Semester 2 Final Reflection

Throughout my time in Convergence Journalism this year I've learned a lot, and although some of what I've learned is minor, it all contributes to the overall quality of my packages.

One of the first things I learned this year is that being able to work with a team is vital. While I am responsible for my own packages, it's important to collaborate with others to ensure that the show is quality and all of the packages that are scheduled to air are shown. I learned this time and time again when I didn't tell the producer the status of my package so they had to check up on me.

I've also learned that two interviews is the minimum for each package that I complete. This is offers more than one perspective and gives the viewer more information about the event. Depending on the package and angle being taken, the interviewee usually tells the story. If only one interview is shown, there could be missing information from the package that is key to the story. It's also important to know as much as possible about the event you're filming so that you can tell the story correctly. On top of all that, I've also learned a lot about my strengths and weaknesses as a journalist.

I believe that one of my greatest strengths is my voice overs. I think it's the correct tone and extremely clear; there are also no breathing noises or random pauses. My voice overs add to the quality of the package and if the package is to be professional, then a solid voice over is essential. I also believe that my voice overs have gotten better since the beginning of the year; however, there is always room for improvement. Another one of my strengths is my editing.

When it comes to video editing, I think that I am able to consistently keep my audio where it needs to be, color correct dark interviews or shots, and make the cuts necessary if some shots do not help the story, or cut an interview sound bite short if there is excess information that isn't needed - without making the cut obvious. My editing abilities have helped me enormously as the editing process is when the story comes together. I plan to pursue video editing as a career in the future, so everything I learn now will surely benefit me far beyond High School. While I do excel is some areas of Journalism, I am still a work in progress and struggle at both script writing and in some aspects of filming.

One of my weaknesses is script writing. Both for the live show and for voice overs in my packages. Although my scripts tell the story as they should, I don't think they are at the level they should be at. In some of my packages, such as the Raven Pops story, there are holes in the script that are important to the story. Specific the Raven Pops package, all of the solo and duet performers were not recognized. I am fault for this and will continue to look for ways to improve. Another one of my weaknesses is filming, ironically.

To say the least: my filming is subpar. Many of shots are out of focus, and others are shaky. When it comes to focusing shots, it can be difficult to tell whether or not they're in focus as the screen on the camera doesn't always make it very clear. It's not uncommon for me to be under the belief that my shot is focused only for me to import my footage later on and discover it was far from it, and sometimes also shaky; however, shaky shots are completely my fault. I don't use a tripod and that's something I will do next year. My filming is the only thing I would change because of all my simple mistakes that are easily corrected.

Putting all of this aside, I've truly enjoyed being in this class even though I don't always show it. If my filming is corrected, I know there is a future for me in Journalism. I'm looking forward to Senior year and making ONW Now much better than it was this year. As long as the incoming Juniors are committed, there are no limits.

ONW Orchestra Concert

Enrollment

Semester Reflection

I think that I've done a lot this year. I did my best to get stories out every other week and with many of my stories I had to stay after school or travel elsewhere to film B-Role.

STORIES

Brendan Dunwiddie Story: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PN78pQwXfQw

  This was a story over Brendan Dunwiddie and his decision to make the switch from Football to Cross Country. I covered this story because my partner Alex and I, during hallway committee, asked him what sports he was participating in and found out he was moving from one sport to another; the two sports (Cross Country and Football) are completely different. I went out and filmed this outside of school as well as edited it with the help of Alex. The story took us about 6 days, or possibly 5, from start to finish. The outcome of this story was a minute long news package that told a, in my opinion, decent story.While we were working on finishing this story, I learned that I need to figure out ahead of time the easiest way to film a sport's practice because I ended up running with the Cross Country team in jeans and a long sleeve shirt in the heat- this wasn't my best idea.

Concussions Story: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfq30NqejxA

  This was a package over the Blue Valley Little League Football League and the concussions that often occur in Football. Me and Alex chose this story because we were interested in both Football and just how common concussions are in the sport. I went out to the League field and filmed this outside of class, as well as I edited most of the video. Creating this package was an experience in that we got to travel to a league we'd never heard of to watch 5th and 6th graders play football. This package took about a week to make since filming was a bit of a challenge to schedule because the league normally doesn't allow anyone to record the games; we also had to in and out point around 400 clips. The outcome was one of my favorite packages and a video full of great B-Role that includes numerous hard hits to emphasize injuries and concussions. After making this story I learned that the B-Role needs to help tell the story, just as much as the voice over.

Band Marching Festival Story: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEBPl3otGv4

  This is a story over a marching festival our school's band participated in. We decided to cover this story because this was a big deal for the band, and many other school bands were going to be in it as well, so I went out and filmed this. This story took about 4 or 5 days to complete; the outcome of this story was a music filled package that told a great story of the band's stunning performance that they worked so hard to prepare for. After completing this story I learned to always white balance the camera before I start filming to avoid clips with very different lighting since. What makes lighting difficult is that it is always noticeable when you cut from one clip to another and that takes away from the quality of the package.

Plagiarism Story: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hem34XfkGc

  This is a package over Plagiarism and how it is a problem in every school, as well as steps our school and many others, are taking to prevent it. We chose to to cover this story because our former teacher Mr. Allam suggested that we address the issue in a news package, and that's what got us going. I filmed B-Role for this.This package took a week to make because of all the interviews scheduled on different days and finding classes to film B-Role in; The library just wasn't cutting it when it came to quality B-Role. The outcome of this was a factual, informative package that I think enlightened students on plagiarism and its repercussions. I learned that I need to test the mic before going to film an interview because they may not always work and this took away from the quality of many the interviews Alex and I filmed.

Week of Giving Recap: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sbr7GpZysq4

  This is a recap over the Week of Giving that took place at ONW. I ended up working on this project alone. I chose to work on this package because I had never done a recap before and this would be a new experience for me. This was a package I did by myself so I filmed all of the B-Role and edited it. This story took 2 days to complete; one day to film and the other to edit. This was pretty rushed since I was on a crunch for time. The outcome of this story was a short and to the point recap of the Week of Giving at ONW that told students what they might have missed. Overall, I think this package did what it needed to do, considering the time frame I had to finish it. After making this package I learned that when I'm short on time I really need to get to it since there is no time to waste. While I did finish this in time, it's a great lesson for future reference.

Groundbreaking Playground Ceremony Story: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sbr7GpZysq4

  This is a story over the groundbreaking ceremony on College and Lone Elm for a new park being made for special needs kids. We chose to cover this story because we thought it was great that they were creating a park accessible to special needs kids and wanted to find out more. I filmed B-Role for this and Alex did all of the editing since I was out sick the day we were going to edit it. This package only took two days to complete. The outcome was a heart-warming story over a new park soon to be built for special needs kids. After completing this package I learned that I need to dress appropriately for the weather conditions that I might be filming in. I learned this the hard way since it was most likely below 40 degrees and I only had on a thin jacket and no gloves.

STRENGTHS

  One of my strengths in Convergence Journalism is editing. I am able to make precise cuts and organize B-Role in a way that helps tell the story. I can also balance audio pretty well and avoid having random clips that are extremely loud compared to the others. I maximized my strengths by volunteering to edit and doing the best editing I could when I was given the opportunity.

 Another one of my strengths is knowing what types of shots I want to get before I film. Often times I'll imagine what shots would look good in whatever type of package I'm filming; 9 times out of 10 thinking about the shots beforehand and what would work is enough to lead me through the filming process. This is extremely helpful when I go out to film because it allows me to waste no time thinking about what my next shot will be.

WEAKNESSES

 My weakness is filming. That's pretty ironic considering that I do a lot of filming in most of my packages. While my concussion story had great B-Role, I think that I need to use a tripod to eliminate shaky shots. Shaky shots have been the bane of B-Role for me and I plan to use a tripod in all of my future packages to prevent them.  This semester I did try to use a tripod in my stories but eventually got away from it since it was a burden to move a tripod from one place to another. Although I guess that's the cost of still shots.

REFLECTION

Through-out this semester I've learned a lot. One of the biggest things I've learned is to white balance my camera before filming anything. The varying lighting that's always noticeable has plagued many of my shots and this needs to change. I've also learned to dress for weather conditions since I've payed the price for it twice. Lastly, I learned that I need to stay on task 24/7; this is imperative in order to have new stories out consistently, as is expected of me.

For next semester, I plan to utilize everything I've learned: White balancing the camera before filming, dressing for weather conditions, and staying on task.

I think I've grown as a student in that my work ethic has improved and so has my quality of work. I've also grown as a professional through the skills I've learned that I can take into the work force. What I've learned in e-Comm is what the professionals use in the media: Proper lighting, good audio, steady shots, B-Role matching with the voice-over. All of these will give me an edge when it comes time for me to apply to colleges and when I'm applying for jobs.

ONW Week of Giving Recap

10 Most Fascinating People of 2014 Review

The scope of this video was to highlight the lives of some of the more interesting people in the world. The film ranks them from 1 being the most interesting to 10 being the least interesting on the list. The video also goes into detail about their accomplishments and some stories from their childhood.

The film told the stories of multiple celebrities and I noticed that many of them wanted to be successful and famous from a very young age. For example, Scarlet Johansson wanted to be an actor ever since she was very little and began auditioning for films at the young age of 8. In the beginning it was stated that the majority of the fascinating people were females, and I found this true as the film went on. Also, instead of having a separate episode for each celebrity shown to create an effect of suspense, there was just one long video with commercial breaks in between each story. I do think that if each celebrity had their own episode then that would keep the viewer hooked and locked in because there is a curiosity of who's next.

There were many stories told in this film. All of the stories were about celebrities and they were all ranked in who was the most interesting from 1-10. Their stories were told through interviews, clips from their childhood, and some movies they've starred in in the past and some more recent.

One element from this work that I would apply to my own is the professional interview set up with great audio and an appealing background. I thought that this definitely added to the quality of the film, and obviously made it look more professional. The reason I'd add this element is because I've noticed that my interview set ups, more often than not, tend to lack good audio and lighting. While my interviews are good enough to use in my packages, the quality could definitely improve.

I noticed that they used lighting kits in their interviews instead of just finding a well lit spot and going with it. I have already learned how to set up light kits and use them to improve my interviews but I thought it was great to see that this skill is applicable in the real world. I plan on incorporating proper lighting into more of my interviews so that I am able make my work seem more professional than it already is.

One thing the creator of this film did well was finding B-Role that matched what the host and the current celebrity were talking about. They were not ill prepared and actually had footage of some of the celebrity's childhoods. This most likely wasn't an easy task since the footage from their childhood was probably old. There were also pictures to support the story; I thought that was key in helping give viewers an idea of what the environment they grew up in looked like. Although don't get me wrong, the footage helped do that as well.

Something the film could improve on is making the stories longer. While the film was good regardless of length, there is always room for improvement and making the stories longer would have allowed them to go more in depth about the celebrities featured.

ONW Plagiarism Story

This is a story on Plagiarism and the misconceptions about it. The story goes over what plagiarism actually is and the consequences behind it.