News Story Project
Creating an interesting news story that gets the audiences attention and keeps thier attention is not always an easy task, especially when you have limited time. For this activity you will develop and video a news story. The purpose of a news story is to convey news.
Here are the suggested steps to follow:
- Find a person to interview, who has a story to tell? A meaningful and compelling story usually results in a more interesting video. Here are some possible topics/stories
- immigration
- interesting hobby or skill
- career interview
- college interview - similar to the ones shown during announcments
- veteran interview - ask them if they have a special story
- mentor interview
- teacher or admin interview
- life changing event
- a leader of a club or organization
- a special family story
- sports figure - Develop a series of questions that you want to ask your subject. Do some research first to find out more about the topic you will be discussing and the person you will be interviewing. The questions you ask should not be Yes or No questions, they should evoke a more extended response from your subject. Typically these questions are provided to the person you will interview before the interview so they have time to develop their responses.
- If you are only using one camera you will need to shoot the interview first and then shoot the person asking the questions - this will be the OTS. If you are using two cameras be sure to use a clapboard or clap your hands at the start of the interview to sync the sound in both cameras. Use a sound mixer if it is available.
- Use the closeup clip as the main timeline and then add the OTS clips as connected clips when the interviewer asks questions. Zoom in to synch up the sound between the two clips. Once the sound is in synch you can silence the sound from the OTS clip, you
- Create a short sales pitch for the project which you will share with the class before starting your project.
- Be sure the closing credits include everyone involved.
Here are the specs for the project:
______ All video must be the joint work of the group and the original work of the team
______ The finished movie must have a title and closing credits
______ The movie must be at least 2 minutes long and must include OTS and CU shots
______ Pauses, repeats, and mistakes in the interview must be edited out
______ Use the H.264 Codec
______ 720p HD
______ Resolution: 960x720