Almudena Toral has an excellent eye and a good nose for a story. She’s also a very good visual storyteller.
For instance, when she showed the rough cut for the first assignment this past semester, it was pretty impressive, so much so that the class spontaneously jumped to their feet and started to applaud.
And now it seems a fitting way to end the first class of Video Storytelling for the Web to link to her final class project on poet Jack Agueros which just hit the home page of the New York Times. Home page, yeah! For a journalist, that’s an amazing achievement.
It’s a great story and an incredible video too. And what makes me very, very proud is that it’s pretty much the same cut she showed during our last class: no voice of god narrator, no obvious openings and allowing the time to have the piece surprise, sadden and delight.
I learned a few things too: she wisely made the decision to have Jack’s daughter conduct the interview since she thought they’d have a better rapport and shot that interview with two cameras.
Great job Almudena!!
And great job to everyone else in class too. You all produced excellent work.
Thanks for making this very first session the one to beat!
I’m looking forward to seeing all those videos you’re producing during your summer internships.
Have a great summer,
Bob Sacha
