Injured Cyclist Has Message to Spread

[newsphotoggirl]

This was a day turn. Edited in about an hour.

I've been shooting full-time a little over a year now. I need some tips!!

Thanks!

http://www.lex18.com/videos/cyclist-recovering-after-being-hit-by-car-has-message-to-spread/

 

[Media Offline]

I noticed a couple of little trivial things... 1- The reflector, or whatever was lighting up the reporter's right side was not holding steady, so that was a little distracting to me... 2-The cuts were super, super.. uber fast, my eyes hardly had time to focus on the bike, or the guy's road rash, and BANG!- you were on to the next clip...BANG-BANG-BANG!!.. I'd slow it down a bit, and let the viewer see just how much it sucks to be hit by a car.

 

[cyndygreen1]

From my perspective the editing, while fast, was not following a beat or pace. It seemed random....just a series of shots quickly put up. Whenever you do that you need to have a pattern or some underlying sense to make it work (so it works below conscious level).

The quick pan across his face was too quick...this story is a reflection/a look back at a traumatic event. IMHO it should be paced slower when we are looking back (but okay to be fast paced when describing the action of the event).

Try this: right at the end of the interview, when the reporter begins to say, "He spent four days in the hospital," hold the shot of his face when you hear "he spent" and then cut to a slow move over the damaged bike for "four days in the hosptial" and then hold the bike shot over him saying, "I do remember..."

One of the problems with using a lot of quick cuts is you need a LOT of creative shots that are different to make it work. You were working with a lot of fairly similar shots that had a sense of repetition.

Remember...each story has a mood and requires a different approach. (I did enjoy the story itself.)

 

[Tom Servo]

I agree with the above posters.

To add to the pan-across-the-face comment, the camera should mimic the eye. When's the last time you stuck your nose 6 inches in front of someone's face and then moved your head from left to right while staring at them? I thought not, so don't do it with the camera

Same with the later pan. There was no reason for it. I don't need to see the rest of his living room. Has nothing to do with the story, and again you have a pan that isn't following any motion.

 

[MikeW]

I have some questions about the story itself; I don't recall you mentioning the street or highway name where the incident took place. It did appear to be a busy area. What time of day did you shoot--Did it represent the time of the accident? What was the posted speed limit? In one shot, there were bicycles riding on what looked like the sidewalk or is that a bike path?

What do other cyclist think of the biking in your area? Are there city ordinaces about bikes on the streets/highways?

What was the cause of the accident? Was it a cellphone talker? Sun in the eyes? Bike not able to be seen?

 

[Latin Lens]

Okay...right off the bat its edited way too fast for no apparent reason or purpose. Do you even know why you edited that fast? Trying to get as much in as possible? Because there's a few ways to achieve that if thats the case but you need a structure approach with your reporter to do it properly...or it turns out like this did. So you need to know that edits should be placed on prepositions or at a natural pause in a reporters track. So if your reporter writes faster, then you can edit faster...but it needs to be well thought out because the viewer needs time to soak in the images with their eyes. Pans to nowhere...pans from nowhere are useless. Stop getting into habit of using them much less even shooting them. This is a very weak story overall because there's not enough info in it...not any peripheral sound...very repeatitive shooting/shots. Expand more, move more. You had a whole highway or busy street to work with and it looks like you stood on one corner(area) and shot all your b-roll. I will assume from the market that you're starting out so you need to develop some better fundamentals before trying advanced photography. Keep posting for regualr critiques...its the only way to get better.

 

[Oldhuskie]

Besides the other stuff mentioned before. Take the time to run the mike up the shirt and put it to the side the the person is talkking too. This might be a small thing but makes the interview look a little better.

 

[newsphotoggirl]

Thanks for the Comments!!

Thanks so much for all the good tips!

I admit that I tried something new with the fast edits and I obviously didn't quite understand how to execute it. I'll be sure to move around more, get more creative shots and think about where I should actually put the cuts.

Cyndy- Thank you for the very specific comment on where to place my shots with the interview sound! So helpful!

Media Offline - I was holding a reflector. It was noon and super windy. I needed the reflector to get rid of the shadows on the reporter's face but I clearly couldn't keep it steady. The reflector I have is huge: 3ft X 3ft. Any tips on using it when there's wind or any tricks that will keep it from turning into a wind sail?

Tom Servo and Latin Lens- Thank you so much on the "pans to nowhere" comment. I never thought about it that way; I just thought it was good to have a pan/tilt to add some variety or movement to a shot. I'll definitely think before I pan/tilt and make sure there's a reason behind it.

MikeW- The reporter mentioned the street name/highway in his intro. We shot everything outside around noon, although the accident took place in the evening around 5 or 5:30. It would have still been bright outside at 5 since the package aired at the end of September or early October. The speed limit on that road is 55. In the time we were there, that bicyclist on the sidewalk was the only one I had seen so I grabbed that shot.

A nightside reporter and photog continued the story for the late night news. They followed a group of cyclists who were friends of the rider/heard about the ax. A big group of them rode from the victim's house and took his regualr path to work and back to help raise awareness of cyclists on the road and money for the victim's medical bills. Our package aired at 6 and the nightside at 11.

Cause of the accident: I know the woman that hit him had been drinking. The reporter, for some reason didn't put that in the story.

Old Huskie- Thanks for watching! I couldn't run a mic up the guy's shirt because he was in a back brace since 3 of his back vertebrates had been destroyed in the bike ax. I didn't know where else to put it.

Thanks so so much for watching and for all the good advice!!!!

 

[cyndygreen1]

The reflector I have is huge: 3ft X 3ft. Any tips on using it when there's wind or any tricks that will keep it from turning into a wind sail?

NPG - Although I worked with larger reflectors, my mainstay was a 20". Big enough to light up a face but not unwieldy in the wind. (small is good)