Shooting 2 Assignment: University Gospel Choir May 2, 2008

This video is from the second shooting and editing assigment of our class.  We had three main goals 1) conduct a video interview with an expert or interesting person, 2) learn how to shoot with a tripod, and 3) learn how to shoot B-roll.  When my original story idea fell through, I heard the University Gospel Choir was starting practice for its annual Spring Gospel Tour.  I considered Pastor David Richardson to be an expert on the choir and gospel music since he’s invested many years into singing and directing.  I decided to try to capture the atmosphere of the choir’s practice and the relationships which has made the choir a solid student organization on campus. 

Since it was my first time working with an external mic and tripod, I was really concerned about setting up the equipment correctly.  Now, I wish that I had gotten a closer shot of the subject’s face during the interview. This would have also cut out a lot of the distracting background. Mindy also pointed out that I had too many medium shots in a row.  I should have varied my angles more and included some close-ups to add visual interest.   I also played around with narration and editing audio for the first time.

 

What I liked most about the video was the sound.  I think full sound, high energy and constant movement of the choir added visual interest. 

But I would like to know what you think. Please view the video and give your feedback.

Blogging 3: What I Know For Sure May 1, 2008

I’m going to miss having a Toolkit course in my schedule next Fall, and I think taking the two courses has been one of the best educational decisions/investments I’ve made at the University of Florida.  This semester has went by so fast, but I want to make sure that I remember the most important things I want take away from the class.  Before Toolkit 2, I had no real experience with shooting or editing video so I have learned a lot to say the least.  But here are the 3 main things I will take away from this course:

1. Basics of Shooting

Out of al the things I learned, I think I am most confident about telling a story and making sure I have a variety of interesting shots and audio.  I wasn’t as creative with shot angles and ideas in the first video I shot for class, but now I’ve become more comfortable with thinking about how the angles, sequences and pacing of shots can add visual interest.  Now, I also know how to use the tripod appropriately for interviewing and also for controlled movements like panning, tilting and dollying. 

 

2. Importance of Scripting/ Visualizing the Story

 The first time I captured video I remember sitting there and thinking “Ok, what now?”  Although Mindy required a script for the first video, I realized how the editing process really unfolds easily after you’ve created a script.  Scripting allows you to match the audio with the most appropriate visuals to tell the story effectively.  For our final project we wrote proposals where we had to visualize the beginning, middle (arc) and ending of our video before we even shot at a location.  This was very helpful, and it’s something I always want to keep in mind for future projects.

 

3. Editing in Windows Movie Maker/ Final Cut Pro

We mostly used Movie Maker for all the video projects this semester.  Although it’s not the most advanced or flexible editing program, we saw how with careful and creative editing journalists can create quality video in Windows Movie Maker.  Although we only had a day or so to play around in the lab with Final Cut Pro, I think I could edit in the program succesfully if I spend a little more time building on the basics we learned from class. 

Other notes about the course:

Although I know the basics about building a Flash project, I’m not as experienced in this area.  But after the tutorials Mindy guided us through in class, I think with one or two more days of playing around with the program I could  become more confident.  I also wish we would have had more time to include another short video project into the syllabus.  But realistically, I’m not sure how much more we could have included.  With all the  interesting information we discuss and learn about multimedia reporting, I think most students would say a semester is never enough time to explore something they enjoy.  I can’t wait to use what skills and resources I’ve gained from this course in my future educational and career endeavors!

Final Project: The Place to be in Archer May 1, 2008

For our final video project this semester, we partnered up with someone in class to tell a personal story that reflected a theme or issue related to the 2008 Presidential Election.  My group’s first story idea about health care for Veterans at the VA Hospital did not work out because we had limited access and freedom to report about the hospital issues. So we had to find a different issue.

 My partner, Eisa Al Nashmi, and I then chose to tell a story that shows how state budget cuts affected the Alachua County Public Libraries.  We soon discovered the budget cuts had not affected the county’s libraries as much as other places in Florida.  So instead, we tell a very personal story about how the Archer Branch library is the “hot spot” in the small, rural town which faces economic challenges.  Archer needs federal government  funds for a sewage system that would allow more businesses and resources to thrive there.  Since most homes don’t have computers with high speed connections, the public library and the Archer Community Access Center are the only places residents can go for Internet Access. 

Please view our story about the economic and growth issues that make the library such a significant resource in the small community.  Let us know what you think.

Blogging 2: Flash Journalism April 10, 2008

For this week’s class we learned about Flash journalism, and we explored packages from different news organizations to understand our likes and dislikes from the viewer/user perspective.   I decided to spend some time examining Broken Trust (HeraldTribune.com), which is the result of a two-year investigation of  why hundreds of Florida school teachers who have sexually harassed or molested their students are still allowed to teach. 

Since I know the basics about how to create Flash packages, I was most impressed by the animation in this package.  The topic was really data heavy since it presented statistics, stories and maps so at first glance I thought it maybe boring.  However, the animation, for example, the three-demensional movement of the main pages of the package grabbed my attention.  I also thought the animation in the case flow charts,  which shows how complaints are processed, was eye catching and made me want to understand the process.  The package was well organized and allowed the viewer be aware of how the story or page being viewed fit into the entire presentation.

One thing I didn’t really like about the package was the dot plots, which seemed kind of boring compared to the main pie charts which presented the information.  The information was easy to interpret from pie charts because you could see both percentages and numbers in the chart. They were also colorful and eye-catching. But, I thought some of the information didn’t lend itself to the dot plots because you couldn’t really see any trends because the scales, which usually went up to 100%, had to be set at such large increments.   

Overall, the presentation kept me interested firstly because I grew up attending public schools in Florida, and secondly there was always more than one element of the story to explore on each page.  For example, if you were reading one story, you could see what other stories were in the same section in a sidebar on that page or while looking at pie charts, you can select a place on the map to see if there were any child abuse cases in that area.  It was also interactive because viewers could report an abuse case if it wasn’t already included in the package, search for a particular case and e-mail their reactions. 

 

Soundslides 2: The Jones’ Eastside November 8, 2007

For my second Soundslides project I attempt to tell the story of The Jones Eastside, a cafe and alternative bakery and restaurant.  I chose this place because it has personality, and I think the owners were interesting people.  Some of the challenges I had in telling this story reminded me of my first Soundslides project.  For example, I had to keep in mind that I was supposed to be capturing and reporting on the experience of the place and avoide getting side tracked by the personal stories of the people I interviewed.  Although this time lighting was not an issue in my photos,  it was challenging to take photos in a busy restaurant.  People were constantly moving and the backgrounds could be distracting as well. 

This time I tried to concentrate more on making sure I had the components or building blocks of a story.  After watching Ira Glass on Storytelling, I realized just organizing facts along with photos does not make a project an actual story. In his first video, Glass talks about how anecdotes and having a sequence of events will draw an audience and make the story have suspense and momentum. Glass said a sequence of actions are necessary for good stories and that, ”You can feel like you’re on a train that has a destination.” When I went to report and conduct my interviews I tried to collect anecdotes that would make the story interesting and reflect what it’s like to dine in the restaurant. The challenge here was deciding which anecdotes to keep because of the two-minute time limit for the project. Hopefully this time I am coming closer to including more elments of true storytelling.

Are We There Yet? October 2, 2007

      In class Mindy suggested her students read Paul Bradshaw’s blog “How to be a journalism student.”  Posted last week, Bradshaw’s 10 tips for journalism students has received various comments-everything from teachers giving him a “high five” and requiring their students to read  to people rewriting his tips to create their own “recipe” for good journalism.  I agree with Mindy’s advice about journalism students’ need for curiosity.  I remember when I started doing interviews in my first reporting class.  After reading my first draft, Professor Weston would always make me get more details while covering an event or do follow up interviews.  Looking back I think it was because I needed to become a little more curious about the topic so that I could effectively communicate to anyone who would read the story.  Journalists must have that child-like curiosity which will lead us to ask the “right questions” and become more engaged in what we write about.  Now, before I interview someone or turn in a story, I consider what might be confusing to the reader.  Sometimes it’s necessary to ask questions even when we think we know the answers.  It’s a good way to avoid holes left for readers because of “underreporting” and an easy way to gain a quote that explains the topic better than you could have yourself.     I found a quote Mathew Gonzalez’s “New media, same old journalism,” a post written in response to Bradshaw’s hints to journalism students.  He wrote “Journalists are students forever.”  I’ve heard that before, but I didn’t fully understand it until I started graduate school.  Since news is the heart and soul of our profession, we will learn each time we write a story.  And this continuous education is always evident when journalists have to keep up with the rising tides of online and digital media platforms.  And even the more traditional media are not stagnant.  To be marketable journalism students need to be abreast newspaper and magazine design and writing styles, software and storytelling techniques newsrooms are using and trends in television news.    

       As an undergraduate student, I had what I call the”Are-we-there-yet syndrome.” I used to be so concerned about making a good grade on assignment, passing tests and quizzes and even with the whole idea of graduating.  I thought those things would signal the end of my days as a student and my arrival into the world of professional journalism.  Somewhere on this long walk as a journalism student, I realized the best journalists never arrive.  They are the ones who never stop learning, never stop reading and writing, never stop perfecting the skills they add to their repertoire.  Now I am realizing journalism students can’t be lazy and complete only what is assigned in class and expect to build a career.  We must take the information we learn in class far beyond exams and use it on jobs and internships so we won’t forget it.   And we must take the skills we learn in class far beyond projects and master them so that our education is not in vain.   

       I think the life of ABC News Anchor Peter Jennings, the journalist who inspires me the most, is a perfect example of the zeal for life-long learning journalists must acquire.  Jennings covered events that defined the world during his time as an anchor and never “arrived” until he died a couple years ago.  Known as “America’s youngest anchor,” Jennings never even got a college education, but he became a life-long student and an exemplary journalist for our times.