Aww mom, Is camp really over?

Video boot camp was an intense blur last week. I learned so much. We were taught a method for shooting that makes it possible to have excellent footage every time if we do it correctly. There were lectures on editing with Final Cut Pro, capturing audio and storytelling. The camp was hard. I had to do things I don't normally do. I've been in the newspaper business for almost twenty years but I've always done a job that keeps me in the office, assisting, teching or editing. Last week, we were unceremoniously thrown out into the street and told we had three hours to bring back a story. That is stress! I felt like I was on a reality show like The Apprentice or Oprah's Big Give as I drove around wildly, muttering to myself, trying to find, someplace, anyplace I could make a story. When I actaully found subjects that agreed to let me shoot it was exhilerating. We shot a piece on the first day and the third of camp. The difference between the two pieces was astounding. That's how quickly our skills expanded during the program. One day I was near tears unable to grasp the concept of seperating  and layering audio and video tracks. A few hours later, I was past that hurdle and humming along.

Despite being fantastically frigging tired out, I felt great building new skills. Better than that, I'll be  able to put them to use regularly when I produce short video pieces weekly for our online presence. I'll have one day a week to shoot, edit, write a script and do a voice over for one piece.

Any of you NJ peeps out there that have story ideas, please, oh, please send them my way. I'm looking for interesting people doing cool things. They don't have to be grand things. Small stories are just as interesting as big ones. If you know someone in NJ that you think would be a good subject, drop me an email. Not just this week but anytime in the future, feel free. Just this weekend alone, I ran into a great character at a garden center I'd never been to before, a woman succeeding at her third career. Now instead of coming home and telling Sweets or one of my friends about the cool person I met today, I'll be able to tell lots and lots of people. I'm pretty much consumed with this right now. This video boot camp injected my brain with new ingredients, shook them up with all the curiosity and creativity that was already in there. I feel like a very potent cocktail. And I'm  feeling pretty buzzed.

This is the second piece I shot. I'm pretty proud of it. It's only a minute long, so I hope you take a look and tell me what you think. I need all the feedback I can get right now.

Comments

[Denise]

I thought that was very good...great job!!!

[Melissa]

I thought it was really great...only issue I had was that I could hardly hear her speaking. I dont know if it was my machine, or what... just couldnt hear what she was saying.

[cyndemouse]

You already have the npr voice down!!

[cyndemouse]

You already have the npr voice down!!

[The Shopping Sherpa]

Brilliant!