Details
Category: News
Media: Video
Turnaround time: Less than a day
Description of story
I was assigned for an A1 story on a 2,200 foot drug smuggling tunnel discovered linking Otay Mesa to Tijuana, Mexico. I shot stills for the paper in addition to the video work. No one on scene was authorized to give an interview, so I ended up making my first attempt at a news script and VO
Feedback requested
Any and all. Many thanks!
Gear used in production
5DmkII (2)
Canon Lenses
Zoom H4 recorder
Sennheiser wireless mic
This is a really cool situation, and I'm glad you pressed on with the video despite the challenges. You did a nice job with the narration, providing information and context that was not contained in the video. You didn't just simply tell us what we were looking at. Yes, it would have been nice to break that up with some interviews, but you didn't suffer too much without the official comments. Maybe you could have gotten the reactions of neighbors?
I think the biggest thing I would change is the sequencing of the shots. It was cool to open up with the shot along the rails, but the jump cuts between the forward and backward shots were less than ideal. For a story like this, I think what you want to accomplish is to give the viewers the experience of being there, so if you can put together a sequence that goes in a logical order: the setting outside, going into the house, going down the ladder, getting on the rails, riding, and then coming up in Tijuana, I think it would have flowed a little better.
I think it's great that you got the access that you did. I really started to feel a bit claustrophobic when you plunged me down into that narrow tunnel. Did we ever see where it came out in the US? If we did it wasn't apparent. That would have been nice too, but maybe you didn't have access.