Introduction:
Video Vox pops are short interview segments filmed with members of the public. They are a way to add new perspectives and different viewpoints into your programme. As with any aspect of programme making there are right and wrong ways to go about it.
- The finished artefact be exactly 02’00’’
- Working in 2’s or 3’s, alternating roles between ‘interviewer/presenter’ and ‘camera operator/producer’.
- You will choose a topic in this weeks news for which you must ask a minimum of 4 contributors their thoughts on the issue. You must aim to get varied responses so that the finished artefact is balanced and does not lead the viewer one way or the other.
Question:
When thinking of the question we wanted to ask members of the public, we needed to think of a topic that everyone would know about. It needed to be worldwide news that would have all types of the public discussing it so we would be able to receive a range of answers and responses to use.
We quickly concluded that the topic of President Donald trump may be the best to use. With the recent news of the potion to try and stop the man himself from coming into the United Kingdom, it opened up a perfect window for us to ask the public on that petition and expand their answers with their opinions of Donald Trump as well if they so wish to.
Our question came as:
“What do you think about the petition to stop Donald trump from coming into the UK? What is your general opinion on Trump?”
Risk Assessment:
A risk assessment for the production of video vox pop, see attachment below
RISK ASSESSMENT- video vox pop
See 500 word statement below for detailed outline
Finished Product:
This is my finished video vox pop which asks members of the public their view on President Donald Trump…
[youtube]https://youtu.be/1KFZAoojM2o[/youtube]
500 word statement:
A video vox pop was next assigned to us to create. To complete this task, I worked in group of 3, with each of us taking on one role to make the process quicker. We all agreed on a question to ask the public which had a link to the news the previous week. The news of the petition to stop Donald Trump from coming to the UK was our focus in the hope to receive a range of responses due to its controversy (BBC, 2017). During the task, I took on the role of sound technician whilst my colleagues took on the roles of camera operator and interviewer. As we were asking members of the public their opinions and views, we had to take the equipment off campus and into the busy streets of York city centre to find the best and most appropriate place to find contributors.
The equipment I needed to fulfil my role was a Tascam DR60 which would be attached to the Canon 70D DSLR camera for the camera operator. I would also need a boom mic to collect the best sound from our contributors. The other equipment needed for this task was a tripod for the camera to collect steady footage and easily match the eye line of contributors. For this equipment to be taken out of campus safely, once again a risk assessment had to be completed. One health and safety risk fell under the category of roads and vehicles. Traveling to our planned setting meant crossing busy roads where vehicles would be around, meaning extra care had to be taken to protect the equipment and members of the crew from being hurt or damaged. Another health and safety risk that comes with working with the public is public disorder or violence. Although this may seem unlikely, with the controversial topic we were discussing, the public has a range of responses and one man did not appreciate our topic who became slightly aggressive towards our presenter. We also had to get contributors to sign a contributor release form to state they are happy for their contribution to be used within our video vox pop. (See attachment below for blank example)
This task helped us to focus on how best to position a contributor when using them for a small interview. Following Craig Dehut’s techniques from his online article (2014) I learnt that positioning it key within any type of public interview or small contribution to a video. Rule of thirds can be applied to this as well as positioning your contributor so that they are looking slightly off camera to the presenter who will either be stood to the exact left or right of the camera position to avoid direct eye contact with the camera and making the audience feel uncomfortable. This is the same with using a close up shot so you should always leave a small amount of head room in the shot. This is why I chose this task to present.
During the editing process, each member of the production edited their version differently. To avoid the video vox pop solely being of the public, I used stablishing footage to show where in the UK we were asking the public opinion and used existing footage of Donald Trump to establish the topic as well as using it over any footage of contributors that didn’t go as well but I still wanted to use their responses.
BBC. (2017). Donald Trump petitions: Where in UK most supports visit. [Internet]. Available at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-38840136 [Accessed February 2017]
Dehut, C. (2014). The best camera angles for a video interview. [Internet]. Available at https://12starsmedia.com/video-production/best-camera-angles-video-interview [Accessed February 2017]