Video: Spokane teens create news webcasts

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieX5B6Ed0JQ]

What: Multimedia about multimedia. Emerge News is a grant-funded program that lets high school students create news webcasts. I visited one of their tapings and shot video of the process.

What worked: Tight shots. Lots of them. I like the popcorn sequence, but only because it was part of the story; the subsequent shot of the girl working by the bowl of popcorn is meant to establish that. Also, the setting was amenable to using a tripod, which helped keep my shots sharp and allowed me to zoom way in.

Wait, music? After my edit, the piece felt a little flat. My editor at work suggested music. I threw together a quick soundtrack in Garage Band using three loops. I think the result is a livelier video without distracting from the subjects.

Lessons learned: Check out the background on the first interview. Painted cinder blocks. How ugly. How stiff. I need to find better ways to set up my A roll interviews.