Bob Dotson assignment

Read in Dotson’s book pages 55 thru 71. Then:

1. What do you find most interesting about what he says on these pages? What stands out as particularly useful to you as a storyteller? (75 words)
-I find it interesting that he uses the phrase "that give you a lump in the throat" when talking about soundbites because you can't use them all but you need to use the ones that are good and will add to your story. I also found the “Graphics” section interesting. I learned to not overuse the graphics however, it is beneficial adding in little bits of graphics that will improve and help your story. I also found interesting, or I learned, that natural sound will heighten the viewer’s sense of the story.

To answer the rest, you must visit the site for Boyd Huppert’s Land of 10,000 Stories (http://www.kare11.com/news/investigative/extras/stories.aspx). Pick two that look interesting. Watch them. Then, pick one of those and answer the following prompts about it, please:

2. What is the name of the story, and on what date did it first air?

-Singing national anthem at a Twins game is dream for hundreds; March 31, 2013

3. List and describe four instances of natural sound.
-Talking in the beginning, background singing, stadium noises, conversation between judges
4. List and describe (including the type and what they are showing) four camera shots that you find interesting.
- Tight shot of microphone, angled
- Centered, medium shot of American flag hanging
- Over the shoulder, medium shot of behind a singer showing the judges
- Low, angled shot of singers feet, showing judges from the floor angle
5. Write a possible focus statement for the story (strong verbs; no “-ing” words)
- Dreams come true
6. How does this story utilize Dotson’s “Building Blocks” (from Page 68)? Discuss a few of them, please. (100 words)
- This story utilizes Dotson’s “Building Blocks” specifically in its pictures, natural sound, and soundbites. However, it doesn’t use much graphics, not that it is needed. With the pictures and soundbites, the story tells itself and you don’t need much else to make a good story. The story does a good job of switching from the reporter talking to getting interviews of singers auditioning to sing. There were occasional silent parts that were filled with singers or just the natural sounds of a stadium. This made it so that you could get a feeling for what it was like and I enjoyed hearing some of the singers that were auditioning. 

Interviewing

1. Say first/last name and spell it. Checking microphone
2. Ask if anything else they want to add, is there a question I should have asked that I didn't
Let them fill in the silence, let there be silence

**Avoid verbal responses to the interview


Prior to doing any questioning, let them get comfortable and have a conversation with them before, off topic.

Camera shot breakdown assignment

Camera shot breakdown of The Art of violin bow making

Story title: “The Art of violin bow making”

Air date: November 23, 2012

Total run time (of story, not anchor lead-in and out): 2:28

Shot-by-shot breakdown:
1. CU of hands tying apron

2. Extreme CU of hands rolling up sleeves

3. Low/angled shot of bow maker, kind of tracking

4. CU of him sanding down wood

5. Tight shot of face

6. A different tight shot of face; rule of thirds/eyes on third apply here, interview

7. Medium shot of him making a violin, voice-over by violin maker

8. CU of his hands tapping a pole

9. Over the shoulder medium shot of him making the violin

10. Low/tight shot of him sanding off the wood; creates depth

11. CU of piece of wood

12. CU of his tools in his hands

13. Different CU of his work/the bow of the violin

14. CU of hands touching the bow hair; leads (kind of tracking) into him backing up with the bow

15. Transition to tight shot of the light fixture

16. Tracking shot down to his tool bench; angled shot from above

17. Tight shot of a tool he uses

18. Tight shot of more tools

19. CU of bows lined up

20. Tight shot of wood scraps

21. Tight shot of pieces of wood

22. CU of those same pieces of wood; blurs out

23. CU of violin piece of wood

24. Tight shot of face; interview

25. CU of violin bow

26. Tight shot of violin bow with hands; goes down the bow and creates depth

27. CU of bow and hands; straight on

28. Tight shot of face; interview

29. CU of hands working with a tool

30. Tight shot of bow; depth shot – kind of tracking; goes into him putting the bow over the fire

31. Tight shot of violin maker; interview

32. CU of him carving wood

33. Medium shot of him working on the bow at his workbench

34. CU of face; off center

35. Tight shot of him twirling the bow

36. Fades into shot of the finished bow

I thought that the camera shots were very relevant to the story because he was making a violin and they showed lots of close ups and tight shots to show you what he was doing. I noticed that they did a good job with filming intricate details on the violin to really show how it was made and the patience that it takes. There were lots of good WALLDO shots, for example, there was an angled shot of the violin maker when he was working on the violin bow. There was also a really good over the shoulder medium shot of him in the process of making the violin. Overall, I thought that it was a good story from the standpoint that there were good, interesting shots and a variety of shots.

Cross Country Story

1st We come up with a Topic:
- Cross Country Homecoming week
2nd We decide on a Focus Statement:
- Cross Country team (subject) runs (verb/action) ball far
3rd:  We Conduct Interviews to get Sound Bites to use in the interview:
- Blonde kid (cross country member) at beginning, "our Cross Country team holds traditions very dear to us".
4th We Shoot B-Roll to complement the sound bites
- Overhead shot from the helicopter when they were running down the highway, could hear their shoes while running
5th  We Shoot our stand-up
- In the middle of the story. "Organizing a 168 mile tripis no easy task in fact it got so chaotic in the end that they almost forgot the most important prop."
6th:  We Edit our story together adding Voice Overs as Seques between interviews.]
- Reporter used voice overs

WALLDO Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYWFuqXC-EI

Make it Memorable Part 2

Read, in Dotson’s book, pages 43 thru 55. Respond to what you read, and use these questions if you get stuck: What strikes you as interesting? In what ways do you agree or disagree with him? How does this fit where you are as a writer, and how will it help you become a better one?
(100 words minimum)

- One thing I found interesting about the second reading is how to make your viewers more interested in your story. I learned and found interesting that in order to intrigue your audience, you can do things like use dramatic tension or vivid imagery. This is called “How to Defeat the TV Remote Control”. I found interesting that there is such a things called gobbledygook and that you need to use an active voice that forces people to think that whatever they are watching is happening now. Something that I disagree with is conversation because I think that it’s not something that people really want to see. I tend to not use conversations because it drags on the story and is boring.


 Read this story and watch this one (a bit of a sports theme this week). Write two paragraphs (one about each) that explains how the story uses/handles at least three of these aspects. Give specific examples (100 words in each paragraph, so at least 200 total words).
- I think the article “Doing the right thing” had a lot of conversational talk but I think that it was interesting and it kept me intrigued. It helped me understand what was really going on and gave me a good idea of what everyone was thinking and feeling. Another thing used was the active voice that made you want to keep reading the article to find out what was going to happen next. The third thing was the surprises that the article had. The surprises included how the boys got the money for the winning shot, but how later they gave the money back to do the right thing, which was really surprising.

- For the news story about the football family, it had the persuasion of how to defeat the TV remote control. It was a really engaging story from the beginning and made you want to keep watching. It was interesting and intrigued you right from the beginning with the mom crying. Also surprises was a big one because it was so surprising that they had been watching football for that long and that they had 12 boys that all played football, along with 49 grandkids. Lastly,active voice was in the story with the reporter being able to have this, it made things sound more interesting and made you want to watch until the end.

Stand Ups/Break in Video

Watch: Break In Video

Answer the following questions on your blog:
1.  What is the lead in this story?  Does it intrigue you to keep watching?
It's hard to imagine a break-in happening in a quiet neighborhood. Yes, it intrigues me because I want to know what they are talking about and what happened.
2.  What are the 5W's of this story:  Who, What, Where, When, Why
Who- Heather Berg
What- Someone came through the dog door to break into her house
When- A few weeks ago, it didn't really say
Where- Her house, in a quiet neighborhood. A block away of 31st and Julian
Why-The doggie door was broke into and kicked in
3.   Give an example of the reporters Voice over or seque (Write it down word for word)
"It's hard to imagine something like this could happen in a quiet neighborhood"
4.  When do we see the reporter's stand-up?  Beginning, Middle, or End?
Middle, walking on the side walk.
5.  What is the purpose of this reporter's stand-up?
The reporter takes us to another spot other than the house broken into. Also to put a face to the reporter's voice.

Discuss the purposes of Stand-UPS:
- Move story forward
- Reporter becomes B-roll
- Take me to the scene
- Use props
- Be creative and surprise us