1st Place
Jason Tighe WCIV, Charleston "Tree Trouble"
Judges Comments
GF-KHQ - 8 7 8 8 - I liked this one. My few complaints occur at the beginning. Who is Jonathan? I think I know, and you probably had a name super, but it was weird you introduced him after his sot and didn't come back to him. But that's the writing. After that, the story really sang. Loved that you found a wedding party and appreciated you stayed with them to get their interaction over the phone. You made me care about a tree in a road. Your video matched the track which showed good teamwork, and it was paced well. Thought your nats were a bit overpowering off the top. But overall, very good job. |
TM-KHQ - 8 8 8 8 - Focusing on the wedding party really worked for me. You took a story that could have been just another lame road closure and made it unique and interesting. Lots of good nats and well composed shots. Wish the interviews could have been shot in a more creative way. I know it's spot news and sometimes you get what you get, but those folks were stuck there a while, so you could potentially have found a way to frame up something a little less basic. Also, be mindful of the mic in shot. It's kind of distracting. Assuming you didn't need to leave the scene to make deadline, it would have been cool to see your characters leaving to get to the wedding and one last bite with them....would have been an even stronger ending. |
TB-KHQ - 8 9 8 9 - Really tought you did a good job with this one. Some lovely nats throughout the piece really made the whole thing work. Great job finding the interview that needed to get to the wedding. I tought the shots were creative and of course nothing beats a good chainsaw nat. If you were there for the entire two hours, I think that alone counts for some good commitment. That last shot was great, but having a bite from the wedding family saying something like "oh we're free yay!" would have made it perfect. Great Job. |
HM-KHQ - 8 7 7 8 - I really liked this one, I felt like it took a little while to get into the actual story of the wedding party but it was a good story line. Like others said, it would have been nice to have some sort of sound from a person leaving finally. But otherwise really good piece.
2nd Place
Shawn Sienkiewicz WTIC, Hartford "Budget Cuts Fall on Deaf Ears"
Judges Comments
GF-KHQ - 6 7 8 7 - This was really interesting. I don't know if I've seen as story like this. It was cool how you introduced us to the crowd. You used the tools of television to your advantage. A lack of sound is just as powerful as great sound sometimes. After a while, I did want to hear some nats. I couldn't tell if it was intentional or not to not have nat pops in the second half of the story. I think your overall audio mixing needs a little work also. But this was a very thoughtful treatment of a rally story. Nice job. |
TB-KHQ - 9 7 8 8 - Fantasic story, the biggest hook for me was how the writing was so intuned with the video. There were some audio mixing problems the most noticable was the bite at the very end. It is very hard to making a bunch of people stading around interesting, but you found a way. Your camera work obviously shows these people as being passionate and I think that is the most important element of news. |
TM-KHQ - 5 9 9 8 - Very nice work. Make sure to tell the reporter she did a beautiful job with the script. I really felt like I got a taste of what these people go through. Your use of nats (or in this case the lack thereof) to illustrate the feeling of silence was brilliant. I appreciated how you framed your shots to draw attention to your subject's hands, often with the voice of the interpreter underneath, giving the impression they were "speaking". It really worked for me. I am somewhat baffled by your decision to submit this in the spot news category. If you're wondering why my glowing commetns don't sync up with your content score, it's due to my belief that this story is not really spot news. This is a rally that surely was planned ahead of time; as planned and as staged as a city council meeting. Nothing wrong with that, but it's the sort of story where there was plenty of time to prepare for the shoot and plan your shots. The conditions you were working under just don't strike me as being different from a run of mill day turn, and it seems unfair to judge your story as generously as others who were working under significantly more pressure. |
HM-KHQ - 7 8 9 7 - Opening was really great, some of the nats were really well done, but the mixing could be a little smoother. You ran out of angles towards the end, some of the shots with the signers dragged on just a bit, even if the sound was intense. The first half was really srong, and I feel like maybe yo just ran out of things to do/shoot?
3rd Place
Derek Kemp WBBH, Fort Myers "Lehigh Brush Fire"
Judges Comments
GF-KHQ - 5 6 4 5 - I liked your open. You captured some nice air drop shots. I also like your first character, she was in the moment and very emotional. But then we left her and moved on to the next lady and I don't know where she was. You kept cutting back to her in a nondescript space, which totally removed us from the action. I wish you would have just focused on characters who were on scene. |
TM-KHQ 7 7 6 6 Really powerful interview with the first woman. Wish the story would have stayed with her, followed her through what what obviously an impactful day, and given me a sense of what ultimately happened to her. Switching gears to the second woman may have been a misstep, simply because the other character was so much more compelling. Just felt like the emotional volume got turned down. Good flame shots. Be careful of the mic showing up in your interviews. It can be distracting and is easy to eliminate with a little reframing. |
TB-KHQ - 8 7 7 8 - I really enjoyed this piece. Your characters were by far your strongest suit, great emotion from the first woman followed up with the people who almost lost their homes was the best emotional hook you could have given us. Great shots of the fire and the emergency responders. I know it was probably hard to move around but some of the shots were a bit repetitive. Overall good job. |
HM-KHQ L - 7 6 6 7 - Oh man, that first sound bite. Whoa. From there the energy tapered a bit. Th eplane shot was great too. One thing that bugged me was the stick mic in all the shots, don't like it and it looks bad to have it just in the corner there. Some of the shots were overdone with the angle, I would've liked to see more tight shots to mix it up. It was a little distrating haveing the one interview at noght though. I liked it, swell job,
Honorable Mention
Kelvin Higgins WTNH, New Haven "Urban Bear"
Judges Comments
GF-KHQ - 7 5 5 5 - So you followed a developing story until the end, which I appreciate given some of the other stories I've judged here. You captured some decent moments, but I could tell you were struggling to find better shots. I think you could have done more here. All the interviews are detached with stick mics, and as such they don't really seem involved here. Micing some folks up with a wireless during the event would have given you much better, organic moments. I felt like I was watching a series of VOSOTS strung together rather than a cohesive package. |
TB-KHQ - 7 5 5 5 - I liked how you started with the ending at the beginning and went back around and told the whole story. It's hard to be creative with the spot news and i'm sure it was hard getting more shots cover the interviews. Some of the interviews were a little crackly. Maybe you could let that nat at the beginning "back up" breath a little bit more. |
TM-KHQ - 7 6 5 6 - Good job following the action and making sure you're in the right place to get the shot. Looks like you've got really good instincts! Good use of nats and lots of variety in your shots. This bear's adventure was well documented. But I did struggle a little with the interviews. There were good bites, but no broll of your characters, which makes the bites feel a little like they've been shoe horned in there. Maybe try to invest more in the human characters...show them watching this all play out and reacting to it. Put a wireless mic on them and see what they say when they're watching the bear and not thinking about being interviewed. Also, seeing the mic in the interview shots was a distraction and takes me out of the story. One more thing, and this is purely subjective, so take it as such....I think starting the story with the bear falling from the tree was a misstep. I know there's a news director mantra that you always start with your best video. I think that's silly. Wouldn't the shot have had more impact if you built up to it? There's an opportunity to build tension around what's going to happen to this bear. Does it escape? Does it hurt anyone? But if you start with the bear getting captured, there's no tension. I already know exactly what happens to the bear, so all the bites about people being worried ring hollow. Just a thought. |
HM-KHQ - 7 5 7 7 - Liked that were able to follow the action. More than anythign I would want to see real live reactions of people watching the bear, getting their real reactions, not just recounts. Would've liked a reveal of the bear, rather then it starting off the top, but I think it still worked the way you did it.
Judges: KHQ, Spokane