Feature Story Expirience

Look at this Pretty Video

The orchestra at ONW will be going to Carnegie Hall! Of course, this was huge news, and at the same time I had a project for a feature story.

What is a Feature Story?

A feature story is like an interview, which you saw with my ONW 1 in 2000 post. Only, it is a bit more in depth. I had to include a main interview (my good friend, Brenna), and an interview from another source (the orchestra director Mr. Martin). Aside from that, I included b-roll. The difference though, it that this b-roll has natural sound (usually called nat-sound). Yes, I did include Brenna plucking the Mystic Messenger theme. And instead of just two voiceovers, I had to include three (one for the beginning, middle, and end). They are played on the news all the time.

Brenna and Mr. Martin

I interviewed two people: Brenna Regan and Mr. Martin. They both play the violin. Brenna is a sophomore in concert orchestra, and had to audition for a spot to play in Carnegie Hall. The audition is because the stage can only hold 100 people, yet the orchestra has about 170 players. As you can tell, she is very excited. Not every orchestra can perform at Carnegie Hall!

Every 3 years, the orchestra goes on an out of state trip. They haven't gone to New York City yet, and Carnegie Hall had a few open spots for April. So Mr. Martin contacted a few companies, and because he is an great orchestra director, they are able to play there.

Shooting the Video

I had to go to Brenna's house over the weekend, but I didn't have a proper video camera and tripod. I don't know if you could tell, but I filmed this whole video on my phone. It was hard to hold it steady, so the video is a bit shaky. For the interview with Mr. Martin though, I had to get a pass to miss a little bit of 3rd hour. I could've probably gotten a good camera, but instead decided to keep the video consistent. I hope it doesn't bother you too much. As for the lighting, that was a little tricky for Brenna's interview. The room I had to film in was dark, even with the light on. So I had to open up the curtain. It was a bright day. We had just learned about three point lighting, so I tried to incorporate that, yet the only light I had was too intense, so I had to go with the flow.

This made it my most difficult filming session, but I hope it's at least okay. Yet, Mr. Martin's office had good lighting, so there is still that.

I like this video, what do you think?

Two years of video experience can really make a difference. I just recently rewatched Horse Girl Chase, and cringed a little. So I'm glad I am improving.

Edit: 11/10/16

We had to Make a Written Feature Story Too!

Check it out!

How does an average high school orchestra get the opportunity to perform at one of the world’s most renowned performing venues? Through devotion, practice, hard work, and even more practice. String instrument players pull their bows across their strings at anywhere from staccato to legato, causing rosin particles to fly into the air. They count the beats in their heads: 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and, faster, slower, keeping up with the conductor’s baton flying in front of them. They occasionally glance down at the complex, classical sheet music, to make sure they are on the right measure. Arms tiring, sweat beading on their forehead, yet they refuse to stop playing until they are either cut off or make it to the end of the piece.

All of this happens in the orchestra room of Olathe Northwest, as they prepare for the big day in April: when they will travel to New York and play at Carnegie Hall. Since the orchestra is so large though, not everyone could play there. The stage can only hold 100 players, yet the orchestra, advanced and concert combined, has around 170 players. The 40 players in advanced orchestra were the only ones guaranteed to go. As for concert orchestra, though, they needed to audition. Their audition songs were excerpts from “Sentimental Sarabande” by Benjamin Britten and “Paint it Black” by The Rolling Stones.

Brenna Regan played these for her video audition, and to her surprise and elation, made the cut. “I screamed when I saw [the audition results] and I don’t usually scream,” she said. This goes to show how thrilled she was to be playing at Carnegie Hall.

When asked about what she would do to prepare for the big day: she replied, “Probably practicing more. I have not been good about practicing.” Now that she has something to practice for, she will be on her violin all day.

And let’s not forget about the orchestra director, Mr. Martin, who has lead this group to many medals and trophies. He answered the question, how does an orchestra make it to Carnegie Hall? “There was an audition process. I talked to a couple of different travel agencies about the possibilities, and one of them had a festival,” he replied. So he sent in a video of the advanced orchestra from a previous concert, and got the incredible reply saying that the orchestra was accepted.

Mr. Martin also has hopes that the orchestra will not only give an amazing performance, but also learn about the greatness of the situation. “I hope students just get a sense of how awesome of an experience, what a unique opportunity this is to be able to perform at Carnegie Hall,” he stated.

The performance isn’t until April, but already, there is a strong sense of fear, excitement, and most importantly, hope in the orchestra room.