Visual Mediums

I've had some trouble writing for a visual medium. Like some of the other people who posted, I'm used to writing for print and that's my prefferred medium. The most difficulty I've had with the video news stories is matching visuals to audio. If I have a quote or a fact that I want to include, I have to know this before I start filming in order to create context for it. This is really difficult for me because if there's a fact or something I want to include in a story that I think of after I've finished filming, it's too late to go back and get more footage.
There are some advantages to video-- it can definitely make facts more interesting. In the 60 Minutes clip we watched about pollution, the video kept my attention. If I had just been reading that story, I don't know if I would have been as engaged without the pictures to walk me through the story.

Visual Mediums

I find writing for a visual medium is much easier than print. In print it is so easy to misinterpret words and you can never know what connotations an individual has associated a word you use in your story. With visuals I find there is usually less need for explanation because the person has a better connection and understand when the information is right in front of them. There is still a chance of misinterpretation but the margin is much smaller. A problem specific to visual mediums is the issue of being redundant, stating in your audio or accompanying caption what is already included in a soundbite, shot, etc. While there is pressure in print to make yourself clear, there are more opportunities for you to get it right, while if you miss capturing some information it is less likely that it'll be duplicated and you'll be there to witness it. 

Visual Medium

Writing for a visual medium is not so different than the other forms of writing I have dealt with. It resembles reports I have done. You have to make sure and stick to the facts. It also resembles storytelling because you want to use your video writing to tie the entire package together. It is a very important part of the equation to get right. It can sometimes be difficult because you have to work with the video you have. There is nothing you can do to change that because what you see is what you get. This is why I believe broadcast journalism is more credible at times because it would be more difficult to make-up or add something that isn't true. All and all writing for a visual medium just takes practice.

Writing...and the closing shot

Sarah Steffen

Writing for a visual medium is so different. Coming from a newspaper/magazine perspective, writing for TV is really another type of style. Now, with video shooting, I have to force myself not only go get the good quotes and tell my story in a compelling way, but also to care for good audio and video footage. I have to keep in mind that - for writing a good package - all has to go well together.
It's rather trivial that every story has to have a beginning, a middle and an ending - but I thought it was really important to point out that one needs a good closing shot. Of course it's important to have a good start that makes people want to watch the report, but it's equally important to write the story (and bolster it with the right footage) to let the audience know that this is the end of the story. It should give them a feeling of closure. If the report left them wondering what that was about, the writer didn't succeed in his endeavors. Which leaves the beginner with the question: What is a good closing shot? For our first assignment I just tried to get as many different shots as possible to have a variety to pick from during my editing process. I think the more experienced you get, the easier you can determine a good closing shot during your actual video shooting.

Writing for a Visual Medium

As a writer, I'm having a horrible time understanding the order in which you do things while videotaping and writing a television story. You start with the focus of course, then have an outline of the main points. But it's not like writing an article. You only get one shot to film. If it's an event, you better get every shot you need in order to be able to put a story package together, because you just can't drag your camera back to the scene and get everybody in the same clothes again if you forgot something. Whereas with writing, yes it helps to get everything you will need to write the story then and there, but you can always call back or google something if it doesn't make sense. I guess I'm just having troubling seeing how you set up a television story without even having done the reporting at the event. I guess camera people really have to think on their feet and be quick to get everything they could possibly need at the shoot, then go put together a story based on what they got.

My neurotic anxieties out of the way, writing for a visual medium seems to need a couple of things. The most important is to be able to summarize the point of the story in one sentence. People's attention spans are not long. They want to know what they are seeing and why. The second most important thing is to tell a story. Tell them what they are seeing and why it's relevant, but them them get the emotions from the footage themselves.

Writing for Visual Medium

Elise Crawley

Going through the articles, I couldn't help thinking that getting video footage seemed like an exhaustive process.  Specifically because I cannot imaging getting a shot from so many different perspectives by myself (being inept as I feel with the camera) without having to ask people to redo things constantly.  Which then gets into the ethical question of staging things.  However in then reading about how to create a package it almost felt like pre-writing was almost like pre-staging, because you decided what you wanted before you absorbed a situation.  Granted decisions would be made at a location and it's not really staging, but reading how it is described almost sounds like creating news, though I recognize that it's not...it's more creating how the news (the results of a study, as an example) are portrayed.  

I liked the idea of editing much more.  I feel that I could certainly learn to edit well, but as a videographer, I might always come back with Rambo footage.  

And now for something completely different...

Lukas Litzsinger

*ahem* Action!

Not every sentence is created equal. Some visuals are better than others. A sound in the bush is worth two in the studio. If these saying don't sound familiar, it is because I just made them up.

Reporter Voiceover: This...*screenshot* is a blog. It is an online site where people post their thoughts--

Natural Sound: Stop it! Do you know how much work goes into producing a story like this???!

Reporter: ...as the march of technology clicks on, producing wonders not even imagined when the students were born almo--

Natural: Woah! That is a horrible sentence! 'Clicks on'? 'wonders'? What is this, Aladdin? Sentences should be short and to the point when writing for visuals.

Reporter: In addition, a video story needs to have several things to make it a success *clip of a chimpanzee shooting a video* including good audio, concise writing, relevant video and a sense of humor.

Natural: Hey, I didn't say you could use that shot of me! Er, I mean, you should show a clip illustrating each idea, don't just list them and show a marginally relevant video. Also, a story really shouldn't have more than three or four main ideas, you are jumping all over the place!

Reporter: Each story needs a beginning, a middle, and an end. Back to you, Big Bird.

Natural: That's common sense! And what kind of ending is that? You want to keep your best shot for last! That way you not only have an ending point to build toward, but you maximize impact!

*cut*

Natural: Hey!