New packages, looking for tips from the pros!

So I finally got a few packages uploaded in order to post them online for critique. These are a few packages from my save tape I've aquired over the last few months. The subject matter for all of them is pretty light but that's about par for our market. Feel free to comment on any or all of them.

I haven't posted anything in a long time and have been reading all the critiques you guys have been giving all the other less experienced photogs on here and trying to go from that. I also have 2 great photogs here in house who must have well over 30 years experience between the two. I have been shooting now about 9 months and am constantly looking to improve so let me have it! :cool:

4H Livestock Show
E-Mail Scam
Weight Loss
 

Latin Lens

Well-known member
Glad to see some new stories from you. I will begin with your 4H Livestock story....I can tell you have been working on the nat blending...sound fading...because the nats to track and nats under track were well mixed...you're doing very well there....keep that up...it seems that you got a little tight shot happy...and maybe you felt that because you weren't getting enough tight shots then that would be all you would get next time out...and sometimes you can get away with that but not in this case....you needed to put some wide shots in there to show the busy arena or back stage....to show how well attended this show was...so be careful there. If you added some wide shots the variation would have added to this story...it would have helped to make it a little bit better. I like what you're doing with your intvs....changing it up...seeing some artistic flair...and thats nice...but be mindful of how you shoot your intvs....change sides if they might be back to back...I think there were 3 back to back....all from the same side..and maybe the 3rd one was unneccesary but your reporter maybe wanted it in there....also you shot 2 intvs in the same style...avoid that so it doesn't appear to similar...thus making it boring...if all the intvs are shot thru the bars then it would lose its meaning and you don't want that...you want it to have impact so don't overuse the technique...save it for a meaningful intv that might appear heavily in the piece...but thats where you communicate with your reporter so you don't waste it. Overall...I see improvement....you're going in the right direction...now start looking for better opening and closing shots to help draw me in better and end it with more impact.
 

Latin Lens

Well-known member
Email scam...seemed a little more quick and dirty...shot in a short amount of time...and you did well...you got some cool shots....nice cam effects with the locked down macro so it blurry when you step away from the screen...good nats with the keyboard...you added some personal taste into an otherwise boring story and it helped and it was cool to see how you felt it might jazz it up to keep it interesting...just be careful when all your b-roll is of the same thing or limited because some of the edits looked odd and I am sure when you played it back for yourself you might have said "That looks weird" and you don't know why but it does and did..so try some different things if you have the time to avoid that...the opening was cool but then you cut to the screen from a different angle and it looked and felt odd and all you had to do was let that opening shot continue all the way to the first soundbite and it would have been better....in this case tight shots weren't what you needed....you needed ultra tight to help in the edit booth...grab just one or two words....or do some longer dissolves...to help feel like you had enough b-roll to work with. Another big improvement here...you're making the necessary small steps for the bigger picture.
 

Latin Lens

Well-known member
Weight loss story...again you're doing well...but sometimes you miss the obvious...here's what I mean...this is an excercise (no pun intended) when I have a little time to let my mind wonder...I think of an action.....excercise in this case and I think of all the things I possible can that define what might occur or what I might see or what adjectives help describe that word and so on so when I shot a story that is excercise related then I automatically can get the shots I have already thought about getting..no wasting time when I see it I can get it or put myself in a position to capture what I want to get....so when I think excercise I think of various workouts...kickboxing...hands punching...feet kicking...sweat dripping down faces....shirts bouncing up and down....muscles flexing....those kinds of shots would have really put you over the top...and its sooooo obvious that you can miss that sort of thing...so don't forget to shoot the obvious and the not-so-obvious...because sometimes the best shot is right in front of your face just staring at you....and when you think of all that then you will begin to see the sequence in the action and then it'll make things way easier on you to shoot b-roll. Again...I like some of the artistic shots...if you use your tripod to get them they'll be steadier and thus better....I liked your intv variation...wide and tight intvs....great job there....draw me in with better openings...maybe nat montages will help you with that...and of course a better close but I can't stress enough the strides you are making....keep it up.
 

MMrozinski

Well-known member
I'll start one at a time here, I might not have time to break down all 3 at once.

Just to start with, I'm going to try to concentrate on pure technique. At your stage you need to worry about improving yourself a bit more than being a great storyteller and understanding about writing and such. Just getting better at technique will in turn make you a better storyteller. Besides that I know at your level many of your reporters are learning as well. You should try to encourage them to find places to learn and receive critique on storytelling. Form bonds with the right people and try to push each other as best you can.

4H LIVE STOCK SHOW

Here's what I liked. A rook that left his stick mic in the car!!!! NICE! You gave me some good nat pops and I really liked a couple of your interview shots. I liked the guy on the bleachers only change up the focal length halfway through the interview. Nice job with the little girl zooming in and getting that compressed look. I didn't mind the natural framing on the kid in the red shirt but I wasn't fan of it. It was one of them shots you can get away with for one sot and thats it. The second kid you did it with was not good, it was just distracting. I like it when people do natural framing but you gotta make it meaningful.

Moving on...............

Lets hit the opening of the story. The opening shot was cut off (maybe not your fault) You made an attempt to do a nats sequence which is good but it didn't flow well. There was an edit sequence but the pictures alone did not sequence. Hypothetically, here is what I would of done off the top....

{x-Wide shot of the entire event with nats rolling under the shot saying} "welcome to the ...county live stock show" {tight shot and nat break of a pig} "oink". {Insert funny SOT oncam} "yeah it smells around here ha-ha"... {Nat break} {reporter track} "the goats," "bahhaaa"....

I'm glad to see you do a nats sequence but make sure you are actually sequencing something instead of throwing up random pictures.

A very common problem among beginners is not show your Wide/med/tights. I watched your pkg 3 times and I still don't know what that place looks like. Shoot XTRA WIDE - medium - EXTRA TIGHT and sprinkle them throughout the pkg without editing too close to the last focal length.

Another common thing you're doing is playing with the camera too much. Stop with the racks and take your hands off the tripod after you press record. Every beginner thinks that operating a camera means zooming and panning and rack focusing. Quick zooms and rack focuses have no more place in your pkg than one of those circle wipes avid can do. There has to be a reason for everything you do. Otherwise take beautiful, meaningful photographs that I could watch with the sound off and tell you what the story is about.

Lastly, you didn't have a closing shot. This was definately a story that deserved a closing shot. With the inexprience in the reporting/storytelling it really makes things tough. You can still apply and practice solid shooting and editing.

Ozkar's critique is really good. He has obviously been working with you a bit. I actually didn't read it till after I finished up mine. He pointed out some great things and was a bit more simple. haha...I get overwhlemed with this sometimes cause I want you to be the best in the world tomorrow.
 
Last edited:

MMrozinski

Well-known member
E-MAIL SCAM

I'm not familiar with your talent level at this stage but I will tell you that was a lot better and you showed some flair in your shooting and editing. I liked some of that movement in the computer shots but felt like you over used it. It was different than I'm used to seeing and you kinda made it your own and I’m alright with that. Now the overall production value of the story needs to be a lot better but it was decent for where you are at. Like LL said... it seemed quick and dirty. This is a really hard story to do. I've been handed assignments like this before and your just like "god, what am I going to cover this with!" I think you did ok here.... would still like to see you shooting tighter. I believe with a story like this you will get much better in the future after you develop a better eye and become a better editor. This is one of those stories a sick editor excels on. My partner in crime Colin McIntyre just blows my mind with stories like this… or as he would say… “this is going to melt your face off” haha. He is one of the best editors I’ve ever seen…combine that with his shooting and its wild stuff to watch. Maybe I will dig up something he did for and example.

You know I was laughing to myself cause this is the kind of stuff that I was doing in Johnstown, PA 3 or 4 years ago. You are all right... just keep evolving
 

MMrozinski

Well-known member
WEIGHT LOSS

I think you threw me off here cause you got a lot better from the 1st story to the last. You want some advice… take that first story off your save tape all together and forget you ever did it.

Now I am noticing a trend here. I want to see steady unmoved shots. Set up the tripod, frame up a pretty shot, press record, and put your hands behind your back. I’m seeing way too much unnecessary movement.

Once again, you are not showing me any wide shots. You need to establish the scene. Think like this… Super tight on hands punching then go all the way to the corner of the room and zoom out as far as you can and take a shot of the whole class working on punching. That is the edits you need to be making. Not medium of punching to medium someone yelling.

You’re still not shooting in sequences. Show me tight of a foot hopping then back off and show me 5 people hoping on their feed with a wide shot. Think like you have a 3 camera shoot only you have one camera and you have to hustle and trick me.
Really thought you improved on the interview shots. Really, really liked the guy by the lockers… very natural nice framed.

You made a solid effort to give me shot variety… I liked that. BUT having variety also means have x-Wide/med/x-tight and editing them in sequence that doesn’t come off as a jump cut.
I feel like you guys are forced to do stand-ups…. Ughh. It took you a bit too long to get to the reporter on that one. If you going to do stand-ups make them creative. I would of made the reporter get involved in the action.

I’m thinking that you guys are tape to tape. It seems like your audio editing is all over the place. If it is non-linear try doing some 5 frame audio dissolves to take the edge off your cuts.

You are doing well. I saw some nice pictures here and there in the story. Just keep working that wide med tight technique and practicing the things I mentioned. Start to get this down and then we can move on to some other things. Decent stuff though man. I can really see where you are taking our advice and putting it to work. I can’t even tell you how excited I am to see that.
 
Thanks for the thorough critiques guys. I really appreciate it. Just to clarify a few things. The 4H show is the oldest of my save pkgs and I think I just like it because it was the first pkg that I really took my game to the next level on so it's more like sentimental value I guess but I have no probelm in removing it from my reel. Also, we do edit tape to tape. We usually shoot on XDCam but the weight loss story was shot on beta cam (which I am still shooting on, my XDCam is currently down). Also, all our stuff is done in turbo-mode. All of these stories were shot in about 30 minutes to an hour and were edited in around an hour. Definately not making excuses just trying to establish daily working equipment and conditions. I still try to make the stories as good as possible and use as much of the pointers as I can and make the most out of every situation. So here's what I'm taking away from this

What to work on:
-More wide shots to throw in the mix. (I think my problem here is I find it hard to shoot creative wide shots, they all just look so bland to me. Any tips here?)
-More sequencing shots. (I know to do this. Our two vet photogs have stressed this many times, I just don't ever think about it when I'm out in the field or when editing. I just look for cool shots and lay them one after another. Will definately make a mental note to do more sequence shots though.)
-More tripod use. (I get this a lot from our two in house photogs too. I actually like alot of the OTS movement but that's probably just the rookie in me talking :))

I appreciate the tips once again. I feel the best way to get better in any field is to learn from the people have been doing it awhile and know what they are doing. I'm glad that you noticed I am putting the advice I gather on here to use because I really do try to incorporate it all. Just trying to take advantage of every resource at hand.
 

David R. Busse

Well-known member
Agreed with earlier posters on the livestock show...Matt hit the nail on the head regarding the opening. I never got a feeling for where I was--big arena or small place? Lots of people or just a few? It lacked a good closing shot.

You did an interview with the main guy up in the stands--they were empty. The place of this interview and the framing did nothing to tell me anything about this story. A better idea might have been to (a) do the interview in various parts of the show, sometimes asking the same questions 2-3 times, or (b) do the interview with something in the frame that was a bit more meaningful to the overall story. I do not like stories that move visually but keep coming back to the same SOT in the same spot, over and over. If you MUST do it that way, at least vary the framing from question to question.

Back to (a). Had you miked-up your interviewee and walked him to various places in the venue, your sound bites from this man may have also included some spontaneous nat sound of him interacting with the kids.

Loved the way you used the wireless.
 

Latin Lens

Well-known member
My answer

Thanks for the thorough critiques guys. I really appreciate it. Just to clarify a few things. The 4H show is the oldest of my save pkgs and I think I just like it because it was the first pkg that I really took my game to the next level on so it's more like sentimental value I guess but I have no probelm in removing it from my reel. Also, we do edit tape to tape. We usually shoot on XDCam but the weight loss story was shot on beta cam (which I am still shooting on, my XDCam is currently down). Also, all our stuff is done in turbo-mode. All of these stories were shot in about 30 minutes to an hour and were edited in around an hour. Definately not making excuses just trying to establish daily working equipment and conditions. I still try to make the stories as good as possible and use as much of the pointers as I can and make the most out of every situation. So here's what I'm taking away from this

What to work on:
-More wide shots to throw in the mix. (I think my problem here is I find it hard to shoot creative wide shots, they all just look so bland to me. Any tips here?)
-More sequencing shots. (I know to do this. Our two vet photogs have stressed this many times, I just don't ever think about it when I'm out in the field or when editing. I just look for cool shots and lay them one after another. Will definately make a mental note to do more sequence shots though.)
-More tripod use. (I get this a lot from our two in house photogs too. I actually like alot of the OTS movement but that's probably just the rookie in me talking :))

I appreciate the tips once again. I feel the best way to get better in any field is to learn from the people have been doing it awhile and know what they are doing. I'm glad that you noticed I am putting the advice I gather on here to use because I really do try to incorporate it all. Just trying to take advantage of every resource at hand.
Okay...you just pointed out the flaw in the entire process...that you don't have enough time...so work smarter not harder....if you shoot the sequence it makes for easy editing...you may even begin to notice that you don't need the whole hr anymore to get b-roll....it makes the whole process easier when you know what to get and how to get it. Wides don't need to be fancy to be effective...they just need to be relevant to what the track is saying or showing the viewer "where are we"...besides....its a tool in the edit booth to help break the 180 rule (along with ultra tights or tight shots shot straight on)...once you start to notice of impact then you can seek the fancy wide...shooting behind trees or leaves or fences...whatever....just practice on every shot for awhile...to not move the cam and get a tight, medium, wide...then watch it in the edit bay and you'll notice that the tight to wide can be cool to watch...it'll have more impact than a tight to medium....wide shots set the scene by showing me more of whats around the action....tight shots do the same but they take me closer to the action which helps me feel like I am there...but the wide shows me where I am at. Take the viewer there...then draw them in.
 
Take the viewer there...then draw them in.
I like that. Will keep that one in mind when I'm out shooting. I think my problem is I enjoy shooting b-roll too much. I like getting as many shots as possible and taking the whole hour to shoot. Doesn't work to my advantage I know, ecspecially when shooting on beta, and I need to start trying to shoot smarter. Also I have been working on more creative wide shots for VO's now that you mention it (shooting through trees, fences etc.) so I need to be mindful of that when out shooting pkgs. Thanks again for all the advice guys!
 

MMrozinski

Well-known member
I think you might be getting the wrong idea about creative wide shots. A great wide shot might have something like...
- foreground
- A vanishing point
- keeping your horizon line with the rule of 3rds.

You mentioned that you like shooting a bunch of cool shots. That's not necessarily the right attitude. It's good you are excited and taking pride in your photography, that is a must. You need to think of yourself as a visual storyteller (because that's what you are) and you need to take ALL the photographs that tell the story. That means taking me into the action and pulling me back to observe the scene. It took me a long time to figure out that I need to start shooting for the viewer and not for myself or other photographers. That means getting all those shots along with great sound and eliminating unnecessary quick edits and uncomfortable nat sound breaks.

Looking forward to seeing some more work.
 

Latin Lens

Well-known member
I will second what Mrozinski is saying in his above post...not every story needs artsy shots....they can help but you have to keep in mind the context of what you are shooting so that its appropriate to the story....the story itself is the important character to you...and getting interesting video is your job to support the story...interesting doesn't mean artsy or vice versa. I tend to overshoot at times but its investigative stuff so I do that because its at times time sensative...but I get the usually wide, medium, tight...then I shoot somewhat artsy (my self-titled Ozkar shots)...then I get really artsy and creative and guess what...depending on the theme of the story I may or may not use alot of what I shot...but my type of stories are a different animal than yours....overshooting is not bad but can be unncessary especially if you're trying to force someting....let whatever is happening in front of you happen and capture the essence what that action is to give the viewer the experience of being there.
 
Top