Class Notes: Week 4
Group Updates
Danielle’s group
Michael Anthony Williams
-Filming will occur this week
-Response, cannot speak on it yet
-Wants everything that we get, will credit us
-He is making a film also
-Have to talk about that as a group
-Filming Friday and Saturday
-Sharing footage with the subject seems fair
-Take note of the difference between access to footage and creative control. You want full creative control, but it’s okay if you relinquish access.
Q: Is the email enough? Worried about Michael owning up or crediting us to his film. Is there a contractual thing? Is it enough to have his confirmation in an email?
A: I wouldn’t try to get him to sign anything.
Q: Using two cameras. How can stabilize car shots?
A: Check out resources for stabilization (available on website). Fluid head tripods. Look under motion equipment.
Summer’s advice: When shooting on iPhone, download Filmmake Pro ($10)
Q: Getting audio in awkward situations?
A: Make use of the boom mic to get more audio.
Q: Lavaliers in outdoor scenes reject a lot of ambient noise? Awkward without room tone or sense of environment.
A: Get both.
Marina’s Group
Project on Hip Hop festival group
Filmed for two days; got some footage of Crystal who is the organizer at a panel; B-Roll at the concert; on ground interviews with the artists and other people involved; going to get a follow-up interview
-Considering making it more about the group instead of Crystal because she was less warm in person than on the phone
-Really opens up around the people that she’s tight with
-It’s her and two other men who run it; together they are dynamic, but she doesn’t really open up enough alone
-Considering doing an interview with two of them together for the best scenario
-Don’t really know her story (not on camera); don’t have the meat of her interview
-The initial interview on the first day was really experiential and interesting
-She was lav mic’ed at the Pinhook
-Why should we care? “We don’t need to bring artists from outside of Durham; we just need to give artists here a space.”
-One of Crystal’s peers, Bishop, really funny and enjoys being on camera. He was hired as an MC for events. Born in Philly, been in Durham for 20+ years. They’ve been partners for this entire festival. Interviewed him and got B-roll of him on stage. He could potentially be a subject to get more in depth with.
Q: How do you adjust mic levels for two separate inputs
A: http://sound.stackexchange.com/questions/12973/how-do-you-separate-inputs-on-the-zoom-h4n-so-you-can-adjust-each-mic-level
Lauren’s group
Jillian Johnson project
-Had an interview scheduled and the car did not work; had to reschedule interview for Friday
-Thankfully, she understood because of that prior relationship
-Interviewing at the City Council
-She has an intern, so potential for second interview; as well as experiential interview
Michael Anthony Williams
-Filming will occur this week
-Response, cannot speak on it yet
-Wants everything that we get, will credit us
-He is making a film also
-Have to talk about that as a group
-Filming Friday and Saturday
-Sharing footage with the subject seems fair
-Take note of the difference between access to footage and creative control. You want full creative control, but it’s okay if you relinquish access.
Q: Is the email enough? Worried about Michael owning up or crediting us to his film. Is there a contractual thing? Is it enough to have his confirmation in an email?
A: I wouldn’t try to get him to sign anything.
Q: Using two cameras. How can stabilize car shots?
A: Check out resources for stabilization (available on website). Fluid head tripods. Look under motion equipment.
Summer’s advice: When shooting on iPhone, download Filmmake Pro ($10)
Q: Getting audio in awkward situations?
A: Make use of the boom mic to get more audio.
Q: Lavaliers in outdoor scenes reject a lot of ambient noise? Awkward without room tone or sense of environment.
A: Get both.
Marina’s Group
Project on Hip Hop festival group
Filmed for two days; got some footage of Crystal who is the organizer at a panel; B-Roll at the concert; on ground interviews with the artists and other people involved; going to get a follow-up interview
-Considering making it more about the group instead of Crystal because she was less warm in person than on the phone
-Really opens up around the people that she’s tight with
-It’s her and two other men who run it; together they are dynamic, but she doesn’t really open up enough alone
-Considering doing an interview with two of them together for the best scenario
-Don’t really know her story (not on camera); don’t have the meat of her interview
-The initial interview on the first day was really experiential and interesting
-She was lav mic’ed at the Pinhook
-Why should we care? “We don’t need to bring artists from outside of Durham; we just need to give artists here a space.”
-One of Crystal’s peers, Bishop, really funny and enjoys being on camera. He was hired as an MC for events. Born in Philly, been in Durham for 20+ years. They’ve been partners for this entire festival. Interviewed him and got B-roll of him on stage. He could potentially be a subject to get more in depth with.
Q: How do you adjust mic levels for two separate inputs
A: http://sound.stackexchange.com/questions/12973/how-do-you-separate-inputs-on-the-zoom-h4n-so-you-can-adjust-each-mic-level
Lauren’s group
Jillian Johnson project
-Had an interview scheduled and the car did not work; had to reschedule interview for Friday
-Thankfully, she understood because of that prior relationship
-Interviewing at the City Council
-She has an intern, so potential for second interview; as well as experiential interview
Questions from Reflections
Carson went over three-point lighting in class. Also check out this graphic (you can search three-point lighting online): https://medanth.wikispaces.com/file/view/three-point-lighting-300x300.jpg/477117734/three-point-lighting-300x300.jpg
You can use a fourth light to light the background if you want; tinker with it to make sure the background isn’t super dark
Point in lighting is to help the subject pop off of the screen
Q: Should we film a pre-interview?
A: Definitely. Get her on the phone for 10 minutes. That’s key.
Lauren: For example, it states so simply: “A camera move should have purpose. It should in some way contribute to your viewers’ understanding of what they’re seeing. If it doesn’t, the move distracts and calls attention to itself” (76) -
Thought from Chris: This is good for the DP to think about. When Michael Langan visited Duke last year, he talked about an experience in which a filmmaker used these fantastic camera techniques in his story, but the movements made no sense. He was borrowing from other filmmakers, which is a great practice, but he was doing it for the effect rather than how it helped move the story along. Think about the movements you are making and what they contribute to your story, what they reveal.
Lauren: Do you need to have a second camera to do cutaways or can you do them with one? Is there a special technique to maintain the integrity of the original shot prior to and after the cut-away?
Carson: Always better to have a second camera (especially if you have four people in your group). You can always stage follow-up questions and ask him to repeat some things.
Will: My question is how would I change the mic settings to reduce background noise if need be?
Carson: Make sure to record ambient noise so that you can go into Adobe Audition and select that portion to reduce noise in postproduction. Do you best to set up the mic in the best space, don’t record with the mic settings too high. Get it right when you’re recording.
Alice: Unfortunately we couldn’t have brought lights due to the nature of the show, but I was wondering what editing techniques I can use to brighten up a very, very dark bar? Or are there some shots that will simply be unsalvageable? And what does that look like?
Carson: Three way color corrector is the quickest / easiest way to adjust color levels and saturation IMO. Will go over next week in editing lab.
You can use a fourth light to light the background if you want; tinker with it to make sure the background isn’t super dark
Point in lighting is to help the subject pop off of the screen
Q: Should we film a pre-interview?
A: Definitely. Get her on the phone for 10 minutes. That’s key.
Lauren: For example, it states so simply: “A camera move should have purpose. It should in some way contribute to your viewers’ understanding of what they’re seeing. If it doesn’t, the move distracts and calls attention to itself” (76) -
Thought from Chris: This is good for the DP to think about. When Michael Langan visited Duke last year, he talked about an experience in which a filmmaker used these fantastic camera techniques in his story, but the movements made no sense. He was borrowing from other filmmakers, which is a great practice, but he was doing it for the effect rather than how it helped move the story along. Think about the movements you are making and what they contribute to your story, what they reveal.
Lauren: Do you need to have a second camera to do cutaways or can you do them with one? Is there a special technique to maintain the integrity of the original shot prior to and after the cut-away?
Carson: Always better to have a second camera (especially if you have four people in your group). You can always stage follow-up questions and ask him to repeat some things.
Will: My question is how would I change the mic settings to reduce background noise if need be?
Carson: Make sure to record ambient noise so that you can go into Adobe Audition and select that portion to reduce noise in postproduction. Do you best to set up the mic in the best space, don’t record with the mic settings too high. Get it right when you’re recording.
Alice: Unfortunately we couldn’t have brought lights due to the nature of the show, but I was wondering what editing techniques I can use to brighten up a very, very dark bar? Or are there some shots that will simply be unsalvageable? And what does that look like?
Carson: Three way color corrector is the quickest / easiest way to adjust color levels and saturation IMO. Will go over next week in editing lab.
Experiential Interview samples:
Traditional stand up or sit down interviews are on the way out. Experiential interviews feel much more authentic and are simply more engaging for the viewer. Try mixing experiential interviews in with your traditional stand up or sit down interviews to liven up your videos.
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On The Mosaic Man
Hunter: Chris, how did you get these shots? Did you ask him to go look around while you shot? It seemed a little unnatural, and I wanted to know if this was the case.
CW: We did an experiential interview with him and throughout, we had issues with the camera. Therefore, the questions came out disjointed and we kept having to apologize. However, whenever we got the camera rolling we sometimes caught him in these awkward moments. That’s what you’re seeing. It wasn’t super staged. We just got what we could get and I think it captured his essence a little bit.
Marina: Was it handheld? Slideshow?
CW: No, this was on a crappy tripod. If you noticed, Bee Downtown also included slideshow images. I used slides because of two reasons 1) they fit with the story; 2) I had little usable footage.
Alice: Liked Jason’s interview.
CW: We had a great interview from another neighbor but the audio was so bad it was rendered useless.
Notes: I actually don’t like this video very much. I preferred the Pompieri Pizza one I made because it felt more complete and the cinematography was way better. I was surprised to see that many of you enjoyed the shots. We dealt with quite a few issues; 1) lost footage, 2) small memory card (had to delete footage on location and prioritize the best shots we could get); 3) a botched interview; 4) a subject who didn’t want to talk very much about some other parts of the interview that were incredibly compelling
I really use some forbidden camera movements here. I zoom mid shot, I go in weird lines/paths. If I were to film this now, I would do more straight pans, no zooms, and more static shots.
CW: We did an experiential interview with him and throughout, we had issues with the camera. Therefore, the questions came out disjointed and we kept having to apologize. However, whenever we got the camera rolling we sometimes caught him in these awkward moments. That’s what you’re seeing. It wasn’t super staged. We just got what we could get and I think it captured his essence a little bit.
Marina: Was it handheld? Slideshow?
CW: No, this was on a crappy tripod. If you noticed, Bee Downtown also included slideshow images. I used slides because of two reasons 1) they fit with the story; 2) I had little usable footage.
Alice: Liked Jason’s interview.
CW: We had a great interview from another neighbor but the audio was so bad it was rendered useless.
Notes: I actually don’t like this video very much. I preferred the Pompieri Pizza one I made because it felt more complete and the cinematography was way better. I was surprised to see that many of you enjoyed the shots. We dealt with quite a few issues; 1) lost footage, 2) small memory card (had to delete footage on location and prioritize the best shots we could get); 3) a botched interview; 4) a subject who didn’t want to talk very much about some other parts of the interview that were incredibly compelling
I really use some forbidden camera movements here. I zoom mid shot, I go in weird lines/paths. If I were to film this now, I would do more straight pans, no zooms, and more static shots.
John Larson - NBC Correspondent based in San Diego
Key elements of storytelling in relation to their pieces
JL: There is storytelling and news reporting. Storytelling and fact-chucking. You can list headlines, and you can share them with your audience. When appropriate you can also tell stories, which are a different being. Depending on where you’re coming from, they operate differently. If you’re a PR person, your stories have a specific goal, which is to enhance a client. Artist, journalist, all different. Depends on who the audience is and where you want to go with it. One of the old-school journalism things is the 5 W’s Who? What? When? Why? How? And I realized for storytelling, there’s a different set of questions. Audience? Who am I talking to? Why am I doing this? What am I trying to accomplish? How much do I care? Do I give a damn about this piece? What am I willing to do to feel something from this? In the end, it comes down to how committed am I? Is it just wallpaper, filling in the blank? Am I moving people emotionally, intellectually? Best stories are a combination of both. Getting people to care, and knowing that I care. If I don’t care about this story, then nobody watching will care. The degree to which I can care is often the degree to which the people watching will care.
Next is finding the angle. Writing? Background? Visuals? Editing? Cuts? You get better and better the more you practice.
Reference to Grantland article: “Get it in his hands… and he’s gone.” The first line of this story is great because it sets up amazing questions. It also refers to a specific moment. The author caught this oddity in the moment of searching for an answer. (Sorry everybody, audio is hard to follow). Every sentence raises one, if not two or three better questions.
'Get It in His Hands … and He's Gone'
http://grantland.com/features/usc-receiver-heisman-trophy-candidate-marqise-lee-journey-inglewood-california-heights-college-football/
Chris aside: Bill Simmons’s new website is www.theringer.com and I highly recommend.
This is what I call “lean,” leaning into something. At the beginning of a story, you want to give the people something. Like you’re coming into an amazing story two minutes into it. Right away, I’m curious. Right away, I’m interested. Creates its own momentum, like a river does. What you might do in your own particular stories is pay attention to those first two or three sentences. They don’t have to start off with the obvious. If you can remember a point at which your subject really caught your attention or made you lean in, and you can come back and capture that, see what happens if you can move it up. If it captured you, it will capture your audience in the same way. These moments have their special places.
I want to talk about a couple of truths about video storytelling. Different than radio, print, other mediums. When you’re using sound and pictures and editing together to drive story home, the craft becomes how well you can do that. How well can you make choices to limit storyline to accomplish something well. How can I use the medium to my best possible advantage so that the audience will feel things to the best that they’re happening (sad, happy, etc.). Did a feature in Eastern Washington about a little town. Visual storytelling is experiential. During any story, there are reveals that allow the audience to participate. By doing that, they take the story in a little deeper than if you don’t. Let’s talk about how the story is constructed.
Parking Meter "The Mansfield Meter" by John Larson and Mark Morache, KOMO TV:
JL: There is storytelling and news reporting. Storytelling and fact-chucking. You can list headlines, and you can share them with your audience. When appropriate you can also tell stories, which are a different being. Depending on where you’re coming from, they operate differently. If you’re a PR person, your stories have a specific goal, which is to enhance a client. Artist, journalist, all different. Depends on who the audience is and where you want to go with it. One of the old-school journalism things is the 5 W’s Who? What? When? Why? How? And I realized for storytelling, there’s a different set of questions. Audience? Who am I talking to? Why am I doing this? What am I trying to accomplish? How much do I care? Do I give a damn about this piece? What am I willing to do to feel something from this? In the end, it comes down to how committed am I? Is it just wallpaper, filling in the blank? Am I moving people emotionally, intellectually? Best stories are a combination of both. Getting people to care, and knowing that I care. If I don’t care about this story, then nobody watching will care. The degree to which I can care is often the degree to which the people watching will care.
Next is finding the angle. Writing? Background? Visuals? Editing? Cuts? You get better and better the more you practice.
Reference to Grantland article: “Get it in his hands… and he’s gone.” The first line of this story is great because it sets up amazing questions. It also refers to a specific moment. The author caught this oddity in the moment of searching for an answer. (Sorry everybody, audio is hard to follow). Every sentence raises one, if not two or three better questions.
'Get It in His Hands … and He's Gone'
http://grantland.com/features/usc-receiver-heisman-trophy-candidate-marqise-lee-journey-inglewood-california-heights-college-football/
Chris aside: Bill Simmons’s new website is www.theringer.com and I highly recommend.
This is what I call “lean,” leaning into something. At the beginning of a story, you want to give the people something. Like you’re coming into an amazing story two minutes into it. Right away, I’m curious. Right away, I’m interested. Creates its own momentum, like a river does. What you might do in your own particular stories is pay attention to those first two or three sentences. They don’t have to start off with the obvious. If you can remember a point at which your subject really caught your attention or made you lean in, and you can come back and capture that, see what happens if you can move it up. If it captured you, it will capture your audience in the same way. These moments have their special places.
I want to talk about a couple of truths about video storytelling. Different than radio, print, other mediums. When you’re using sound and pictures and editing together to drive story home, the craft becomes how well you can do that. How well can you make choices to limit storyline to accomplish something well. How can I use the medium to my best possible advantage so that the audience will feel things to the best that they’re happening (sad, happy, etc.). Did a feature in Eastern Washington about a little town. Visual storytelling is experiential. During any story, there are reveals that allow the audience to participate. By doing that, they take the story in a little deeper than if you don’t. Let’s talk about how the story is constructed.
Parking Meter "The Mansfield Meter" by John Larson and Mark Morache, KOMO TV:
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JL: I think there are a lot of different factoids in here. When you boil down to it, I think there are three reveals. 1) The meter moves. 2) There is only one meter. 3) The guy who invented all of this is the mayor. These three engines drive the fun story. There is a bunch of other stuff. If those are the three most important elements, understand that they all occurred in the moment. 1) If you have powerful moments (fun, sad, important, deeply meaningful); if you can allow them to play out in the moment, do. It’s way better than writing over the top of it, or reporting it. It allows people to experience the same joy, tension that you did when you chose to do the story in the first place. The reason I did this story was because I read a little wire about it and it made me smile. I didn’t know the guy was the mayor, but I could imagine an enjoyable story. When we got it, we allowed the audience to experience them. I knew there was a moving parking meter and they pranked people. Place the camera, feature the questions in ways that allow that enjoyment. Think of the different ways you can reveal certain factoids and elements. You can say it, or you can allow the sound or video to prove the points you want to make so that people can enjoy them or experience them. Reveals require set-up. “You wouldn’t think somebody would be stupid enough to fall for it. But they don’t need to” And then the writer shuts up and the video and audio deliver the punchline. There is then a surprise, a release, a joy. If your stories don’t have surprises, you don’t have a story. No other way to say it. If there’s no moment when your audience says “whoa,” then your story isn’t that good. You choose subjects that interest you for a good reason. What was it about that story that attracted you in the first place? What was that “wow?” Is there any way for me to release that in a way for the audience to get that same experience?
Grabbing little snippets of reality, whether it be placing a mic near a swingset to get that Americana sound. None of these additional efforts will win you the Pulitzer prize, but the collection brings the audience a few inches closer so that they can sense what it means to be in that room, be in that space.
JL: The best stuff is what you haven’t planned that bubble up in front of you. When you are there, getting the story, you recognize when that feeling happens. Let it happen. Too many people write over the top of that moment.
In Alaska, cameraman named Ricky sold used cars half the day and shot B-roll the other half. He was basically 1 and a half crew. Parking meter was shot with a two person crew. With larger projects with NBC, 8-person crews. Setting up each interview was a 3-hour ordeal. Nightly news was 3 people. Today Show 2 people. Some stuff is 1 person. I’ve shot things by myself. Punchline is that different size crews have different pros and cons. Smaller crews are better for spontaneity. 3 person crews are great because some people can focus on technique and another can really be looking for those moments.
DM Q: How do you choose between very difficult stories? How do you rationalize between telling difficult stories and the necessity to tell a story?
JL: Engage the subjects so that they’ll consider what we are talking about. As a journalist I look for stories that speak to a larger community. As I’m an older guy now, I look for stories that tend to build community rather than tear it down. As far as sharing people’s stories, if the woman or man is running for governor it’s game on. But if it’s a person with a mental illness or somebody who is going through an extraordinarily personal trauma, you go through a difficult decision-making process. Do we go forward? How will it work? There has to be a fair amount of trust there. I tend to be a nice guy and there were times when I was doing investigative journalism, revealing things. I had three pieces that sent people to jail; now I’m not so much a nice guy. How do I talk to these people? There’s another layer. Do I mislead people? Answer: NO. How do I go forward? I remember early on in my local news career, realizing I had a story that wasn’t going to make the person happy after spending half of a day. What do I do with that? Who am I working for? Greater audience? Or the subject? What’s fair and what isn’t fair? Regardless of what the story was, I needed to feel right about having listened carefully. I needed to keep as open as I could possibly be to what they were trying to say. I realized I wanted to be able to look them in the eye and treat them fairly. In the end, you need to trust your own gut. This is true. I would add that you also have to allow people in your decision-making process who don’t share your gut. COLLABORATE.
Q: Editing by committee experiences?
JL: 1) Pre-production people. Remember to ask your team “what is the most powerful stuff here? where should we shoot this thing? doesn’t have to be anywhere. it could be anywhere. Is there any obviously powerful place we can take interesting people and place in interesting settings and have them interact in those interesting ways? Don’t be afraid to mic yourself as an interviewer. You can always edit that out, but it’s free. You never know what could come out of it. Remember in the videotape that it is experiential. Capture oddities. Capture power centers. Sometimes long pauses tell you more than what they say after the pause. Always remember the keep the focus tighter rather than looser. Metaphor to magnifying glass setting something on fire. Learn to throw away things you love in order to enjoy the most powerful parts of whatever it is you’re trying to prove. Don’t underestimate the editing.
Aleppo piece: Very emotional and sound driven compared to News Hour typical. This is an example for a narrative (beginning, middle, end) and it’s international journalism. It’s personal storytelling. Just like if you were inside a 2-year old’s birthday party. It’s intimate. It’s inside. It’s a mash-up of all of these things.
With a story like Aleppo, there are a ton of ethical questions about access, the mother’s identity, where it can be shared. When do we air a personal story; when don’t we? When you see a baby being slapped like that, and other revealing B-roll. they reveal different questions and issues. The reason I was so struck by this is the power of real, basic, human experiences and connectedness.
“The most powerful and extraordinary things in life are the most shared.”
If you have a person you are focusing on, don’t be afraid to go back to the beginning. What was that moment when they made that move? What did it feel like? Enjoy the pauses. All people share those moments. Appreciate them. Collect them. And do justice to the people you are spending time with.
Aside from Chris: On one person’s experience capturing moments. Make sure to watch Kirsten Johnson’s CAMERAPERSON.
SH Q: What does a good surprise look like? How do I recognize a good surprise?
JL: You ask your team “Hey, does this register with you as well?” Have that communication. Usually your gut will resonate with other people. Steer your stories, your interviews, towards those moments if you can.
Grabbing little snippets of reality, whether it be placing a mic near a swingset to get that Americana sound. None of these additional efforts will win you the Pulitzer prize, but the collection brings the audience a few inches closer so that they can sense what it means to be in that room, be in that space.
JL: The best stuff is what you haven’t planned that bubble up in front of you. When you are there, getting the story, you recognize when that feeling happens. Let it happen. Too many people write over the top of that moment.
In Alaska, cameraman named Ricky sold used cars half the day and shot B-roll the other half. He was basically 1 and a half crew. Parking meter was shot with a two person crew. With larger projects with NBC, 8-person crews. Setting up each interview was a 3-hour ordeal. Nightly news was 3 people. Today Show 2 people. Some stuff is 1 person. I’ve shot things by myself. Punchline is that different size crews have different pros and cons. Smaller crews are better for spontaneity. 3 person crews are great because some people can focus on technique and another can really be looking for those moments.
DM Q: How do you choose between very difficult stories? How do you rationalize between telling difficult stories and the necessity to tell a story?
JL: Engage the subjects so that they’ll consider what we are talking about. As a journalist I look for stories that speak to a larger community. As I’m an older guy now, I look for stories that tend to build community rather than tear it down. As far as sharing people’s stories, if the woman or man is running for governor it’s game on. But if it’s a person with a mental illness or somebody who is going through an extraordinarily personal trauma, you go through a difficult decision-making process. Do we go forward? How will it work? There has to be a fair amount of trust there. I tend to be a nice guy and there were times when I was doing investigative journalism, revealing things. I had three pieces that sent people to jail; now I’m not so much a nice guy. How do I talk to these people? There’s another layer. Do I mislead people? Answer: NO. How do I go forward? I remember early on in my local news career, realizing I had a story that wasn’t going to make the person happy after spending half of a day. What do I do with that? Who am I working for? Greater audience? Or the subject? What’s fair and what isn’t fair? Regardless of what the story was, I needed to feel right about having listened carefully. I needed to keep as open as I could possibly be to what they were trying to say. I realized I wanted to be able to look them in the eye and treat them fairly. In the end, you need to trust your own gut. This is true. I would add that you also have to allow people in your decision-making process who don’t share your gut. COLLABORATE.
Q: Editing by committee experiences?
JL: 1) Pre-production people. Remember to ask your team “what is the most powerful stuff here? where should we shoot this thing? doesn’t have to be anywhere. it could be anywhere. Is there any obviously powerful place we can take interesting people and place in interesting settings and have them interact in those interesting ways? Don’t be afraid to mic yourself as an interviewer. You can always edit that out, but it’s free. You never know what could come out of it. Remember in the videotape that it is experiential. Capture oddities. Capture power centers. Sometimes long pauses tell you more than what they say after the pause. Always remember the keep the focus tighter rather than looser. Metaphor to magnifying glass setting something on fire. Learn to throw away things you love in order to enjoy the most powerful parts of whatever it is you’re trying to prove. Don’t underestimate the editing.
Aleppo piece: Very emotional and sound driven compared to News Hour typical. This is an example for a narrative (beginning, middle, end) and it’s international journalism. It’s personal storytelling. Just like if you were inside a 2-year old’s birthday party. It’s intimate. It’s inside. It’s a mash-up of all of these things.
With a story like Aleppo, there are a ton of ethical questions about access, the mother’s identity, where it can be shared. When do we air a personal story; when don’t we? When you see a baby being slapped like that, and other revealing B-roll. they reveal different questions and issues. The reason I was so struck by this is the power of real, basic, human experiences and connectedness.
“The most powerful and extraordinary things in life are the most shared.”
If you have a person you are focusing on, don’t be afraid to go back to the beginning. What was that moment when they made that move? What did it feel like? Enjoy the pauses. All people share those moments. Appreciate them. Collect them. And do justice to the people you are spending time with.
Aside from Chris: On one person’s experience capturing moments. Make sure to watch Kirsten Johnson’s CAMERAPERSON.
SH Q: What does a good surprise look like? How do I recognize a good surprise?
JL: You ask your team “Hey, does this register with you as well?” Have that communication. Usually your gut will resonate with other people. Steer your stories, your interviews, towards those moments if you can.
