RTV 440 Week 2

Cell Phones Off and Put Away

Chapters 1 & 9Appendix 1

Chapter 1

• Why do we tell stories to people?– Share human experience and understanding– Think about TV shows, movies, etc.

• Difference in visual stories and reporting:• Visual stories reveal someone’s goals and

actions as they unfold sequentially, along a timeline.

• Reports commonly emphasize just the facts.

Storytelling basics

• Just as audio serves to draw audiences into the environment of a real-life event, listeners and viewers become more deeply and more tangibly involved if you allow them to see, and feel, and smell, and touch, and taste that moment.

Storytelling basics

• What is a ‘story’?• Who, what, when, where, why and how.• Entertain, inform, persuade.• In video media you can only communicate in

two ways; one way is with images, the other is with sound.

Storytelling issues

• Culture impacts perception• Plan the visual story– ‘theme’ / focus statement / structure

• The best stories convey a sense of progression• Find images that convey a clear story focus

Storytelling issues

• Write the pictures first• Do Reportorial Editing: the process of

previsualizing the story, including the pictures, the sounds, the words, and even the visual and audio transitions – Like a movie director

More Chapter 1

• PROVE THE STORY’S FOCUS VISUALLY– If your subject is a routine warehouse fire, you

may identify the focus by the statement as, “This is a big fire.”

– Your “visual proof,” just as your words, will then follow naturally.

– Visual proof is one or more shots that illustrate a main point or help convey the overall story focus.

Chapter 1

• You select a focus based on available information

• The focus may change – be prepared to adjust the story you are telling.

• TELL YOUR STORY THROUGH PEOPLE• STRONG NATURAL SOUND HELPS TELL

THE STORY

Chapter 1

• BUILD IN SURPRISES• KEEP SOUND BITES SHORT• ADDRESS THE LARGER ISSUE• CHALLENGE YOUR FOCUS STATEMENT– “so what?”

• PACKAGES ARE FACTUAL MINI-MOVIES

The story structure

• The lead– Types of leads– Visual lead

• The main points– Prove points visually

• The close– Nothing else can top it

Chapter 9 – The Package1. Focus (the story stated in a sentence)

2. Beginning (lead)

a. Studio lead-in

3. Package lead

a. Visual lead

b. Voice over (VO)

4. Middle (three or four main points)

a. Main point A

b. Main point B

c. Main point C

d. Main point D

5. End (close)

a. Final visual

b. Final VO

c. Strong closing sound

Studio lead-In:

• If you want to lose weight and become healthy for life, you’ll never need a fad diet again. In fact, you never did. You learned the secret in elementary school.

• (Reporter) has the story.

The Package Lead

• Plan the “visual lead,” or first video of your package (include a ‘nat pop’)

• Identify the central idea you wish to communicate before you worry about the words. In general, the thought process focuses first on (a) an idea to communicate; (b) images to prove the idea visually; and (c) words as necessary to interpret and explain the images.

• Summary lead, hard lead, soft lead, etc.

WRITE THE MIDDLE OR MAIN BODY

• After the package lead, begin the middle or main body of your report.

• In a 1:10- to 1:30-minute package, try to limit yourself to no more than three or four main points.

• Again, focus on the ideas to be communicated before you worry about the images or words.

• B-roll with VO, sound bites, stand up

Body Main Points

• Main Point 1– Supporting facts, prove visually, transition

• Main Point 2– Supporting facts, prove visually, transition

• Main Point 3– Supporting facts, prove visually, transition into

conclusion

WRITE THE CLOSE

• Next, write the close to your package. The close makes it obvious to your audience the story is ending.

• Without a strong close, the package will stop but it will not end.

• As soon as you arrive in the field, begin your search for a closing shot—a visual close you can build toward throughout the entire piece, something so strong it’s obvious the story is finished.

• Lazy reporters sometimes end stories on interviews or standups, but such endings resemble unsigned letters.

• ‘stand up bridge’ (samples)