Video Editing during a TV program

As I was watching TLC's Kate:Her Story, a television program to set out unanswered questions by Kate Gosselin the mother in the series Jon and Kate Plus 8, I noticed how the producers used many varieties of shots to help keep the basic interview more interesting.

The various shots included ones of her and NBC's Natalie Morales (the interviewer) sitting on a gold couch, typically this was used while Kate was answering a question or Natalie was asking a question.

Close up's of Kate's face, especially during emotional moments or pauses, or shots of Kate over Natalie's shoulder so you could see who was asking the question.

There were also shots of Natalie's face from behind Kate to show when she was asking questions.

However, there was little variation from those four different shots. Producers could have showed that when she was crying she reached down for a kleenex--or views from behind the couches. However, I realize that in this case the focus was certainly for Kate to tell her story and not for fancy complicate angles.

Plans for Slideshow

I have contemplated many ideas for my slide show, Its hard because I feel like as a "college chef" who can really serve as a person of interest?

Because my blogs focus is to highlight student cooking, I've decided I would like to travel with a student from beginning to end through cooking a meal, driving to the supermarket, picking out items, and then actually making them--showing the ease of the whole process and depicting that its not complicated to make an easy meal.

plans for my audio story

Why is it that none of us college students know how to cook anyway?
For my audio story, I'd like to try to get a hold on a few parents maybe family studies or psychology professors who have a strong theory on the subject to disucss it with me. I also think it would be interesting to interview a student who doesn't know to cook and blames it fully on her parents-- just to see what the reasoning is!

Summary ledes vs. Broadcast ledes

These are three examples of Summary ledes taken from The Baltimore Sun, I took each lede and changed it into a broadcast-style lede.

1. Summary Lede:
A 14-month-old baby boy reportedly abducted early Tuesday from a house in Northeast Baltimore and found five hours later abandoned in a car was apparently taken by a child relative of the parents during a family dispute, a city police spokesman said.

Broadcast Lede:
A 14-month-old boy who was reported abducted Tuesday was apparently taken by a relative of the parents during a family dispute.

2.Summary Lede:
Carol W. Greider, who on Monday became the 33rd person associated with the Johns Hopkins University to win the Nobel Prize, is a triathlete, a mother of two and a methodical and modest genetic researcher who colleagues say shuns publicity in favor of pursuing her passion: fundamental, curiosity-driven science.

Broadcast Lede:
Carol Greider became the 33rd person associated with Johns Hopkins University to win the Nobel Prize on Monday.

3.Summary Lede:
A body spotted Friday by a Verizon worker in an underground cable vault in North Baltimore's mid-Govans neighborhood was that of a decomposed white female, and detectives are awaiting the results of an autopsy to determine how she died, according to police.

Broadcast Lede:
Detectives are awaiting the autopsy results from a decomposed body that was found in a underground cable vault on Friday.

feature story

For my feature story I want to be able to speak with a person who is unable to cook, and has no previous background in cooking --this provides me with a fresh start and a clean slate!
I also hope that I can talk to a nutritionist which could help provide me with the details of what to include in a meal to ensure students are getting the meals they should when they are cooking for themselves.


I intend to pursue this story from a "how-to" angle because it will be the best way to talk about the steps necessary in making the actual meal as well as how to stay healthy!

Until next time, I'll keep on cooking!

Wall Street Journal Formula

The Wall Street Journal Formula(WSJ) is the most commonly used method of writing feature stories. This method consists of four components:

• The story opens with an anecdotal, descriptive, or narrative lead
• The nut graf follows the lead and explains what the lead is about
• The body of the story is supporting information (quotes and facts)
• The ending includes another anecdotal or description of the person featured in the story
  
  

The story "Driver texting now an issue in backseat" from the New York Times is a good example of the use of the Wall Street Journal Formula of writing a feature story.
The story opens with a strong anecdotal lede about a couple who's marital problems surround the issue of text messaging, "After decades of marriage, Terry and Debbie Buchen learned to work through various marital issues. Then something new came between them — his
cellphone."
The nut graf goes on to explain why his cellphone is causing such an issue, "Mr. Buchen, 62, couldn’t put it down while driving. The first time he sent e-mail messages from behind the wheel, he drove his BMW S.U.V. into a ditch on a deserted stretch of road..."
The body of this story starting with the statement "For all the conversations about distracted driving playing out in statehouses and on talk shows, the most heated discussions, and the ones with the most lasting impact, may be happening between family members and friends," goes on to explain how texting becomes such an impact on others when they aren't necessarily doing the texting.
The ending of the story goes on to conclude with another short anecdote about Grace Andrews, a mother who is causing the issue by texting whilst behind the wheel. Concluding that, "I could never imagine that we would get to this stage — that this is the stuff we would fight about,” she said."

I believe this article does serve as a perfect example of the Wall Street Journal Formula for feature stories.

Summary ledes vs. Feature ledes

In journalism, there are many different ways to start a story depending on what kind of information you want the reader to get out of it and what the story is about.

Summary ledes focus on the who, what, when, where, why and how of a story. Summary ledes are best used in cases of whats called "hard news" --the story is not supposed to "tip toe" around an issue, rather it gets to the point right away.

Feature ledes, however, are different in that they are used in the case of "soft news". This type of lede allows the story to unfold slower and are used to make the reader want to continue reading the story the writer wrote.

Some examples of Feature ledes are:

Story by Baltimore Sun writer Liz F. Kay "Smelly water floods Towson basement"

The problem: Smelly runoff from a nearby gas station floods a Towson home.
The back story: When it rains in Towson, it floods at Jerry Cornett's house.

Another example can be seen in another Baltimore Sun article by Arin Gencer "McDonogh School's garden yields 1st harvest"

With grunts and groans, the four kindergartners hefted the plump pumpkin, at times faltering under its weight.