Bad Bus Drivers

Deft Depth

Active member
This was a sweeps piece from last November. Rip it to shreds, ladies and gents.

[b-rollTV]1143[/b-rollTV]
 

msmucf

Member
Overall not bad I think a couple of things could have been different.
I thought the peace dragged and was a little long. Ill just go though and make notes as I watch. I like the kids backlit, but maybe get some other angle. I was not a fan of the music at the start. I would not have used any or used another hit during the package. I liked some of the lighting effects. I did not like the sit-down interview seeing the light stands. (You guys must be fan of the lowel lights) I would have also shot the reporter asking the questions one more time from over his shoulder or at least faked it, also on that note your OTS behind him brook axis. May also get some cuts of his hands or what ever. Also the background is not bad, but I would have tried to get the background out of focus with some massive DOF, just pull that camera way back zoom in, open up that iris, and click that ND filter on. You can put some blackwrap on the blue and cut slits in it to put a pattern on the wall. Also if you had an extra lapel or some thing I would have miced my reporter. Or this is where you can fake it again. As for your shots, I don't know what you had to work in the field but there were alot of wide shots. It would have been cool to get more close ups of maybe the stop sign popping out. Lots of close up and then slow mo the flashing lights. It seamed like you wanted to make it dramatic and I think some slowmos would have helped that. Like I said above that stop sign popping off the side of the bus real slow. I like the shot of the bus in the side mirror of the moving car, that looks nice. Your 2shot in the front yard of that house with the woman in the dress and reporter in the red I would have gone way back and gone low or tried to get a pan or tilt into them or get them walking together or some thing like that. To me is just seams to jump a bit going into the close up. I also liked the stand up in the edit bay, but I am trying to think. The location really to me did not do anything for the package. On that note I am just one man take it for what it is just my thoughts and ideas. I know my shooting level is nowhere close to some of the guys and gals on here.

Best of luck!
 

NEWSSHOOTER3

Well-known member
Quick Notes

There were a lot of dissolves?
Music turned me off... early.
Docs could have been better... maybe long angle?
Editing was acceptable.
Lighting was not bad. Nice job.
Closer worked.

All-in-all, the music, close to the top, made me uncomfortable, but the shooting was on line. But, I'm guessing... the "scary" music was an "outside" decision...?


Enjoyable...
 

NEWSSHOOTER3

Well-known member
Uno

The standup could have either been broken up, or motion on the static shot of her... just being "critique...ish".... :)
 

bluffton

Well-known member
:DWell shot pkg overall. I didn't like the music, it gave a bias against the driver. Try and create something with traffic and kids nats together to "drive" your point. Experiment with it. Music is for features and even then... only if it's a musician (my opinion anyway).

Decent shot selection, even though you ran out of shots (the story was entirely toooooooooooooo long.

:confused:Journalistically... who cares. I felt like your reporter was on a witch hunt. The state says it's okay, the school system says it's okay, and a judge made it go away, but because two woman and a reporter think differently... come on? Why was this story done? She plead guilty to a charge no worse than a speeding ticket. Really, how seriously dangerous is this woman?

There are much bigger fish to fry than a bus driver who screwed up a while ago. Find me a bus driver who has a few DUI's. That will get my attention. Or a driver topping off his/her tank at the school districts fueling station. (sorry rant over)

:)Anyway, it looked good. Cheers to you for working your tail off:D

-Anthony Mirones
 
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Deft Depth

Active member
Thankyou everyone for your responses. I agree that the story was too long, and that the music wasn't necessary. But what can I say? My reporter was super gung-ho about this story, and as far as she was concerned her vision was met.

I went into the story knowing what kind of shots I wanted and how I wanted to edit my sequences, etc...but the longer I got into the package, the harder it was to keep everything cohesive. It definately drags.

Thanks for the compliments on the lighting, I take a good bit of pride in that. NEWSSHOOTER3, can you explain "long angle" a little bit more in reference to shooting docs?
 

NEWSSHOOTER3

Well-known member
Just a Thought...

Thanks for the compliments on the lighting, I take a good bit of pride in that. NEWSSHOOTER3, can you explain "long angle" a little bit more in reference to shooting docs?
Just at thought, but shooting the documents, specifically the EXACT line you want, from farther away will highlight that line, while leaving the surrounding lines out of focus... if that makes sense...? You may even use you 2x, if you have one...?

Or THIS example. Here I use two tape boxes to "bleed" the light onto the line that I wanted to highlight.
 
I thought the piece was really pretty good. I agree with newsshooter on most everything in regards to this piece. I really did not like the music, but sometimes the people with offices do.
 
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