Semester 2 Packages

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Semester Final

Throughout this semester in Convergence Journalism I have learned a lot about what goes into making a solid news package. From story telling to sequencing, my packages have come along way in just a few months. With a total of 10 packages this semester, there was something to be learned from each one.

Story telling was one of the biggest things that I improved on this semester. No matter how boring a news topic is, you can make it interesting and something worth watching if you tell it in the right way. Starting with my first package about the new lunches I didn't want to just have the lunch ladies tell the audience about whats new and what is gone but rather tell the effects of it and get the students reactions. Taking an angle on a story is vital because otherwise you are going to just summarize something and it will put your audience to sleep. And with each and every story that I made I realized that it is important to stick to the angle and it is too easy to summarize something.

Sequencing separates the good packages from the great packages and is another huge component to keeping a package alive and moving forward. An Audience doesn't want to see a bunch of wide shots through a news story. They want it all. It may seem obvious but it is important to remember that the audience isn't there, so they are only going to see what you show them. The 6-shot system keeps the viewers hooked because it can really capture the moment and gives the viewers a good understanding of what is happening. The 6-shot system was pretty easy for me to catch on too and understand but sometimes while editing after filming ill think to myself, why didn't I sequence this or that. Which comes down to basic planning. I believe my best sequences are in the lunch package and the electrathon package.

Planning is essential to ensure a package is done on time and done how you want it. At first when I had a really good idea of what I wanted a finished project to look it would turn out to be something totally different. Once you have an idea stick to it and make it happen, don't settle for anything less than it. I learned to introduce my self and give the subject an idea of what was going to happen instead of me just showing up with a camera and start filming everything. If you establish a good relationship with your subjects before filming they will like you more and be more willing to help you do your job. If your planning is done correctly you can have story done easily within 2-4 days. My best example of this is the A&E to the moon and back package, it took me two days to film the whole thing by myself. Having done a previous package with the same teacher helped but still, I consider two days impressive.

With a lot already learned, there is still much to be discovered. I still haven't learned how to use the Tricaster and haven't even anchored. And I would also like to get to know my camera a little more. I know there is so much that I still don't know about it.

I have floor directed, monitored the teleprompter, and worked audio a dozen times but still have yet to use the Tricaster. I feel like that thing belongs at NASA and could launch a rocket into outer space if so desired. But really, I would like to at least know the basics and have a decent understanding of how it works.

I would also like to play around with my camera a little more and get to know it more and see what all else it can do. I still have issues with focusing and just recently learned how to set it up to ensure there is audio for each interview. Mastering the camera will allow me to film with confidence on every package.

Feature Proposal: Birth of the Ravens

My documentary is about the history of Olathe Northwest. Ultimately, I want the audience to feel grateful and to understand that ONW's history is something to be proud of. The characters of the story would be Dr. Poss and teachers who have been here since the beginning.

Dr. Poss would know anything about the beginning of Northwest. She Would be able to explain the birth of the ravens like nobody else and how we became a school. As the original principle of the school she would probably be the main character of the story and narrate the majority of it.

Other characters would include the teachers who were here on Northwest's first ever school day. They would explain what it was like the first few years at Northwest and describe how things have changed over the years.

The story would begin before Northwest was even built, with Dr. Poss explaining how ONW came to be. Then move towards the opening of the school and the first students and teachers to walk the halls of ONW.

Then it would go in the direction of how the school has changed and talk about school pride or how we were introduced to our 21st century programs. And slowly lead up to today and what Northwest is like today.

Once the history has been established, have the characters talk about present day Northwest and talk about the future of the school. Leave the audience having a sense of pride for the school and wishing the school the best in the future.

Prop Box

Prop Box is a way for Dr. Poss and the Friends of Rachel Club (FOR) to reckognize students that help one another and Olathe Northwest a better place to be. Each month students are encouraged to nominate a fellow raven who did something out of their way to help another student. At the end of each month we get a list with the names of the nominees and what they did to be nominated.

Prop Box can be filmed in many different ways and has been done many different ways in the past. And because their is so much freedom on how it can be done it becomes challenging deciding how you want to approach it, but I went with the single shot interview cropped in different ways throughout it. This was the first time I have done prop box and although I didn't know what to expect, it was a nice break from a normal package because I've completed 6 packages in the past 7 weeks. But it was a good learning experience and moving forward I know what I would do differently next time.

I started with picking the most exciting story between all of the nominees. I would have liked to of done multiple interviews but i didn't want to get ahead of myself. So it came down to Andrew Kern who made a card to Ciara Webb's family from the school. I setup a simple interview in the Library and asked him to walk me through from start to finish what he did and then took that interview and minimized it to the right length and every few seconds added a new crop to give it the effect of the camera hoping around. It kept the interview going instead of him just telling what happened. 

Next Time...

Moving forward, I know what worked and what didn't. If I were to do Prop Box again I would try to do multiple interviews or maybe only one but add some B-Roll in it and a voice over to make it an actual package. That would make it more interesting and keep the attention of the viewer because they could actually see what the person did to be nominated instead of the nominee just saying words and possibly losing the viewer.

Prop Box is important to Dr. Poss and the FOR Club and should be done in a manner that is interesting and encourages students to do good things for one another and the school. If Prop Box can be done in a way that does encourage students to do good things then the message is successful and the video worked. As we move forward to future Prop Box I hope we can achieve this message and keep Prop Box interesting to the entire school.

Progress in the Works

I believe that we have come a long way since last year. We really have turned Prop Box around and made it something worth watching but it isn't where it could be. My hopes are that by next year Prop Box will become something that people look forward to and can't wait for to see their classmates on ONW Now.

Non-stop Storytelling

In Bill Kanarick's article he discusses the ever changing way we enjoy entertainment. Kanarick argues that entertainment has evolved a lot over the past few decades, saying that we the consumers, ultimately chose how we view our storytelling and experiance our entertainment.  He has a strong argument that we have a lot of potential right now to change the future of story telling and the way everyone views media and entertainment. The Author doesn't have a clear conclusion but he rather ends his article abruptly. At the end I found myself looking for a next page to continue reading. He does support his main claims throughout the article but doesn't finish very strong. What wasn't made clear to me was what he meant by the "Golden Age". He references it a lot but he didn't make it very clear to the reader what exactly that means.

ONW Blood Drive Fall 2014

The Olathe Northwest Blood Drive attracts students to the flex theatre each semester. But this year numbers were down. My story began at registration with students entering the flex. At first I wanted to find students who had never done this before. Logan Green was it, he had never donated before  and he had a history of passing out when his blood was drawn. Once he began getting his blood drawn he started felling ill and had to lay down in order to get the blood to his head so he wouldn't pass out. But as that was happening nurses crowded around him and ordered me to back off and quit recording. So I did and had to start all over at registration.

I started scouting for interesting people who wanted to be on camera and who would talk me through the process. Audry Fisher was more then welcome to help me out. But once she was in the flex theatre she had her iron levels checked and she was a no go. I thought I was going to have to go back to the start again. But luckily her friend Maddie Schneider was with her the whole time so I just started up with her, which she already had the needle in her arm but I had to make it work. So from drawing blood to eating sweets I followed her through the process.

In the end, it all worked out with my story taking the angle of how difficult it can be when trying to donate. And with a few cheats in the package it all fell in place. They had too many restrictions on what you can and cannot film, like I'm there just to see people faint and blood being taken out of people.