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East Hartford Middle School
April 11, 2006
Date posted: April 11, 2005
School: East Hartford Middle School
Town: East Hartford
Slug: "PE Choice Program"
Status: Re-submit
Length: :40
DELIVERY: There was not enough voice over to critique delivery. The stand up was in a good location but remember it should be more than just a tag out with the reporter's name. The stand up should summarize the story in some way.
INTERVIEWS: Great sound bite about yoga. Be sure to show who is speaking. You should have a few seconds of establishing shot showing who is being interviewed. You also need to introduce the interviewee. Who are we listening to?
ORIGINALITY: Interesting school story.
WRITING: There wasn't much writing in this story. The writing needs to introduce the hook and then answer who, what, when, where, why and how. Your interviews should support and add to the voiceover. The story needs to be set up. The interviews just starts and we don't know who is talking or what they are talking about. Tell us what other choices students have in the program. When did the program start?
VIDEO: Good selection of shots, but more footage is needed. Always use a tripod. Lose the graphics. Add 5 seconds of pad at the beginning and end of the story.
AUDIO: Make sure your levels are consistent. Your first interview was very low.
EDITING: Don't use dissolves or supers. News stories use straight cuts.
OVERALL: Good start to a story. Right now the story runs about 40 seconds. It should be 50 seconds from the start of the voiceover to the end of the voiceover/stand up. Use your extra time to set up your story and answer the questions. Work on your writing and take out the dissolves and graphics. Re-work and re-submit so we can air.
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Date posted: April 11, 2005
School: East Hartford Middle School
Town: East Hartford
Slug: "8th Grade Graduation"
Status: Re-submit
Length: :47
DELIVERY: Good tone and diction. Don't say reporting live. Remember this is not a live shoot and the story will be aired at a later date.
INTERVIEWS: Good choices and nice job introducing the interviewees. An interview with a student would have been a nice addition to the story.
ORIGINALITY: Ok.
WRITING: Pretty good, but don't forget to answer why. Why are schools across the state doing away with 8th grade graduation? This is an important part of the story.
VIDEO: Make sure you focus your camera. Your stand up was very blurry. More B-roll is needed.
AUDIO: Keep the audio level. The voiceover was much louder than the interviews. Also, be careful not to "pop your P's". That happens when you are to close to the microphone.
EDITING: Don't use dissolves. They are not generally used in news stories. Dissolves, wipes, pushes, and those types of edits are used more for promotional pieces or ads. News stories use straight cuts. Roll footage over your interviews when your cut between the same shot. This will cover a jump cut.
OVERALL: Good try. Right now the story is only 47 seconds. It should be 50 seconds from the start of the voiceover to the end of the voiceover/stand up. Use your extra time to answer why. Work on adding more footage and tightening up the story. There needs to be 5 seconds of pad at the start and end of the story. We use that in post-production.
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Date posted: April 11, 2005
School: East Hartford Middle School
Town: East Hartford
Slug: "Dodgeball"
Status: Re-submit
Length: :50
DELIVERY: Slow down and work on enunciation.
INTERVIEWS: A student and the gym teacher were very good choices. Be selective on what sound bites you pick for the story. The gym teacher gave some great information, but the first part of his interview could have been used as part of the voiceover. A better clip would have started with "Played the right way, with the right ball…." That second part gave his opinion and worked well.
ORIGINALITY: Interesting. Good newsworthy story.
WRITING: Be clear from the start on what the story is about. Was dodgeball recently banned at EHMS? Is it something that the school board is discussing doing away with? Is this in reaction to a national trend away from dodgeball? Use some facts to back up your writing. Work on writing into your interviews.
VIDEO: Good shots. Story could use more B-roll. If you roll it over your interviews it will cover jump cuts and keep the viewer interested. Always use a tripod. Don't use supers. They interfere with the wrapper we add in post-production. More
AUDIO: Always use a microphone.
EDITING: Be careful when editing together two sound bites. You need to cover up your cut with footage. If you don't it looks like a video glitch. Using more footage will help with the overall editing of your story. Some other shots that could be added would be students taking out the balls from the cart, lacing up their sneakers, etc.
OVERALL: Good topic for an interesting news piece. Work on your writing. Set up your story and the hook. Then write to the hook by answering who, what, where, when, why and how. Take out the supers and add more footage. This is the start to a good story. Please re-work and re-submit.
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Date posted: April 11, 2005
School: East Hartford Middle School
Town: East Hartford
Slug: "ID Rule"
Status: Re-submit
Length: :42
DELIVERY: Good. Nice pace.
INTERVIEWS: Introduce your interviews. Who are we hearing from? Either paraphrase or add info to the piece when you are writing into your interview. For example, "Mark Smith, Superintendent, feels the Ids are an important step toward improving safety at East Hartford Middle School". The interviews could have been shortened. Be selective as to what part of the interview you use as the sound bite. The first interview would have been strong starting at "We can look at a person and know in a minute if they belong here". The information he gave at the beginning of the interview could have been used as part of your voiceover. The information from the second interview might have been better as part of the voice over and a better interviewee would have been a student. How do students feel about wearing Ids?
ORIGINALITY: Very newsworthy!
WRITING: Don't start your story with an interview. First you need to set up the story and then introduce the interview. Also, if you shorten your interviews it will give you more time to answer important questions in your voiceover. When was this new policy passed? Why was it instated? Remember to answer who, what, where, when, why and how. You did a nice job covering how, who, what and where. Don't forget when and why.
VIDEO: Good job showing students walking around the halls with the IDs on. You needed more B-roll. There should be a variety of close ups, medium and wide shots. Also, don't film your stand up against a bare wall. Try to find a location that is more interesting and fits with the story.
AUDIO: Good, but be sure to use a microphone on your interviews.
EDITING: More B-roll will help with the overall editing process. Use B-roll to cover any jump cuts. You had a jump cut in your second interview.
OVERALL: Good start to an interesting story. This story clocks in at about 42 seconds. It should be 50 seconds from the start of the voiceover to the end of the voiceover/stand up. Use this extra time to answer the questions when and why. Work on the writing and add more B-roll. Switch the first voiceover shot with the first interview and that will help with the flow of the story. Please re-work so we can get this on the air.
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Date posted: April 11, 2005
School: East Hartford Middle School
Town: East Hartford
Slug: "Intramural Sports"
Status: Re-submit
Length: :25
DELIVERY: There was not enough voice over to critique delivery. The stand up was in a good location but remember it should be more than just a tag out with the reporter's name. The stand up should summarize the story in some way.
INTERVIEWS: Good choices, but they need to be set up and introduced. Who are they?
ORIGINALITY: Why is this newsworthy? Has there been a lack of after school programs for East Hartford youth? Was this a new program recently instated at East Hartford Middle School? This could be a unique story, but it depends on what the hook is.
WRITING: There was no writing in this story. The writing needs to introduce the hook and then answer who, what, when, where, why and how. Your interviews should support and add to the voiceover. The story needs to be set up. The interview just starts and we don't know who is talking or what they are talking about.
VIDEO: Use B-roll. You should shoot about 30 minutes worth of video. This will make the editing process easier and give you lots of shots to work with. You need 10-15 different shots to make the story interesting. Each shot should last about 3 seconds and then move on to a different shot. Show us shots of students playing different spots. Close ups of the equipment or kids putting on their sneakers.
AUDIO: Always use a microphone!
EDITING: Use B-roll to cover the jump cuts in your interviews. Do not use dissolves. They are not generally used in news stories. Dissolves, wipes, pushes, and those types of edits are used more for promotional pieces or ads. News stories use straight cuts.
OVERALL: This story is way to short. It is only 25 seconds. It should be 50 seconds from the start of the voiceover to the end of the voiceover/stand up. Write a voiceover to cover the hook of the story. Find footage to support the story. Also, remember to add 5 seconds of pad to the beginning and end of the story.
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Date posted: April 11, 2005
School: East Hartford Middle School
Town: East Hartford
Slug: "Cookie Cart"
Status: Re-submit
Length: :47
DELIVERY: Good.
INTERVIEWS: Great choices, but don't cut them off too early. We missed the answer to "why" you have a cookie cart.
ORIGINALITY: Ok.
WRITING: Nice job setting up the story and writing about the process of manufacturing the cookies. Remember to answer who, what, where, when, why and how. We still don't know why you have a cookie cart. What is the money raised going towards? Is it helping a non-profit group or is it to get new things for the classroom? This is a very important element of the story that was left out.
VIDEO: Very good shots. Nice job showing the cookies being made. Show us the actual cart. The story was about the cookie cart but we never saw it. Don't use supers. We don't allow supers on Student News stories. It interferes with the wrapper we add in post-production.
AUDIO: Always use a microphone. Watch levels to be sure they are consistent throughout.
EDITING: Don't use the fancy transitions. Those dissolves should not be used in a news story. Be careful not to cut off your interviews. Let the teacher finish explaining what the cookie cart is for. That will help with the writing by answering that question and bring you closer to 50 seconds. Remember you need 5 seconds of pad at the beginning and end of the story. We need this to prepare the story for broadcast.
OVERALL: Good start for a story. Take out the dissolves and use sharp cuts. Let the teacher's interview play so we can hear what the answer to why is and add the pad to the beginning and end of the story. Also, please remove the supers from the video. Please re-submit with those changes.
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Date posted: April 11, 2005
School: East Hartford Middle School
Town: East Hartford
Slug: "Homwork Hurts"
Status: Re-submit
Length: :50
DELIVERY: Nice job. Good job on location of stand up and creativity.
INTERVIEWS: Great choices. Very nice sound bite from the student. Be careful not to let your interviews tell the story. If you shorten up some of the other sound bites you will be able to add more information to your voiceover.
ORIGINALITY: Good.
WRITING: You need to determine the hook of the story in order to write. Once you figure out the hook then you need to answer who, what, where, when, why and how. Is the hook that the amount of homework has increased over the past few years or is it a complaint that has been raised at school board meetings? You also need to balance your story. Right now the interviews all support the opinion that the amount of homework is fine. An interview with a student or parent whose child isn't getting enough rest because they have so much work would help balance the story. Also, work on writing into your interviews. You introduced your sound bite by saying "he explains…", but that doesn't add to the story. Either paraphrase or add info to the piece when you are writing into your interview. For example, "Joe Smith is one East Hartford student who feels homework is essential ".
VIDEO: Use more B-roll. This will make the story more interesting. Some good shots would have included students in a computer lab or after school working on homework. Some close ups could have included someone using a calculator, books or papers really would have added to the story. Make sure your story has 5 seconds of pad at the beginning and end of the story. This will help us in post-production.
AUDIO: Use a microphone on all interviews. It was hard to hear them.
EDITING: Take out the dissolves. They are not generally used in news stories. Dissolves, wipes, pushes, and those types of edits are used more for promotional pieces or ads. News stories use straight cuts. Use B-roll over your interviews after a few seconds of establishing shots. More footage will help with your overall editing. If you have a tight shot you can use that in between instead of a dissolve.
OVERALL: Great try! Good story topic. Take out the dissolves and add 5 seconds of pad to the beginning and end so that we can get this story on the air. For your next story shoot lots of footage and remember to write to the hook.
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Date posted: April 11, 2005
School: East Hartford Middle School
Town: East Hartford
Slug: "Rigorous Ropes"
Status: Re-submit
Length: :48
DELIVERY: Good job! Nice pace and good job enunciating.
INTERVIEWS: Good choice. Great job writing into the sound bite. We would suggest rolling some B-roll over the interview after the establishing shot. This keeps viewers interested and doesn't leave them looking at the same shot of the interviewee for too long.
ORIGINALITY: Very unique.
WRITING: Good job! Nice set up the story. Good work covering all the important questions. Very easy to follow
VIDEO: Good. Would have been great to see students on the ropes course. Action shots would have really added to the video. Always use a tripod. That will keep your footage steady. Do not use graphics or supers in your news stories. We add a wrapper to the story in post-production so we don't want to clutter the screen. A much better location for a stand up would have been at the ropes course. It would have been great to see the reporter at the ropes course in the gear.
AUDIO: Good job keeping the levels consistent.
EDITING: Pretty good. When you edit make sure you roll B-roll over your cuts. It looks like a glitch if you don't. For example, when the girl you interviewed was done you added another bite from her. If you had rolled B-roll over that cut we would not see the jump cut because it would be covered.
OVERALL: Very good story. Great job on the writing and nice shots. We really liked this story, but it has to be 50 seconds in length. This story is only 48 seconds right now. It should be 50 seconds from the start of the voiceover to the end of the voiceover/stand up. On occasion we can borrow from a front and/or end pad to make up the difference, but you did not include pad. Also, remove the graphics from the story. The wrapper will interfere with the graphics on air. Please add 5 seconds of video/natural sound pad to the beginning and end of the story, remove the graphic, and re-submit. We would love to get this story on the air.
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