Oklahoma City Bombing: 15 years later (view this story)

Details

Category: Feature
Media: Video
Turnaround time: More than a day but less than a week

Description of story

The newspaper staff tells the story of reporting on the Oklahoma City Bombing and the trials that followed.

Feedback requested

Is it engaging? If so, why? If not, why not? Does it convey emotion, something new? Or does it belabor a story that already had been covered thoroughly? Thoughts on interviewing your own reporters? Anybody else done something similar?

Gear used in production

Canon 5d mkii
Sony wireless mics
One video light with softbox
FCP to edit
Garage band for music

3 comments - Login to comment

Reviewer
Eric Seals Aug. 15, 2010, 4 p.m. permalink

Well done and produced!  I was glued the whole time to the piece and having the reporters and photographer recount the events was perfect. The whole mood of the piece was somber, respectful and gave me something new on this tragic event that has been covered many times from many angles.  The way it was done was nice.


To answer your feedback requested directly;

Is it engaging? 

Yes. Listening to the reporters and the photographer take me back to what it was like and going through was perfect. That one woman who covered McVeigh in court recounting how the rescue dogs were depressed because they're use to finding people alive? Geez. 
Lots of good information and stories from them and your framing and lighting of them was really good.  The only very minor thing was the one reporter in the white shirt seemed to be leaning back in his chair a lot kind of like teetering on the edge of falling out of the frame. 

Does it convey emotion, something new? Or does it belabor a story that already had been covered thoroughly? 

The pacing you did was right on.  I liked how you did the interviews, nice pauses in between. Liked how you left off one interview and the next person picked up where the other person left off, good transitioning. 
I especially like moments like at you did at 1:11 (and other parts in the piece) when the guy in the white shirt pauses and you let it breath before going to the reflection in the water and a summary of what we are about to watch.  For me I would have done a dip to black instead of that abrupt going to black. Then again I see you went to black right on cue with that music note which was nice too.

We've all seen lots of coverage from this tragic event many times but for me (like I said earlier) this is the first time I saw it covered from the view of journalists from one place.

I even loved the music you selected or seeing it is Garageband did you or someone else compose it?

The visuals to open the piece were nice as well. Enjoyed it! :-)

Eric


Submitter
Adam Wisneski Aug. 16, 2010, 5:27 p.m. permalink

Thanks for the review Eric. It's funny, I didn't really now how this video worked when I finished editing. But people were really responding to it. I'm glad to see that it held up to a more critical eye. 


The reporter leaning back was just kind of overweight, and he didn't sit up straight. I didn't notice that, but I do now. 

I compose all the music for my videos in garage band using keyboard typing. It turns the keys of your keyboard into a piano, and it's actually quite easy to make stuff. Beats, and loops and everything you need. 
I play instruments too, but regardless, I actually think it's easier to compose your own music than to try and find something that fits. You can make the mood just right, and it only takes a little experimenting to get it down. Often all it takes is a couple notes and a drumbeat. And now I've got a library of like 40 songs on the server that the other photographers can use for their stuff. 

Thanks again for the review. 




Reviewer
Peg Achterman Sept. 4, 2010, 1:12 p.m. permalink

Hi Adam - very compelling and engaging - just a few little things to comment on.
1. I might have missed it, but it wasn't clear to me upfront that the speakers (really the protagonists here) were the World staff. That info came about 1:15 mins in I think? I might have made that more clear - esp using the prize-winning stills to emphasize their closeness to the whole story. We see lots of TV shots, but you're doing a story on the newspaper  people - so might play that up more.

2. Watch your steadiness - because you were mostly on tripod - for the well-lit interviews and such - any wobble on shots from the memorial, etc. ( @:22)- they really show up and I think they end up being distracting. The whole piece is very smooth - just make sure every shot is that smooth.

Nice work.

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