Video Adventures

Shops and restaurants frame the sprinkler park.

The day I waited for since the start of Bootcamp — video day — finally arrived. It started with a crash course in shooting Web video and continued with a fun afternoon of shooting at a local sprinkler park. But then the day that began in a crash course absolutely crashed. My partner, Tauren Dyson, and I watched as the train pulled away from Tenleytown station — with our camera inside.

After an hour sitting by the station manager as he called all stops between Tenleytown and Shady Grove three times, we decided to talk to Professor Olmsted. A depressing conversation with a police officer (“During rush hour? You’re not getting that back.”) sealed our defeat.

I’m writing this blog on Thursday. I can tell you now someone returned our camera. And the pictures on this post scream that fact. But man, it was a rough evening.

Back to the beginning: Rob Roberts, senior video editor at USA Today, spoke about his rules of Web video. Generally, creative, dynamic characters are needed for video stories, he said.  Natural sound, natural action, interviews, and B-roll constitute a complete shoot. And those interviews, he said, should be environmental portraits, when possible. The interview frame should provide contextual clues to the shot location.

A child plays in a sprinkler at the center of Downtown Silver Spring.

“Every piece of information [in your shot] should be relevant,” he said. But Roberts warned against extraneous cues and also suggested tight shots to establish subject-viewer relationships.

The Adventure Begins

Professor Olmsted then set us loose across the DC Metro Area to film stories about the record-breaking heat. Tauren Dyson and I headed to Downtown Silver Spring to film at a sprinkler park.

The afternoon in itself was a learning experience. Our interviews got better as we learned how to ask open-ended questions about our topic. After handling the camera for a little while, we became more adventurous with our shots, varying perspective and zoom.

…And Ends

But then came the strongest lesson of all: Be responsible with your equipment. After being so careful not to get the camera wet, even in sprinkler mist, we left it on the Red Line.

Not good. And especially disappointing to someone who prides herself on responsibility.

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