create a story. It was super cool to see everything come together. It's been so fun learning about how to create videos and share them with those around me. It's something I hope I can continue doing throughout my life. Something I struggled with was coming up with ideas for projects. I wouldn't say I'm not creative, but I'm certainly not the most creative. However, once I had an idea for a video, everything worked out and went pretty smooth. Something I would like to have done differently is planning. Having projects completely planned out would've made them that much easier. That would be my advice to people taking this class. Plan out every little detail, and have backup plans. It'll make your life a lot less stressful. I would be interested in taking Broadcast Tech II but I'm graduating a semester early so I won't be able to. I'll end by saying thank you to Mr. Goble and Mrs. Davidson for being such great teachers and being so helpful throughout this semester. I've enjoyed my time in Broadcast Tech I immensely. I would highly recommend this class for anyone even remotely interested in broadcasting and film.
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This project was all about creating newsworthy story. I had a hard time coming up with an idea, and it wasn't until the weekend before we were supposed to have all our interviews and B-roll done that I finally had an idea. I was originally going to use a previous interview I'd done with my mom about being a stay-at-home mom and comparing that to a working mom, but it wasn't working out very well. I checked out some equipment to hopefully find a story and get some shots, not actually knowing what I was going to do. Then Friday afternoon my mom mentioned that she was having some girls over to make gingerbread houses and take them to people the next morning. At first I was annoyed because I wanted to have a quiet house to try and get some basic shots, and then it hit me. Why don't I do a story about the gingerbread houses? So I did. I filmed the girls through their process of making the candy decorated houses and interviewed my mom and one of the girls participating. I think it turned out pretty good! I was super lucky that my mom had planned the activity the weekend I was planning to film this project. It was actually really fun to create. I enjoyed finding unique shots to use to show exactly what was going on throughout the activity and I'm glad I was able to go with the girls and film them giving one of their gingerbread houses away. Overall, I'd say this project was a success and I feel like I did pretty well on it.
Our final project in Broadcast Tech 1 is to create a news story. We studied some professional examples from Steve Hartman. The picture on the left is a story about an elephant sanctuary, and the unusual friendship between one of the elephants and one of the many stray dogs that find refuge in the sanctuary. Hartman gets the viewer attention by showing an extreme wide shot of part of the sanctuary and an elephant trumpeting. He interviews one of the co-founders of the sanctuary who explains the relationships the elephants have with each other, except in the case of Tara (the elephant) and Bella (the dog). He goes on to explain that Bella suffered a spinal cord injury and had to lay in the sanctuary office for three weeks. For that entire span, Tara sat in a corner as close as she could to the office because she missed Bella. Hartman goes on to tell that Bella recovered and the two became happy together again. This is a heartwarming story that shows that anyone can look past prejudices and differences and become friends.
The picture on the right is a story about a middle school football team that planned a play to let one of their teammates, who is autistic, score a touchdown in a game. Hartman starts off the story showing the school and saying, "Between classes they schemed and conspired." This is a really good hook because the viewer wants to know who was scheming and what they were scheming about. He gets the perspective of some of the players during the interview, and finds out that the entire team was in on the plan and the coaches didn't know anything about it. Hartman presents conflict when he talks about Keith, the boy whose autism prevented him from playing football, and how no one knew who he was and were rude to him. He resolves the conflict by finishing the story and telling how the football team helped Keith score a touchdown in a game. This is a story to show that everyone can make a difference in the lives of those around them. I can use the tactics Steve Hartman uses by using voice-overs, natural sounds, and sound bytes. A good news story always has a conflict and usually a resolve to that conflict. The story needs to be informative and have emotion as well. I'm excited to practice these in my upcoming news story. I learned that it's not good to start questions with "did" or "will" because the interviewee will give one or two word answers. Ask questions that allows them to expand on their answer and talk for a while. It's also very important to make the subject comfortable because then they'll give better answers and be more invested in the interview. Another thing that's important is the positioning of the camera, yourself, and the subject. If you have the camera over your left shoulder, the subject should be on the left side of the screen and talking across towards the right side. The rule of thirds is important because it creates balance and is pleasing to the eyes. The subject should always have talking room on the screen and should never look at the camera. The viewer should also be able to see both of the subjects eyes. Another thing to conduct a good interview is to make it more of a conversation than interrogation. Having a conversation will provide better answers than reading a list of questions and asking for specific answers. Possibly the most important part of an interview is the last question, "Is there anything you'd like to add?" This is usually where the interviewee will give the best answers and provide what you were looking for in the interview. All in all, be casual and relaxed. The more conformable the subject, the better answers you'll get.
I chose to do my six word story about an experience I had with my sister because I thought it would tell a good story and give a few laughs. I chose the six shots I used because I felt they told the story the best. Seeing the salt in the first shot helps the viewer have an idea of what the video might be about. Some of the shots were a little challenging to get because of the space of my bathroom. It was a tight fit having the tripod fully extended, but I was able to make it work. I feel like my video was successful in that it told a story in only six words with six unique camera shots. I really enjoyed coming up with a story that I could film outside of school. It was fun having the equipment at my house and not having to return it at the end of the day. I was able to film over the weekend and get the shots I needed. Some advice for future students would be to think about how they are going to film the story as they're coming up with it. I wrote a few six word stories but didn't think about how I would film them and that kinda put me behind. Also remember that their first idea probably won't work out. It usually takes a bit of revision to produce a final draft of an idea. And don't forget to be creative and have fun!
There are many websites containing examples of six word stories, but one that I looked at is www.sixwordstories.net. A few examples from that site include "Dot in the sky. Dead pixel," and "Sorry soldier, shoes sold in pairs." I feel like most six word stories that are remembered reflect somber memories. Those melancholy stories use the pathos appeal to make the viewer sad. The sorrowful story makes a bigger impact on the viewer.
The mistakes were mostly minor, such as adjusting the iris to allow more light in or white balancing to make sure colors stay vibrant and consistent. Final Cut Pro was a little easier to use for this video because there weren't too many tools we had to use to edit. All that was required was background music and titles explaining what each shot is. This was a fun project to work on, and I learned some new things that I'm excited to work on in future projects.
Final Cut Pro is a little hard to pick up for me. I've never worked with any editing software and it can be overwhelming at times. It'll take some time to get comfortable with the software, but I'm excited to get better at editing.
I struggled with telling a story, and I don't feel like I did the best on that aspect and I plan on getting better. I also don't have any videos in this preview, I didn't have any that would fit this preview. It was still fun to work on and I really enjoyed making this video to show a few things about me. I'm excited to continue practicing and making better quality content.
If you want to see the video click here. |
Drew OlsonDrew Olson is a senior at Ladue High School. Archives
December 2017
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