U.S. Housing Crisis [Archive] - High Definition Digital Video Forum

mbwkrause

2007 August 27th, 22:55

mayhem

2007 August 27th, 23:29

Great job! Very well produced, you have a knack for journalism/ documentaries. Very interested to see what you come up with next.

Sutpen

2007 August 28th, 00:23

Really good report! You really captured the emotion of the situation as well as providing a lot of information. You also got excellent sound in the interviews. Did you just rely on the built-in mic, or did you have a directional mic attached to the hotshoe?

mbwkrause

2007 August 28th, 09:03

Sutpen,
I picked up some of the ambient sound with the build-in mic because that was my only option at that moment, but usually I try to avoid it at all costs. It's pretty bad and very prone to wind and handling noise. I hooked the interviewees up to a lavalier mic, I'm using the Sennheiser G2 wireless setup which so far works very well for me. I also have a Rode NTG2 shotgun but what you get from the lav is so much better simply because it's so much closer to the subject. I feed both mics to the camera through a Beachtek adapter.

Mal

2007 August 28th, 10:42

GREAT piece, well done.
Has nice flow throughout.

If I'd have to nit-pick: 1) the piece about the guy with the crappy house seems a bit off, and not quite consistent with the main gist of the story; i.e. his biggest problem seems that his house was a dud; not that his mortgage was dubious. 2) Still with the same guy: the cut where he walks into the house seems off; it may be better to start that scene whilst he is already walking, not from when he is standing still. So just a few frames later might be better. As it is now, it looks like he is waiting for the cue to walk into his house, which of course he was, but the thing would seem more "natural" if he'd already be in motion.

So, not slamming your work, as it is a super piece (the article too, by the way!), just thought I'd post a couple of things that came to mind while I watched it...

blondandfun

2007 August 28th, 11:17

The last scene would have melded more with the documentary treatment if before he had ranted about the run down house he bought, that he could have used the money he thought he'd have to fix it up.

Sometimes its actually good to leave it open to discussion, and maybe make another documentary about buyers' responsibility. In any documentary there are two sides, and the side of the mortgage lender should also be given some footage to give it some neutrality, since some people in the audience will have relatives int he mortgage industry.

Also, in the beginning, the shots of the park with the pigeons did not match what the interviewee was talking about. Those shots with the capitol and bank skyscraper would have been better in the beginning when the location was being established, before the interviewing had begun.

I'm a fellow documentarian and I hope people give me their artistical opinions when i post something.

great job

mbwkrause

2007 August 28th, 12:45

Thanks you all for taking the time to watch the film and comment on it. You all make very valid points. The guy with the crappy house actually has both problems: a bad broker and a corrupt seller. I probably should have concentrated more on his mortgage troubles but the pictures of the house were too intriguing... As for him walking: I wanted to have his big sigh audible but I probably should have gone into the scene later. But I definately did not make him walk anywhere... I'd love to have a broker in the film but I could not come up with anyone who wanted to talk to me. I only had two days of shooting and was doing two more interviews (that didn't appear in the film) too... I also agree with the park/pigeon thing - I was just short on b-roll so I probably overused the State Capitol. The Capitol/Bank shot would have made for a good opening shot too, I agree. I kind of liked the fountain symbolizing the boom and the downfall though but maybe it's too complicated...
All in all I'm pretty happy with it being my first video piece ever after I decided to venture into filmmaking and picking up a camcorder in May for the first time in my life. I'm going to take a documentary class at the School of Visual Arts here in NYC in September and hope to improve my skills.
Thanks again and please keep your thoughts comming.
I also would like some advice on a faster workflow since I can't really afford five or six hours of rendering when I'm working on deadline what I intend to do when I cover the elections. But that's probably a whole new can of worms...
Matthias

rhicks

2007 August 28th, 13:27

I personally enjoyed the report. Although I kinda agree with the other posters about the last guy, it didn't bother me one bit. It was very informative. I'm glad you kept the sigh in. It did add to the emotion.
(As a matter of fact, this piece is better done than some of the news station productions here in Denver)

Thank you for sharing.

Edit: Did the last guy ever mention how much he paid for that place?

framecut

2007 August 28th, 13:38

Hi everybody,
I've been lurking around this forum for a while and finally have something to show for. I did a story on the U.S. housing crisis for a German newspaper (I'm a journalist) and decided to produce a video too. You can find it here: http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid1156002426
It was shot with a HV20, post-production in Sony Vegas. Audio: Sennheiser wireless. On and off-camera lights: Vidled.
Feedback very welcome.
Best,
Matthias

Nice video, great estabs.

Not to sound like a complete jerk but...

Whenever you make a major purchase, it's always good to at least
glance at the fine print and weigh in the reality of whether or
not you can make the monthly payments.

It would of been good to interview an economist who could
explain the importance of having a good spreadsheet before
diving into the "American Dream"

What's the "solution" that these people want here? Government
to save them? :hv20-smilie15:

People who buy homes and can't afford them, it's their fault
and I wouldn't want my tax dollars to bail them out of it.

I wish I could feel 'pity', but all what I feel is concern over government
using this as a 'talking point' to extort more dollars out of the taxpayers.

:hv20-smilie71:

mbwkrause

2007 August 28th, 13:48

Edit: Did the last guy ever mention how much he paid for that place?
Something like $62,000. A similar house right across the street went for $30,000 a few month after Jeremiah bought his - only it doesn't have termites.

framecut - I understand what you are saying but this REALLY is a can of worms. One of the big problems is that people are poorly educated and if you ask me, the public school system is at least partly to blame. The other thing is that the financial industry is amazingly unregulated in the U.S. and sometimes really screws people over. You should talk to a guy like Bill Faith and he'll tell you, that you find plenty of lawyers and doctors that got in trouble with sub-prime mortgages. And then sometimes the eyes are just bigger than the stomach, as we say in Germany ;-)
Anyway, back to film making...

Dodgy Nick

2007 August 28th, 15:29

Matthias,

Absolutely superb piece. I really find it hard to swallow that you've only picked up a camcorder for the first time in your life a couple of months ago. You've used the rule of thirds to frame beautifully, voice before the picture, the rythm was spot on, b-roll was good, I'm struggling to believe you here. Take it as a compliment.

My constructive criticism would be to:
- add some royalty-free emotive music to the opener. Something like a lone piano or something eery or sad sounding.
- use slower zooms instead of the fast erratic zooms for your establishing shots. Also, rather use very slow zooms instead of some of the still shots
- invest in a fluid head for your pans
- I could see your deadcat hairs in the frame around the 1:41 mark
- I don't know if it's fair on the "Huntington bank" to show their bank when the woman talks about her dilemma, unless they were directly responsible
- I would invest in a stabiliser for the scenes where you follow the subject

This is from someone who's never shot a docu before, so ignore the advice if it doesn't resonate with you. Well done, I thoroughly enjoyed it, thanks for sharing, and good luck with your next video venture! Personally I'm very much looking forward to it.

mbwkrause

2007 August 28th, 17:13

Well, I not only invested in a camera but also in a class. I took a four day workshop by the National Press Photographers Association (NPPA) end of May and read a book or two. And this and other forums. That surely helped...
Yup, the freaking deadcat hairs are there, need to find a better way to attach the shot gun mic. I do use a 501 Bogen head but I need a better tripod and I still find it incredibly hard to hold this damn camera still. I'm not a big fan of a fat stabilizer though because a lot of stuff is more or less run and gun and I also like it to be as non-obstrusive as possible. And yes, the Huntington Bank is responsible even though I'd rather had a pic of the broker/seller... Is there a good rule about how fast to zoom or pan? I'm totally in the dark with that and just play it by ear...

framecut

2007 August 28th, 17:57

Something like $62,000. A similar house right across the street went for $30,000 a few month after Jeremiah bought his - only it doesn't have termites.

framecut - I understand what you are saying but this REALLY is a can of worms. One of the big problems is that people are poorly educated and if you ask me, the public school system is at least partly to blame. The other thing is that the financial industry is amazingly unregulated in the U.S. and sometimes really screws people over. You should talk to a guy like Bill Faith and he'll tell you, that you find plenty of lawyers and doctors that got in trouble with sub-prime mortgages. And then sometimes the eyes are just bigger than the stomach, as we say in Germany ;-)
Anyway, back to film making...

I fully agree that public education is a disaster. However it would
take a near revolution to overthrow the public school union hegemony.

Basically, what makes America great: People are allowed to
make complete asses of themselves and to fail/ruin their lives (seriously).

In Canada, we have a series of 'safety nets' which are
actually more harmful than helpful. Right now in Canada,
only the very rich can afford to simply
hop onto an airplane and fly to the U.S. where they can
get immediate medical treatment.

While the poor languish and many times die.

In Canada, if you are in a car accident, your car will be
taken care of immediately (Thanks to private insurance)
...but your body will be placed on a year long 'waiting list'

Granted, unregulated systems will invariably bring out
the very worst of scumbag scamsters...however look
at eBay, for the large part: People on eBay
will do everything to prevent themselves from getting
a bad review/rating.

The free market can solve these problems. Look at Mattel,
they are taking a major financial hit because it's simply
not worth it for them to sell lead coated toy products.

Honestly: Your doc needs balance, I just saw a lot of people bitching/moaning over their stupid mistakes. I don't see
any solutions being presented or investigated.

There is a fine line between genuine reporting/investigating
and propaganda.

When I took journalism, I found basically all the students
had wide-eyed ideals but really no sense of facts or being
unbiased. They (journalism students) all wanted
to 'change the world' and use the media as a
means to 'help the poor people'.

My favourite passtime was talking students out of
journalism and encouraging them to not be 'cannon fodder' for the propaganda machine known as the media.

The majority of reporters I've met in my life are more propagandists
than actual reporters. They will endlessly talk to you about 'putting
things in context'.

It's gross and I have no respect for that type of 'whore journalism'

I'm not taking 'sides' here either. Both 'right and left' can go kiss my ass.

Addendum: I agree about the bank shot. I would cut it out.

mbwkrause

2007 August 28th, 18:48

framecut

2007 August 28th, 19:24

You know, if you were serious about discussing journalism I'd be happy to do so. But it seems to me that your main interest is to vent your frustration of what ever and to name people names. I'm not really interested in that and I also think it's the wrong forum here for doing so. So I'll just leave it there.

I know journalism when I see it, and this ain't it.

There's nothing wrong in propaganda (Triumph of the Will, is one of my faves), but at least be honest about it.

What you made was a very one sided crybaby piece on idiots who didn't
read the fine print and thus lost their homes.

Why are you trying to make me feel sorry for them?

You don't have to be interested in different opinions either nor
defending your own: "most sheep bleat at the same beat".

(You can be pissed at me, but trust me: Someday you'll thank me for giving you a kick in the ass over puff-piece).

Mal

2007 August 28th, 19:26

We do have a GREAT place for such discussions though:
http://www.hv20.com/forumdisplay.php?f=28

:hv20-smilie77:

koolpenguin89

2007 August 28th, 20:08

bro, the "dolly" shot of the houses was awesome. did you use a fisheye? because the sidewalk seemed curved.

mbwkrause

2007 August 28th, 20:12

bro, the "dolly" shot of the houses was awesome. did you use a fisheye? because the sidewalk seemed curved.

nope, it's the WD-H43 on full wide...

SalaTar

2007 August 28th, 20:45

Send them the "UNUSED FEMA TRAILERS WE ALLREDY PAID FOR"
It will only cause some forms of lung disease and maybe some minor cancer…
No Big deal we have great policies in place (Welfare, SS, and the good old Lawyers) to help them out.

Great footage BTW

Captainobvious

2007 September 4th, 01:30

Very interesting piece. You have a good nack for the documentary style. I would agree that some solutions or views from the brokers would have kept it more unbiased though.
As far as shooting goes, some of the zooms were too fast as mentioned above. Also, a steadicam of some sort would have helped with the motion scenes. I also thought a couple of the scenes could have been arranged a bit better. For example, the gentleman showing his house. He should have showed the mess he was in, and then went into the story about his crooked broker. Then leaving the scene, the main focus of the lending crisis would have been fresh in the mind instead of being left with thoughts about how his house is falling apart(more a result of a sheisty seller).

All in all, you did a heck of a job. Sound was pretty good, and footage was great. As others have posted, you certainly managed to capture the emotions of your subjects.

transducr

2007 September 5th, 16:18

What boggles my mind is that no one caught (or at least mentioned) the glaring spelling error in the beginning...

One doesn't "loose" a home. One LOSES a home.

Maybe I'm too uptight, but as soon as an error like that comes up (in this case, right away) in a supposedly journalistic/documentarian piece, this is the thought that goes through my mind:

"If this person didn't care enough to proof-read THEIR OWN WORDS, how can you trust the validity of anything else they are attempting to present to you as fact via other sources!?"

...that's all...

tkmslee

2007 September 5th, 16:30

marketmd

2007 September 5th, 17:29

Your "DeadCat" furry windscreen is visible from 1:40 onwards. Lol.

mbwkrause

2007 September 5th, 19:50

Transducr, thanks for the pointer. I'm not a native speaker, btw. and I had it checked by one but she missed it. I'll correct it as soon as I've got time...

mayhem

2007 September 6th, 01:04

Nice video, great estabs.

Not to sound like a complete jerk but...

Whenever you make a major purchase, it's always good to at least
glance at the fine print and weigh in the reality of whether or
not you can make the monthly payments.

It would of been good to interview an economist who could
explain the importance of having a good spreadsheet before
diving into the "American Dream"

What's the "solution" that these people want here? Government
to save them? :hv20-smilie15:

People who buy homes and can't afford them, it's their fault
and I wouldn't want my tax dollars to bail them out of it.

I wish I could feel 'pity', but all what I feel is concern over government
using this as a 'talking point' to extort more dollars out of the taxpayers.

:hv20-smilie71:

Gotta agree with framecut on this one, it's bad enough that the government is using our tax dollars to support Illegal Aliens, and people who are too damn lazy to get a job. I don't want them to add people who are just too stupid to own a home to the list. Seriously it takes two seconds to do a search on google and find out that certain types of morgatges are an extremely bad idea.

framecut

2007 September 6th, 10:28

Gotta agree with framecut on this one, it's bad enough that the government is using our tax dollars to support Illegal Aliens, and people who are too damn lazy to get a job. I don't want them to add people who are just too stupid to own a home to the list. Seriously it takes two seconds to do a search on google and find out that certain types of morgatges are an extremely bad idea.

The point that the person who made this video should consider is:
"Am I making a newspiece or a hitpiece?"

There was no counter-argument or any of the points you mention
here were not brought up.

Anyways, at this point we'll be labeled as 'trolls':

:hv20-smilie68:

It's very *easy* to allow yourself to 'take the gloves off' and go on
the offensive...but the truth/facts will always suffer in the end.

Call me an asshole (and I am), but sometimes it's not the "little guy"
who should win.

hoshnasi

2007 September 6th, 13:59

... but sometimes it's not the "little guy" who should win.

Understand who the market for this story, German media. As I understand they are not exactly big fans of the US and relish the chance to call anything where the little guy suffers as a "Can of worms" or a horrible thing.

WITH THAT SAID. Your camera work I feel it very good. I may not agree with the one sided point you are making in your story, but your skill in capturing it is very good.

transducr

2007 September 7th, 01:05

Transducr, thanks for the pointer. I'm not a native speaker, btw. and I had it checked by one but she missed it. I'll correct it as soon as I've got time...

No sweat. Didn't know you weren't a native speaker. I guess, that being the case, it must be hard to even find a reliable native-speaking source to look things over. I guess it's like tkmslee said: good thing a lot of people are looking at it here.

To tkmslee: Thanks for the welcome. Your footage with this little camera is very impressive. Favorite I've seen on here so far.