Multimedia Reporting Fall 2017

For my final project I want to focus on the 2nd annual Print and Zine Fest at New Women Space (in Brooklyn). The event is hosted by Got a Girl Crush, a blog and annual print magazine about women and by women, and will take place on November 19. They describe their line-up as “emerging female/fem-identifying/non-binary/trans/gender non-conforming lead zines and print-makers” focusing not only on general societal issues for women, but also with some zine and print makers focusing their work for women of color. A zine itself is almost like a short magazine that is self published and usually includes topics not usually discussed by mainstream media. I have reached out to Got a Girl Crush and have secured access to interview them and record/photograph the event in general.

A friend of mine is a professional baseball player in Puerto Rico so I planned on documenting his daily activities as he prepares for the upcoming season. Since now it is the offseason, there won’t be actual in game film available to me.  So it would be his daily routine on what types of training he does in order to prepare for next season as well as what he does as other hobbies stay focused going into the new season.

Or I also have a friend who is a tour guide at Madison Square Garden.  If I am able to get permission, I can film bits and pieces of his tours and document what goes into these tours as well as what a day of a tour guide is like at the world most famous arena.

Volez, Voguez, Voyagez is a Louis Vuitton exhibit happening in Lower Manhattan until January 08, 2018. It showcases the company’s history from 1854 to present and their future plans. Louis Vuitton is a popular luxury brand known more prominently for their handbags and luggage. If I have permission to film the exhibit, I see this being a very visually striking piece.

 

UPDATE: Ended up doing it on the crackdown of electronic bikes in NYC.

 

It’s that time of the season for high school students to start looking at Colleges, and with the first wave of SATs giving children their first grey hairs of stress, plus the impending January first deadline to file your Common Application looming overhead, the approaching  new year feels more like the end of times for these seniors. My own memories of this stressful time have resurfaced in no small part to my younger sister’s high school tours, one of them being Baruch High school, which I attended. Still being on good terms with the school, I’d like to interview several of the students to discuss their future plans and contingencies, and use this final project as an exposé on the most stressful standardized process we encounter in our childhood. Like it or not, the Common App does gives you a blanketing perspective of your academic prowess; but one’s potential can also be overshadowed, or become outright invisible in the torrent of applications–before you consider the permutational hell of Early Decision. God, it’s stressing me out all over again; did I tell you Colombia rejected me on my birthday? Like Pepperidge farm, I still ‘memba.

Edit: I think it would also be best for me to profile one particular student–such as whoever is poised to be the valedictorian–and focus on their story; that way the whole project still functions as an exposé on the college process but isn’t too overbearingly general.

Another idea I have for my final project is to interview several members of my Fraternity who are currently tied up in a lawsuit with the school (I was personally involved, but was acquitted of the charges, which would have seen me suspended) The suit has everything to do with our own constitutional right to freedom of speech and association, plus it would also be a great way to gauge the school’s current views on Social fraternities, a way of life the school has been desperately trying to exterminate at all costs. I would interview the three students currently engaged in this litigation, give the viewer an understanding of their lives and how the chapter has benefitted their lives, and ultimately show how the school was entirely in the wrong. I’d frame this like a CNN documentary:  I have all the evidence on my computer, as it were.

 

I am going to be follwoing a group of adolescent urban photographers who get into NYC’s most private nooks. The focus of the piece is the photograher Focvsd, who is only 17 years old and well known in the photography realm.

 

Reminder: Pitches

Now due Monday, Nov. 13. But because of this extension I’m expecting really strong, thorough pitches. That means I want you to really sell me on the news value of the story—the “so what?” factor—and I want to see evidence that you have already spoken to some of the key people involved and secured access. And you should explain precisely how you plan to tell the story across a variety of media.

Once again, your final project will be a multimedia feature story consisting of a 2-3 minute video, 800 words of text, and one additional multimedia element of your choice (there also must be at least one still photo as lead image). This means that your pitch will need to specify how the whole project will break down.

For example, if you plan to do a story about a Puerto Rican family who has come to stay with their relatives in New York after Maria, the print story will give the big picture: It will tell the story of this one family as a way of shedding light on the larger crisis that the island is facing with many people forced to leave following the hurricane and what that migration will do to the local economy and long-term recovery. The video might follow the mother for a day as she looks for work, and there could be a photo or audio element that focuses on how the children are adjusting to their new school. Be as specific as possible.

Rough drafts of your final projects will be due on Wednesday, Nov. 29.

Workshop: Using the Video Cameras

Team up in groups of three or four and practice using the cameras. Take turns putting up the tripod, attaching the camera, adjusting the settings, zooming in and out, attaching the microphone, clipping the microphone to your collar, framing a talking head shot for an interview, etc.

In-Class Assignment:

The “Five-Shot Sequence”

In your groups, I want you all to head out for 20-30 minutes to find and film a five-shot sequence.  Think of an action that is conducive to this sort of thing: someone cooking something, playing an instrument, putting on makeup, playing chess, opening a locker to put something inside, etc.

The Five-Shot Sequence

When it comes to B-roll, your job is to use these visuals to tell a story in a way that is very clear and keeps the viewer not just interested but oriented: clear on what’s happening. Cutting together a sequence is often an effective way of doing this.

The classic sequence that every budding videographer learns when starting out is the five-shot sequence.

1. Close-up on the hands.
2. Close-up on the face.
3. Medium shot.
4. Over the shoulder shot.
5. One additional creative angle.

You won’t always edit things in this exact way when you do a sequence in the real world; sometimes it’ll only be three shots, or it might be ten, and they might be in a different order. But the five-shot sequence is a useful framework for thinking about depicting an activity clearly and engagingly with video.

 

I came across two high school-aged kids that are part of the USA Jr. National Karate team. Their goal is to make the Olympic karate team in 2020. They have to travel to different countries every month or so to compete and acquire a certain amount of points to make the team.

Unfortunately, the US doesn’t fund their athletes. So, Adam and Logan garbage pick for scrap wood, then make and sell hand crafted decorations. 100% of their proceeds go to raising money for their travels.

I’ve contacted Adam’s mother, and she was really excited about this. I plan to film them making the crafts and also training…competing if possible. I would also like to do photography, although I’m not entirely sure what I would do for that, so input would be helpful. 

 

For my final Project, I will be filming an event called Making New York, which feature Etsy NY team also known as NY Handmade Collectives in the Chelsea market from November 7th- December 3rd. At this event it will showcase the history of NY handmade items from past to present. This project will show how New Yorker’s coming together for the holiday and show their support for local crafts-makers.  This event being covered will have more than 20 NY Etsy sellers attending, and this gives me  the chance to show  in my report the shoppers viewing  different local items and build relationships with the local crafts-makers.  For the interview part of the assignment I could focus on one particular local craft-maker called RisingPhoenixx and how they started their business and how it is being a small business in NY. While the video show the Making New York event and that particular crafts maker interaction with the public.

For my final project, I would like to do a human interest story on a woman in my neighborhood who’s life was saved by Obamacare.  As Republicans continue to wage a war against Obama’s eponymous healthcare plan, many Americans across the nation worry about possibly losing their healthcare, including Mary Boscarino.  When she unexpectedly developed kidney cancer and required surgery to remove the organ, she relied upon Obamacare to pay for the expensive surgery.  Over a year later, she is now cancer free and happily living her life.  My project would be an insight into how Obamacare ended up saving her life and how she feels about Republicans fight to repeal it.

For my final project, I plan to do my video on the Grand Bazaar NYC. It’s the largest curated weekly market in NYC, located on the Upper West Side.
Every Sunday, all year-round, indoors & outdoors, local artist, designers, and antique/vintage dealers sell one-of-a-kind and limited edition art, antique watches, vintage collectibles and fashion, handmade jewelry and furniture.
The Grand Bazzar also helps in supporting 4,000+ school children as they donate 100% of their profits to four local public schools.