Brian Snyder said that while he taught us the basics of shooting video, he was really explaining how to teach students to be good photographers. Well, I have worked to improve my photographic abilities since I graduated from college, but the video project challenged me. I rarely shoot photographs for an assignment and I shoot mostly instinctively.
Today, my group and I made a conscious effort to remember Brian's hand mnemonic about varying shots, but we still returned with few tight shots. I noticed that I and many classmates had no problem bending ourselves into strange, up-close positions with a still camera in our hand, but when it came time to film, we took a step back. I found myself awkward with the video camera, and hesitant to disturb someone with the camera in ways that I never worry with a still camera.
Today, my group and I made a conscious effort to remember Brian's hand mnemonic about varying shots, but we still returned with few tight shots. I noticed that I and many classmates had no problem bending ourselves into strange, up-close positions with a still camera in our hand, but when it came time to film, we took a step back. I found myself awkward with the video camera, and hesitant to disturb someone with the camera in ways that I never worry with a still camera.
Based on their approach to teaching a bunch of high school journalism teachers how to tackle video, we could say Steve Elliott and Brian Snyder agree that no matter what mnemonic you share or examples and demonstrations you provide, with photography and videography, many lessons and true understanding will come from simply shooting and editing. This means the student will not be right under the teacher's nose. As teachers, lessons like these may feel a little uncomfortable, less controlled and planned. Regardless of how uncomfortable it may have made Bryan or Steve to do a lesson this way (somehow I don't think they were uncomfortable at all), I know we learned from making a mistake the first time and then returning out to the heat to get more footage. The second time, we didn't hesitate to approach and invade a little space.
- Have students pick a letter in the alphabet and assign an interview/story with someone who has a name beginning with that letter
- Come up with an assignment where students could return again until they get it right
- Ask all students to do a variety of assignments throughout the year: music video, nat sound, sports, entertainment, hard news, and a choice video project
Rhonda Dickens
Chisholm Trail High School
Fort Worth, Texas
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