Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc. 498 Journalism: Publishing Across Media What Makes a Good Video Story? What Makes a Good Video Story? Is a story a good candidate for video storytelling? Ask: 1. Is there anything to see? 2. Is there action? 3. Will there be good natural sounds? 4. Are there interesting “characters” to serve as the face of the story? A school board meeting might be an important news event, but unless a parade of people shows up to protest, it will be diffi cult to make it into a compelling visual story. An actual parade, however, is a different matter. A water balloon fi ght? A robotics competition? These would each make compelling video stories. 1. Look through your school’s announcements or bulletin and search for stories that would make good video stories based on the answers to the four questions above. 2. Going Deeper. In your search through the announcements, look for stories that do not initially seem like good video stories, then brainstorm ways to make them better candidates for video. Who might be a good face for the story? What action that relates to the story could you capture? Is there a compelling setting? Strong natural sound? Your Turn 1 L Once you have determined that a story is worth covering using video, plan your video. Production involves three stages: 1. Pre-production: This is the planning stage. Contact sources, conduct preliminary research, storyboard and plan shots. 2. Production: Time to pack up your equipment and go out to shoot. Collect interviews, b-roll, ambient sound and produce any graphics you might need. 3. Post-production: The stage when you will put it all together. Import video into an editing program, fi nd or produce music and package the story in a compelling way. Depending on the length and complexity of the video project, this process may take several weeks or just a few hours. In fact, most television news stations will go through this complete process multiple times each day, with stories fi lmed in the afternoon appearing on the evening news. Getting Ready: Pre-Production Getting Ready: Pre-Production Rookie broadcast journalists often use their pre-production time to prepare and pack equipment, check batteries and grab lights. These are important, even crucial, tasks, but the best video journalists do these tasks and also prepare in other important ways.