Feature Story Experience

       Making a feature story video was very different than writing a feature story. Making a feature video means finding the right shots, making sure angles are good, asking the right questions in an interview. In a written feature story, you have to use all the right words and phrases, choosing the best adjectives and verbs to make your story the best it can be.
       When making a feature story video, you first need to figure out your topic and concept, then write down 21 interview questions. Then you need to start filming your b-roll. This can be any clips of the person doing their activity or the event, as long as it relates to the overall concept of the video. Then you should film your interview. There are many important tips for filming this. First, you need to make sure you have good lighting. The optimal positioning would be to have a light in the front, 45 degrees to the subject, a light behind the subject to get a back shadow, and a light to the other 45 degrees of the subject, so you have not too much light directly shining on the person. If you cannot have three lights, you should try to have a light that is 45 degrees to the subject, and that their face is clearly visible in the camera. When framing the subject in the camera, place them in the right third of the shot, looking to their right of the camera, for the best effect. After doing this, you can interview them, then get to editing. While editing, you will probably figure out what you want to do for your voice over. When you feel like you're ready, record your voiceover, and put it into your video. When you finish editing your video, export and upload to youtube.
       When writing your feature story, you need to make sure to have a central idea you want to show before you even write a word. That way, you know what your story will be about and you'll never start running off into other subjects as you write your story. The first two or so paragraphs need to have a narrative hook, so that when someone reads your story, they will be hooked from the beginning. The best way to do this is create a scene for them to imagine in their mind, and then they will want to finish that scene to the end. Throughout the middle, you don't want to lose your readers with boring information, give them facts and quotes that light up the topic you are writing about. Also make sure to have a strong ending, with a summarizing point that doesn't leave your readers hanging off the edge of a cliff.
       I definitely enjoyed doing the video feature story more than writing it. First of all, I am at least pretty good at making videos, and not as good at writing. Secondly, writing the feature story is a lot less exciting than editing a feature story. The writing part you just have to sit there and write or type words. For the editing, you get to see the result of the video as you edit it, and that is just a lot more exciting than just words on a screen.
       Below, you can see the feature story video that I have made, and below that, you can see the written feature story.

Written Feature Story

            The Sun starts shining into your eyes, you pull your helmet down a little, and get ready for the jump. You can feel your own heart beating to the rhythm of the other heart below you. You tell your horse to get ready, and you whistle quietly. Your horse starts trotting, and you bounce up and down slightly as you ride around the arena. The horse starts going faster, and you can feel every time the horse’s hoofs hit the ground. Suddenly, right before you hit a barrier in your path, you lean backward and sit up straighter and your horse jumps over a hurdle, kicking up dirt behind you.

            This is an experience Kaylan Johnson gets to have every week. She is a sophomore here at Olathe Northwest, who goes to stables to trains to ride horses. Johnson participates at many activities here at ONW, including AE and debate. However, she is able to find time to go horseback riding and is really good at it.

            Horseback riding is very difficult, and even the really experienced can make mistakes. The first time she tried to jump her new horse, Gracie, she almost fell off completely. Johnson really enjoys riding, and she has been doing it for almost 7 years.

            “I’ve always been interested in horses… when we moved my parents signed me up, so about 7 years I’ve been riding now,” Johnson said.

            There are all types of horseback riding; Johnson does some of the many types of jumping, with a few different horses. “I jump or show jump and that’s within an arena, and there will be different jump horses that I ride,” Johnson said. Sometimes, she will do one jump at a time, or multiple at once, and other times she’ll work on positioning on the horse as well.

            Johnson also works with a trainer, so that she can learn to ride better. Her trainer helps her keep the right position on the horse as she is jumping so that the horse will react to her and have a perfect jump. The trainer is a very good rider herself, so she knows how to critique Johnson and other people’s riding as well.

            Horseback riding isn’t for everyone, but Kaylan Johnson knows that it is for her. She loves riding every week and getting to work with the different horses at the stables. Horse riding is a very good way for her to take a break from the fast-pace world around her and make a connection with nature through her horse.