Editor Comment (9-07)
NPPA The Cutting Edge "Order of the Edit " video news workshop in Nashville 9/08/07
Shawn Montano of KCNC-TV, Denver, is the Director of the Cutting Edge program. He welcomed the assembled sixty TV news shooters, editors, reporters and journalism students to Bunch Multimedia Hall at the host school, New Century Journalism Program, Belmont University in Nashville Tennessee. Additional support provided by News Channel 5 Network.
The program was ambitious. Sessions were scheduled from 8am to 9pm. Topics covered in depth included "opening sequences". using "natural sound", and the art of "storytelling" . During the breaks the three lead presenters offered critiques of attendees DVD reels which were open to all. These led to interesting short discussions on ethics, camera placement, directing the shot, and the motivating factors for use of transitions. Critiques were offered and received in a mentor-student format in which all agreed that every video produced under deadline can probably benefit from hindsight. No stone was left unturned.
Shawn Montano Lou Davis Matt Rafferty
The sessions were moderated by Shawn and included detailed discussions featuring Lou Davis, Chief Photographer, WTVD in Raleigh, North Carolina and Matt Rafferty, Video Editor WJW-TV Cleveland, Ohio.
Shawn was the NPPA TV 2001 Editor of the Year and has won three Emmy's along with many regional and local awards.
Lou Davis has 56 AP, NPPA, Emmy and RTNDA awards. Matt Rafferty has 10 Emmy's and was NPPA Cutting Edge Video Editor of the Year in 2004.
Cutting Edge Editor Ryan Borgman, KDVR Denver, showed his Best of Photojournalism 2007 TV News Editing award winner "Just the Neatest Thing". Shot by photographer Chris Lupenski, the video uses loud and startling sounds to convey the intense expeience of the moose mating ritual. The use of wide, natural beauty shots for the opening and closing, created a feeling of "cycle of life". Ryan even discussed, with great humor, his choice of a female moose in the last shot as we hear a male moose call. A story on Platt Canyon High School made effective use of slow motion and music to convey the emotions being expressed. A light piece called "Sky Fighters" showed fun rides at Cenntennial Airport in restored fighter planes with mock dogfights. Ryan explained his technique of shot scrubbing (hitting record while mousing back and forth over a motion part of a shot). More from the Fox 31 Signature Series www.myfoxcolorado.com/myfox/pages/Entertainment , Josh White's "Muddy Buddies" demonstrated the kind of empathetic human touch that is an audience draw, including the workshop audience. Ryan finished up with his "Denver Remix ", a piece in which he combined quick cutting, multiple split screen and hip-hop music to present a novel view of Denver.
Shawn, Lou and Matt each showed examples they felt exhibited certain qualities, sometimes bad ones, to help make the point of the lecture. Key wisdom repeated over the course of the day included:
Editors hate dissolves in hard news stories.
If the package doesn't answer the who, what,1 where, when and why...it won't work.
Close-ups make good cut-a-ways.
Shoot for the sound, natural sound makes it real.
Put your wireless mic close to the source and shoot wide for a new effect.
Interviews work best from a tripod.
Getting access from more than one source is good insurance.
Believe in your story.
Good interview questions get good answers.
Good interviewers know when to just listen.
Shoot with the editor in mind.
Build the soundtrack first to control time.
Find a character.
For every key action there is a reaction.
Touch- Know-Go
B-M-E or bust
New shooters should make a shot list.
4 frames is a nice audio dissolve.
Audio J-cuts and L-cuts keep the viewer engaged.
Build your story around a "moment", but don't start with it.
Make notes of good sound bites on location.
White balance in the shade when you need a "warm" look.
Be a team player (and you'll get more chances to innovate).
It's about people.
Joe Torelli from Apple was on hand for a Final Cut Pro demo and to discuss his new book, Final Cut Pro 6 for News and Sports.
Several students from Belmont asked questions regarding both technique and mind-set when shooting packages. There was a brief flurry of correct practice questions regarding a piece shown in which the reporter interviewed two individuals after Katrina and then told the nearby police that she suspected the men were engaged in illegal activity (salvage). The reporter then followed the police as they arrested the men she had just interviewed. The students felt that the reporter became too much a part of the story. The shooters mostly supported the idea of not walking away from a situation in which their action could prevent a crime.
By the end of a really long day and evening everyone was starving but happy. The hard core workshop peple retired to a nearby Greek reaturant to continue the discussion and wind down.
Alex Quinones, hungry web producer, WTVF
Shawn started planning "The Cutting Edge '08".
I got to wear my new SKY5 hat to the Nashville Zoo the next day when I shot a test piece for The Philadelphia Daily News on their new Sony HD camera. (more on that later)
Jon Spielberg, editor PJN