Stories on the run

I posted a few days ago about the sprint boat races Lisa and I went to Saturday. Well, I was planning to edit the video Tuesday and have it online this morning, but that didn’t work out. The editing was not going well Tuesday.

So today I finished it up. Enjoy.

A little mud never hurt anyone.

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With every video I produce, I feel, I get a little better. Each video is a little more polished, and if you look at my first video and take a look at my latest (below), you should be able to see a bit of a difference. (If you can’t get through the Spokesman’s firewall to see the first video, take a look at my second one.)

However, my production time is still long as hell. Now, I’m not complaining here, just saying. The video below, on Spokane’s Avista Stadium, took me about an hour to shoot and 10 hours to edit (including laying down the voiceover). My two-minute video on the Swoop tryouts took me two hours to shoot and seven to edit.

Much of the reason this stadium one took me so long is because I tried two new things with it. First, I did a voiceover, which really wasn’t that hard. It just took some time. Second, I used still images, and had to learn how to put them in motion. Also, I color-corrected every shot.

I can’t imagine editing a feature film.

Egged on by Colin from work, I thought I’d share with you a little tidbit from the mascot tryouts at Eastern last Friday. And I shall censor nothing.

When I arrived 20 minutes early to the dance studio on campus, there was already someone dancing around in the Swoop costume. A cameraman from KXLY was taping it all. Odd, I thought. They didn’t start early, did they?

The dancing was, well, bad — it didn’t look like someone was seriously auditioning. Soon, the voice from inside the padded head started talking to the three judges, telling them how to react for the camera.

I thought this, too, was odd. I still really didn’t know what was going on. Was this some Eastern PR guy trying to get photos for the university’s website? I was still unpacking my own video equipment, so I was still only half paying attention.

But soon, Swoop took off his head. Underneath was this guy — Keith Osso, sports reporter for KXLY. He, too, was doing a story on the Swoop tryouts, but taking a completely different angle.

OK, it’s funny. A reporter gets into the suit and “auditions.” Har har har. Makes for a funny 30-second clip on the 5 o’clock news. But wait, Keith starts telling the judges how to react on camera. “Tell me, for the camera, how horrible my dancing was.” Essentially, fabricating the entire story, down to what the judges say about him.

Then, he asked for an Eastern basketball player to come into the studio. Keith’s idea was to put the Swoop pants on the player for a funny bit. Once more, complete fabrication. The player would not have otherwise been at the audition.

Here’s what KXLY ran on Monday.

Now, the report is presented in a way that makes it obvious Keith is not trying to do any objective reporting. And it’s obviously not about the people who actually auditioned for Swoop that day.

It’s about Keith.

And that’s a huge difference between TV and newspaper video. I don’t think any newspaper reporter would go to an event and make the story about them. It’s just not what we do. In TV, it’s all about the reporter, the on-screen personality.

Like Colin said, a TV station such as KXLY spends so long doing real reports of real events, building viewers’ trust in the station. Then it goes and airs a story like this, and loses ground.

(Also, you can see me in the background at about 1:35 in that KXLY video.)

UPDATE 6/13/08: Colin responds.

Ever wonder what it would be like to be a sports team mascot?

Well, I didn’t quite find out. But a few other people did. Eastern Washington University held tryouts Friday for people who want to be the next Swoop, the school’s eagle mascot. The event was the subject of my latest video for S-R.com.

Lisa also blogged about this. We took a little visit today to the Spokane Falls downtown, where floodwaters are gushing over the cliffs in mindboggling volumes. Seriously, just standing at the viewpoint and watching the water was a little dizzying.

I took a page out of Jacob’s book and took some video with my cell phone. You don’t get the full effect, but it’s an idea.

Of course, we couldn’t help but also take pictures.

My most recent assignment from my editor was to experiment with what we can do for the Spokane sports teams on video. His edict was to try something with a beat reporter on camera, telling the viewer about whatever team the reporter covers.

Apparently, the two youngest reporters on the sports desk are the only ones who were — at least the other day — open to experimenting. So Jessica Brown and I set off to make a video on the Spokane Shock arena football 2 team. This is what we came up with.

It’s very much like a TV report — but better (in my opinion). It gives readers the chance to put a face with a byline, and it solidifies that reporter’s position as an authority on the subject. Jessica did a great job, but many reporters would not be so good in front of a camera or doing voice over. It’s also longer and more in-depth than a 30-second TV spot.

Then again, it’s very much like a TV report. Is this really innovative for newspapers to do, or are we just recycling an older form of video and posting it on our website? Most everyone in the newsroom this morning loved the video, and most of the readers did, too. But is it the best we can do?

That’s why I’m viewing all of this as an experiment, just like my editor said. We’ll see what works. This apparently does, but maybe something else will work even better.

Since getting back to the Spokesman newsroom, I’ve been talking with our multimedia guys a lot about my new video-priority job. The idea is that I will get new, better equipment so my videos can be of higher visual quality. And to give me some street credit.

Have you seen what I’ve been toting around to basketball games and sporting events? This little guy looks ridiculous next to a huge TV camera.

Approximate scaling.

Well, soon I should be getting a sleek, high-def, microphone-friendly Sony A1U, shown below. The only drawback is that it uses tapes, unlike my current consumer-grade camcorder. So, for the breaking news stuff I do, I’ll still be using the little guy.

Isn’t it beautiful?

I took a trip up to Spokane today to produce a video on the Spokane Chiefs’ homecoming after they won junior hockey’s Memorial Cup. It’s a big deal for Spokane … or at least the 3,000 fans who showed up to Spokane Arena to welcome the team.

Here is a sneak preview of the video I did on the WSU women’s rowing team. It will be up on the S-R website sometime this weekend, either Friday (because it’s done) or Sunday (because that’s when my article is running). But you, loyal readers, get to see it now.