Styles of Storytelling

Matt Gross

Visual Journalism

Links to videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyCiO7n7XEE. Tyler Hilinski

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dx-BYB06Hns&t=8s Dave Matthews

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaRJIdhVR2M Wives of the SEC

In these three examples of visual journalism storytelling, many aspects get brought to life, but one remains in focus: emotion. From b-roll and camera angles, to setting and content, these three video clips incorporate subtle characteristics that make a big difference in how each story’s message is conveyed.

Starting out with my first example, this video is about the effect of the tragic suicide-death of former Washington State Quarterback Tyler Hilinski. In a unique way, the video doesn’t simply tell the story of the life of Tyler Hilinski. Instead, the video focuses on the parents of Tyler, and a father that lost his own son, Max, to suicide as well. By not telling the story of Tyler’s life in chronological order, the video makes up for it by including hard-hitting b-roll. Shots are shown of Tyler’s mother writing note cards to those who sent their sympathy’s, older photographs of Tyler, older photographs of Max, and football film of Tyler. The b-roll helps paint a picture of Tyler’s story, even though what’s pictured on the screen as b-roll doesn’t match exactly what’s being described by those speaking on the voice track that’s playing over; it’s very complimentary. As Tyler’s family reflects on how much they miss their son, a woeful, melancholy soundtrack is played over their interviews; adding to the emotional appeal as it sets the tone for the audience.

In the second example I have, this video is about one of my favorite musicians of all time, Dave Matthews. The video is a ‘60 Minutes’ clip, that was recorded back in 2001 when Dave Matthews Band was about to set the music world on fire. Right off the bat, the video incorporates a great attention grabber. Host Charlie Rose, starts his anchor intro by explaining exactly who Dave Matthews is and what he’s about, saying, “if you’ve never heard of them, it’s time you did.” The video immediately cuts to a live Dave Matthews concert. I felt that intro, as it admittedly gave me goosebumps. As the video moves on, it begins to build a foundation by interviewing each member of the band. For someone who has no idea about Dave Matthews, it was a great, and simple, way to introduce each and every member. Throughout the video, B-roll is shot of actual concert footage. Sometimes for more than 20 or so seconds, the band is shown playing live. Footage of South Africa, Dave Matthews home country, is shown as well. This creates a connection to the storytelling of Dave Matthews history, and the crazy career that he now has. Dave Matthews own songs are, at times, played over the video as well; this creates a connection to his music for the audience. The start of a new song acted as a transition form one point to the next in the video. At the end of this video it’s difficult not to feel connected, or at least much more knowledgeable, of Dave Matthews’ music, and his story.

My third and final example, one that is most unique, dives into the lives of the wives of the Head Coaches of the SEC. If that didn’t clear it up for you, the SEC (Southeastern Conference) includes teams such as Florida, LSU, Alabama, Georgia, etc.; each football program rich in football tradition and history. This video looks into the daily, everyday life, of a wife in the SEC. To start off, the topic itself is very unique. So, in order for the audience to better understanding the storytelling of this video, the producers had to perform some pretty unique things themselves. The video is narrated by a woman, which compliments the topic at hand and shifts the “point of view” aspect to help make the video feel more genuine. The video doesn’t show all of these women together at once, but instead goes one-by-one to each woman and their daily activities. The video shows each family’s different story, and the various ways that each husband and wife got to meet each other in the first place. This aids in the storytelling as it helps clear up each family’s details. The video also shows some emotional sides, such as going out with a couple to “date night”, or showing the wives hug and kiss their kids; which ties directly into the emotional storytelling technique. As Kirk Herbstriet mentioned at the very end of the video, the producers did a great job “pulling back the curtain” and showing what really goes on.

These three examples of visual journalism storytelling were some of my favorites. Each video included a very unique and interesting topic. The techniques that the producers of each video used were clearly shown and effectively put in place. Each and every technique supporting the emotional storytelling of each video.