Inaugural video project

This week is fair week in Douglas County.

It’s easily the biggest thing to hit Roseburg and the surrounding areas in the 10 months I’ve been working for The News-Review. Douglas County folks are serious about their fair.

I scanned the fair schedule, and one performer caught my eye instantly — Tammy Harris Barton, hypnotist.

I’ll be the first to admit, though, I was skeptical. I wasn’t quite sure if I believed that Mrs. Harris Barton could hypnotize people without them exaggerating their actions and playing along. I figured the show would provide an interesting sights-and-sounds story, though, so I signed up to cover it.

I also thought the show would make for an interesting video for our Web site. Now, I learned how to edit video using Final Cut Pro while at Poynter and have played with a video camera from time to time, but I had never stepped up to the plate and decided I was going to smoosh it all together for a video project — until Tuesday.

I went to the show Tuesday night, equipped with my notebook and pen and a point-and-shoot camera for video recording.

Trying to operate a camera and still write some of my own notes proved to be tricky, but I managed. I ran into another speed bump when my first memory card filled up, then my back-up card as well. Luckily for me, I asked our photographer to bring a few extra cards — just in case. I went through four memory cards and still could have used more. (Lesson learned: change the camera’s settings to extend the available time on the card).

I managed to talk to most of the hypnotized folks for my written story, and grabbed Tammy Harris Barton afterward to answer a few questions on camera. 

In the end — after several hours of writing and video editing — I came out with two pieces of work that I can be proud to show. Of course, I’m my own biggest critic and found several things I would do differently for the video given the chance (i.e. improve transitions, more B-roll sound, etc.) but still learned a ton.

I’m glad I stepped out of my comfort zone and (finally) applied some of the video knowledge I gained at Poynter, and I plan to incorporate video into my assignments more often now that the intimidating “first time” is past.

In the meantime, if you want to check out my inaugural video project, here’s the link.