Advanced Video Journalism

I haven’t picked a song yet, I have a few in mind – does it have to be from a free library of music?

 

Thank you,

Cristine Trimarco

• Access! If this film involves a specific person or place, make sure you have permission from whoever is in a place to give it.

I am planning to to do a visual poem based on two gyms that is one gym where I work at which is crunch fitness and other one is blink fitness where I work out. I will probably have the permission to shoot video since the managers of these two gym.

• A strong sense of what story or feeling you want to convey without words.

I want to film and demonstrate the behavior of the members of the gym and how each group of members behave in different sections or areas of the gym.

• Ideas for music/use of sound.

I was thinking of shooting and recording sounds of dumbbells, grunts, barbells etc. to create a beat or musical instrumental to compliment the visual poem of the behaviors of gym members.

• A clear plan for what you intend to shoot, and the kinds of scenes/imagery you want to come back with.

I intend to shoot the people squatting, bench pressing, deadlifting, using cardio machines, weight machines and chatting with other gym members with different camera angles including close shot, wide shot, etc.

• A vision for the editing, both in terms of pace and style.

My vision for the editing is to put of the clips of gym members’ action according to the musical beat of their grunts, yells and exercises so that everything sync along well.

Hey everyone, Saad created a group chat. Join if you’d like.

https://chat.whatsapp.com/L2AtXST6Nr5LaFq6wZdrA2

Upcoming Dates

Thursday (next class) will be an editing/production day. Please bring in whatever you have so far and I will be happy to look over it, offer coaching in Premiere, etc.

VISUAL POEM DUE DATES

The rough cut for visual poems will be due Tuesday, March 15. Final cuts will be due Tuesday, March 22.

10-15 MINUTE DOCUMENTARY DUE DATES

An initial five-minute cut of your docs will be due on Tuesday, March 22.

 

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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.

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 soundbites 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 in a print story.

Chiromo dopesheet

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:

 

Assignment:

At any point between now and the end of March, you will cover a spot/breaking news story. You will file a video with at least three sound bites (from at least two different interviews) and 45 seconds of sequenced B-roll (3-5 seconds per shot) with accompanying dopesheet. The trick is that you must file it within 12 hours of wrapping your filming.

It’s up to you what you want to cover. One fun option might be the Phagwah parade in Richmond Hill.

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 photo to the grid 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.

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DSLR Audio Tips

DSLR cameras shoot gorgeous video, but they are… not great when it comes to audio. They’re not built for capturing high-quality audio; even when you capture it with a decent mic and feed it directly into the camera, it will be compressed and not nearly as good as audio recorded separately on proper audio recorder, ideally with a lavalier or “lav” mic clipped to the collar. Which creates a whole other set of issues when it comes to syncing the audio in post. Fun times! Fortunately, there are a lot of creative solutions out there available at not TOO high of a price, like the wired lav mics that come with the 77D and T6S cameras, which are pretty intuitive to use.

The Rode Videomic

One thing to be aware of with the Rode Videomic is that most Canon DSLRs with video capability register a pretty audible hiss if you use them with an external microphone in Auto and with the default settings in a quiet environment. This is because the camera has an automatic feature that increases the audio gain in a quiet setting because it’s essentially looking for sound.

With the Videomic Pro, there are recommended settings you can change manually to eliminate this hiss. Unfortunately, we have the Videomic Go, so this doesn’t apply to our equipment, but I still mention it because the Pro is an affordable and a very common mic for videographers who are starting out. (By setting the Rode Videomic Pro’s dB switch to +20 and adjusting the manual sound level setting on the camera to about 20%, you can achieve a virtually hiss-free recording if you’re recording in Manual.)

Still, don’t worry about the hiss too much. It’s great for low-fuss recording in situations where there might be a low level of background noise (outside with birds chirping, etc., on a street with a bit of traffic noise, etc.) and if you’re in a totally quiet environment there’s a good chance you’re in a controlled environment like an office where it’ll be easier to use the lav mic anyway.

Using the Tascam

The Tascam is the audio mixer in your 70D kits in the bubble wrap. It allows you to record audio from multiple mics/sources at once. You can record that audio separately to be synced later or feed it directly into your camera to avoid having to sync it. There are good reasons why you may or may not want to do that.

If you’re feeding audio from multiple mics into the Tascam, it will record them separately which can help you in editing later, but when you’re monitoring the audio on your headphones you will hear the sound from both mics at once together. If you feed the audio directly into the camera, each separate track will be combined into one (and at a lower, more compressed quality to boot) meaning you will lose the ability to mix those multiple sources separately in post.

It will, however, allow you to avoid the often time-consuming process of syncing your high-quality audio with the clips filmed on your camera that are paired with the low-quality, built-in camera audio.

You can sync audio within Premiere Pro using the Merge Clips feature (demonstrated below) which is a lot easier than trying to do it manually. Watch this and pay attention to what he says about doing a loud clap once both camera and audio recorder are recording, which will help when it comes time to sync the audio.

But even with this tool, syncing can be a pain, especially when you consider that DSLR interviews are by necessity often broken into shorter clips than you might find with other video cameras (they can generally only record for about 12 minutes before they will stop recording automatically and you will need to begin a new clip, meaning you may need to do this a number of times).

I’ve also found sometimes that “Merge Clips” doesn’t always work, and you’ll need to go in and line things up manually, which usually requires you to zoom all the way in and adjust the sync frame by frame to make sure it’s lined up perfectly. The visual waveforms are hugely helpful in terms of making sure the sync is exact; I recommend stretching out your audio tracks vertically so you can see the waveforms while you’re doing this.

https://www.evercast.us/blog/syncing-audio-in-premiere

So whether or not you decide to input the Tascam audio into the camera will depend on your individual assessment of what’s most important for this project; ie ease vs. quality/control. I personally always record the audio separately.

The Tascam gets mounted onto your tripod and then your camera gets mounted on top of it. The long XLR cable will connect the Tascam to the lav mic. Clip the lav mic pack to your belt, and ask your interviewee to run the lav mic under their shirt and clip it to their collar. Plug your headphones into the Tascam as well so you can monitor the audio. The very small cable in the clear box is what allows you to feed the Tascam audio directly into the camera. Make sure you test THIS OUT before you do it for real.

Location:  Staten Island, New York

People: myself, Michael. Possibly Alice and Alexis.

Timeline: March 3rd – 13th

The five love languages are: words of affirmation, physical touch, receiving gifts, quality times, and acts of service.

I hope to portray each of the love languages visually.

Words of affirmation – to show this, I have a few scenes in mind. For example, writing in the white board, viewing inspirational posters/advertisements, sending positive/loving texts.

Physical touch – the most obvious and seemingly easiest love language to film. Kiss, hugs, holding hands.

Quality Time – I plan to show time spent together, time just between Michael and I. Like eating breakfast, watching our favorite shows, going for a walk.

Receiving gifts – to give gifts on any occasion.  Film someone outside of gift shop, buying flowers etc

Acts of service – doing a chore, doing a favor for someone, cooking a meal/making a snack for someone

In the documentary, Lambs over Lions, they discuss how a couple of men in Northern Kenya, solve their poverty issues. The documentary is centered around three men called x, asan, and Lukas. The documentary opens with a close-up of X with his eyes focused on an object and thinking about an idea in his mind and in the faint of the background you can hear the sound of the elephants. They then do an interview where he tells the cameraman that he kills elephants and grabs their tusks to sell to make money. He talks about how he poached and how it’s illegal and he can’t get caught. They start building the dramatic arc where you see what the documentary is going to be about. So there is this one scene where they are all shooting at a tree and the camera closes up on Asan and how he’s focused on the target by the way he’s holding his weapon and squinting his eyes to show his skills off. It then cuts to them showing the tree and everyone targets and everyone talks about how Asan gets the closest shot. The camera used a high angle on Asan and captures his smile showing his happiness. The arc is starting to form because you see how they get the elephant tusk. Next scene, people are poaching and the rangers run after them and round them up, you see Asan as one of the rangers yelling at the poachers. The story gets interesting because it shows how the law is exercised by the people who are broken by a ranger. After all, he struggles with poverty and how his job doesn’t pay him enough for his family. The poachers have an inside man and use him to secretly carry out their activities without alerting the rangers. Throughout the movie, they use the angle to build the dramatic arc from start to finish. In the end, the arc finishes with them using a wide-angle shot of an elephant tusk statue to show all the tusks they confiscated that were with millions. The movie then ends with a close-up of all of them and what happened to All of them. X becomes a ranger, Lukas dies and Asan quits a ranger and finds a job to benefit him and his family.

Treatment Workshop

First, we’ll go over your documentary treatments that are due today.

 

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Upcoming Dates

Thursday, March 10 (next week) will be an editing/production day. Please bring in whatever you have so far and I will be happy to look over it, offer coaching in Premiere, etc.

VISUAL POEM DUE DATES

The rough cut for visual poems will be due Tuesday, March 15. Final cuts will be due Tuesday, March 22.

10-15 MINUTE DOCUMENTARY DUE DATES

An initial five-minute cut of your docs will be due on Tuesday, March 22.

 

---

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.

Chiromo dopesheet

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:

 

 

Assignment:

At any point between now and the end of March, you will cover a spot/breaking news story. You will file a video with at least three sound bites (from at least two different interviews) and 45 seconds of sequenced B-roll (3-5 seconds per shot) with accompanying dopesheet. The trick is that you must file it within 12 hours of wrapping your filming.

It’s up to you what you want to cover: one option is this Queens St. Patrick’s Day Parade. (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 photo to the grid 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.

PITCH: Abdul Alhindi has been 14 years away from his homeland. A blue-eyed man with a gray beard and a Syrian identity, recently turning 54 this March, had immigrated to America almost four decades ago. At the young age of 19, he began his lifelong hustle, occupying several jobs in different fields to get by. The only thing that tied him back to the heritage he left behind in this foreign land were other young Syrian men who shared his faith. Boys who bribed their way out of oppressive military service and a government that shattered any hopes of financial opportunity. Leaving his parents, and nine siblings behind, he found brotherhood in a cramped, one-bedroom apartment in Brooklyn, New York, that he shared with two other roommates. They were immigrants, students, and then they weren’t. To be a native in this city meant there was no room to pursue education if you wanted to afford the rent. 

As the years went by, Abdul and his companions began building their lives from scratch. They got married, had children, bought houses, yet despite this fragment of stability, the labor didn’t end. Family meant more mouths to feed, houses meant bills and mortgages, but they were still resilient because they had no other option. The wives became friends, the first generation of American kids they created were destined to become best friends ever since they were in their mothers’ wombs, yet the same cannot be said for the fathers. Instead of relating to the struggle they were all fighting, they ended up getting pushed further apart. Money had always been an issue, the lack of it, and the struggle to acquire it. Those men worked early mornings and long nights, coming home to sleeping kids and leftover dinner. They barely had time for their families, and consequently, they had no time for friendships. 

In the present, Abdul’s life is still enclosed within that cycle, and recently he feels more alienated than ever. He lost ties with most of the friends he shared plates, rooms, and heritage with, and as the world around him drifted into a political demise, he blamed it all on the corruption of society. Yet everything has taught him that no matter how difficult life has been, he had to, and still has to keep moving forward. This understanding has helped him find motivation and hope in a place he feels alienated. With relatives and loved ones scattered across the globe, he finds himself alone with no one to hold onto but his own two hands, always picking himself up every time he falls.

This documentary will document Abdul’s past and how it became his present. It is an ode to the youth who had to mature too quickly, and the questioning of what would have been done differently? If Abdul could speak to his old self through this story, what would be the wisdom behind his advice? Would he come to America? Finish school and become a Dentist? Get married knowing he had a messy divorce that affected his life and the life of his daughters for the rest of their lives? Or would he do it all over again? 

This will be a nostalgic but inspiring documentary, shot in an observational and vérité style. The film will follow Abdul in New York, the city that has become his home far away from home. It will capture his life as he goes to work as a contractor, drives through different places, reconnects with old friends, and revisits parts of the city that have shaped his immigrant experience and life history. Viewers will enter the world of his past through archival documentation, from photographs to videos, to stories shared from memory. They will see Abdul video chatting with his relatives back in Syria and the other countries some have immigrated to. The story will be local to New York, capturing a fragment of the diverse lives that inhabit the metropolitan giant. There will be themes of history, family, dreams, failures, loneliness, and all the good and the bad that makeup one man’s life in the framework of millions like him.

Main characters: Abdul Abdul’s family Abdul’s friends & coworkers	Crew: Producer/ Director: Siddrah Alhinid  Producer/ Shooter: Siddrah Alhindi  Additional shooter: Siddrah Alhindi
Filming locations: New York, United States New Jersey, United States  Pennsylvania, United States	Shooting timeline: March-May 2022 New York/New Jersey/ Pennsylvania, US

Edits complete: middle of May 2022

PITCH: Rafat Gomaa is my father and who I will be doing my documentary about. My father was born and raised in Cairo with his 2 brothers and 5 sisters. His father passed away at a young age and being the youngest of his brothers he grew up very close to his mom. I think the main reason my father wanted a different life for himself was that he saw both his older brothers stick to the safer option which is to stay in Egypt and make ends meet to support their families.

When my father got the opportunity to come to the US he didn’t hesitate because he knew this would not only benefit him but could potentially be his way to have a completely different life. This is exactly what happened.
In 1994 my father came to the US at age and started a brand new life all on his own. Not knowing he would become his future brother in law my dad started working with Adel Ibrahim who was a well-known food vendor at the time. Over a couple of years, he became his partner in the business and met my mother who he married shortly after.

For the documentary I want my father to open up after some of the things he went through at the beginning of his journey. I think a lot of immigrant fathers share a very similar story when desc\ribing the first couple of years they were here. I know finding work was not easy and learning things in a foreign country made it much more difficult.

I want to start the documentary with my father talking about some of the most important moments that he faced when he first came to the US. I feel like the most important thing is for me to have questions ready for him to help him open up more. I think starting the documentary talking about his work and how it was like when he first came is a good opening while also adding photos of him.

I do plan on ending the story with him talking about his retirement and what he plans to do. But the only thing I am unsure about is whether I would include people other than him in the documentary. I think I will know this for sure when I start filming him and see what he really talks about and if there is a person he talks a lot about that has helped him the most.

Main Character: Rafat Gomaa
Crew: Radwa Gomaa
Filming Locations: My home, in the city where my dad works
Shooting Timeline: start of March to April 2022