Going into COMM 465 I had zero experience working with high-level equipment. I had little experience with editing video as I had only edited a couple of things just for fun in iMovie but nothing at the level that we got the chance to produce in this course. It is because of the improvement in my visual storytelling skillset from when I began this course compared to what it is now that I believe I definitely learned a lot by taking 465. The three most important skills that I learned are script writing for a news package; the importance of filming enough b roll; and how to convert a story from video to text for the web.
In our first project for this class, script writing wasn’t something we needed to worry about as the script was provided for us. Since then however, each project has required more and more responsibility. Coming from 360 and my own outside work with podcasts, I already had some experience with writing for the ear, which gave me some confidence, but obviously video is still different. Getting Dr. Zhong’s feedback on each package script I completed, in addition to the sample script he provided for guidance on canvas and the two group script writing exercises in class, all helped me to get better at script writing. In addition, the anchor reading mini workshop we did in class allowed each of us to hear what we should sound like while reading the news and once we knew what we were supposed to sound like it was easier to write for that type of voice.
As far as editing b roll, before this class I didn’t even know what b roll was. But through the four packages we completed this semester I’ve come to understand its importance. Having enough b roll—enough varied b roll—ensures that one will be able to completely convey the story they are trying to tell the viewer, keep that viewer’s interest and cover any jump cuts while editing. This was one lesson that was learned simply through trial and error as I was in a tight spot a few times on project one and two where the necessary b roll just wasn’t there and clips had to be longer than the suggested length to cover the spread. By project four however, I had more than enough b roll to the point where I had shots left over and could pick from what I actually liked and wanted to use as opposed to being forced to use a shot because it was all I had.
When Dr. Zhong first told us that we would be taking our video packages and turning them into web stories I thought of it as just another task for this course. But now I see the value in having that practice. Being able to tell a story across multiple platforms is a necessary skill for anyone looking to be a journalist in today’s world. Multimedia journalism is the new frontier. As I worked on turning video stories into web stories for this course I learned that it’s not just about taking the script you wrote for broadcast and turning it into a text story. It’s about understanding the differences between the two formats and using the pros of both to your advantage. So now when I change a video story into a web story I know that I can go longer in length, that I can have longer quotes or add in more details to paint a picture in the reader’s mind of a particular component in the story–since they have no footage to look at.
I’d like to take the things I learned in this course and continue to make use of them as I move forward in my career following graduation. Even if I am not hired to be a multimedia journalist I know that I can still offer up these skills to my employer and make a great video for them, no matter the topic. In addition I can also continue to make videos for myself or others as a freelancer.
My standup from project 2 in this course.