Shoot a simple story

 

 

Do you have a special talent or an interesting parlor trick?

 

 

Can you wiggle your ears or cross your eyes then send one looking the other way? Can you draw a famous cartoon character or do an imitation of someone famous? How about tell us a joke? Or grab one of the props and make up a story! 

 

Props: a deck of cards, bubbles, jump rope, sidewalk chalk, kazoo, spoon. Whatever the talent or trick, do a short video about it.

 

Assign Responsibilities.

 

 

First, decide what the story will be then assign who is responsible for what.

 

 

• Who will be the talent?

 

 

• Who will shoot the footage?

 

 

• Who will conduct the interview?

 

 

• Who will keep track of shot log?

 

 

Consider taking turns to become familiar with different responsibilities.

 

 

Interview the person with the talent/trick. 

 

• Pick a quiet location to conduct the interview then show us the trick!

 

 

• Give the interviewee the questions a few minutes ahead of time so that they can formulate answers to the questions before you start recording their responses.

 

 

• If they fumble over their words and ask to answer the question again, just keep recording and say, “Yes, go right ahead!”

 

• Only if there is a long pause should you stop recording.

 

• Give yourself and the interviewee a little bit of time between each question. Youʼll be glad when you start editing the footage!

 

Suggestions for kick off questions

 

• What is your name and where are you from?

 

Remember, ask the person to repeat part of the questions back to you so that it makes sense in the video. Ex: "My name is... I am from...

 

• Tell us about your special talent or interesting parlor trick. Who taught you this trick? How long have you been doing it?

  

If you ask "What is your special talent/trick" you may just get - "My talent is tying a cherry stem into a knot." The end--blah! We want to hear the back-story.

 

• Was there a particular time when this talent or trick was incredibly handy?Did it ever get you out of a jam?

 

• Can you tell us of a time when it was a hit with a crowd or someone special?

 

• Has the trick ever backfired or caused you embarrassment? If so, how?

 

 

Think about how you will VISUALLY tell the story.

 

As the person is answering the questions think about what visuals you could use to help tell the story. You can shoot the footage or find still images elsewhere, but be aware of what visuals you might need! In some situations you only have that one time, one hour, one day to get what it takes to tell your story well.

 

 

Get footage of the talent/trick.

 

After you conduct the interview THEN get footage of the talent. The footage of the talent can be shot in a different location but be careful not to put him/her in a place where we can be easily distracted by what's going on in the background.

 

 

• Try getting it from all angles. Would the shot look better straight on or from the side? From above or below?

 

• Would the talent come across better if he/she had an audience? Consider placing a few group members in the shot to watch the talent/trick. We love to see other peopleʼs reactions.

 

• Consider doing several takes (recording the action) of the talent/trick. One take could be of the talent/trick itself, the other of people’s reactions. You can piece them together at the editing station!

 

After you’ve shot your interview and footage of the talent/trick. Come back to the

 

lab editing stations to learn how to retrieve your footage from the Flip camera, import it into iMovie or Windows Movie Maker.

 

Good Luck and HAVE FUN!

 

 

 

Created by Susan Simon, Dartmouth College 2008