Breaking news in video
Most of the work we’ll be doing this semester is slower-paced video where you’ll have the ability to take your time to put together a thoughtful, carefully edited final product. But you might one day find yourself in a spot news or breaking news situation where you’re filing material throughout the day as you get it.
If you are working or stringing for a wire service, they will have a system for filing footage. You’ll need to file something called a dopesheet along with your video material. The dopesheet is basically a summary of what you’re sending them so they can see it all at a glance.
Information Document for AFP TV
Here is an actual dopesheet I filed on a breaking news assignment; feel free to use it as a template. The trick with dopesheets is not only to transcribe your sound bites accurately; it’s to distill the main takeaway of the story, because the news outlets that subscribe to your wire need to know at a glance what the point of it is, why they should care, and why it’s worth them deciding to run it. So it does come back down to good writing. Think about what your nut graph would be.
The actual video file you’ll send them (I usually use WeTransfer, although some places may have another system in place, often via FTP) will be minimally edited, but the trick is that you have to work fast. You pull out soundbites, transcribe them, and cut together a sequence of your best B-roll. Then you put it all in one video project (sound bites first, then B-roll), export, and send. It will look something like this:
Discuss: What are some of the practical considerations you might want to keep in mind when covering a breaking news event?
Assignment:
At any point between now and March 13, you will cover a spot/breaking news story. You will file a video with at least two sound bites (from different interviews) and 45 seconds of sequenced B-roll, with accompanying dopesheet. The trick is that you must file it within 24 hours of wrapping your filming.
It’s up to you what you want to cover: one option is the Queens St. Patrick’s Day Parade which takes place on the first Saturday of March (I highly recommend this one over the big official parade in Manhattan; I covered that parade once and it was possibly my least favorite assignment of all time. I don’t want to be responsible for any of you quitting journalism).
In addition to the material you film with the school cameras, you will cover the story on social media. I’ve set up an Instagram account for our class where you will post at least one permanent photo and three Stories updates before you leave the scene. Password: studioh160
What makes a good (or fun) journalistic Instagram post and an informative series of Story updates?
Brainstorm: Breaking news stories/events in the next few weeks.
Reminder: Bring your footage to class on Monday! We will be devoting both classes next week to in-class editing/production. You should be just about done with your rough cut by the end of Wednesday’s class. However, if you would like to hold off on posting it to the blog because you plan to make additional changes to your video outside of class, you may post or update it at any time before class the following Monday, when we will screen and workshop them together.