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| Photo by Rosemary Pennington |
| As a class, students in J520 critique one another’s video stories. Rob Schmidt, left, and Tian Ming considered a fellow classmate’s work. |
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The students had just watched a story about senior citizens who volunteer to stuff envelopes for area nonprofits. Critiquing – offering comments on the strong points and the weak – is a big part of the class activities.
“I liked how we moved from a wide shot of them stuffing envelopes to the close-ups of their hands,” Rob Schmidt added.
Schmidt and the rest of the professional track master’s students in the room have spent the semester learning how to craft compelling video that, ideally, goes beyond nightly television news fare to tell a rich, narrative story. This is the first time the class is being offered at the School of Journalism, although Conway has wanted to teach it for a while.
“The journalism school didn’t offer video as photojournalism,” Conway said. “The students might get a taste of it in the visual communication classes, but that’s about it. So I thought, ‘Why not a stand alone class?’”
This semester, he got his wish. The students began by learning the basics of using the cameras and framing shots. By the time December rolls around, they will have produced two major projects, one focusing on a Bloomington-based volunteer program, the other on an intriguing area resident.
“The idea is that you come in here with no video skills,” Conway said. “We’ll see how far you get in one semester.”
Conway is a veteran of television news and draws on his experience, which ranges from working as a “one man band,” a TV reporter who shoots and reports, to running a TV newsroom. But he’s also brought in guest speakers such as NBC’s Bob Dotson and WTHR-TV videographer Steve Rhodes to share their video storytelling philosophies with students.
After wrapping up the critique of the senior citizens piece, Conway moved to another story, one about two young men with autism who collect food for the Community Kitchen. When it ended, Conway and several students wanted to know how Schmidt, who produced the piece, was able to capture the light in a particular interview.
“It looked like you were using gels,” Conway said, referring to color filters that can change lighting.
“No,” Schmidt said. “I just got really lucky. That was just the light in the backyard. It took a while to set it up, but I thought it turned out well.”
Schmidt was one of those who had no real experience shooting video before taking the class, although he had done a little editing. Over the last few weeks, he has seen a marked improvement in his work.
“The first story I did was for the student news station. The audio was terrible,” Schmidt said. “I’ve definitely seen a lot of progress.”
And, in an e-mail, Conway said he’s seen a great deal of progress in all the students’ work.
“We watch all of the stories in class,” Conway said, “so I’m seeing their stories for the first time with all of the students. Some of the students had never picked up a video camera before this semester and now they are producing memorable stories.”
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| Photo by Rosemary Pennington |
| Assistant professor Mike Conway believes all students should be able to tell a story using video, "one of the skills they can offer a potential employer." |
With the emphasis on media convergence, the ability to shoot quality video will be an asset, no matter what medium a student decides to work in, Conway said. Newspapers, magazines and radio stations now are hiring journalists who can pick up a video camera as easily as they can write the words for a story.
“I’m more convinced now than at the start of the semester that this is an important part of the future of journalism,” he said. “Instead of limiting video photojournalism and editing to the broadcast classes, I think all students should have video storytelling as one of the skills they can offer a potential employer.”
Conway said he hopes the class will be offered again and that, next time, there will be a section for undergraduate as well as graduate students.
