Dag Hammerskjold Middle School
May 1, 2007
Date: May 1, 2007
School: Dag Hammarskjold Middle School
Town: Wallingford
Slug: "I Have a Friend Youth Center"
Status: Re-Submit
Length: 50
DELIVERY: Nice job on the opening. Work on being comfortable with the copy. Take a few takes of the stand up to be sure you get a good one.
INTERVIEWS: Always use a microphone. The stand up used a microphone but nothing else. There was too much background noise in the interviews. It was a good idea to talk about the leader of the group, but we need to see her. You had a shot of something else and then we did not see or hear from her until the end of the story.
ORIGINALITY: Good topic for a story.
WRITING: It was hard to evaluate because of the audio issues. The open and close were good. You introduced someone the start that we didn't hear from until the end. Make sure your introductions are right before the sound bite.
VIDEO: Always use a tripod. There were some shaky shots. Good lighting.
AUDIO: The background sound was way too loud. Take the microphone off of the camera and put it close to the person you are interviewing. Make sure the microphone is close enough to have good audio.
EDITING: The editing needed to be tighter. There were places that had gaps between the sound bite and the voiceover and others that overlapped too much
OVERALL: Re-do the interviews with a microphone. Re-shoot with a tripod to get steady B-roll and work on the editing. Also, there should be 5 seconds of B-roll pad at the beginning and end of the story. We use that pad in post-production.
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Date: March 9, 2007
School: Dag Hammarskjold Middle School
Town: Wallingford
Slug: "American Silver Museum"
Status: Broadcast
Length: 50
DELIVERY:
INTERVIEWS:
ORIGINALITY:
WRITING:
VIDEO:
AUDIO:
EDITING:
OVERALL: Good job re-editing and shooting a new interview.
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Date: February 19, 2007
School: Dag Hammarskjold Middle School
Town: Wallingford
Slug: "American Silver Museum"
Status: Re-Submit
Length: 50
DELIVERY: Nice job. Confident and easy to understand.
INTERVIEWS: Good choice of interviewee, but the sound bite didn't really add to the story. Look for your strongest sound bite. It is a good time to add some emotion to the story. Maybe he is thrilled to see this museum open if it has been a long time coming. Is there a reason this town was selected for the museum?
ORIGINALITY: Great story selection. Very newsworthy.
WRITING: Nice job telling the story. Well written.
VIDEO: Be aware of lighting. There was a huge shadow on the interviewees face. It was very distracting. Also, the subject was looking too far off camera. He should be looking just off camera.
AUDIO: Your introduction had too much ambient sound. Always use a mic.
EDITING: You story needs to have 5 seconds of B-roll pad on the open and close. It is necessary for post-production. The story is filled with fades. News stories use straight cuts. These need to be changed to straight cuts.
OVERALL: Great story selection and nice job telling it. There are a few problems that need to be addressed to make it ready for broadcast. Please add 5 seconds of B-roll pad and swap out the fades for straight cuts. If you re-shot the interview with better lighting and re-did the audio on the open this would considered as a nominee for the WCCC and Courant categories.
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Date: April 6, 2006
School: Dag Hammarskjold Middle School
Town: Wallingford
Slug: "Choate Adaptive Skating"
Status: Re-Submit
Length: :50
DELIVERY: Good. Nice pace.
INTERVIEWS: Nice choice of interviewee. It would have worked better if you just used the clip about how many participate. The beginning of the interview did not add to the story. Also, you do not need to include your question in the interview. Write into the interview. A second interview with on of the participants would have really added to the story.
ORIGINALITY: Great story idea!
WRITING: Remember that this story will not be shown live. The writing was done as if this was a live shot. Instead of saying "Hi, we're here …" you can just start out saying "At Choate skating rink…" . Find a strong first line to grab your audience's attention.
VIDEO: The shots you have are good, but you need more. Shoot a lot of B-roll. You were on the same wide shot for too long. Some close ups of someone putting on skates or going out on the ice would really add to the story.
AUDIO: It was very hard to hear the interview. Try to record your interview in a place with less background noise. Off the ice with the rink behind you would have still left the skating in the background, but may have cut down on the ambient noise. Holding the microphone closer will also help decrease the ambient sound. Was there a different person doing the voice over than doing the interviews? The voice sounded like it was two different people.
EDITING: Dissolves are not generally used for news stories. You kept dissolving to the same shot. It was very distracting. Use sharp, crisp cuts.
OVERALL: You have a great start for a story. Work on incorporating more footage, work on rewriting the script so it does not seem like a live shots, and take out the dissolves. Please re-submit so we can get this story on the air. Also, remember you should have 5 seconds of video/audio pad at the beginning and end of the story. This is necessary for post-production. Thanks.
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Evaluations for 2002-2003
Date:7/3/03
School: Dag Hammarskjold Middle School
Town: Wallingford
Slug: "K-9 Crime Stoppers"
Status: Broadcast
Length: :50
DELIVERY: Good job on voice-over and stand-up.
INTERVIEWS: Good choice on subject and sound bite.
ORIGINALITY: Interesting story with statewide appeal.
WRITING: Good job writing into and out of your sound bites and getting your facts in.
VIDEO: Good b-roll to support your story. Remember to also get plenty of medium and close-up images. This will help when you edit the piece together.
AUDIO: Good consistent levels.
EDITING: Good job matching images to your script.
OVERALL: Job well done.
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Date:7/3/03
School: Dag Hammarskjold Middle School
Town: Wallingford
Slug: Heroic Horses
Status: Broadcast
Length: :50
DELIVERY: Good. Nice job placing your stand-up on location.
INTERVIEWS: Good choices for interview subjects and nice job choosing sound bites to add to your story.
ORIGINALITY: Wonderful story with statewide appeal.
WRITING: Good job covering the facts and writing into your sound bites
VIDEO: Good b-roll used. Nice variation. Suggestion: switch the two opening shots. Start with an establishing images, then move in closer. We liked the shot of the horses feet, this is just a suggestion. Also, when framing your images and stand-up remember the rule of 3rds. And don't leave any blank (or dead) space at the top of the screen.
AUDIO: Good consistent levels
EDITING: Good job matching your script with your images.
OVERALL: You did a wonderful job covering this story.
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Date:7/3/03
School: Dag Hammarskjold Middle School
Town: Wallingford
Slug: "Paintball"
Status: Broadcast
Length: :50
DELIVERY: Your voice-over is a little fast. A first time viewer will have a little difficulty understanding each word in your script. Nice job doing your stand-up on location.
INTERVIEWS: Good
ORIGINALITY: Interesting concept.
WRITING: Good job covering the facts of the sport.
VIDEO: Nice job incorporating some of Doug's suggestions into your final project. The quick, straight shots help keep this story at a fast pace.
AUDIO: Good
EDITING: See video. Over all nice job.
OVERALL
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Date:7/3/03
School: Dag Hammarskjold Middle School
Town: Wallingford
Slug: "Trail of Terror"
Status: Re-submit
Length: :50
DELIVERY: Good job with the delivery and stand-up.
INTERVIEWS: Good choice.
ORIGINALITY: Good story with statewide appeal.
WRITING: Nice job covering the facts and writing into your soundbite.
VIDEO: There is a problem with the "borrowed" images being too dark. The shot of the skeleton with the heartbeat will be completely black when we dub down another generation in order to put the Fox 61 and WB 20 wrappers on. The shot's your team took where fine. Do you have another image you could switch out with the borrowed footage.
AUDIO: Good consistent levels.
EDITING: nice job matching the script with your images.
OVERALL: Unfortunately, we are going to have to ask you to take one more time in the editing room. See video notes. Thanks.
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Date:7/3/03
School: Dag Hammarskjold Middle School
Town: Wallingford
Slug: "Cell Phones in School"
Status: Re-submit
Length: :48
DELIVERY: Good delivery and stand-up.
INTERVIEWS: Good choice on your interview and sound bite used
ORIGINALITY: Interesting story with a timely message.
WRITING: good job.
VIDEO: More variation in your footage is needed. Currently you have a jump cut in the cafeteria footage. You have two wide angle shots from the same vantage point set together. Separate these images with a medium shot or close-up. Also, there are quite a few images of students legs and feet walking, in a :50 second story every image should be a visual support to your script. Do you have any additional footage of students (the whole student, not just their feet). It would be great if there images of students using lunch time to talk on the cell phone or pay phone. The shots should not be staged.
AUDIO: Good consistent levels. Do you have any nat sound to lay down in your pads?
EDITING: See video and audio.
OVERALL: This came in at 48 seconds with no nat sound in your pads which makes it very difficult to include the pad to make the required :50 second length needed to air. Please give this one more try in editing – you are almost there!
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Date:7/3/03
School: Dag Hammarskjold Middle School
Town: Wallingford
Slug: "Doughnuts: They're All Good"
Status: Broadcast
Length: :50
DELIVERY: Good delivery and stand-up. Note: you mention you are from Krispy Kreme's and Dunkin Donutes in your stand-up, you are actually in just one location – in this insistence, use the town name.
INTERVIEWS: Good choices. Suggestion: How about a customer with a particular loyalty.
ORIGINALITY: Very cute story.
WRITING: Good job writing into your sound bites. There is no need to say "we'll take a closer look…" Also, be careful to be objective in your wrap-up remarks in your stand-up. Consideration: What is the "hook" of your story? How many doughnuts does Connecticut consume on an annual basis? Are we a high contender for National Doughnut consumers? Connecticut loves their doughnut shops, is Krispy Kremes entry into the state sparking a debate among doughnut lovers?
VIDEO: Good b-roll to support your story.
AUDIO: Good consistent levels. Don't forget the nat sound. The doughnut machine from Krispy Kremes is a perfect place for nat sound of the machine.
EDITING: Good job matching images to your script.
OVERALL: Well done putting your elements together.
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Date:7/3/03
School: Dag Hammarskjold Middle School
Town: Wallingford
Slug: "Yale Hockey"
Status: Broadcast
Length: :50
DELIVERY: Good delivery and stand-up. Suggestion for your stand-up: only walk in a stand-up if there is a purpose to move from one location to another.
INTERVIEWS: Good choices
ORIGINALITY: Good. Interesting story with statewide appeal.
WRITING: Good job.
VIDEO: Good variance in your b-roll. Suggestion: shots of the teams playing sports.
AUDIO: Good
EDITING:
OVERALL: Nice job putting all your elements together.
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Date:7/3/03
School: Dag Hammarskjold Middle School
Town: Wallingford
Slug: "Point of Sale"
Status: Broadcast
Length: :50
DELIVERY: Good
INTERVIEWS: Good choices on your interview subjects. Nice job covering both issues.
ORIGINALITY: Interesting story.
WRITING: Good job covering the facts.
VIDEO: More variation in your images would have benefited your story. You want at least 30 minutes of images to edit down to a 1 minute story. Plenty of close-ups will help your editing as well. Ultimately, you want to have images of the items you are talking about in your script. IE: "$10 for meals and $10 for snacks" – we should see the café line for with the meals visible and the snack options visible. Always get more medium and close-ups then you think you will need.
AUDIO: good consistent levels.
EDITING: See video.
OVERALL: This was a well done piece with an interesting story.
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