Broadcast Journalism
Broadcast was never something I saw myself doing and learning how to do it was a bit of a challenge for me. However, after attending two camps that were broadcast-heavy the summer before my sophomore year and spending the past two years trying to bring it into ODYSSEY’s website more, it’s an area I’ve become more comfortable in and tried my best to bring into my work in small ways.
Storyboards
These are storyboards I did for videos I made in Journalism I. The one on the left is for the PSA my classmate Carolyn Griffeth did about upcoming exams and the one on the left is for a video I was making about the guitar classes at my school. Despite my lackluster art skills, I decided to use post-it notes to make these since doing so made it easy for me to move clips and standups around as I determined what would flow best.
Podcast script
This is the script I wrote for a “Letter to My Younger Self,” which is one of ODYSSEY’s podcast series. The writing process was similar to that of any opinion-based story, but I spent a lot more time focused on word choice and that everything sounded natural, especially since it was all going to become audio. After I wrote it, I brought everything into this document and separated it out into sections to record individually, which helped me avoid making mistakes and having to restart the entire process.
Carolina Journalism Institute
I attended the University of Carolina's Carolina Journalism Institute the summer before my sophomore year where I did the Multimedia Storytelling workshop. We spent the week learning about different broadcast concepts, such as A-roll vs. B-roll, the different types of shots and audio, as well as how to use cameras. At the end of the week, we were split into groups of three and given roughly 24 hours to brainstorm, film and edit together a news video on an assigned topic. My team was assigned to attend another summer camp happening on campus, a drama conservatory, where we spent about three hours filming and interviewing coaches and participants. We then went back to the lab and spent most of the afternoon and following morning with Adobe Premiere Pro, where we learned how to select the shots we wanted and edit the video together. This fast-paced environment, while stressful, was a good way to get experience with everything we had been learning. To the left are the notes I took over the course of the week and to the right is the video my team and I put together.
Columbia Scholastic Press Association
The summer before my sophomore year, I also attended a Digital Storytelling workshop with the Columbia Scholastic Press Association. We spent a few days learning about mobile videography and different camera angles and transitions that could be used to make videos more engaging. At the end of the week, my class went out and explored Hudson Yards and Chelsea Market with an assignment to take enough B-roll to put together a short video afterwards. I ended the day with nearly 100 videos and over 500 photos, which I went through that night and made into a reel using CapCut.
CCSD Teen Mental Health Summit
This video is an event coverage I did of my school district’s annual Teen Mental Health Summit. Before going to the event, I did research with what little information I could find and wrote out a broad list of interview questions for a variety of people. At the event, I got as much B-roll as I possibly could and conducted interviews, which Managing Editor Peter Atchley helped record, as well as my standup, which I did onsite. Afterward, I used the research I had done and the interviews to write the script, a combination of where I wanted certain interview clips to go and my plans for my voice over. From there, I chose and edited the B-roll, A-roll and voice overs together using a combination of CapCut and Adobe Express. Overall, I’m proud of how this video turned out and how fast I managed to get it done.
Athens Film Festival
Variety Staffer Mzée Pavlić and I worked together on this video, which was a coverage of a local film festival. Before the event, we made a plan of the clips we wanted to get. During it, we took turns getting B-roll of the red carpet and going along with other staffers to get A-roll as they did interviews. We then wrote the script together and Pavlić filmed the voice over while I edited the video clips together using Adobe Express. While the clips aren’t as aesthetically pleasing as we’d hope, I feel like we were still able to establish a good flow between the clips.
Missing books
This was a news video I did about the amount of missing books in the library at the end of the school year during Journalism I. I spent a lot of time in the Media Center getting B-roll as well as doing research to ensure I had numbers to substantiate what the Media Specialists had told me. I also went to my local library, who was experiencing the same issue, and interviewed one of the librarians on the effects missing books can have on patrons. I used CapCut to edit everything together, relying on the storyboard I had made to guide how I ordered my clips.
PSA: Test Prep
In Journalism I, we were split into teams of two to apply the skills we had been learning about broadcast. My teammate and I decided to make a Public Service Announcement about test anxiety since finals were right around the corner. We spent a few class periods and days after school shooting B-roll and then went and found students in the cafeteria to help us with the message at the end. We did our best to employ the wide → medium → tight principle with the footage we had in editing, which we used a mix of iMovie and CapCut for.
A-Roll from Interviews
Something I do during almost every interview and try to encourage other staffers to do is record video of it in addition to audio. Not only does this help add more impact to quotes, but it also adds to the visuals already included. By doing this, we’re also providing another entry point into the story for those who might be more interested in watching a video (which more students are), even if it’s only a small portion of the information. The video on the left is one I took during an interview with the English department instructional coach about an upcoming field trip, which helped me include some of the quotes I had gathered without taking up unnecessary space in the story itself. The other video is from a story I did previewing the upcoming Open House, which I felt helped differentiate it from previous stories of the same nature.
Editing Broadcast
Although I work to produce my own broadcast pieces, I also need to have enough knowledge on it to help guide others in producing their own. This can range from leading class discussions on the importance of broadcast to actually sitting down and helping people with their videos.
Podcasts
Each month, around 3-4 people on average turn in a podcast for their monthly choice assignment, which I’m one of the main editors for. I’m involved at various points throughout this process, from helping them come up with an idea, editing their script, helping them record the audio with ODYSSEY equipment to guide them through the final editing process. After the deadline, I listen to the finalized version and give them feedback on improving the audio and editing qualities.
Vidoes
In addition to podcasts, I’m also occasionally responsible for editing staffers’ videos. Most of the time, my focus when editing these is whether or not the clips flow together in the best way to tell the story. I’m also looking out for awkward cuts and technical issues, such as audio issues and AP Style errors. With videos in particular, I always make sure to sit down and have a conference with the person and go through the video so I can show them what needs to be fixed.
