Clip Monster

Elements of Storytelling

FOCUS on ideas, voices and/or people have not had their story told?

• Ask a central question
• Ask yourself “why” five times
• What five other questions would audiences want answered?
• Look for a microcosm (a smaller story)
• Find a POV
• Sketch a story map

CENTRAL COMPELLING CHARACTERS

• Search for motivation
• Capture emotion
• (Although) Keep your distance
• Maintain objectivity
• Find compelling action

CONFLICT

• Another person
• Society
• Technology
• Internal

SURPRISES

• Stunning visuals
• Unexpected sounds
• Poetic writing
• CCCs themselves

PACING

• Mix it up
• Weave in natural sound
• Split sound bites
• Let content determine pacing

GOOD AUDIO

• Keep it real: at least one official and one ordinary person
  
• Audio compliments visuals
• Silence and natural sound

Gluttony–Fair Use

Courts use these criteria to decide whether something is plagiarized or falls under Fair Use:

1. Nature of the Original Work

2. Nature of Use

3. Amount and Substantiality

4.Effect on Market

Greed–-Reporter’s Privilege

There is a reporter’s privilege in almost every state (sauf Wyoming) unless you are subpoenaed to testify before a federal court. Reporters face jail time or fines, which can exceed $500 per day they refuse to show up in court.

Sloth

‘But I said allegedly!’

“To hell with getting it first, get it right,” said Goldberg. Defamation can ruin a reporter’s reputation. Be careful, be accurate, be fair. Make sure you specify who is making the allegation; know the difference between ‘indicted,’ ‘arrested,’ and ‘convicted.’

Lust—CDA Section 230

‘No provider of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider.’

This does not apply to federal criminal law or intellectual property.

Pride

Corrections are important. Sometimes it just makes financial sense to swallow your pride and say you’re sorry.

Envy–Permission/Licensing

Copyrights are pieces of property. They can be bought or sold for different durations, uses, and with or without attribution.

Wrath

What is fair game? Anything garnered by someone respecting a reasonable expectation of privacy.

Patent: idea

Copyright: Expression of that idea

Trademark/Servicemark: Product or service

• Requires distinctiveness, either facial or acquired.

We had some visitors from Creative Services, the media PR wing of George Mason University. They had some helpful tips to improve our photos as we work on our respective multimedia blogs.

Political events are difficult to cover because the imagery is usually very controlled by the organizers of the event. Photographers are often put on risers and thus have a limited view of the public figure. The trick is to try and find a unique angle or a moment that captures what you are trying to say.
Shooting in a classroom can be difficult—the overhead lighting can make people look ghoulish, and the subjects are mostly static. It helps to bring your own lighting such as a separate flash, which you can point toward the wall to create a soft glow in the room. Photograph the students engaging in discussion or doing an activity.

A few camera tips:

Your shutter controls artificial light. So a slower shutter speed will capture the motion of traffic at night. The aperture will control the ambient light in the room or the natural light of the outdoors. Depth of field can make portraits more interesting by blurring the background an focusing on the subject. You can create this effect by changing the aperture. Your ISO setting won’t add light, but it will turn up the volume. But be warned: anything over 800 will make your image appear grainy.

The Office of Housing and Residence Life has made changes to the housing selection process which includes the elimination of room retention, priority for groups and a new $300 security deposit. OHRL is doing these things to reduce uncertainty in the housing selection process.

This year, those with the least amount of credits will be given priority in housing selection. This is designed to give underclassmen a better chance at living on campus, said Jen Frank, assistant director of Housing Services. At an information session Thursday, some were concerned that this threatens senior privilege.

“We do acknowledge that some portion of seniors will be on the Guaranteed Waiting List from the start of the process,” Frank said. “We really think that the older students are more suited to deal with that ambiguity of being on the wait list.”

Those seniors will still be guaranteed housing on campus, just maybe not in the location of their choice. Students also will no longer be able to retain the same housing they have now, but instead will reenter the housing pool each year.

Another change is that group applicants will be given priority over individuals in the housing selection.  “[Students] spend all their time and energy on roommate and suitemate problems, and the community doesn’t get built because there’s all that negativity there,” said Frank.

The idea is that people who know their roommates ahead of time are more likely to have a positive roommate experience.

There will also be a new $300 deposit that students must pay after selecting their housing. OHRL instituted this to make students commit to living on- or off-campus.  They will credit the deposit back to students’ accounts in October, Frank said.

Last year, the OHRL website crashed during housing selection. In order to reduce traffic, selection this year will be staggered so that students will be given a widow of time to select their housing. Group applicants will choose a leader to login and choose their housing. The OHRL website will also feature a new tool called Room Locator, which will allow students to see which rooms they can select as they become available, said Myra Gibson, housing services coordinator at Eisenhower, at a Housing Selection Forum Thursday.

The additional 600 beds that will come from the opening of the Whitetop and Rogers dorms next could make up for the 500 or so people who apply but are not guaranteed housing. It will also mean more choices for upperclassmen that are the last to select housing.

“This is the year to do that change,” Frank said. “Because if we do it any other year more people will end up on the waiting list.”