VideoJournalism

In honor of veterans…

The story of the replica P-38 is complete. There are variations from the script…and I will most likely wait a bit and think about a cleanup, since there are sections I’m still not happy with. But I wanted to get this done before the day was out.
Honor our veterans…

Couple of concluding comments. Yes, there are some audio level issues. One thing I do regret is my (somedays) failing eyesight. Didn’t realize some dirt had hit the lens of the JVC until I got home and saw the soft spots on the interviews. Ah me…but afer a day of veterans’ events and then completing this edit, I go to bed feeling good. Go ahead and post your remarks…I’m willing to learn (and admit the error of my ways).

Okay…here’s the final version. Nothing like sunrise and a good hot cuppa to help refresh one’s skills. I added some nats behind the photos, some more transitions and a bit of motion. If you watch both, you can feel the difference. Try to pick out which shots were done with which camera – I used a combination of JVC GYDV-300U, Canon ZR60, and Exilim Z75 – but mostly the first two. Hint: I had a wide angle adapter on the ZR60.

Cyndy Green Avatar

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Cyndy Green
28 years in television news 10 years teaching high school (English & Broadcasting) 6 years freelancing as a Videojournalist/visual storyteller Currently retired but still creating visual stories…
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7 responses to “In honor of veterans…”

  1. Kathleen Newell Avatar
    Kathleen Newell

    Great story. It touched my heart and it’s something I have not seen before… which is rare for me. I look forward to the final cut. Also, I have issues with the small viewfinders and LCD screens as well. Not seeing the dirt smudge, the raindrop, or, “Oh my Gawd”– the out of focus video until I get back and transfer to the computer is a common problem when I shoot with mini-dv. I would welcome a larger viewfinder on my camera.

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  2. cyndygreen Avatar
    cyndygreen

    Larger professional viewfinds would be nice. On my part, I should have checked more frequently for dust/dirt/etc.

    Reply
  3. Colin Mulvany Avatar
    Colin Mulvany

    Nice job Cyndy.

    I hope you don’t mind me giving you a few suggestions. The opening is a little confusing to me. The sound of Taps feels a little out of place and a bit cliche for this story. Plus the wind noise is distracting. I think you should define what this story is about sooner. Your first voice-over is where I think this story should start, then let him talk about the plane and his military history.

    Couple of final cutting suggestions. Scale your photos up to fill the screen. They will look much better with a consistent look. I do this is in Final Cut’s Canvas. Make sure image wireframe in enabled. I then hold my option key down and grab the a corner of the wireframe and scale the image up to fill the frame. You can also do it from the motion tab by using scale slider.

    Audio levels. If you have levels that are too low and you can’t raise them any higher, try duplicating the audio (highlight it, then option drag to the audio clip to the track below. It will build the sound levels back up. I sometimes triple stack my audio with great results.

    Use audio cross fades between your clips where the ambient sound changes. Like between the shot of the guy holding the remote control and the shot of the plane flying. Or better yet unlink the audio from the video and stretch the sound of the plane flying under the shot of remote. It would be smooth like butter!

    Lower thirds titles. I only use the gray title bar as a last resort. Try this. (I assuming you are using Final Cut Pro or Express.) Open the Title generator and choose lower thirds like normal. Do your text, but instead of choosing the bar click on the motion tab and check the drop shadow box. Open the triangle and put these numbers in— Inset: 1.5 Softness:30 Opacity:90 Now your titles will have separation over the video. Put a cross dissolve on the end of the tile clip to give it a little fade in/fade out action.

    It was a bummer about the plane crashing, but it made a for an interesting ending. Nice work!

    Colin Mulvany
    Multimedia Editor
    Spokesmanreview.com

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  4. cyndygreen Avatar
    cyndygreen

    Colin…
    I went deep into my spammed messages and surfaced with your post (which was hidden in hundreds of very yucky offers) feeling as if I’d been rolling in slime.
    You made some solid comments…and taps was a spur of the moment addition. I’d just attended three veterans’ events with my husband and liked the idea of seguing from a flag into the old-time photos. Scaled most of the photos…and again….an experiement…wanted to see if one flying through would be effective. This is the first time I’ve used motion…most of my life has been straight cuts. Yeah…know the audio trick. You really are all over me and I deservie it – my only “excuse” being I was sick. Definitely should take a look at re-cutting and revising. I want to start moving out of my broadcast box and mindset and I know at times stuff will look strange and at times it will work…but I don’t want to be stuck in a rut.
    And thank you thank you for the title tip – finding a solution to a solid or translucent bar was difficult and you just solved my problem.

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  5. Nitzan Avatar
    Nitzan

    Hello Cyndy, I’ve been reading some of your blogs and took a looks at your vids and think you’re doing a great job! I recently received an e-mail about an Award for Video Journalism called the Concentra Award which will be awarded during the DNA2008 conference in Brussels on March 3rd 2008 and thought this award might be of interest to you and/or your readers.
    Like I said it’s an award for Video Journalisme and the 7 short list finalist will be invited to the Conference where the award ceremony will be held, their travelling and accomodation costs will be paid for by the organizers and the Award comes with a 10.000 euro prize. You can find more information at http://www.theconcentra.org in the ‘rules and regulations’ section. Keep up the good work! greetz, Nitzan

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  6. cyndygreen Avatar
    cyndygreen

    Thanks Nitzan…I meant to post something on these awareds this weekend or sooner. Just got caught up in other stuff. Thanks for the reminder.

    Reply
  7. Kathleen Newell Avatar
    Kathleen Newell

    Great editing tips by ColinMulvany. I am a self taught FCP person and learn new stuff by trial and error… and a lot of wasted time. Thanks Colin.

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