Final

The Picture the Writes the Story

Broadcast news has the advantage over any other news medium, because it offers its audience the sound effects of radio and the visual effects of print, all together in one piece. Broadcast news is a very valuable way to get across to a diverse audience, namely the hearing impaired or distracted, because the visuals (or the A Roll) can tell the story just as well as the reporter… if the visuals are effectively chosen and produced. I have selected two different ways of telling the same story, regarding their visual attraction. Both are from news stations in the same city, but took a very different visual approach in telling the telling the story to their audience.

It is called Bikram Yoga, and has become a hot new trend of exercise in the Dallas, Texas community. Before I get into my analysis, Bikram Yoga is an extreme form of exercise that is performed in 105 degree temperature to warm the muscles and allow flexibility. From ABC 8 in Dallas, a two-minute and 22 second feature package was included in the news cast about Bikram Yoga. With a name like that, a visual is already needed in order to draw a better understanding of what Bikram Yoga is. The video starts out with a two-shot of the anchors who intro the package, with a pan to the reporter on the right. She gives a small voice over (VO) describing what the exercise is before introducing the package, which is shown on the flat screen directly behind her. When she is finished, the operator takes the package (Take PKG). Completely disregarding the audio aspects of the package, it starts out with soaking-wet athletes bending and molding in an exercise facility. Without audio, it is apparent that this feature is about yoga.

A good package will illustrate exactly what the reporter is saying (VO). If there is a clash between what the viewers see and what they hear, the package will only leave the audience in sheer confusion (Papper, 124). When she says the pounds drip off, there is a shot of sweat dripping like a faucet off the elbow of a man, resembling a melting ice sculpture. Still disregarding audio, the audience now knows the story is about yoga, and extreme heat. The next shot is a close up interview with a sweaty man, lasting about three seconds, and then switches to a long shot of the room showing multiple sweaty- participants. According to Robert A. Papper in Broadcast News and Writing, the audience may get distracted if the camera is focused on one person for over eight seconds. This is why voice-overs are good, because the reporter can talk over the pictures while keeping the audience entertained. The people are all in the same position with horizontal arms acting as a vector to move the eye from one hand to the other, illustrating the complexity of yoga. In the background, there is a mirror which expands the room and gives and illusion of more people. The next shot is a close up of a man, shot from the head up. He is kneeling down with an arm in the air; once again the arm is a vector in the shot. When the camera tilts from the feet up, the flexed muscles of the athletes show the audience that the art of Bikram Yoga is very intense, and requires a lot of strength. Within the first minute of the package, it is already very visually compelling.

The next shot is a close-up interview with a skinny woman, with typography (Super) of her name and title below. We know now that this package includes reliable sources, because the text shows that she is the instructor. The camera then tilts from the feet to the face of an older man in an unusual position, so not only is the form of exercise for athletes, we know anyone can do it. The tilt allows the audience to see the intricacy of the art, while allowing concentration on the whole body as the camera moves in an upward motion. Afterward, there is another close up interview with a client, switching to an image of the whole class in a diagonal position standing on one foot, and holding the other with the left arm. The diagonal arms lead your eye from the lower left of the screen to the upper right. The following shot is an extreme close up of a student’s face. This is a very important shot, because you can see the concentration in her eyes and her motionless grin. Her expression is very relevant in understanding the art of Bikam Yoga, highly influenced by meditation.

The package is pieced very diversely, because it switches from young to old, fat to skinny, and so on. Once again, the constant visual toss provides the idea that this exercise can be practiced by all. Each interviewee is drenching in sweat, from wet hair to a glistened face, providing the impression that Bikram Yoga is challenging. My favorite shot comes next with an extreme close-up of a man’s upside-down face, and then the camera zooms out allowing two others in the shot with the same up-side down position. This frame offers great composition, because the shot is equally balanced with one student close and in the middle, and the other two students far and on either side. At one minute and 40 seconds into the packages, and without any audio help, we know that it is an intense form of yoga practiced in extreme heat. We know that it is a credible form of exercise, and that anyone can do it from athletes to elderly. All this information was told solely through images.

The next shot is an extreme close-up of a document, focusing on the words, “responsible for any injury,” and then tossing to a shot with a girl who is drinking a big jug of water. Now it is clear that you have to sign a waver before attending the class, and drink plenty of water in order to stay hydrated. The feature ends with the entire class in a diagonal shape and vertical arms. This shot is competing with vectors, because the vertical arms take your eye up, but the diagonal bodies take your eye from corner to corner. The eye is taken everywhere in this shot, and the competing lines won’t allow the audience miss any portion of this shot. The reporter closes the piece with a shot on camera (Reporter Shot on Cam), and her name and story slug at the bottom in typography. On the screen behind her are the words “Hot Yoga,” just as we gathered from all our visual clues.

In comparison, the next package is from CBS 11 in Dallas, Texas. The story is on the art of Bikram Yoga as well, but doesn’t offer the rich visuals that ABC 8 included in their story. It starts out with a two-shot of anchors, and they toss the camera to the reporter who is broadcasting live from an exercise facility. Behind her are students in an upward-tilt position, and the typography, “Hot Yoga,” on the bottom of the screen. Without audio regard, she is in the same medium-shot position throughout the entire story. Occasionally, the camera will pan to the owner who continues to talk about the exercise. During the seven minutes and 59 seconds of the story, the camera only zooms in on the yoga practitioners for seconds at a time. This example offers very little visual help in telling the story of Bikram yoga, and therefore wouldn’t be able to tell the full story without audio.

A news or feature package is pre-recorded, and allows for maximum use of the medium. When preparing a package, it is important to take advantage of time by adding several bites and layered pictures, intern, fulfilling the audiences’ visual expectations. The challenge is to visually tell a story as effective as the story is told acoustically, if not better. Although stand-ups are important in broadcast news, they are an unproductive way of illustrating a story. Generally, stand-ups work best when the visuals available are weak, when the story requires transition, and when the reporter can report the story affectively without visual support (Papper, 111). In reference to Bikram Yoga, a package is a more affective way of telling the story, because Bikram Yoga is so complex and requires more than just words to paint the picture.

Like I mentioned before, television has the advantage of illustrating a story better than any other form of media. Broadcast takes the best of both arts, audio and visual, to illustrate a visually indulging story for it’s audience. When it comes to the comparison of news networks, and which will have the highest ratings, stations rely on their visual art and production, because most news is shared through wires. It is the visual quality, and the ability to out do your competition that will get you high on the ratings.

In conclusion, it is very critical to understand that television and the Internet hold the power of the visual image. The visual images put the finishing touch on any news story, and bring the audience to a better understanding of what’s being told. The impression in the viewer’s mind will be the strong picture over the spoken word, long after the story ends (Papper, 119). TV tends to seek out the visual story, and to the extent that pictures tell a story, the writer and reporter are advised to get out of the way (119). In the CBS 11 version of the Bikram Yoga story, the reporter is in the picture for over half of the eight minutes, and the visual images relayed to the audience don’t give the art of Bikram Yoga enough credit. The ABC 8 depiction of Bikram Yoga is much more effective, in that it illustrates all of the details within the exercise. The reporter is never actually in the story, although a stand up may have been appropriate, she simply gives and in and an out. I believe the package full of compelling video was more effective in telling the story visually than the standup version. After all, it is the picture that writes the story, not the story that draws the picture.