Students will conceptualize, report, film and edit short, documentary-style video features with an emphasis on character development and present-tense storytelling. This class moves beyond basic video concepts to more advanced techniques of visual storytelling, keeping in mind what stories are best told in video and what is effective for online video. Stories should immediately grab interest and feature strong visuals and a tightly focused narrative. We will emphasize the concepts of story structure, scripting, and incorporating engaging, vérité scenes. We will also examine identifying the voice of the story, whether it’s letting subjects tell their stories in their own voices, or stories where creative use of narration or reporter on camera are integral to the story concept.
Requirement: Students in both the MA-Journalism and the MA-Engagement Journalism are required to publish at least one piece of work each semester in Craft 1 and Advanced Reporting courses (MAJ) and Reporting for Engagement J and Advanced Reporting for Engagement J (MA-EJ). Students can fulfill this requirement with work from any first or second-semester class.
(Video: Student work by Alden Nusser)