Saying Goodbye to first Semester, and Hello to a New Year

Saying Goodbye to First Semester 
As the semester comes to a close, I am inclined to reflect on my work I've produced so far this year.  When I look back at my previous works, I'm amazed at how far I've come.  I've always been fairly confident in my work, but this year I've pushed myself to test the limits and try new things, as a result, I've grown as a journalist.  I am always open to trying new techniques, and this year I've tried several different things that have improved my packages and my writing style.  I see improvement in my work in several areas such as sequencing while shooting, interview set up, and my ability to tell a story through packages.

The Prep Work

Before this year, when I went out to shoot a package, I would just grab a camera and then throw something together while I was editing.  This year I learned the importance of planning out what you want your package to look like before you shoot.  Now, I always try to have a general idea of the conflict, the characters, and what I want the plot of the package to be. This makes shooting quicker, more efficient, and it will result in a better news package.  However, it is important to be flexible.  There are always surprises that occur while I'm shooting, and I have learned to adjust to these challenges.  Sometimes while I'm interviewing someone,  a new conflict will arise, aside from the one I anticipated.  As a journalist student, I need to be able to incorporate these unexpected moments, and work them into my story if they would make an interesting addition.

At the beginning of this year, I had knowledge about the importance of the 6 shot system, but I never really made it a priority to accomplish getting all 6 shots in my packages.  Once I made an effort to get wide, extreme wide, medium, close, extreme close, and over the shoulder shots, it helped create a more dynamic and visually interesting package.  The sequencing of these different types of shots allowed me to tell a story through my characters.  I put together an example of good sequencing, featuring Kami Gibson working on homework.  Even this simple task is made more interesting through a variety of shots.   

My packages at the beginning of this year and last year lacked this important piece.  

Interviews

At the beginning of this year, I paid little attention to the location of the interview.  However, in more of my recent packages I have been trying to set up the interviewee in a relevant location to the story.  This makes the package more interesting and it gives the audience the opportunity to see the interviewee in his or her natural environment.  If you chose a location where the interviewee is comfortable,  you will also get better sound bites from them.  

My best package I produced last year was one on Nathan Muehe.  In this interview, I just interviewed him somewhere random in the school, with a very boring background.

This year, in my most recent package on Keaton Conrad, Savannah and I went to his home studio and interviewed him there.  In the background was his sound board and computers where he mixes his music.  This location created a more visually intriguing setting, versus a random location in the school.  

Beginning, Middle, and End

I have improved exponentially in my ability to tell a story through a package.  There are many important factors that make a good story.  One that I've found to be very important is that through voice over and sound bites, a good story must have a beginning, middle, and end.  I now make a conscious effort to include a climax in the story and a conflict in my packages.  

When I did my package on Ryan Devers, the conflict was that he loves Karate, but as he advances, it can often be dangerous and he has gotten injured several times.  This evoked the viewer's interest and made them appreciate how Ryan's preservation to continue practicing martial arts even after several injuries. 

Shooting for the Stars

I learn something new with every package I produce.  Something I want to focus more on is lighting. It always has been challenging for me to find a location with good lighting.  I don't really understand how to work with natural light, but it is something I would like to learn.  I think that good lighting is essential to make a package look more professional.  

I also would like to produce more content and quicker.  I am a perfectionist, so often times I am very slow and tedious with my work, trying to perfect every part, which can be good, but also it is bad because in the news world, they have to turn around packages in a day or two.  So I hope that I am able to work hard and work fast.  I know that I can produce high quality packages and I can do it quickly if I focus on the pre planning, then I will know what I want the package to look like when I go into the editing process. 

Until Next Year!

When we're back from break, it'll be a new year.  I will take this new year as an opportunity to further grow as a journalist student.  I will continue to learn new things every day and apply them to my packages to make them better.  Overall, I've come a long way since last year.  I have learned a lot so far this year, and I hope that I can continue to improve.

Crossing between the Gym and School

Working Title: Crossing between the Gym and School

Producers: Savannah Plumlee and Isabel Lauby

My feature story is about Mrs. Lofquist, E-comm graphic design teacher at ONW, and a dedicated cross fit member at X-treme athletics.  Mrs. Lofquist goes to the gym every morning and teaches cross fit classes along with teaching during the day.  This story will focus on how she manages teaching at school and teaching classes at the gym.  Ultimately, I want the audience to feel motivated to work as hard as Mrs. Lofquist and understand the hard work she puts into both instructing positions.

Mrs. Lofquist will be the main character in this feature story.  We will film her at the gym and teaching classes at school to show her in both elements.  In the interview, we will ask her what motivates her to continue to do both cross fit and teach.  Mrs. Lofquist will be an interesting person to do a story on because

Mrs. Lofquist's husband would also be a good character to interview.  I'm not exactly sure of his involvement in the gym, but I think he teaches cross fit classes as well.  Mr. Lofquist would be interesting because he could give a different perspective on Mrs. Lofquist's busy lifestyle.

The conflict of this film would be how Mrs. Lofquist handles having two jobs.  I want to start the package with shots of Mrs. Lofquist tying her shoes, putting her hair up, and preparing for the cross fit class.  Then I want to include a sequencing of shots of her teaching the cross fit class.  Then I want to transition to shots of her teaching her graphic design class.  The climax of the film will be why she enjoys being busy.  The conclusion will be why she does both jobs instead of just one or the other.

I want this package to be informative and after watching it, I want the audience to have learned something more about Mrs. Lofquist that they might not have known previously.  Savannah and I plan to film Mrs. Lofquist teaching her class at 5:00 on Thursday.  Before she begins her class, we were going to interview her in the gym.  Then after Christmas break, we will get shots of her teaching her graphic design class.  After we have shot everything, we will begin the editing process.

The Passion Behind the Music

Cheering others up through Music

3 weeks ago, our school was shocked with the tragic loss of two beautiful Junior girls, Ciara Webb and Cady Housh.  The raven family was broken.  In the middle of the sadness, I was searching for comfort when I stumbled upon a tweet from Ragan Kinkade. Her tweet said that an ONW student, Keaton Conrad, put a song up on
Soundcloud and dedicated it to Ciara and Cady.  I looked up his song, and I found out that he had a lot of other original songs up as well.  I thought it would be interesting to do a story over him and discover where he finds his inspiration and how he produces his own songs.

The piano, guitar, mandolin, ukulele, and base drums Man 

Savannah Plumlee and I pulled Keaton out of his first hour to ask him if we could do a story over him.  He happily accepted and told us he had a home studio where he produces his music and he said we could record him in there.  We set up a time and went over to his house to record.  We came prepared with questions and first did an interview with him.  Unfortunately, the only tripod left when I went to check out equipment was broken, so while we were doing the interview, it was challenging to make the shot completely stable the entire time.  While we were interviewing Keaton, we discovered that he is very musically talented.  Not only does he write songs, he also plays the piano, ukelele, base drums, and the mandolin.  We were able to get shots of him playing for us on all of those instruments for b-roll.

However, the first two songs Keaton played and sang for us, I wasn't able to capture audio.  I forgot to switch the audio inputs I had set for mic after the interview was over.  Luckily, I caught it soon enough and the remainder of our clips had audio.  It still provided a problem during the editing process.

The first song that he sang for us was "Don't Cry," the song he dedicated to Ciara

and Cady, and Savannah and I thought this song was very important to include in the package.  So I texted Keaton and asked him to email me the audio file of the song, and he did.  Because this package was about music, I thought it was important that the clips we included of Keaton singing matched up with the audio. It made editing a long process, by the end of it I got really good at lip reading and I learned all of the words to "Don't Cry."  In the end, I was able to match up the clips pretty well and the final product looked good.  

Steps towards Improvement

Every package I produce, I learn something new.  If I were to redo this package I would've shot Keaton playing his songs with two cameras.  I did not anticipate the fact that in order to play his songs continuously, I needed to have one stable shot that I could jump back to.  While he was playing, I kept the camera rolling the entire time so I could detach the audio in the editing process and place the clips over it.  However, because I only had one camera, when I was moving the camera to change the shot, I couldn't include that shot of b-roll with the audio.  As a result, the editing process took much longer than normal, because I had to try to match up Keaton's singing with the audio as well as cut out the shots of movement.  If Savannah and I would've thought to bring two cameras, we could've had one standard medium shot and another camera to get a variety of shots.  This way we could jump back to the stationary shot while the other camera was moving to get a different angle.  

Although the editing process was complex because of this mistake, Savannah and I were able to make a solid package out of it.  In fact, I think this is one of my best packages I've made so far.  The nat noise of Keaton singing with the clips of him playing over it made the story entertaining and it really enhanced the overall quality of the package.  I also started the package and ended the package with nat noise of Keaton singing which I thought was a good way to introduce and conclude the story.  I thought the voice over I wrote helped drive the story, and Keaton's sound bites from the interview created the package's beginning, middle, and end.  I also think that I used the six shot system well because we ended with a large variety of shots in the package.  

Overall, I think I improve with every package I produce.  I will apply the things I learned to my next package and continue learning from my mistakes and successes.  

Advancement of Technology

HBO has made a bold move by allowing their television shows to be accessible on the internet.  As technology advances, several TV networks may be forced to do the same.

The author argues that advancement in how story telling is done needs to keep up with the changing face of technology. He uses Netflix, and HBO as examples of how stories are being made available online. The author's strength is bringing in evidence to support his claim, while his weakness is his topic was very obvious.  It is already well known that technology is continually advancing, and the need for television networks to keep up with this is given, as they are beginning to figure out.  His argument is a blanket statement arguing the need for advancement. 

His solution is to try new and innovative ways of telling a story.  He suggests taking risks and thinking outside of the box to keep up with the changing face of technology.

The author's argument supports his main claim because he acknowledges the issue and he addresses how to help advancement.  The evidence he uses is HBO, Netflix, and other television stations as examples of how content has transformed.  His risk taking conclusion could have negative ramifications because it could fail and be unsuccessful.  There is always risk in trying new things, but because it is evident that change is necessary, the risk is worth an attempt. 

To implement his new technique, graphic designers and web designers need to learn how to make their media accessible from different formats. 

5 Tips to a Great Interview

There are many components that make up a good interview.  Throughout my years of convergence, I have found these five points crucial to improving the overall look and sound of an interview: good lighting,  prompting your interviewee with proper response etiquette, rule of thirds, shot composition,  and location of the interview.

Good lighting is essential to making the look of the interview more professional.  If your interview is well lit, then the overall quality of your interview will improve exponentially.  The best lighting is when you find a natural source of light and set up your interviewee so they are looking into the light.  This prevents the interviewees face from being shadowed and makes their face well lit and bright, bringing the attention of the audience to the subject.

To get the best answers from your interviewee you need to inform them of proper interview etiquette. Remind your interviewee to restate the questions you ask and to not look directly into the camera, but instead look at the person who is asking the questions (this person should be off to the side, not directly behind the camera).  Also, if there is available time, give your interviewee the questions you have written to ask them so they can look over them and feel more prepared with their answers before you ask the questions.  This also makes the interviewee more comfortable and confident throughout their answers, increasing your chance of getting better clips from them.

When you are setting up your shot before your interviewee arrives, it is important to remember the rule of thirds.  You want to set up your shot so that your subject is not directly in the center, but on one of the lines in the rule of thirds.  The rule of thirds splits up every shot into three sections horizontally and vertically, and  you should always position your subject on those imaginary lines.


Have your interviewee sit down in a chair, this will make them more natural and prevent them from swaying back and forth.  Make sure you set up your interview so that your interviewee is looking off the side where there is more space in the shot.  So if you set your interviewee up on the left of the shot have them looking to the right.  It is important to make these shots rather tight on your subject in order to create a more sleek look.  Make sure that you do not leave ample space above your subject's head, cutting off a little bit of the top of a subject's head is ok.

It is important to determine the location of the interview that is pertinent to the story line.  For example, when I did my package over boys on the drill team, I interviewed their coach while the band and drill team was practicing, providing a relevant background.  If you capture your interview
in an interesting setting it will make your package better.

6 shot system

The six shot system is a very important piece to making an interesting news package.  Having a variety of extreme wide, wide, medium, close up on hands, close up on face, and over the shoulder shots help tell a story that intrigues the viewer and gives the video a more professional look.  Putting theses shots in order is called sequencing, which drives the story.

An extreme wide shot should be used as an establishing shot.  Typically extreme wides are used in the beginning of videos to set the scene and reveal the location to the viewer.

A wide shot shows the view of the subjects entire body, from head to toe.  This shot is important because it shows your subject's entire appearance. 

A medium shot is a shot of your subject from the waist up.  This shot is a little tighter than a wide and it shows the hands and the face of the subject.

A close up on the hands creates an intense feeling.

A close up of the hand focuses on what the hands are doing and draws your viewer into just looking at what they are trying to accomplish.  

A close up on the face is a dramatic shot that
often times can be hard to get.  The close up on the face is important however because it displays the subjects expression.  This shot can be used to display emotion an create suspense.  

The over the shoulder shot reveals what the subject views.  It is important while going behind your subject that you don't break the 180 degree rule.  This rule means that if you start filming on one side of the subject you should stay on that side and not film on the other side in order to avoid confusion and looking like you are shooting circles around your subject.  

When you are filming your shots it's important to film each shot for 20 seconds that way you can capture action within that time and edit out where there is nothing exciting occurring.  When you are shooting you should try to make 50% of your shots close ups, 25% mediums, and 25% wide/ extreme wide. The reason for so many close ups is because it creates a depth and a more interesting look at the subject.  

Raven Prop Box Package Review

The goal of this package over the raven prop box nominees was to recognize their acts of kindness. To make this package we had to find all of the nominees, pull them out of class, and take a picture of them to add in the story.  We chose an interesting character to share her story of how she helped someone when they were sick.  We got b roll of her working in class and to cover up jump cuts in her interview we zoomed in and out on her interview providing a new interesting way to tell a story.

We learned that if we wanted to do an interview where the shot zooms in and out we should've set up the interview so it was wider.  We used final cut to edit this video and we transformed the images by zooming in and moving the picture around.  I worked with Elena and Pedro on this and we all worked together in the filming an editing process.

Some of the shots I got of our character, Kayla, in class were rather shaky, so if I were to do this again I would bring a tripod to get those quick shots just to make the overall look of the package more professional.

If I do raven prop box again I would definitely get more b roll and use an interesting story to move the package along.  I liked how we focused on one girl and let her tell the story, but I think that we should've had b roll to go over some parts of her interview because it was rather long.

I thought this package was an interesting and new way to recognize the raven prop box nominees.  So I think this package succeeded in its goal.

Web vs. TV

After watching all three video packages of soccer free stylist Indie Cowie, I quickly decided my  favorite was the second web package by New York Times.  The elements that stood out about this package were the variety of shots it contained and the way they told her story.  The first web story and the TV coverage of Cowie focused more on the fact that she could do some cool tricks with a soccer ball, but the second web story got interviews with her parents and revealed more about her personal goals rather than just her accomplishments and her favorite tricks.  The New York times got shots of her in her home hanging out with her family and going to soccer practice, keeping the video relevant and interesting for the viewer, while the others just focused on her doing juggling tricks.  

All three videos talked about Cowie's favorite tricks and her accomplishments of juggling.  They all had a variety of shots of her juggling.  

The tv interview however wasn't as tight as the web videos.  The tv video also lacked a lot of variety in shots.  Both web packages used Cowie's interview to tell the story, in the tv story however there was a news reporter to relay the facts allowing Cowie to only share a portion of her story.  The style of the web stories was more entertainment based, that is they had music without voice overs while the tv package was more like something you'd see on the news. 

Overall the web videos were better composed, better lit, and didn't look as staged as the tv video.  The web stories provided more interesting information that hooked the viewer.  The web stories also widened their forces and talked about other aspects other than her soccer free styling skills.  

In my own projects I would like to use an interview to tell a story.  I think this adds an interesting element to a package.  I also would like to have my packages tell a story like the second web package did.  It clearly had a beginning, middle, and end, making the video flow. 

Pour Coffeehouse Package Reflection

ONW students are excited about the opening of Pour Coffeehouse.  However, there was a rumor circulating that the coffeehouse didn't open until 9AM upsetting students who want coffee in the mornings before school starts.  When me and Savannah went to film we discovered that the coffeehouse actually opens at 6AM.  The purpose of this package was to inform the student body about this new place and spark interest.

I contacted the owner and tried to get an interview with her, however she was unable to comply in time for the show so I made do without her interview.  I was still able to get a variety of shots and quality b roll so the package didn't suffer too much.

I worked with Savannah Plumlee for this project and we were able to work together to organize the b roll and create some good sequences.  We worked with color correcting the interview with Ciara, significantly improving the look of the shot.

If I were to do the package again, I would've made sure I had better communication with the owner of pour coffeehouse.  When we went to interview her she said that she didn't know she was going to be videoed and she didn't want to do it.  By that time it was the evening before the show so I was forced to go without it.  I think that the interview with Nicole, the owner, would've made the package more interesting and provided us with more crucial information on why she opened the coffeehouse and if she's had any experience running a business. Because I didn't have the answers to those questions I had to base my information on her off of her little speech she said before cutting the ribbon.

Me and Savannah were able to string some sequences together, however when we were shooting that was not our main focus.  I think if we would've followed one person going into the coffeehouse, ordering, then drinking, it would've made the story flow better and spark interest in viewers.

Another thing I would do differently is find a place with more ideal lighting for my interview.  After me and Savannah color corrected the interview it looked better, but it still wasn't as good as the lighting in the other shots at the coffeehouse.  For some reason the camera would not white balance very well in that particular setting.

Given the circumstances and the information I had, I think that the voice over turned out pretty well.  Also the close ups on the hands making the coffee and the close ups of the customers drinking the coffee were a nice touch to the package.

My next project I will definitely make interviews, lighting, and sequencing a main focus.  If I can improve in all those areas every week I think my packages will continue to get better.

Overall I thought the package was timely and relevant for the entire student body.  Hopefully my package stirred interest in the students and swayed them to check out this new coffee shop!

Questions with Pedro Von Simpson

Questions with Pedro Von Simpson

-                -transcribed by Isabel Lauby

1.     Q: How long did you live in Brazil?

A: I lived in Brazil for four years.

2.     Q: Why did you move?

A: My dad got transferred.  He was working in Brazil for a company and a spot opened up in Atlanta and they transferred him to it. 

3.     Q: Do you still have family in friends in Brazil?

A: Yes, all of my family lives in Brazil.  All of my close family at least:  my aunts, uncles

4.     Q: What was it like learning a new language?

A:  Well I learned them both (Portuguese and English) at the same time really because I was still learning Portuguese when we moved.

5.     Q: Do you consider yourself fluent in both English and Portuguese?

A: Yes, but I’m definitely better at English because I take classes for English.

6.     Q: What do you miss most about Brazil?

A: Probably the climate.  It’s warm year round and I hate cold.

7.     Q: Where do you prefer to live and why?

A: Probably here just because it’s safer and the quality of life is overall better.  Like here you don’t need as much money to live as nice of a lifestyle.

8.     Q: What is your favorite thing about the US?

A:  I think that here we have a really good government.  A lot of people don’t recognize that, but compared to other governments in the world we have one of the best.

9.     Q: What are some advantages and disadvantages you have from once living in a different country?

A:  Advantages are the perspective I get.  Like I get a different perspective on government, society, all those things.  Another advantage is probably college.  Here colleges like people from other countries.  It also helps a lot with learning other languages like Spanish.  Disadvantages…just racism.  Just whenever someone is prejudice towards people from other countries.

10. Q: Do you ever want to live in Brazil again?

A: Maybe.   I mean it really just depends on how well the economy is doing.  If the economy continues to grow down there and Brazil gets to a place where there is more opportunity than America, then yeah.

11. Q: What was the biggest challenge about leaving your home in Brazil?

A: Probably leaving all of my family because now I never see them, like I see them once a year.

12. Q: What do you do when you visit Brazil?

A: I travel all around Brazil.  I go see my family, but I’m constantly traveling.   It’s like a tour not a vacation.  Normally we stay for about four weeks so we’ll try to take like one or two weeks to try to go the beach or something. 

Two Males on the Raven Dance Team Package Review

This story was a very interesting topic.  We thought of it because it was something new occurring in ONW.  We had some difficulty gathering shots because we had to film around the marching band.  We needed more close ups, but they were hard to get because we had to stand far away. The lighting for Coach Shannon's interview was bad; we should've had her looking into the light.  The interviews with Dakota and Brandon were good, the lighting provided depth to the shots and the two cameras made it interesting.  The voice over was well written, but if I were to redo I wouldn't repeat the word boys so many times.  Also shot variety was an issue.  We only had shots of them on the field practicing, ideally we would've wanted more shots at practice and during game day, but those shots didn't work out.  The nat noise was good, but could've been louder at some parts.

Overall, the package was well put together, but some things need to be changed for next weeks package.  

Challenge #1

Our challenge was to tell a story through pictures and voice over. The key is to capture photos in a sequence in order to help make the story flow.  I was not aware of this until I had already taken my photos, so if I were to redo the project I would focus on taking pictures so that they tell a story. This video challenge also taught me a lot about shot composition and shot variety.  The variety of shots (medium, close, wide, extra wide) help make a story interesting.  I also learned from this project that iPhones don't take the best quality pictures.  This project helped me better understand how important shots are to telling a story. Voice over is important, but quality shots can intrigue the viewer even further.

E-communication Goals for 2014-2015 School Year

As convergence journalism students, we have a lot of responsibility.  It is our job to share the news and happenings of ONW to help kids be in the know of what is going on at the school.  Our show is viewed by the entire school, which means every single student and teacher sees our work. 

As a class we need to make sure that e-comm and ONW Now is something that we can take pride in as well as the rest of the student body.  There is a lot of pressure riding on us, but I hope that we can improve our shows every week and not waste our time in class.  My goal is that as the year goes on we can learn what makes a solid package and what the student body likes to see.  I want ONW Now's quality to improve by having more professional anchors, quality packages, and interesting stories.

My goal individually this year is to cover what normally isn't covered.  We have several groups and clubs at ONW that feel they get no recognition.  I would like to change that.  There are hundreds of stories at ONW that if I just search a little longer I could find.  I hope that I don't always choose the easiest story route, but rather challenge myself with a more unique story requiring a new angle.

Since this is my second year in Convergence Journalism, my goal is to be a leader in this class for the Juniors.  I hope that I can help them improve and show them the ropes of this class.  I also hope to set the tone for this class in a more serious way than last year.  I think that if we take this class more seriously, people will take ONW Now more seriously.  

I think this year as a Convergence Journalism strand we can produce great and new things.