Contextualising Statement:
This task required group and individual work, as the interviewing section of the task meant that one individual had to operate the sound and recording equipment whilst the other interviewed members of the public. Due to the small window of three hours that was available to get responses from the requisite number of pedestrians, as a pair we had to move to about five different locations around York. Unfortunately, due to the time constraints, we were unable to capture amy footage of the city to use in an introduction sequence. Therefore, I have had to make use of a mix of after effects and a commons licenced image to put together some sort of news-like introduction. To make the video as similar as possible to an actual introduction to a news sequence introduction to a video vox pop, the use of a jingle similar to that which is heard on a news station was added, although it was not originally long enough and had to be extended.
The risks of this task were mainly related to the environment and time available. For example, interviewing members of the public meant that all of the kit required was being carried with us at all times, this meant that we would have to be careful on busy streets not to get in the way of people or vehicles. One group, not my own, experienced dealing with an intrusive member of the public wanting to know why they were only doing one question and telling them that they weren’t real journalists, showing that another risk was in fact the public themselves.
The interaction between Jackalyn, the interviewer, and the people on camera answering is meant to be kept minimal. However, the question is repeated twice through the video vox pop, and there is some quiet back and forth that can be heard as she tries to prompt the members of the public to develop their answers further.
The moving around the city also created another issue for the video vox pop: traffic flow. Due to the number of different locations used over a three hour period, the volume of traffic and the noise that then makes varies across the interviews. To cancel this out as best as possible, audio effects were brought into play during the editing stage of production. However, this does not entirely cancel put the level of traffic that can be heard or seen, but to some extent this simply shows that a wide area has been covered and adds to the impression of the lack of bias.
As many opinions as possible were included in the vox pop, in order to avoid any bias as best as was possible. This was part of the task definition, the video vox pop was meant to present an unbiased front that did not lead the viewer in any one particular direction. A range of ages, gender and opinions, some particulary vocal and others less so were included to keep the sequence well rounded.