Reflection on Scavenger Hunt (Julie Tatios)

The interview I filmed for the "Why is a liberal arts university like LU needed in 21st century" was my best out of the four videos that I took. We interviewed Nitzan Lebovic; an assistant professor of Apter Chair of Holocaust Studies and Ethical Values in the Arts and Sciences College at LU. It so happens it was the final video I took as well, which told me I improved with time. Professor Lebovic was very comfortable with answering our question and I think his accent added a nice touch to the video. Not to mention he was also dressed nicely, which made for a more professional look to the clip. I finally turned my phone horizontal so the shot was wider and more informative too. The horizontal shot provides a background for your subject and allows the audience to understand more about where the video was shot. I'm not sure if it was the lighting or the image but I did think that the horizontal shot by the iPhone was fuzzier than the vertical shot, but still I think its worth it to have a background rather than a clearer image.

 

My first clip was the worst out of the bunch for a variety of reasons. One reason being because I did not include the question in the clip and I did not ask the students their names. So anyone who watches the clip will have no clue what the person is talking about, nor will they know the name of the people who are speaking. I should have planned out what I was going to do prior to just shooting. _________________________________________________________________________________

I think the idea for sending us all out to interview people was a genius idea. It was a crash course for learning how to be a reporter. I learned a lot: How to approach people and make them feel comfortable about answering questions, what to include in the interview (name of subject, some information to clue the audience in on what the video is about), to be aware of the background and also the noise around you, and I learned how to shoot, upload via iPhone to YouTube, and share the video with whomever I wish all in a matter of minutes.

I lacked in follow up questions which made for a less interesting product in the end. For example, in the prompt regarding losing a cell phone, I should have prepared questions that would have driven the story forward. The young lady we interviewed ran out of things to say and I wasn't prepared to shoot some more questions at her. Having a smartphone makes it simple to share stories, interviews, photos etc. You're able to shoot the footage, upload it to youtube and then share it with the world. I'd prefer using a cell phone for journalistic purposes rather than the Zi8. Using the Zi8, you aren't able to upload instantly to the Internet. Cool project overall.