John Charlton Stories

The first video on the mail delivery I thought was a good use of natural sound.  When he was talking about mail being delivered he left in the sound of the mail box opening and shutting.  Also, when he was talking about the streets that were not receiving mail in Hartford he left in sound of cars going by.  I thought this was good to reiterate the fact that this was regular neighborhood with real people being burdened by this problem.  Another thing I liked about this story was how he got both sides of the story.  He talked to people who were not getting mail and let them explain why they thought they should.  Then he allowed the Hartford postmaster to explain her side of the story, and what was being done to fix the problem.

Visually I felt the best shot was when they were trying to demonstrate how much room needs to be left in order to get mail delivered.  By using the Fox 61 news truck it helped everyone watching the story realize just how much room needs to be left for a mail truck.  I do not think this is something that people always consider after a snow storm.  Also, when he interviewed the people in the neighborhood he did a good job of keeping tight shots on them.  I feel if he did not do that it would be distracting to see what was going on behind them, and the viewer would not be listening to what they are saying.


For the second story about the dog stopping the armed robber I noticed two parts with natural sound being used effectively.  The first was at the beginning of the VO package when they play and showed the cash register in the package store opening and closing.  I felt that it set a good scene for where the story took place.  Plus by showing that it helps a viewer realize who might have missed the beginning of the story that this story is most likely about a robbery.  The second natural sound I noticed was when they were talking about the dog they left in the sound of the dog drinking out of its water bowl.  I thought it was a good decision to do that as well, since the focus of the story was the dog.

Visually I noticed they used a lot of close up or tight shots of the dog, which I thought was the best way to show her.  This way viewers got a good look at the dog who was the hero in the story.  I also liked how they mixed in security stills of when the actual attempted robbery took place.  Since it was from a security camera those were good distance shots that were usually followed by medium shots and then a tight shot. It made the story much more real and visually appealing by doing this.

JRN524

I have always been interested in journalism. From a young age I was always told that I was a good writer so I decided to pursue it more. When I was in high school I wrote a variety of stories for my high school newspaper and really enjoyed it for the three years that I did so. When I was an undergrad at Southern I originally pursued journalism as my major. However I ended up switching it but thoroughly regretted doing so. That is why I immediately applied to Quinnipiac's journalism graduate program upon graduating from Southern.

With this class I am hoping to acquire more journalistic skills to help advance my career. I have never done any type of broadcast journalism, filming, or video editing. This class should help me learn how to do all three. Using this newly acquired knowledge I feel will not only help me with my job at Patch, but with other future employers as well.