This month was the first time I really have ever recorded my forecasts. I have been on a green screen before, but never like this. It was very difficult to use my peripheral vision to see my self in the TV while trying to look at the camera. We adjusted the teleprompter so I can see the the Keynote Presentation in it. That helps, and I hope to be able to do more in the future. I also hope to get to the point where I really make my own forecasts temperature wise. I can predict the weather based on high and low pressure systems, but I really hope to be able to predict temperatures. It would make the predating process and make it much easier. Another goal I have to this month is to start to update the weather page daily rather than the bi weekly report that I do now. I really look forward to more.
0 Comments
My final project combines my knowledge of WMT (Wide, Medium, and Tight) with the new experience of an HD camera and all of the equipment that comes with it. This project was very fun for me. It allowed me to use a program I was familiar with and learn more at the same time. It allowed me to go in depth to edit which is something I haven't really been able to do yet. My only problem, which isn't even a problem, its just a complaint is that, we didn't have enough time to go out and really make the project longer like an actual news package. However, this was surely a fun project to do.
The goal of this project was to create a news package exclusively on our iPad mini from the school district. We learned how to use iOS iMovie as well as different tragedies to interview people. I was happy with this project, however, I don't really think I would call this project a success. I was able to do the project for what the purpose was, however, I personally feel that I could have really expanded had I used OS X iMovie. I found the app kind of clunky and hard to use. It also had some bugs that prevented me from different things such as simply importing video. Was the project a success? Yes. It was because I did what was asked of me, however, I was not able to go above and beyond as I like doing. My biggest challenge was following all of the guidelines set in place for me. I had problems choosing the correct type of B-Roll and being able to use it in a manner in which was appropriate to the story. I had more B-Roll then I could use, however, because of the Wide-Medium-Tight rules I had problems getting all of those angles. I also had issues from the point that some of the footage I had (a choir singing the national anthem), I think people would have been offended if I had people talking over that, and I didn't want that. So thats why some of my footage is looped.
As I mentioned earlier with the Interviewing reflection, editing is also a very important process. If it is sloppy, your audience will notice. And they may specifically dislike you because of it. They may think that you (the reporter/editor) doesn't care (see Henry the turtle rant below) or that you aren't good at your job. You want your editing to be fluid as well as clear. You want your audience to be there and see it as you saw it. This makes your story more believable as well as captivates your audience more.
Interviewing is a very important part of the news package. If your interviewing is bad or boring, you won't be able to make your story interesting. This makes it harder to edit, as well as draw your audience in. For example if you ask someone, "Is there a new turtle at the zoo?" They might say just, "Yes." However, if you were to ask someone, "Is there a new family member at the zoo?" They would probably respond more lively. They might say, "Yes. We have a new turtle. His name is Henry. He is 12 years old." And right there you have more to edit in your story and this makes it easier to draw an audience in. Something else that is very important, you HAVE to be interested in what you are doing. Continuing with the zoo story, if you were attacked by a turtle as a child and hope all turtles are dead, then maybe you can let a co-worker do a Henry the turtle story. Because, your not interested. It has nothing to do with you being close-minded, it is your opinion that you don't like turtles, so you may not to be able to as good of a job as you normally could.
Disclaimer: No one/turtles were harmed in this story. As a sound technician, I am very involved in sound. I want it to sound good, and for the audience to enjoy it. Sound is the tricky one. If you are filming on an iOS device, they have quality microphones so that the sound sounds crystal clear, however, the mics can only pick up noise from a certain distance. If you are standing 10 feet away from the subject, (you shouldn't ever be that far away, just an example) your mic will pick them up, however they will be very faint, and it will not sound pleasing to your viewers.
Shooting (with a camera) is very important to do right, and do it right the first time. You need different angles to express different points of view and keep your story interesting and in depth. For shooting on an iPad, some important things to remember...
Make sure you don't cover the camera or microphones with your finger. This can ruin your whole project if you don't have good footage. There isn't too much footage. When recording footage, it is always important to get a lot. That way, if something turn out to be bad, then you have a backup. Hold the iPad from the bottom corners. This makes it easy to grip, as well as it doesn't cover microphones or the camera. Give the subject space to talk. When recording footage, make sure that if the camera is on the right side of someone, they are in the right side of the camera. This uses the rule of thirds. If your subject is looking at the camera and standing in the center it looks very awkward. Those are just a few tips. Good luck! As mobile journalists it is our job to tell a good story that is important to someone. That is why everything leads up to storytelling. You have to make your story interesting to draw your viewers in, and you have to keep them in by keeping the story interesting. To tell a good story you need a concept that you can keep true to, as well as something that you can turn into a story. It has to be in depth, you can't walk on camera and say for example, "This is a Cat." and then be done. You will have people come to the story because they Google, "Cats," but that doesn't keep them entertained. Realistically you could say, "This is a Cat. Her name is Bob. She sleeps all day..." Actually talk about the story and get involved in it.
With the research we have to be knowledgeable on the topic we are doing our interview about long before we go. This helps us ask better questions, which then makes the interview more interesting. This all relies on the interviewer knowing what they are talking about. Reporters who are not knowledgeable on their topic have far less interesting stories. As a reporter you have to captivate your audience, and when you can't entertain them, you aren't doing your job well.
Some of the things we have learned when shooting are how to use lights so that they don't wash the person out, and we are still able to see them. We also focused on how to shoot with iPad. The camera in it can't auto focus, which means that there is a certain distance in which the pictures will be blurry and not be useable. Those were a few of the things we learned.
|
AuthorIan Mason Archives
December 2016
Categories |