My group had a very solid plan for making our News Video today. We were going to film a short clip about the same idea our final project - the homeless people in Bethlehem, and how some of them are just ordinary people who suffered from the failed economy and lost their homes. Today we were going to go over to the homeless shelter on the North Side, and interview people who worked at the shelter.
Enter the "Snowurricane" that hit the Tri State area last night. Now our cars are stuck, the roads are a nightmare, and that homeless shelter might as well be on Mars for all of a chance we have on getting there. So, when in a crisis situation, write about what you know. So, our news story is now going to be about the snow! Yes, you've seen it before, but it's a big story and it's what is on everyones minds. Editing will occur on Monday...
Friday, February 26, 2010
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
And the Video Quality Lab has Finally Arrived!
My apologies to all who were anxiously waiting for our video quality lab video to come on youtube - we suffered some technical difficulties, including Windows Movie Maker flat-out refusing to take our clips, for no apparent reason.
The lab was an interesting one. We filmed at all different locations around campus in order to experiment with lighting and sound. I'd say our worst clip took place at Ulrich Student Center - too much backround noise. The best would probably be the deck at Drown Hall. We had an interesting background, an appropriate level of background noise, and an interviewee with a lot to say. Don't miss Steph's hilarious clip of her interview with the Asa Packer statue on the memorial walkway - we didn't find out about that until it was posted on youtube! I was away for the weekend so I wasn't able to help much with the editing, but I did talk Steph down from a nervous breakdown with Movie Maker, and she found Professor Littau who helped her to make the clip work!
So, here it is - hope it was worth the wait!
The lab was an interesting one. We filmed at all different locations around campus in order to experiment with lighting and sound. I'd say our worst clip took place at Ulrich Student Center - too much backround noise. The best would probably be the deck at Drown Hall. We had an interesting background, an appropriate level of background noise, and an interviewee with a lot to say. Don't miss Steph's hilarious clip of her interview with the Asa Packer statue on the memorial walkway - we didn't find out about that until it was posted on youtube! I was away for the weekend so I wasn't able to help much with the editing, but I did talk Steph down from a nervous breakdown with Movie Maker, and she found Professor Littau who helped her to make the clip work!
So, here it is - hope it was worth the wait!
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
How to capture the perfect camera angle (and learn all you can about the Bethlehem Blizzard)
We started working on our new project in class today, in which all of our groups are assigned to go around interviewing students in various locations of the Lehigh campus about their feelings on a certain news issue. The assignment seems to be less concerned with what the students have to say, and more concerned about the technique we use to film it, most likely because our lessons this week are all about technique.
I think learning about technique is really important at this point in time, because most of the camera work I've been doing so far has definitely not been stellar. Filming is a lot harder then I thought it would be! It's hard to keep a steady hand, and you have to factor in all sorts of different concepts, such as the rule of three's and how to film away from sunlight and windows.
After class let out, my fellow group members Steph Albano and Alyssa Salem and I went out to start our interviews around the Lehigh campus. We decided to interview people all about the blizzard that happened last Wednesday, and about how poorly Lehigh notified the students about it. We finished the interviews that took place on the Drown terrace, in Grace Hall, a classroom, a small office with no windows, and the UC. We still have to complete the front walkway of Coppee Hall (it was deserted when we went today), the Admissions walkway, and the choice of our own.
So far, I think our camera work has turned out very well. We were very careful to try and film in angles where the sunlight did not affect us, and also worked hard to not have our interviewee's perfectly centered. A lot of people also had really interesting things to say, since the blizzard was something that really affected everyone.
This will definitely be harder to edit then the others, since there is a lot more camera work involved and a lot of different people who are on camera. We made sure to get down everyones names, and had them spell them out for us, so that we would be prepared when it became time to edit.
We'll continue filming/editing over the weekend - look back for more blogs all about it, and for our finished video! In the meantime, follow me on twitter at @alrol.
I think learning about technique is really important at this point in time, because most of the camera work I've been doing so far has definitely not been stellar. Filming is a lot harder then I thought it would be! It's hard to keep a steady hand, and you have to factor in all sorts of different concepts, such as the rule of three's and how to film away from sunlight and windows.
After class let out, my fellow group members Steph Albano and Alyssa Salem and I went out to start our interviews around the Lehigh campus. We decided to interview people all about the blizzard that happened last Wednesday, and about how poorly Lehigh notified the students about it. We finished the interviews that took place on the Drown terrace, in Grace Hall, a classroom, a small office with no windows, and the UC. We still have to complete the front walkway of Coppee Hall (it was deserted when we went today), the Admissions walkway, and the choice of our own.
So far, I think our camera work has turned out very well. We were very careful to try and film in angles where the sunlight did not affect us, and also worked hard to not have our interviewee's perfectly centered. A lot of people also had really interesting things to say, since the blizzard was something that really affected everyone.
This will definitely be harder to edit then the others, since there is a lot more camera work involved and a lot of different people who are on camera. We made sure to get down everyones names, and had them spell them out for us, so that we would be prepared when it became time to edit.
We'll continue filming/editing over the weekend - look back for more blogs all about it, and for our finished video! In the meantime, follow me on twitter at @alrol.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Google Buzz? Why not Twitter?
So when I logged onto my gmail on this lovely snow day, the first thing to pop up was an add for Google Buzz - do I want to check it out? Never one to say no, especially since I'm all about multimedia these days, I clicked yes, let's check it out.
And after about 5 minutes of exploration, I still don't understand why I would use this over Twitter? If I'm posting what I'm doing, why wouldn't I just post it on Twitter? Or, for that matter, wouldn't I just post a Facebook status update? After all, everyone I know is on Facebook, but not everyone I know is on gmail.
I want to know the ins and outs of this new form of social media, so I hope we discuss this in class! (hint, hint). For now, it's a snow day - meet ya for sledding on Rauch hill!
And after about 5 minutes of exploration, I still don't understand why I would use this over Twitter? If I'm posting what I'm doing, why wouldn't I just post it on Twitter? Or, for that matter, wouldn't I just post a Facebook status update? After all, everyone I know is on Facebook, but not everyone I know is on gmail.
I want to know the ins and outs of this new form of social media, so I hope we discuss this in class! (hint, hint). For now, it's a snow day - meet ya for sledding on Rauch hill!
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
New concepts, old concepts, and putting it all together
Talk about a disaster of a morning.
For the past two days, I've been looking for my videocamera EVERYWHERE. I thought for sure that I had lost it, and was dreading the 250+ dollars it would cost me to replace it. After finally conceding to the concept that it was gone, I went to Professor Littau to admit to my failure.
It was as I was on my way into the building that I remembered exactly where that videocamera was. I had lent it to someone else in class last week! Crisis averted. However, I still needed two clips to use during class - a class that was starting in 15 minutes. We had to interview someone about their work, and then film them doing it. I ran up to my sorority to film Chef, our chef, only to arrive to find that he had left for the day. With five minutes to spare, I interviewed a friend of mine who is the Assistant Lifestyle Editor of The Brown and White, and got the footage. I was five minutes late to class, but what can you do.
Luckily, Steph Albano, a member of my group, had checked out her own camera and had gotten some great footage of her chef, Lisa, from her sorority. I used that footage, which was much better then my own, and sat down to work.
And, the video turned out great! I love the audio effects we used, giving a voice-over to our film. It looks so professional. Here's how the video turned out:
I think it's pretty good for my skill level at this time! I can't wait to learn some new skills.
For the past two days, I've been looking for my videocamera EVERYWHERE. I thought for sure that I had lost it, and was dreading the 250+ dollars it would cost me to replace it. After finally conceding to the concept that it was gone, I went to Professor Littau to admit to my failure.
It was as I was on my way into the building that I remembered exactly where that videocamera was. I had lent it to someone else in class last week! Crisis averted. However, I still needed two clips to use during class - a class that was starting in 15 minutes. We had to interview someone about their work, and then film them doing it. I ran up to my sorority to film Chef, our chef, only to arrive to find that he had left for the day. With five minutes to spare, I interviewed a friend of mine who is the Assistant Lifestyle Editor of The Brown and White, and got the footage. I was five minutes late to class, but what can you do.
Luckily, Steph Albano, a member of my group, had checked out her own camera and had gotten some great footage of her chef, Lisa, from her sorority. I used that footage, which was much better then my own, and sat down to work.
And, the video turned out great! I love the audio effects we used, giving a voice-over to our film. It looks so professional. Here's how the video turned out:
I think it's pretty good for my skill level at this time! I can't wait to learn some new skills.
Monday, February 1, 2010
Blogs, Blogs, and More Blogs
Today's class was a crash course in blogging: the good, the bad and the ugly. At this point in time, I'd say that the majority of our class falls in between the bad and ugly categories, definitely not excluding myself.
I don't know about the rest of the class, but this is the first time I've ever had a blog. I never kept a journal as a kid, I never had a livejournal or a xanga (wow, flashback - anyone remember those websites?!), and I'm simply not used to documenting my thoughts on a day to day basis. However, after exploring the blogworld with Professor Littau today and learning about the different techniques, I can see how this becomes a highly addictive past time.
First of all, I learned how to hyperlink something - isn't that awesome? I also learned about embedding pictures and video, which I'm sure will come quite in handy as I start to blog more and more.
The 100/100,000 rule definitely makes a lot of sense to me. It's much more important to develop a following with a few people then to have a bunch of people who've clicked on your site only once or twice. It's also definitely very important to have a voice, which I've found in my reporting as well. I'm not the super-serious type, as you can probably tell from my last few posts, but I also am not the type to rally off a dozen jokes per minute. If I had to guess, I'd say that my voice is breezy and casual, and I try to be as direct as possible. As the postings continue, I suppose I'll grow a "specific voice," but for now that seems to be the way I'm heading.
In the meantime, I just added my five "Bethlehem PA" Twitter friends, and am anxious to start learning the ins and outs of Twitter ! Hopefully next class we'll start with that. As of now, I'm still just following friends of mine and my favorite celebrities (although I'm still upset Miley Cyrus deleted her account). Follow me !
See ya on the web....
Allie
I don't know about the rest of the class, but this is the first time I've ever had a blog. I never kept a journal as a kid, I never had a livejournal or a xanga (wow, flashback - anyone remember those websites?!), and I'm simply not used to documenting my thoughts on a day to day basis. However, after exploring the blogworld with Professor Littau today and learning about the different techniques, I can see how this becomes a highly addictive past time.
First of all, I learned how to hyperlink something - isn't that awesome? I also learned about embedding pictures and video, which I'm sure will come quite in handy as I start to blog more and more.
The 100/100,000 rule definitely makes a lot of sense to me. It's much more important to develop a following with a few people then to have a bunch of people who've clicked on your site only once or twice. It's also definitely very important to have a voice, which I've found in my reporting as well. I'm not the super-serious type, as you can probably tell from my last few posts, but I also am not the type to rally off a dozen jokes per minute. If I had to guess, I'd say that my voice is breezy and casual, and I try to be as direct as possible. As the postings continue, I suppose I'll grow a "specific voice," but for now that seems to be the way I'm heading.
In the meantime, I just added my five "Bethlehem PA" Twitter friends, and am anxious to start learning the ins and outs of Twitter ! Hopefully next class we'll start with that. As of now, I'm still just following friends of mine and my favorite celebrities (although I'm still upset Miley Cyrus deleted her account). Follow me !
See ya on the web....
Allie
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