Sunday, May 03, 2009

{My Dèbut}

I'm always looking for story ideas. (I'm a journalism student at
ASU.) Since I needed to learn more about composting in order
to start my own compost bin as part of my April resolutions, I
thought I'd do a story on it. I'm ready to share that story here.
With you!

I haven't posted any of my packages yet, in large part, because
I didn't know how to burn them to a disk. That's the easiest
part really, but I hadn't gotten to it until recently.

I guess you could say I've also been a little shy, too. :)

It's easy to look like an amateur when you are one. And you
know how they say the camera adds ten pounds? It really adds
20 pounds. I'm getting more confident in my work though. We
had to do a stand up in this piece. That's when the reporter is
on screen, talking to the viewers. It was only the third one I've
ever done. I'm gonna need to do a lot more of them before
getting good and feeling really comfortable, but it was definitely
the most natural and confident looking of them all. Even though
I see a lot of flaws in it. I'm sure I'm my harshest critic.

This semester, I've seen that I need to learn how to write my
scripts more efficiently. I should be able to include more info in
this time frame. It's a matter of having a clear focus and writing
efficiently. I used to have a big problem doing that with papers,
but then I learned how to narrow my focus and write in a way
that kept me really organized. I know I can figure out how to
do that in my packages. Still working on it though -- clearly!

The requirements for this story:
  • Open with a look live - say we're live even though it's prerecorded -- and tell viewers what they're about to see
  • Include sound bites (comments) from at least two people
  • Do a stand up that explains something, offers show and tell, or provides a transition
  • Tell the story in about a minute thirty plus the time of the look live
  • Include a some kind of a news angle
  • Use lots of nat sound (noise from the background)
  • Make it visually interesting
Lastly, the woman at the beginning and end of the piece with the
gorgeous blonde hair, sun kissed tan, and amazing energy --
That's Carlene. Recently mentioned in the stitch and bitch post.
It was fun working with her and awesome of her to help me out!

Now on with the show:



More stories to come. Hopefully soon. Thanks for watching!
I hope you enjoyed it. I'm totally open to feedback if you have
some to offer. I want to get better. So, don't hold back with
what you liked and what you didn't like.

9 comments:

FncyFce said...

Wow, what a great piece. I honestly loved it and can't think of a darn thing that you could change. Not that I'm an expert, LOL.
I stumbled upon your blog from somewhere and check in often. Hope you don't think I'm a stalker.

Good luck on the composting and school work.

carlene federer said...

Sam! SO SO good! Honestly I'm not being biased, lol! I thought the whole thing was really professional...(even tho I had to watch with my eyes half closed, LOL!)
Can't wait too see more of these!

Lis said...

WHOA! that was like something in the NEWS! REALLY! I LOVE how you put that together!!! Its so great and you have no idea how excited that made composting! I SERIOUSLY AM GOING TO DO IT NOW!!! (when I move! ohhhh and WE FOUND A HOUSE!!!)

cheryl said...

you did so great! if that would have been me i would have been a stumbling bumbling idiot.
and you looked great too! :)

Jan said...

Great job. I don't about the "20 lbs." you mentioned, you looked good.

SplendidlyImperfect said...

Dude - it was AWESOME! Totally like watching a piece on the news.

Jennifer B said...

Great piece! Maybe composting is something I should try over here in humid Alabama.

Kristi @ Mi Vida Ocupada said...

I loved it when I saw it last week and didn't get a chance to comment! I think you look and sound great and it is a very interesting story! Excited to see more from you :)

Lindsay Teague Moreno | 5ive Photo said...

Hey, you know I think you're super talented! These are great! I'm glad you got Carlene in on the fun! :) Great story and even better stand-up! :

L