It Takes a Few 'Hard Knocks' to Learn a Lesson

Stories are all around us.  The man working behind the counter at the coffee shop has a story to tell.  The woman driving the bus I take to get to class every morning has a story to tell.  Everyone has a story; some are just more obvious than others.  I like to find the more hidden stories.  I like to look for the minute details that I can pull out and emphasize to enrich the story.  I try to go beneath the surface when I’m looking for story ideas because there are usually layers to every story.  The more research I do, the easier it is for me to pull back the layers.  I try to humanize every story I work on, and I try to make it relatable to the normal, everyday people in the audience.  

I love covering sports stories, not only because of the excitement and the action, but also because of the emotion expressed.  Athletes are passionate about what they do; they live, eat, and breathe their sport.  They are dedicated individuals who aspire to reach their goals.  Athletes are constantly striving for greatness, and once they get to the top they keep on pushing.  You can see the hunger in their eyes, the determination on their minds.  I love the emotions sports stories convey.  You can feel the adrenaline rush of a running back dodging the defense and running the ball in for a touchdown.  You can feel the pain of the sprinter whose legs are churning faster than ever to propel her across the finish line for the gold.  You can feel the pressure of the pitcher when it’s bottom of the ninth, bases loaded and the game is tied.  An athlete’s story can be told without words, which is why the visuals are so important. You can tell a great sports story without words.

I recently watched several videos on HBO videos.  One video, entitled ‘Hard Knocks: Ask a Jet #4’ really captured my interest.  The video opens with a graphic of a question that a reporter would ask, then it cuts to the interview subject answering the question.  The text is clean and looks somewhat sporty looking.  It made me realize that the graphics and text used to tell the story affect the tone of the story.  The text is bold and solid, and it pertains to a football video.  The text and font used help set the tone for the rest of the story, which I think is interesting.  It made me think about how every little detail and piece of the story has to strengthen the piece as a whole.  It made me realize the significance of even the smallest details because it portrays the effect they have on the mood and tone of the overall piece.

The framing of the interviews in the video was visually striking.  The interview with Mark Sanchez uses a fairly wide frame.  In class I learned to go tighter on the camera when framing an interview, but the framing in this interview seems to work.  The camera isn’t that tight on Sanchez, and there is a lot of background in the shot, but there’s something about the quality of the framing that stands out to me.  The background isn’t too distracting and it puts Sanchez in his element.  The way the light is shining on the field in the background is no natural; it feels like as a viewer I am transported to that moment.  From watching this interview I learned a few things about composition, especially lighting.  The background is well lit but it isn’t distracting.  Sanchez’s face is lit, and there are natural-looking shadows below the brim of his hat that make him come to life on camera.  The framing of this interview brought me from my couch to the football field; the scene is brought to life by the composition.

In the interviews with Jim Leonhard and Bart Scott, only the foreground is in focus.  Leonhard is in the locker room, but the locker room is blurred behind him.  He is in focus and the viewer can see and hear him perfectly, but the background is out of focus.  I like the idea behind this technique because the viewer can see just enough of the background to know what it is, but it doesn’t steal the attention away from the interview.  The same technique is used in the interview with Bart Scott.  The football field behind him is out of focus, but he is standing in the foreground as is in focus.  It sets the setting without interrupting the interview.  I’ve never really used this compositional technique before, but in some instances I think it can add to the story.

Another video in the Hard Knocks series made me think about storytelling in a new way.  The video opens with an introduction by Rex Ryan, and then it cuts to a player with his family.  In his opening words, he says “words cannot express…” and after looking at the video to tell the story that’s exactly what ran through my mind.  Words cannot express the meaning of a story as well as video.  There’s a long clip in the video that lacks narration.  Instead of using a voice track to complement the visuals, the visuals stand alone.  This raw video adds a real-life, down-to-earth feel to the story.  It builds character the family is captured in their true environment.  Words can’t describe the relationship he has with his children, or with his dog.  The visuals help the viewers understand.  This helped me realize the importance of filming good video.  The visuals are the strongest element in the story; it helps people understand the story on a deeper level.  After watching this video I’m inspired to capture more real-life moments when I shoot my stories.  The footage in this video really humanizes the story and connects the viewer with the family, and I want to be able to add that connection to my stories.

This video switches gears from the family and continues with training camp footage.  The second part of this video clips relates back to what I love about sports stories: emotion.  The film of the football players at training camp expresses emotion, and there are no words guiding the viewers.  The football players show a roller coaster of emotions; everything from determination to excitement to disappointment can be seen.  The videographer focused on capturing moments with emotion and conveyed the players’ and coaches’ feelings to the audience.  I want the video I shoot to be as captivating as the film in this clip.  Every clip contains emotion that the viewer can feel, and no words are necessary to describe or explain it.  I want the video I shoot to be just as self-sufficient, captivating and unique as the clips in this story.  I want to create meaningful stories.  If a story doesn’t evoke emotion, what has it fulfilled?  


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http://www.hbo.com/video/video.html/?view=index&forumId=hard%2Dknocks&vid=1116296&filter=all%2Dsports&autoplay=true