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1) The Filming Experience Our team members worked together and produced news videos for the first time. Under the instruction of our teachers Hsien-ping Lin and Kuang-hsiang Cheng, we set about to produce campus news videos featuring "Taiwan Deaf Women's Basketball Team". Apart from broadcasting on campus, it would also be uploaded to the Internet so that more people could learn about the story and share it to yet more people. We divided ourselves into two groups and held initial discussions on such matters as task allocation and contents to be included in the scripts. In addition to filming inside the studio, we also decided to take on the role of news reporters and feature our stories on location. On September 22, we went to school’s digital center for the first time to familiarize ourselves with the equipment. As we tried out every piece of the equipment, we could not help but feeling curious and excited. Next, we worked on the pre-production preparations, including writing the scripts, making PPT slides, contacting the interviewees, and filming scenes on location at the gymnasium of Oriental Institute of Technology and in front of the campus bulletin board. This was the first time that we ever played the news reporter role. Although awkward, everyone tried their best. These pre-production preparations were very important. Only when all the slides and videos were in place could we complete the filming on October 22 effectively.
During filming, every task required the utmost attention. Responsible for presenting our research content, the news anchors were of course the soul of our team. If the student in charge of the teleprompter did not control the speed well, the news anchor would not be able to read the script in good form and might become tongue-tied. This position, therefore, was also important. In addition, the director must be fully focused during the switch between videos, slides, and anchor desk to avoid mistakes. And the student in charge of PPTs must make sure that the images corresponded correctly. Since all of these tasks were closely linked, we were very edgy and serious throughout the process. Due to good rapport between the members of the two groups and pre-production practices, we managed to complete the task successfully.
2) Pre-production Preparations The first item in our pre-production preparations was writing the scripts. Since we were going to present in video format, we must incorporate the image concepts. Therefore, the script included not only the manuscripts for the news anchors, but also notes on when the video clips and PPTs should appear. After the scripts were confirmed, we set about preparing the necessary media and equipment. Our two groups both did on location filming at the gymnasium of Oriental Institute of Technology and in front of the campus bulletin board. For us, this was a fresh yet extraordinary experience. We practiced repeatedly prior to the event and communicated with the interviewees on the interview questions. Due to time constraint, the interview should be brief and to the point. Our interviewees included the coaches and members of the Deaf Women’s Basketball Team. We also invited the students who had seem our posters to give their feedbacks. We felt a great sense of accomplishment from the students’ responses. We also made a short video teaching "sign language". We learned some practical sign language from the teacher, Hui-ju Kung, and put it into a short film. While sharing what we learned with other students, we also hope it could help to enhance the communication with the hearing-impaired. Last but not least, the production of PPTs was also important. The PPTs provided the visuals for the commentary by the news anchors, which facilitated understanding for the audience. So we also spent a lot of time preparing the slides.
3) Production of the News Videos After we completed the preparations, it was finally time to produce the news video. The news anchors took their seats, put on the microphones and synchronized the speed with the student in charge of the teleprompter. The director and the student in charge of PPTs were also busy marking codes and sequence of the effectors on the script to avoid chaos when the filming officially started. An interesting anecdote during that time was that the background, which was originally green, had to be changed to blue since our school uniform had the color green on it. Only by making this change would the green on the uniform be shown when the images went through the computer synthesis. When everyone was ready, the director shouted: "5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Cue!" and everyone began focusing on the first take. Since this was the first time for all of us, "NG" caused by image switching mistakes or sudden break down of the computer were inevitable. Given all the incidents, it was fortunate that we could have a second shot. We thus used the first time as a warm up and cooperated fully at the second time to make the recording better. We worked efficiently and completed the filming within the given time.
After the filming was done, it was not the final product yet. After all, we were not professionals and flaws were inevitable. It did not matter though, because we could make the news videos better through "post-production". Under the instruction of the teachers, we edited and connected the most satisfying segments from the two recordings. After adding the necessary subtitles, our news videos were finally finished! Thanks to this experience, we realized that good journalism was also the result of all the members doing their respective jobs well while working collaboratively with one another. |
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