A Perfect Interview

An Interview is very important in a news package and it must be done in a professional way to create a great package. If you can follow these 5 simple tips you'll have a great interview.

1) Location and set
You want a location that is quit and still ideal for the story. You want to have a good audio recording so you need to isolate you and the interviewee from any loud and distracting noises. But at the same time you want the location to be relevant. For example, last year I did a story over the weights and P.E. classes and made a huge mistake by interviewing the person right by the weights room in the hall way. All you could hear in the interview was iron slamming more iron, over and over again. The audio was horrible. A better area for such an interview would have probablly have been in a secluded area of the gym where there wouldn't have been as much noise. That would have worked because it is quit and you still have a relevant location behind your interviewee.

2) Framing
The framing is very important because it is what the viewer will be seeing and it can be done the right way and the wrong way. You want to see the interviewees face. not the side of his face, not his waist, not his feet, his face. it is very simple. level your tripod to the level of the interviewees head and shoot from over your shoulder, making the interviewee look right past the camera. Don't get too close to his face, you don't want too make it too dramatic, but make sure you can see his shoulders up. if you are doing a double interview then yes, zoom out and be sure to have both of them fit the frame.

3) Lighting
Its an easy one but still, from time to time you'll make the mistake of interviewing next to or in front of a window. You want to have a fully lit area so that there won't be any major shadows being casted onto your interviewee.

4) Be Thorough
When you meet your interviewee be firm and prompt with them. Introduce yourself and tell them what you need from them to make a good interview. Things like looking at you, repeating the question, and elaborating the answers to your questions. You don't want them to go crazy eyes on you and have them looking any where but your face. You also want them to restate the question...on every question. Often I will tell them to restate the questions and they only restate the first question and they forget to restate the rest of them. if they don't restate the question that sound bite becomes less valuable because it is hard to understand what that person is talking about while in editing. You also need them to be elaborate on their answers but also not go into full detail. they need to make each word they say valuable in that it gets the point across without ranting on and on about it. Always be thorough with them and make sure they understand why you have them do little things like repeating a question in their answers.

5)  Editing
After the interview the tools of editing are your best friends. Rarely will you ever get a perfect sound bite from someone. You will have to play around with the interview, mashing up bites and pieces and making them look seamless. But no worries, your B-Roll will mask any obvious jumps in the interview.  while your getting interviews always keep editing in mind. It will help you think about what your final product will look like.

German Exchange Students

Olathe Northwest had the oppurtunity to have 9 students from Penzberg, Germany come to the school. So when Convergence Journalism heard about the students coming we knew we had to do a story on it. We Started with getting to know the students and know their schedule for the little time that they spent here. They were busy exploring the school, going to the Legends, Going to Lawrence, attending the football game, and even learning how to play baseball.

The Students were very shy and scared to be on camera at first but by the end of the week they were used to use filming them. We got shots of them in the classroom and playing baseball. Them playing baseball for the first time is great because it very timely with the Royals being in the World Series at the moment.

On this package Kami and Savannah did most of the talking with the teacher getting times setup and giving us the flexibility to get it done on time. Which was helpful for me to get the shots and intyerviews that needed to happen. Overall this package is solid considering we got it done in one week instead of two and it clocks in at 2 minutes and 28 seconds. We cut what we could but if it aint broke don't fix it.

6 Shot System

The 6 shot system is used to help develop a story and make your package much more interesting. It is a sequence of shots arranged in a order to show what a subject is doing. A little sequencing can go a long way in a story but it is important know how to do it correctly. Just follow a few rules and you can have a great package.

The Shots

Wide-
Wide shots help establish what is happening and who your character is. This is normally your first shot.

Close Up of Face-
A close up of the persons face is one of the most important. if you take the close up of face out of a sequence it won't make sense and will your sequence won't look sequenced.

Close Up of Hands-
The hands are another important shot because it shows how things are done and what has to happen in order for something to work, whatever it may be. But it can't be a shot of hands just doing anything, it has to progress your story. There are good shots of hands and then there are better shots of hands.













Medium-
The medium brings you back to your whole subject and what they are doing. It helps to have this shot to keep the progress going.

Over the Shoulder-
The OTS is a tricky one to get but it is very important because it puts you in the characters point of view.

Extra Wide-
This is a good shot to finish with because it lets you capture the whole moment all in one. The subject  and its surroundings.

Rules-
The most important thing to keep in mind while filming is to think about what your film will look like on screen and what audio will go with it. What your hearing must go with what your seeing. Otherwise your viewers will be confused. The 180 degrees rule is another important rule to follow that will pay off while editing. You must stay on one side of your subject and only sequence on that side. it easy to do but hard to remember.

Sequencing is very easy to do with the 6 shot system. It can make a simple story go a long way.

Web vs. TV

New York times web version was the better of the three because it had the best beginning, middle, and end. It had great shots and the beginning grabbed your attention by showing her tricks and then ease into the timeline of things. Starting with her first cleats and then her struggling with learning and then ending with her going to college and possibly playing professionally. The other web version was good but didn't have as mush potential as NY times did. The TV version was pitiful. It was one of the weirdest interviews with her dad in the garage with her dribbling in the back ground. It would of been much better if it was simply him on a couch. The web versions were more of a short documentary which let the stories be more in-depth. But  a news package needs to be short and to the point and that can be difficult with certain stories such as the life of teenager soccer free stylist. So it is up to the journalist to pick the most important angle of the story to air on TV.

http://nyti.ms/1t4PNDO - New York Times
http://espn.go.com/high-school/girls-soccer/video/clip?id=6610683 - ESPN
http://www.highschoolot.com/content/video/9536197/#/vid9536197 - TV version

A&E Electrathon

As far as filming this package it was very easy. The package is a combination of good things. A story is much easier to film when it is about something that is hands on and easy to catch your subject at work. Mr. Edmondson was very flexible about us filming and was excited to have a story about his class be on ONW NOW. The students encouraged us to stage a few shots so you got a better idea on how the car looks in action. 

In my opinion, a story that is more visual will always be better than a story that you can't visually see.  You could have the most exciting news but it is important to know how to execute it correctly, if it is something that hasn't happened yet, then it will be harder to get good footage. If you have a boring story but is happening and is alive then it is much easier to get the footage you need to tell the story. I think that that was the case with this story to be honest. How many kids at ONW do you actually think that are now amazed by this electric car? probably none. But that doesn't mean you can't have a good story about it. You can make anything into an interesting story, its all about the execution of doing it.

Another thing that makes a story good is having the right people that are willing to help you make your job easier. Whether it be just filming in the class or setting up an interview, the small things help. Mr. Edmondson was great about this and was a great interviewee. It is good to have characters that thrive to be in your video. They are the characters you want in your video. They are the characters you need. The ones that know what their talking about.

The students in the class where the ones asking us if they could stage something for us, usually its the other way around. The students asked us what to do and we told them to just ignore us and let us film them doing their everyday work, but the students insisted that they stage a few shots for us because it was a slow day. I didn't argue with them. They gave us tons of more interesting shots from assembling the car to getting in and driving it. 

The things that might of made it better is a few shot placements but still very minor. My voice over could of been a little more interesting and I think that seeing the story while you record your voice over would help you be more "into" the story. But other than that I think the video turned out well and gives a good reference to what future videos should be like.

Q&A with Luis Ruiz

Luis Ruiz

When did you start soccer?

I started playing organized soccer when I was 4 years old.

Who is your favorite soccer player?

Cristiano Ronaldo because he is the best player in the world.

Why do play soccer?

Soccer is the best sport in the world and is really fun.

What is your favorite memory in soccer?

The game was tied 0-0 with 20 minutes left and I dribbled the ball down and shot the ball into the lower left corner scoring. The final score was 1-0.

What do you like doing away from soccer?

I like to hang with friends and play Fifa.

What is your favorite class in school?

That’s got to be SID with Mr. Allam 6^th and 7^th hour.

Do you plan on playing in College?

I do, but it is going to be a lot of work.

What are your goals for this season?

I plan on starting again and being more of a leader on the field.

How do you feel about you and your team right now?

At first we started slow and tying games. Now we are able to put the ball at the back of the net more often and we have built up a lot of confidence.

Is there a Rivalry game you look forward to?

Yes, for club soccer some of my old friends are on Kansas Rush Soccer Club team and we always get into an intense game because we really don’t like each other anymore.

What are your strengths in soccer?

My ability to last a whole game is a strength I have and my ability on and off the ball are good to. I’m able to stay on the ball and push people off the ball.

Who did you want to win the World Cup?

I really wanted to see Spain win but Germany pulled through for the victory.