Comments on: Blogging 1: Comparing Videos

By: Brian Immel

Brian Immel — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 20:14:37 +0000

@ ealnashmi
I agree. More voices could have helped this video. I was torn between following Sean to another house and leaving. It is a feeling you have often when you realize you are just scraping the surface of a potentially great story.

This is a good example of two different videos, the nondaily feature and the daily/news. The daily is a snippet of a story. It includes just enough information to have a story but doesn’t get too deep. You do your best but at the end of the day, you’ve got to edit and publish in a few hours.

The nondaily feature on the other hand is more about the heart, the details and the full story. At least showing that as best as you can in under 4 mins. For me features are more fun. “Last Call for Haircuts” tells a more complete story. It feels more rounded.

You can never have enough B-Roll and you can never have enough interviews to carry the narrative. “Helping Out” probably would have benefited from more voices but it would be longer and then turn into something else. Possibly more of a story about Sean. Right now I think it tells the story of both the old man and Sean and how their worlds intertwined for one day.

“Last Call for Haircuts” benefited from multiple voices. Think how boring it would be if you just had the twins talk. The story is the history of the twins, their shop and their interacts with their customers.

So keep this in mind when shooting / editing / watching…

What’s the story?

By: ealnashmi

ealnashmi — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 17:21:59 +0000

I agree with you about the barbershop video having a more complete story, but I really enjoyed the snow video more, mainly because of the interesting camera shots and angles—the shoe shots were great.

In class we talked about how interviewing two people is a bad idea, and I thought this was the main problem with video. It needed a third or a fourth character. Another homeowner would be good suggestion, but I think the video would have been much stronger had the filmmaker interviewed the boy’s mother. In the middle of the video, the boy tells us about his mother wanting him and his sister to do an hour of community service a week, so I think it would have been nice to hear from her because she probably is the person who instilled the caring aspect of her son’s character.

By: brianimmel

brianimmel — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 18:39:37 +0000

I must admit this was a video I was very unexcited about to begin with. However after letting it set for a while, I’m starting to like it more and more. Generally I cringe at videos I turn around quickly like this. Mainly because I’m running on autopilot and don’t have much time to think. Or at least that is my hesitation.

I think the lesson for me, and anyone who wants to take something away from this video, is that framing your shots keeps the viewer interested when maybe there’s only a “boring” story to tell. It is hard to remember to shoot video like a photographer, not like a home video. Get on the ground. Get dirty. Get wet from snow. Taking the effort will show in the end.

Thanks for the feedback and let me know if I can ever return the favor.

Brian