Video Semester Reflection

This Semester

News Story

The very first project we did in video this year was a procedure video. We were supposed to take a basic procedure in ONW and make it into a sort of silent "How To" video. This took a couple weeks. Some challenges we faced were lighting and editing. We had a hard time finding good lighting so the final product came out kind of dark. I also had some trouble with editing since this was the first project we did this year. This project was a major refresher on the editing process, but it was also the first time I used the actual cameras instead of the iPads so I learned a lot about the cameras. Some feedback I was given was that the lighting was really off and that we needed to pay more attention to what was in the background. We did not do a re-edit of this video so I didn't change anything. Overall, I think this was pretty decent for being the first video that I did after summer break.

Feature Stories

This semester in convergence journalism we did two feature stories. One was just a basic feature story and one was later turned into a written news story. The first one was my favorite because I got to work with a good group and we did it over a really interesting topic. This one took a couple weeks. Some challenges we faced were finding a spot to shoot and figuring out audio. Neither of these issues ended up being a very big deal and the whole thing went pretty smoothly. Through this process, I learned a lot about how to shoot a feature story and how to write interview questions. Some feedback I was given was that some of my transitions were vey choppy and I had a lot of jump cuts. I tries to fix both of these issues as much as possible in re-edits. Overall, I like this first project. I think we got a lot of good content and I think it ended up being a pretty good first project.


The other feature story we did was later changed into a written news story. I worked with only one partner and we decided to do this on one gymnastics. This project also took a couple weeks. One major challenge we faced was timing. We didn't realize that the gymnastics season was actually over when we decided to do this story. However, that ended up being okay because we could still talk to people involved and get b-roll clips from the server. One thing that I learned through this project was how to work alone. I had to interview a teacher by myself, which was very nerve wracking for me. I ended up getting through it okay and it definitely helped me realize that I could do it by myself. Some feedback I got was that it was overall well done but I had a couple jump cuts. I tried to fix those as much as I could but I don't think I got it all perfect. I didn't enjoy this project as much as my other feature story but it was still overall enjoyable and I think it turned out pretty good.

Class Time

I try to use all of my time in class as productively as possible. I spend most of my prepping for videos, filming, or editing. When I finish early I first make sure that my project is the best that I can make it and then I usually try to do something that will help with my future projects, such as research. I maybe don't do everything I possibly could outside of class to make my project better, but I do come after school, come in during Power 50, or come in before school to work on my projects sometimes. For journalism, I also make sure to try to keep up to date on local and national news.

Strengths

I think one of my biggest strengths is that I am a very hard worker. I will always do whatever it takes to get a project done. I make sure to utilize this in video by staying after school any time I need to in order to get my work done. In journalism, I am also a fairly strong writer so I make sure to utilize that in class as much as possible.

Weaknesses

One of my biggest weaknesses in video is editing. I have never been good with technology and so editing is the worst part of video for me. I do think I have gotten a lot better already this year but will also make sure to keep working on it in the future. I also sometimes struggle with collaboration. If someone that I'm working with is not pulling their weight, I will often just give up and do it all by myself. I have been working on this a lot by trying to push my partner to do her part instead of doing everything by myself.

ONW NOW

Creating a sophomore edition of ONW NOW was my worst nightmare. First of all, the person that I decided to work with on the news video did almost nothing so I did pretty much everything. That alone made this project extremely stressful. I also had a lot of technical difficulties. When I tried to interview a teacher, I forgot to check the audio and ended up having no sound on the interview. That set me back a lot and so I ended up not getting my video in on time to be in ONW NOW. When it got time to actually shoot ONW NOW, I ended up doing nothing even though I had signed up to do the teleprompter. It wasn't a very big deal but I did feel completely useless since I didn't even have a video in the newscast. It was still very interesting to be able to see all the equipment and get an idea of how it all works. Two major things that I learned through this project were that I need to be sure to check the audio before shooting and that I really need to find a new person to work with.

Summary

My favorite part of this semester was doing a written news story since that is what I want to do in the future. If I could change one thing from this semester, I would be sure to check the audio in my video for ONW NOW. The main thing that I learned this semester is what convergence journalism really is. One goal I want to set for next semester would be to make sure to get all my videos in on time. Overall, I think I learned a lot this semester and I am glad that I decided to stay in eComm this year.

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