Videos 101

The article “10 Tips For Editing Videos” broke down the different ways to make a video interview of a person more compelling and interesting instead of them just speaking on camera. The 10 tips compose of video angles, editing and different variety of shots that should be used in the final video.

My video is based on a lot of action shots because it is a sport and I have a huge variety to pick and choose. Camera angles are good to have because I can capture different parts of the golf swing and a better view of Terese’s face. When I start editing, I am able to choose what would be suitable to be put in and if it fits the scene for the final video. I think the biggest part about bringing the story to the table is the editing of unnecessary clips from the original one. My voice should never be in the whole final video therefore it would be important to start on that and the clip adjustments would not be a hassle after putting in B-Roll. Usually in interviews, the person we interview would have moments where they would say, “Um” and that usually brings down the quality of the video. It would be great to cut out the “Um’s” from the video as much as possible. I have been a little lucky with my person because she is very on point with what she wants to say on camera.

When out on the field, it is great to get different range in shots so it would not be dull and boring. Close shots are the best to have because the audience would prefer to see things clearly and not something where they would have to squint their eyes to figure out what is being shown. Medium shots and up-close shots are better to put in for B-Roll. It gives more detail to what the story is all about. So with Terese, I will be taking shots of her grip on the golf club, her face expression when hitting a ball, an up-close shot of her putting the ball into the hole and also an up-close of her swing.  Editing can be a long process so once you have edited most of your video and you are close to finishing up, take a break from it and come back later. Sometimes it helps you to find little mistakes that you never spotted earlier in the editing process.

The videos, “India Nite 2011“, “Baltimore Grand Prix“, and “VIP-Very Important Pooch” are examples of videos that I can use to work on my final story. It had great ideas that I can use to work on mine. The first video, India Night 2011, had a quite a number of range shots. Most were medium and far range shots and some were up-close. It had different B-Rolls to show what India Nite was all about but the b-Roll started getting repetitive as the video went on. The second one, “Baltimore Grand Prix”, had a lot of good shots. They combined pictures and videos throughout the story. That is one of the main parts that I will use for my story as well. I would get action shots of a golf swing and a few pictures of the place and maybe a moment where the kids are interacting with the coach. However in the second video, there were some clips that were shaky so throughout my whole shoot, I will be using a tripod stand so my pictures and video is steady.

In the third video, “VIP-Very Important Pooch”, that was a lot of up-close shots of different areas and it suited very well for the video. It had good variety of angles and they used only a few people to do the interview so it was not scattered around like the first video. I think for my video, up-close shots are important because not everyone knows the game of golf and if I can get the details of the game through the view of Terese than it will be easier to tell the story. Some of the shots in the third video focused a lot on the dogs and not so much of the people talking. I think that is important to have because that is the main part of the whole video. Overall I gained a lot of ideas that I can work with to make a good video.

The First Tee

The First Tee is an organization that was established in 1997 by the PGA Tour, LPGA Tour, PGA of America, Masters Tournament and the USGA. Its sole purpose was to bring golf to kids who have not been exposed to the game and also to spread positive values in life. The First Tee has now expanded and has over 9 million young kids that have joined around the country.

The First Tee of Tampa Bay was formed in 1999 and has provided 40,000 kids with hands on golf training and even teaching core values that they can learn off the course. Many of their kids that have attended The First Tee and have gone on to do great things after graduating from high school. Some have received scholarships to play in top Division 1 colleges and some were offered scholarships for academics and music. These young people were able to learn the game of golf and also different core values and skills that they can use outside of golf.

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After school program offered by The First Tee of Tampa Bay

Terese Romeo is one of the many kids that have achieved a lot after joining the First Tee. A senior in Freedom High School, Terese has early committed to play at Mercer University in Georgia. Being able to play in a Division 1 school did not come easy for Terese as she was faced with a road block that gave her the gift of playing the game of golf. In 9th grade Terese had a wrist injury from doing gymnastics and that ended her gymnastics career. She was heartbroken that she could not perform anymore but when she joined the First Tee after her parents and brother told her to, she fell in love with the sport. She was a little skeptical about it but it turned around for her in the end and it has been great ever since. It was a long and hard journey for Terese however she has been given a lot of great opportunities to play in big junior golf events such as The Nature Valley First Tee Open, interviewed by The Golf Channel and earn the title of “Girl Golfer of The Year” by the Tampa Bay Times in 2013.

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Terese Romeo

The First Tee has been a stepping stone for these kids and now The First Tee of Tampa bay has been working with different schools such as Franklin Middle School to create an after school program for these kids to attend and learn the game of golf. It is a growing organization and they have producing extraordinary kids that have made it to colleges due to the teachings that are being taught at The First Tee.

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The First Tee Motto

Visual vs Text

The article “12 Reasons To Use Visual Content“, shows an interactive way to present information through visual instead of texts. It gave us 12 different things that would help in producing good visual content. The article was well written in terms that the writer itself was using good visual content in his presentation to explain how to persuade people to read an article with a lot of visual. It was very interactive and it definitely will keep readers interested to know about it. If the writer used mainly text and a few visual things, it would really be a boring article and people would probably not read most of the work. With visual, people are able to see it and understand it better. Text usually takes awhile for people to process in order to understand the information that is trying to be relayed to them.

My beat project is based on the kids who joined The First Tee and how they have benefited from the teachings that is offered by the organization. For visual content I think it would be great to show percentages of how many kids have benefited from the program. In the article it said, “Visual Content Generates More Views For Your Post”. Pictures and videos will be the best asset to have when trying to gain views on an article. If the video is compelling, people would actually watch it and share it on their personal social media page. My video on Terese Romeo got a few likes from the general public. People not from my Multimedia class actually viewed my blog and said it was good. I think the more pictures of kids playing golf and enjoying themselves, it would definitely boost up my views and people might actually share it on social media.

In order to get my blogposts going and being more well known, Most of my posts should consists more visual and maybe a few sentences just to have a little change in the story. It’ll be great to have visual content of golf because in general people would think it is a boring sport and it does not have anything interesting to read about. I will definitely change some pictures in my beat project and get more compelling photos to make it look better on my blogpost. This will generate more views and it will possibly bring more subscribers, which is the one of my main goals for my blog.

Video Interviews 101

The articles, “Loosening Lips: The Art of the Interview” and “10 Tips for Dramatically Improving Your Videojournalism Stories” shows how to capture compelling interviews. Journalists have to be able to dig deep in order to get a great story. You may have 10 questions ready but you may not be able to get the story you want. It is usually the type of method you use to ask the question or start off with conversations so that your person is comfortable to talk to you. The little things in a normal conversations can be the biggest key to getting a good story in an interview.

My video interview is about a girl who used to be a gymnast but started playing golf after she had a wrist injury. People will want to hear about what happened to her and how she got the injury. I would definitely start off with very simple questions. This will make her feel more comfortable and as the interview progresses, I will start asking more complexed questions. At this point hopefully she will be able to open up and give a great story. So questions for the interview should be very important. I do not want to ask her questions that will lead me into a road block.

I definitely love using the silent pause in my interviews because that is when people will actually start talking. It may feel a little awkward but it can be a great tool to have. Whenever I did my video practice, I used the silent pause in my interview and it worked. She opened up more and told more about her gymnastics career. So with the next interview I hope it turns out exactly that way. To make my video interview a lot better is to get a variety of B-Roll. At this point I have gotten a lot of clips with her swing the golf club and putting the ball. Now I am going to add in pictures of her doing her gymnastics and putting that as a B-Roll when she talks about her gymnastics career.

Narrative arc is something that is good to use if you would want to keep an audience watching the video. Start off with just an introduction to what she is doing now and just the general stuff. Halfway through the interview, I will start asking about how she got injured and how it affected her. That will lead to a certain climax and it will end up with a resolution as I will ask her questions about where she is now with her golf game and if she is happy with the way things are now in her life. That basically is my angle to make a good video interview.

Lightning Talk 2: Storify

Storify is a social platform that has evolved and become the new site to look for current news on different social network sites. A lot of news organizations have been using Storify to get feedback from the public and also combining their articles from different websites into one to form a story.

Storify

Mr. And Ms. UT Pageant Storify

University of Tampa had their Mr. and Ms. UT Pageant on Oct 15. 2014. Here are the clips and comments from the event.

Mr. And Ms. UT Pageant