MNPW: The master speaks

Posted on August 22, 2007 by Melissa Worden

Ken Speake, a “master storyteller” who worked in TV for more than 37 years and KARE-11 in Minnesota for 28 years, talked to the Multimedia News Producers Workshop group about, well, storytelling.

And he showed us some samples of his work, too, which reminded me of a CBS News Sunday Morning tone/style. They’re informative and fact-based, but personal and pull out the emotional side of the story. He is retired now, and he still talks about his first story at KARE, which won a silver medal at the New York Film Festival.

OK, so what can this TV reporter tell us online newspapers about video? After all, *we’re* supposed to be doing things different and better than TV, right? Not so fast. These guys and gals have been working in their craft for years. And it’s wise of us to learn from their experiences.

And, after talking to him, we may have more in common with TV than we think — or, rather, we SHOULD have more in common with TV than we think.

For instance, he explained that his workflow process was highly collaborative. He was responsible for telling the story. He’d shoot the video and write the script, and then he’d hand it off to the editor to put it together. That person would do “the second half of the storytelling,” he explained.

Hmm. Sounds a lot like what newsrooms are forced to do because of time/resource constraints — reporters and photographers recording the video and then handing it off to an online editor back in the newsroom.

To make this process successful, he said, TRUSTing your coworkers is CRITICAL. And he admitted he didn’t even sit with the editor and most often would never see the piece until it aired. It’s their job to do the editing, he said.

I think this may be hard for a newsroom to accept that is so used to having control of a project throughout its entire creation.

OK, so how do you tell a good story?

>> Become relaxed with yourself and spend time with the people you’re interviewing. “It’s an attitude thing,” Speake said.

If people show up with an arrogant viewpoint as a TV reporter, you’ll find resistance. But if you show up and say you want to help them tell their story, they’ll be more likely to help you.

Humble yourself. Be modest. Make yourself vulnerable. Make yourself human. Ask for help from them.

>> Be curious. Learn something from the story and challenge yourself to present it in a new way.

>> Report with your ears. Notice your surroundings because something better could be going on that no one else is noticing.

>> Gather sound. Find the “evocative” sound.

>> Listen hard so you can really hear what the person is saying and can ask the right follow-up questions.

>> Think ahead of time. An example of this is the release of the swans in a video he showed (unfortunately, I can’t find it online). He took waders with him so he got close shots of the swans from the front as they swam into the water. None of the other photographers thought of this, and they were stuck on land, shooting the backs of the birds.

>> Don’t be afraid to break the rules.

And speaking of breaking the rules … we ended the session with an discussion about how online newspapers are different from TV because we “never” use narration (that’s what the attendees said). So what advice can Speake give us in telling those type of stories?

That’s a tough assignment, he said. If you don’t use your own voice, the challenge is to get all of your story on tape. Listening carefully and stringing the cuts together becomes even more important.

But are there times when the reporter’s voice can or should be incorporated? The Web interview is being formed to be a “the subject tells the story,” but are we limiting ourselves by doing this? Maybe we should break the rules once in a while?

Angela Grant brought up this same concern in a recent post “Use a FREAKIN voiceover already.”

Comments

2 Responses to “MNPW: The master speaks”

Tim Gruber on August 22nd, 2007 11:24 am

Nice. Thanks for sharing this. I’m learning myself that visuals aren’t the only thing I need to be aware of when I’m shooting video now. Tough when you’re only use to watching for the “moment” visually.
Late Wednesday 8-22 links | News Videographer on August 22nd, 2007 9:05 pm

[…] Melissa Worden has been pumping out the great training posts recently. Here’s one with video storytelling tips. […]

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