Feature Story Article Review

For this review, I read the Pulitzer prize-winning article "The Really Big One" by Kathryn Schulz, which can be viewed here.

"The Really Big One" by Kathryn Schulz is a feature story centered around the predicted earthquake from the Cascadia fault line. There are next to no safety regulations, and the predicted death toll is astronomical. The most terrifying part is that the quake is far past its due date.

Schulz balances quotations with narratives and facts, which makes it interesting to read. Her descriptions create an emotional call to action, backed up by the figures she cites. However, as someone who is less inclined to scientific and mathematical subjects, I found myself getting bored at times.

The overwhelming scientific evidence behind the Cascadia earthquake, and the apparent lack of preparation, are horrifying. Schulz' article is strong, and hopefully will alter the current state of evacuation plans.

Her relevant narratives helped me realize what a feature story needs to truly be a feature story. Without them, it would just be a news piece.

What Makes a Good Feature Story

A well-written feature story can be identified by several qualities. The more basic of these include use of the six shot system and balancing interviews with B-roll. I find that layering audio helps achieve this, and also adds an advanced feel. Another technical aspect is making sure that your subject is visually interesting. Shots of a person standing still aren't as eye-catching as someone running. Lastly, the voiceover should be relevant, but there is some room for colorful details, as it isn't a news story. Something that makes a large difference for me is if the person's voice sounds enthusiastic; nobody wants to listen to a monotone voiceover.

Feature Story Experience

Writing a Feature Story

After filming our feature story, we were assigned to create a written feature story based on the video. This sounded easy because I didn't have to come up with a new topic, but it turned out to be more difficult than I thought it would be. The structure that we had to follow was a narrative lead, nut graph (a paragraph explaining the news value of the story), and a few quotes preceded by explanations.

My mom works as a news anchor, so I've been around journalism, but it clearly hasn't rubbed off on me. I turned my first draft in, and it turns out that although I can write nut graphs, narrative leads are a bit more challenging. I also had to introduce some of my quotes so they didn't look out of place.

I plan on going into the entertainment strand, so the journalism focus hasn't been as rewarding for me as it has for others. However, I believe that the written aspect of filming, no matter the category, is a good experience to have.

First Fridays

While walking along the street, people laugh and admire the artwork and music around them. There is a hum of creativity and freedom that fills the air. When the people get to a certain street corner, however, they are stopped by the sounds of drums and guitars.

Every first Friday of the month, a cultural festival takes place in the Crossroads Arts District in downtown Kansas City. Hundreds of people explore the streets, and local art galleries open their doors for them to walk through. The sound of music is everywhere, thanks to the musicians that play on nearly every street corner. Jacob Downing is one of these talented people. At the corner of 20^th and Wyandotte, Downing plays both guitar and drums, and occasionally sings.

“I play with Drew McCall, who’s one of my closest friends,” he said. “Our close friend Corey Eaton also likes to tag along with us.”

Corey Eaton, although not a musician, still enjoys being around his friends. He has been known to play smaller and more comedic instruments, like his kazoo.

When asked about his contribution to their group, Eaton said, “I’m mostly just the driver.”

For budding musicians, First Fridays can be a stepping stone into playing larger venues. However, for the more casual entertainer, it can be a place to have fun and relax for a few hours.

“In playing at First Fridays, I’m always just hoping that I can have an enjoyable time with my friends,” Downing concluded.

Although some play music or create art and others are simply there to appreciate it, everyone at First Fridays has one thing in common – an admiration of creativity.

Filming a Feature Story

I accidentally took this, but it was at just the right time.

In this assignment, we were tasked with creating a feature story, which is like a news story, but with a shifted focus from facts to narratives. Our feature story was to be about an Olathe Northwest student with a visually appealing hobby or talent. I made a list of a few people and eventually chose my friend Jacob because I knew that I could get some quality footage of him and his friends playing music.

After the sun had set, the lighting changed,
so I had to color correct a bit.

editing the audio levels to keep natural sound

I learned how to film shots while moving instead of staying in one spot. However, none of these could really be used, because they played in front of a building with windows and I could see my reflection. While editing, Premiere glitched, and I could no longer place new clips in the timeline. I eventually solved it, but only after we had turned the project in. I wasn't very happy with my original video, but I fixed this during re-editing. The same thing also happened to my friend, so I helped her get past it. I'm used to using Final Cut, but I'm slowly getting the hang of Premiere.



Next time, I would film my interviews in the same location as the footage of the boys playing, to keep it consistent. Also, I would get more B-roll of people walking around and the cityscape, as it's very interesting. However, we only had 90 seconds for the video, so it's not too much of a loss this time.

I wanted to include this one, but I couldn't.

One thing that I didn't like was that I filmed a shot that I was really proud of, but it didn't fit with the rest of my video. I may use it in later projects, but it was difficult for me to leave it out.