Tattoo Convention

photoguy603

Well-known member
Did this on Friday night. There's a few things I would change...I did use a bit of music...I don't do it often (second time this year). But I wanted something to give it a tad of punch. Let me know what you think!


http://bit.ly/VaxCfZ
 
Sorry for the late reply, hope you still get this...

The shooting and editing is really strong here. You have some nice shots, and some nice sequences.

As for the music, I was once told that music is a crutch. I don't believe that to always be true, but what was the purpose here? Also, it starts off at a really fast and frenetic pace, which makes the dropoff seem even more dramatic once it ends. We go from excitement to it suddenly feeling kind of dull, when it might not have felt that way otherwise.

My biggest problem here is that that story *sucks*. I know that's probably not your fault, and probably not the reporter's either, but the fact still remains that the subject matter is an insurmountable pile of ****.

I mean, I know of no one who gets tattooed at home. Furthermore, the supposed "problem" isn't one you're going to find at a convention of professional tattoo artists. I get the impression that someone--a producer, a news director, or someone equally detached from the process of actually doing news stories--saw this FDA warning, and decided it coincided with a tattoo convention, and provided an excellent opportunity to scare people.

It makes me sad, because I'll bet you each and every one of those tattoo artists had some really fascinating story waiting to be told. Same goes for those who came to get tattooed. Or, a more general story about what it means to get a tattoo.

Anyway, I'm kind of rambling on here, but I want to come back around and compliment your work and your effort. It's clear you have a pretty good idea of what you're doing.
 

cyndygreen1

Well-known member
The zoom in works, but as Q states, the use of music detracts. Nats would have worked better...more connected to the actual event.

Nice segue into the interview with the girl getting tatted. Love the angles on your interviews btw.

And yes, the pacing slowed down at around 1:50. The zoom out to the standup was a bit disconcerting.

The zoom out at the end...no. You needed more of people wearing their tats and enjoying life. And no to the music again...with the interview concluding with "it's artwork" the audience needed time to really see the beauty of the artwork.

Overall you did a number of things well - even excellently. You and the reporter managed to mix the tattoo convention and a warning about potential dangers into a viewable story. But both of you need to work on the overall pacing of the story to make sure it fits the subject matter. Either an upbeat and intense story about tattoo-ing or a slower one examining an issue connected with tattoos. Or a story about the art of tattoo-ing. Each story has its own voice and needs to be told accordingly.

One thing I did not hear was an official voice stating the problem - infection. For that you needed a medical expert or health official. Having the reporter state it is vague and she is not the expert. That was the major weakness I saw in your story.

Although I strongly disagree that there is no story here, Q is correct that there are also many other stories to be told.
 

Latin Lens

Well-known member
Make something into news...that's the nature of the business today. I can't and won't fault you for that. You did the story assigned to you and did well with it. Your opening was good...the music did come out of left field but had you let it play longer underneath it probably wouldn't have been so jarring. Did you really need it? No, but I see why you tried to make it fit but it need to play longer so it wasn't so abrupt. I think you did good with most of your tights and angles and most of your composition. It did slow down near the 2 min mark but info gets in the way of keeping pace sometimes. Its a struggle at times but if you can take longer tracks and break them up with a quick nat or two without being distracting, then try that so it fits with your pace and overall subject matter. Nice solid piece...ending seemed more fitting for a feature but that's okay...again I am not going to fault you too much for something the reporter should be more aware of. But if you notice this sceneario again, then by all means try and help out and find a better closing depending on the angle you've chosen.
 

photoguy603

Well-known member
Thanks for the feedback. Just trying to throw around some different things. Sometimes they work....sometimes they don't. I appreciate all the different opinions you guys gave and I appreciate you taking the time to check it out.
 
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