Report of the guest lecture on March 27
I have attended a guest lecture by Jessica Chan and Jeremiah Bogert on March 27, which is very inspiring and meaningful to me. They are both visual journalists from Los Angeles. They have filmed a non-fiction documentary which is about surfing in China and showed some clips to us. As a journalism student, I am really interested in the shooting and storytelling skills.
Jeremiah mentioned that we should find a story that we like and care about it, otherwise it is like homework. I am really agree with that because I always think that journalists must have passion. If we just find a story which we are not interested in, no one will.
Then a short video about Lolo was showed. I really appreciate the shooting skills, especially the footages which show Lolo driving motorbike and surfing. The camera is put next to her and it is just like Lolo is next to me. This makes the story more attractive. Moreover, Jessica mentioned that this film is edited by a third person. It is because she would remember the moments she filmed and those are different from watching the footages. “It would be quite biased”, said by Jessica. Therefore a third person editor is important because the footages will tell her story and she can edit without bias. I am a little bit surprised of this point because I originally thought that the one who filmed can have a better sense of editing. Yet, a professional journalist should not report with personal involvement.
Furthermore, I feel very difference from watching Alex’s part. He is doing an interview while walking in park. It is informal but more comfortable. Jessica said that people will get uncomfortable when sitting down to have an interview with many cameras. In the Q&A question, someone asked how the camera follows Alex’s movements and is Alex required to do anything that shows on the screen? Jessica replied that she did not require Alex to walk in a park. He just feel comfortable with that. Then he talked and the camera will capture the moments. I think that’s why I feel natural of this interview!
To conclude, the guest lecture is just like behind the scenes of a documentary film. I have learnt new angles to shoot and also how to make an interview less awkward.
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