Capturing the elements

This week we read about two different elements thats can play a big role in the quality of a story - the interview and the sound. I got some reminders from the chapters about the do's and dont's of capturing both. I think when it comes to interviews, the book hit it on the head; it's important to be compassionate, relatable and conversational when conducting interviews if you want to get genuine and unique sound bites. The best interviews are the ones that get people to forget they are in an interview, that cause the subject to forget you're a reporter and give you their uncensored thoughts and feelings. It is unique and unfiltered interview content that sets newscasts apart from others. The book mentions that a key component to interviews is listening, and as obvious as that sounds, sometimes it is easier said than done. Journalists have to become experts in something new everyday and sometimes the day's story isn't very appealing. However as storytellers, we have to make sure we understand the story we are telling and that means paying attention and deciphering interviews and information. During interviews I often give cues that I am paying attention and interested. Some of those cues include head nods, eye contact, "wows," "mm hmms" and "tell me more about that." Those cues makes the subject feel like I'm not wasting their time but that I care about what they have to say because what they are saying is important. That feeling of appreciation can keep subjects talking and can get them to open up and give me a golden nugget of a sound bite.

When it comes to capturing sound, sometimes I have to remember to keep headphones plugged in and to listen to what is being captured. By not doing that every time, sometimes I am playing a risky game with the audio quality. That's a no-no. One tool I wish we had at KOMU was wireless microphones because then subjects can have the freedom to move around and interact with their environment rather than standing in front of a camera all the time. This freedom would heighten the chance that a subject forgets their being recorded and that the video would come across more natural and uncensored.