My video project tells the story of a newspaper in production. I work for The Daily Evergreen and spend several nights a week producing news content. It is a huge part of my life. Therefore, my video project falls in line with my “About Me” theme as it briefly recaps in story form a night in the newsroom.
I like this project because it allows me to get others involved in the story. I hate emphasizing myself in projects. This allows me to demonstrate visually how I, The Daily Evergreen staff, and you connect.
My draft below consists of a music track found on Free Media Archives website, as well as a typewriter track (laid over the music track), and footage filmed at The Daily Evergreen (with the permission of my Editor). There is a 30 second black space in the beginning and a 30 second black space at the end as I have not finished filming all of the content.
I have strung together shots of me working, and personal interviews with other staff members. My goal is to have a lively, interesting, interactive introduction (read the storyboard) that leads into a news broadcast style feature story. It will close in a similarly lively, interesting, and interactive way.
I will also be adding transitions, change the rates of several clips, and color correct some of the content. While I was filming I accidentally switched the exposure which gave some footage a blue tint. I will alter this during Dead Week.
I am curious as to how I can keep audience members attentions and make this video more interactive. I would greatly appreciate any recommendations and tips.
Storyboard:
- 0:00 – 0:10 Single aerial shot of bowl being placed on wooden table. Bran flakes and milk will be poured into the bowl. Spoonful of cereal will be lifted to camera.
Title graphically flashes across screen, which is: You, Me, and a Newspaper
- 0:10 – 0:25 Cell phone is pulled out and left hand begins sliding through social media as right hand manages cereal.
Narrative:
“How many of you check Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or Yik Yak in the morning? How many of you read a newspaper, or even a glanced at the text on a cereal box, in the morning?”
Newspaper and cereal box come into shot and are then tossed away.
“Some of, if not most of, any text you’ve processed since waking up today has been produced by a journalist of some sort. Whether it be a Buzzfeed article, a CollegeLife meme, or a video of a cat playing the piano while eating bacon in outer space, someone with a desire to generate content and share it with an audience is creating it.”
- 0:25 – 0:28 Shot of myself
Narrative:
“My name is Lance Lijewski and I’m a student journalist. I produce content like that for people in Pullman as I work for WSU campus newspaper, The Daily Evergreen.
- 0:28 – 0:31 Shot of Murrow East at night.
Narrative:
“When your day winds down, mine winds up, as I and a team of other student journalists clock into work and produce a paper for you to read in the morning.”
- 0:31 – 0:38 Camera shot of Student Media Service hours plaque that pans down to hallway/path to newsroom.
Narrative: ?
- 0:39 – 0:44 Newsroom banner.
- 0:44 – 0:55 Shot of Nathan Howard, Editor-in-chief, explaining the significance of The Daily Evergreen and its purpose (briefly).
- 0:56 – 1:04 Pan of Newsroom.
Narrative: ?
- 1:04 – 1:22 Shot of Michelle Fredrickson, Managing Editor, explaining my significance in the newsroom.
- 1:22 – 1:32 Shot of cluttered desk. Clutter is shoved off by me. Two dummy sheets of paper that show what the pages I have to work with look like are placed down.
Narrative: ?
- 1:32 – 1:40 Shot of me arriving at desk and beginning to work.
Narrative: ?
- 1:40 – 2:02 Three different angles, five shots, of me typing.
Narrative: ?
- 2:02 – 2:26 Time lapse of me laying out part of page, photos specifically.
Narrative: ?
- 2:26 – 2:50 Shot of Nathan Howard explaining deadline and the necessity of publishing on time.
- 2:50 – 3:00 Shot of print copies of my section being examined before deadline. Being examined for publication.
Narrative: ?
- 3:00 – 3:06 Shot of Nathan exporting/sending to printers.
- 3:06 – 3:10 Shot of clock, not quite being 10pm yet, signifying deadline was made.
- 3:10 – 3:15 Some kind of celebration
Narrative: ?
- Shot of Bryan Hall clock in the morning
Narrative: ?
- Shot of cereal with fresh copy of newspaper in hand
- 3:45 – 4:00 End Credits
Keeping Up With Anyone But The Kardashians 
I enjoyed your video! You mentioned a few things that you could improve upon, such as transitions and adding more video clips. I have a couple suggestions that you could possibly add into the video for your final. First, while watching the video, I could not hear the interviews over the music. You could lower the volume on the video so that the viewer can hear what the interviewees are saying! I also suggest making your video more of a story, to me, it seemed to be some random clips all put together that generally discuss the Evergreen. It could be a good idea to add some titles before or during the clips to explain what is happening. Overall, I enjoyed the video, but I do think it could be cleaned up a bit and made perfect! Thank you for sharing your experience with the Evergreen!
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Hey what’s up Lance,
I think your draft video story was awesome. You did a good job of showing the viewers of what its like to work at the daily evergreen which I cool. One hing I really liked about your draft video is that you shoot different video clips at different angles. I have a couple suggestions for you. First off, at the beginning of the video, I would edit out that 25 seconds of just black. I also suggest that you lower the volume of your music when there are people talking so the viewer can hear what they are saying clearly. My lat suggestion is that you add more crisp transition in between clips. Other than that, this a great start man. Good job.
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After reading the feedback left here on my blog, I have decided to follow through with the introduction I left black but outlined on my storyboard. I will record and edit that material tomorrow.
In accordance with suggested improvements, I will alter the sound by increasing dialogue and decreasing music levels. I will also record my narrative and splice it in. Transitions will be placed, as well as titles and end credits.
I am also considering experimenting with photograph stills. I’m excited to see what my final project looks like.
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Lance,
I love your incorporation of over the shoulder shots & the time lapse is a perfect addition to your topic. Some improvements right off the back that could be made is lower that background music and heighten your interviewee’s audio. I couldn’t hear anything they said, and that really defeats the whole purpose of interviews. You could also add voice overs about the importance of school newspapers and how the Daily Evergreen helps students be involved, that will definitely keep the viewers more interested. Other than the white balance problem, some your shots lacked relevancy. If you’re going to have a shot of the clock, the hallway and newsroom banner, make those clips very very short. No more than 2 seconds. Otherwise this is a great draft and good luck on your final!
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