HUMAN INTEREST STORY/FEATURE Day 1: a) Brief explanation about determinants. b) students choose groups. c) pick a story (about a person) that has one determinant and has LOTS OF video you can and are willing to get. Day 2: a) Schedule a 15 minute interview appointment for tomorrow (Take 10 minutes to get that done or do on own time). b) Do slides 7 (questions part), 10 (not audio), & 11. c) Talk about finding an angle to the story. d) Make questions that fit that angle. Day 3: a) Interview day. –25 pt homework? b) Log footage if they get done early. Day 4: a) SECRET INTERVIEW DAY FOR LAZY KIDS. b) Log footage—25pt homework. Day 5: a) Watch Feature: b) Kids get into their groups and answer one of these assigned questions: How does Boyd make a creative introduction? How does Boyd appeal to the viewer? How does Boyd structure the body of his story? How does Boyd creatively conclude his story? c) Debrief their findings and elaborate. d) Show bad example and have kids explain why it’s bad, in relation to what they said was good in part (c).

HUMAN INTEREST STORY/FEATURE Day 6: a) Finish a story draft. b) Plan when you will shoot b-roll (cannot be during class tomorrow)—you have two days… 2 nd half of day 8 and all of day 9. Day 7: a) Give kids a task: Half class count b-roll, half class count shown interviews + standup. Maybe have kids select two videos they will watch as a class; have them pick from Wayne Freedman, Boyd Huppert, or Bob Dotson. b) Determine the ratio between seeing a speaker talking and seeing B-roll. c) Read this as a class or on phones: d) How does your ratio match the ratio from the article? E) Make a list of shots you want to get about your topic—remember, wide, medium, and tight—use script to help anticipate the visuals. Day 8: a) Discuss a standup. B) review several in action and have students discover the trends among them. C) B-roll day –30 mins of B-roll—at least 30 shots, not including SOT, 50 pt homework? Day 9: a) B-roll day. b) Find good takes of the b-roll. Day 10: a) Do polishing words activity: lead the work as a class but do the activities in student’s news groups. b) Assess b-roll: students place it all on premiere timeline (30 mins? = 10pts, Different subjects/objects filmed = 20pts, Wide, mids, tights of each subject? = 20pts)

HUMAN INTEREST STORY/FEATURE Day 11: a) Fix script to mirror polishing words ideals. Day 12: a) Record V.O. b) Find best B-roll and make small sequences. Day 13: a) Listen to a news feature’s NATSOT with eyes closed. b) Watch it with eyes open. c) Have kids explain what NATSOT does for the story (i.e. tells the story without words…acts to link pieces of the story together…etc.) + talk about how one should understand what a story is about just by listening to the NATSOT. b) Assemble edit while applying NATSOT principles. Day 14: a) Rough Cut Day 15: a) Fine Cut Day 16: a) Picture lock Day 17: a) Export

SHAPING A NEWS FEATURE PT. 1: PREPARING FOR THE STORY PT. 2: GOING ON LOCATION PT. 3: ORCHESTRATING THE PARTS

PREPARING FOR THE STORY PT. 1

PICK A TOPIC How many determinants does it have? The more it has, the more newsworthy it is. Choose topics with two or more determinants.

PREPARING THE IDEA Select one or two people to interview. Who has the best information about the topic? Create questions that will uncover the topic. Make them open ended. i.e. cannot be answered with a yes or no At a minimum, cover the 5W’s & 1H. Make meeting arrangements. Interview time Follow time

ANTICIPATE THE VISUALS Great visuals are a story’s backbone. Words only support them. List the shots you should record. What pictures will reveal your topic? SEQUENCE, SEQUENCE, SEQUENCE!!!! Wide, medium, tight, tighter, tightest Solid planning offers: Comprehensive coverage for the edit Flexibility to get unique shots as they arise

GOING ON LOCATION PT. 2

SHOOT THE INTERVIEW Visuals: Frame the subject in an MCU, single. Get CU’s as needed. Audio: Record clean sound with these: lavaliere or shotgun microphones and headphones. AVOID STICKS. GET ROOM TONE!!!!!!!!!

TIPS TO GET EDITABLE INTERVIEW CONTENT Coax the interviewee to speak in sound bites. SOUND BITE DEFINITION: A short, concise, intelligent, and impactful thought, delivered into one to three sentences. Tell interviewee to restate their question into their answer. Re-ask the question if the response wanders: “That’s a really great answer. Could you maybe say that again in a slightly different way?” Interviewee will usually retell it better and shorter.

SHOOT THE FOLLOW DEFINITION: Shoot the interviewee doing something relevant to the story. E.G. If they organize Toys for Tots, get them collecting donations, making phone calls to donors, or giving the toys to kids. Visuals: Refer to the shot list. Use it as a checklist. Get other cool shots of relevant action. Wide, medium, tight, tighter, tightest Audio: Same as the interview.

SHOOT THE STAND-UP STAND-UP DEFINITION: The appearance of the reporter. While frequently done standing and walking, they don’t need to be.

STAND-UP STYLE Shoot at the location of the action. e.g. Be near a Toys for Tots collection bin. It’s best kept short. Shoot several different versions. It is used to smoothen a transition point. NOT AT THE BEGINNING AND/OR END—THAT’S WEAK.

ORCHESTRATING THE PARTS PT. 3

THE BEGINNING TRANSFORMATION FROM TOPIC TO STORY. Center the story around the interviewee. Viewers relate to people. There is a central character within every good story. Organize the outline. Remember the hey, you, see, so format.

THE CONTINUING TRANSFORMATION FROM TOPIC TO STORY Envision how to CONDENSE the interviews. Find the best sound-bites. Fashion bridges. DEFINITION: Narration that leads in to and out from a sound bite. This connects the storylines Do the above while keeping the hey, you, see, so style.

THE CONCLUDING TRANSFORMATION FROM TOPIC TO STORY Revise your writing Make sentences active. Subject + verb + the rest of the sentence Avoid sentences the require commas If you can say it in fewer sentences, do it. Replace weak verbs or linking verbs with action verbs whenever possible. Fix clichés. Only time will tell. No one knows for sure. There’s no end in sight. It was business as usual. Etc, etc, etc….