Cutting an in your face Vox Pop at DVinfo.net

Peter Jefferson · February 13th, 2004, 12:14 PM

i didnt knwo where to put this but anyways..

Situaiton - Staff Conference with members from all over the country.
Business need - Ask the same questions to various staff to see their responses.

ok, i hae about 3 hrs worth of footage.

I have to break this down into 5 odd minutes, as this is being used as an intro to a staff conference, it CANT go on for any longer

My edit vision -
Now what i have done is create a short intro, and the "interviewer" asking ONE question, with about 15 different responses from different people rolling after that.. each one not more than 5 seconds...

Problem here is that there are ALOT of questions, and i really dont know any faster way to throw them all in.
Most of the staff were interviewed on the worksite, and there are some good responses, also some funny ones, which i am throwing in here and there.

Now, what would be another good way to do this??

Im also adding a title for each question, so those watching know what the question is about...

Just hoping someone with some insight into Vox Pop style interviews would respond, as any assistance is appreciated...

Dan Uneken · February 15th, 2004, 05:45 AM

Looks like you have to select draconically. Or make a "montage" of the most interesting "bites", without the formal Q & A structure. There is no way you're going to get all the questions and answers crammed into 5 mins, and nobody will want to watch that anyway....
Just my 2p. Good luck!

Nick Kerpchar · February 15th, 2004, 06:50 AM

Peter,
Regarding Vox Pop (voice of the people). I agree with Dan, especially if the majority of the 5 minutes tends to end up being nothing but strobing bursts of face shots with sound bites. I get sick of that stuff when its a 15 second commercial let alone several minutes long for a captive audience (pure torture).

The lead-in about the purpose of the conference, listing the questions and then some examples using your most memorable clips/responses as you have suggested will fit the bill. You don't have to have a response for every question, just enough to give an idea of what is desired. And, perhaps it does not have to fill the full 5 minutes either even though you have three hours of footage to work with (perhaps too much and that is clouding the decision on what to use). If you can deliver the message in less time all the better (some of my earliest mistakes was making the production longer than it needed to be).

You may be trying to make this more than it is, although I can see you want to produce quality work. Peter, it sound like you have the framework in place; greeting, why are we here, how will it proceed, here are some examples, thanks for your cooperation and have a nice day, full stop. If you can mix some humor with the serious then all the better.

Good luck. Nick

Tor Salomonsen · February 15th, 2004, 07:48 AM

The answers must be sorted into categories like "yes", "no" and "don't know". After the question is shown you go many people answered this but most people (you may give the percentage) said ... and then you present the best among the answers that were in majority. If you add som funny replies they might go between the two. But important: end with the "good" answer. If there is no clear majority you may skip the replies altogether, or give one example of each major trend.

If you want to convey details of such a test (in a short video), you must resort to a graphical representation of a statistical break-down of the replies. Otherwise you can only present a view of the test, and that is what I have suggested.

Peter Jefferson · February 15th, 2004, 09:51 AM

thanks for all teh fedback guys,

I have gone for the breakdown of 3 major questions, with answers dotted from various people...

As we couldnt fit the humourous questions, i took them and placed afew of the answers the funny stuff as answers to the serious questions..
Sounds strange, but it surpirisingly works..

the face clip and sound bite is what was actualyl requested, and i persoanlly hate it myself, but its what was requested from the client, so im using that method..
What ive done is ask teh quesiton once, then title it, so it doesnt have to be asked again.. then it runs thru the answers.

saves alot of time..

also with the host, as he was also interviewed he ended up umming and arring alot, so i took those and dotted those throughout, as people would recognise him as the antagonator ;) so hes being played up... there is one piece where its as if hes humming a tune.. LOL

they wanted afew specific silly things as well, which unfortunately break the flow, however i have left those in.. im meeting the client tomorrow with a preliminary copy, and im going to suggest to remove the parts which break it..

it was easier than i thought it would be, as most of the q's were actually irrelevant.. but the ones which were, were played up to and used.. there were silly answers of course, and answers to different qustions, but the ones which were answered "properly" were given special treatment to make them stand out (ike a black and white effect, or a longer cut)
this emphaises the true answer...

There were also shots of the GM baffled, as this is what HE wanted to portray, as hes a nice bloke and wanted to send himself up as well...

they didnt want an exact precise figure on stas, as this was a "getaway" conference, where they wanted their staff to relax and njoi, but learn as well...

i had to extend it to 7 minutes with the additional footage they requested, now i think thats too long, but well see what they say.

February 13th, 2004, 12:14 PM	#1
Peter Jefferson Inner Circle Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Aus Posts: 3,884	Cutting an in your face Vox Pop i didnt knwo where to put this but anyways.. Situaiton - Staff Conference with members from all over the country. Business need - Ask the same questions to various staff to see their responses. ok, i hae about 3 hrs worth of footage. I have to break this down into 5 odd minutes, as this is being used as an intro to a staff conference, it CANT go on for any longer My edit vision - Now what i have done is create a short intro, and the "interviewer" asking ONE question, with about 15 different responses from different people rolling after that.. each one not more than 5 seconds... Problem here is that there are ALOT of questions, and i really dont know any faster way to throw them all in. Most of the staff were interviewed on the worksite, and there are some good responses, also some funny ones, which i am throwing in here and there. Now, what would be another good way to do this?? Im also adding a title for each question, so those watching know what the question is about... Just hoping someone with some insight into Vox Pop style interviews would respond, as any assistance is appreciated...

February 15th, 2004, 05:45 AM	#2
Dan Uneken Major Player Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Andalucia, Spain Posts: 301	Looks like you have to select draconically. Or make a "montage" of the most interesting "bites", without the formal Q & A structure. There is no way you're going to get all the questions and answers crammed into 5 mins, and nobody will want to watch that anyway.... Just my 2p. Good luck! __________________ Film & TV locations & production Spain http://www.fotofilmvideo.com/

February 15th, 2004, 06:50 AM	#3
Nick Kerpchar Major Player Join Date: May 2002 Location: Texas Posts: 211	Peter, Regarding Vox Pop (voice of the people). I agree with Dan, especially if the majority of the 5 minutes tends to end up being nothing but strobing bursts of face shots with sound bites. I get sick of that stuff when its a 15 second commercial let alone several minutes long for a captive audience (pure torture). The lead-in about the purpose of the conference, listing the questions and then some examples using your most memorable clips/responses as you have suggested will fit the bill. You don't have to have a response for every question, just enough to give an idea of what is desired. And, perhaps it does not have to fill the full 5 minutes either even though you have three hours of footage to work with (perhaps too much and that is clouding the decision on what to use). If you can deliver the message in less time all the better (some of my earliest mistakes was making the production longer than it needed to be). You may be trying to make this more than it is, although I can see you want to produce quality work. Peter, it sound like you have the framework in place; greeting, why are we here, how will it proceed, here are some examples, thanks for your cooperation and have a nice day, full stop. If you can mix some humor with the serious then all the better. Good luck. Nick

February 15th, 2004, 07:48 AM	#4
Tor Salomonsen Major Player Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Stavanger, Norway Posts: 265	The answers must be sorted into categories like "yes", "no" and "don't know". After the question is shown you go many people answered this but most people (you may give the percentage) said ... and then you present the best among the answers that were in majority. If you add som funny replies they might go between the two. But important: end with the "good" answer. If there is no clear majority you may skip the replies altogether, or give one example of each major trend. If you want to convey details of such a test (in a short video), you must resort to a graphical representation of a statistical break-down of the replies. Otherwise you can only present a view of the test, and that is what I have suggested.

February 15th, 2004, 09:51 AM	#5
Peter Jefferson Inner Circle Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Aus Posts: 3,884	thanks for all teh fedback guys, I have gone for the breakdown of 3 major questions, with answers dotted from various people... As we couldnt fit the humourous questions, i took them and placed afew of the answers the funny stuff as answers to the serious questions.. Sounds strange, but it surpirisingly works.. the face clip and sound bite is what was actualyl requested, and i persoanlly hate it myself, but its what was requested from the client, so im using that method.. What ive done is ask teh quesiton once, then title it, so it doesnt have to be asked again.. then it runs thru the answers. saves alot of time.. also with the host, as he was also interviewed he ended up umming and arring alot, so i took those and dotted those throughout, as people would recognise him as the antagonator ;) so hes being played up... there is one piece where its as if hes humming a tune.. LOL they wanted afew specific silly things as well, which unfortunately break the flow, however i have left those in.. im meeting the client tomorrow with a preliminary copy, and im going to suggest to remove the parts which break it.. it was easier than i thought it would be, as most of the q's were actually irrelevant.. but the ones which were, were played up to and used.. there were silly answers of course, and answers to different qustions, but the ones which were answered "properly" were given special treatment to make them stand out (ike a black and white effect, or a longer cut) this emphaises the true answer... There were also shots of the GM baffled, as this is what HE wanted to portray, as hes a nice bloke and wanted to send himself up as well... they didnt want an exact precise figure on stas, as this was a "getaway" conference, where they wanted their staff to relax and njoi, but learn as well... i had to extend it to 7 minutes with the additional footage they requested, now i think thats too long, but well see what they say.