For my final project, I decided to film a standard news package in 360. I wanted to see if it was possible to shoot a story that way. Many have made 360-videos, but they haven't incorporated b-roll, interviews, and a stand up. I wanted to redefine what it meant to be to call myself a multimedia reporter. My story is called "Redefining The Classroom." It's about a restaurant that doubles as an academic institution to give hands on experience to students studying culinary arts.

Difficulties

Engaging Video

One of the most difficult things was trying to make the footage interesting all around. I chose a restaurant because I thought that the environment would be conducive to shooting in 360 degrees.

Audio

The Key Mission does not capture audio well. However, that's the same for a regular camera's internal microphone. To combat the poor audio quality, I rented a Tascam and lavalier microphone to record high quality audio. What I didn't think about was where I would place the Tascam. During the interviews, the viewer can see the Tascam and lavalier cord.

Sequence

Sequencing my shots was difficult. I wanted to get tight shots, but anywhere I filmed I needed to think about what would be on the other side of the camera. That made it impossible to get a sequence of wide, tight, and super tight shots. Furthermore, if a viewer was using a VR headset and they were suddenly transported within inches of something, it would be unsettling. I had to settle for a majority of medium shots.

Footage

All of my footage is shot from the same angle with different heights. I was always perpendicular to the ground. If I had it at different angles, the viewer would have felt nauses our been disoriented if they weren't seeing a view that is similar to our every day eye sight. This made it difficult to get engaging shots. I wanted to film things a certain way but it would have been to uncomfortable for the viewer. It would have been especially weird if I had a tight shot that was angled because when the viewer turned around they would be off balance and wouldn't see anything interesting.

Conclusion

I don't think 360-videos are at the place where they can be used to make a news package in the traditional sense. A minute to two minute clip can be shot for a news package, but sacrifices have to be made. It can't be shot in the traditional sense. It takes a level of creativity. However, more so it takes a willingness and openness to not being super creative with one's shots and settling for medium shots that are always perpendicular to the ground.

Originally, my idea was to see if this was possible. I believe it's possible, but I don't believe its worthwhile. 360 videos should be saved for different purposes and not a traditional news package.