B-roll is an often forgotten part of Broadcast journalism, at least it is for me. I don’t know how many times I’ve come back from a filming session with out of focus, or shaky b-roll. It's a struggle for me, I would much rather focus on the interviews. I want to be a journalist, not a cinematographer. B-roll has never been my strong suit, but it is so important. The B-roll that is laid over a story can lead to a far better story. The truth about B-roll is that you can have the best camera, with the best lens, but if the subject is boring it's still going to be boring b-roll. To be engaging, you have to find an engaging b-roll. The subjects I have caught over the last two years have been incredibly engaging.
Be a Santa B-roll After getting the green flag, and a few students to help me, we had a plan. We were going to deliver gifts to an assisted living center, with no guarantee of filming. As we walked in with cameras on our necks, I was afraid. My story was built upon the hope of getting footage with the seniors. When we walked in, I was greeted by the activities coordinator of the center, Kris. She walked us into a little storage area. We gathered the gifts there, filming us bringing them in. At this point, I knew I had some footage, but it wasn’t very captivating. After all 17 packages were in the room, Kris turned towards us and said “wait while I go grab the residents.” I was astonished.
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We got the opportunity to sit down and talk with all of the stars of the story. We filmed them opening up their Christmas presents, and watched their faces in amazement. The film collected during this shooting is my favorite that I have collected. The hardest part of this story was making it concise.
Boys Basketball State
Last year, Eastview had a really good run with its basketball team. We ended up making it to the state championship, a massive accomplishment. With a state championship possibly occurring, came the potential for media access. As a media group, we could send 2 students to Target Center to film.
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Along with another student, I had the opportunity to film on the court where the timberwolves played. I was excited and frightened at the same time. One thing about me, I am not an athletic person. Spending my childhood in speech and theater activities, I was nervous about filming. I didn’t know what a three-pointer was, I felt truly out of my element. But while filming there I had some truly amazing experiences. I got to film on the court, and dodge balls during a game. I got to meet some real journalists. I was put alongside local reporters, and given the same spaces as them. I got to work with the media manager of the basketball team and became close with their photographer. The entire event was so surreal, and the pressure was intense, being one of the few given the opportunity to film the event.
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Unfortunately, the footage didn’t ever go up in the show, but I still think it's interesting. One videoI took stands out from the rest. A video of Kenji Scales, the star of the team. Before anyone entered the arena, there were only a few other members of the media. He went and sat on the bench, then looked up. I managed to capture the feeling of ‘your entire life's work is gonna come down to this’. He stared up to the world. In the end, this clip represents legacy, and how daunting it can be.