Matched Action

I found this video on NTY.com: Riders Through the Snow. It is about the Iditarod Trail Invitational, in which racers bicycle, ski and walk on foot for miles in the Alaska wilderness. I found three Matched Actions: 1:15-1:20, 2:12-2:17 and 2:19-2:22 minutes.

The first matched action is two guys making sure their bike is prepared for the race. I thought this worked nicely because it showed the one guy putting his weight on the bike while the other checked the bike's air. The second matched action is a close up of a racer getting dressed and then a long shot of him, which added a little visual variety. The third matched action showed a racer cooking, first providing a close up of the food and then a long shot of the man cooking. Overall, I thought the piece was interesting and the video was decently edited.

Matched Action-Fish for the Future

I found two examples of matched action in this video from Spokesmanreview.com. I think it's a pretty good video outlining the process of restocking a lake in Washington with more fish. The video is narrated by the photographer at the beginning. Dave Welton, an employee of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, narrates the remainder.

I found two matched actions: 0:27-0:32 and 0:44-0:56.

The first involves two different views of Welton attaching a long pipe to his truck: a long view and then a close up. I'm not possitive, but I think the close up is more than just a zoomed in view: it appears to be shot at a slightly different angle than the long view. Though this is a rather simple example, I thought it worked out well sequentially.

The second involves Welton making some adjustments on the top of his truck: two different views of him walking on the top of the truck and then a close up of the actual adjustments. This is a stronger example of matched action. It is more clear in this example that the three different views given are actually from different view points. I think you'll see what I mean...

Overall, I thought the video was quite interesting. I wasn't crazy about how the photographer narrated the piece at the beginning--his tone of voice doesn't really go along with the tone of the rest of the piece...but at least gives the viewer all of the background information needed. The rest of the piece was edited well.

Matched Action - Sole Man

I found this video that opens, almost immediately (0:14-0:15), with matched action. It then has two more examples throughout the piece (1:23-1:24, 1:55-1:56). I thought that it was used with the strongest impact at the beginning, but the next two times are work as well, showing different views of the same process. The first two uses are nearly identical, so it would have been nice to see a third angle worked in as well. 

The story is of a shoe shiner, a dying trade in New Orleans, and his view on the importance and charm of what he does. I really enjoyed it, matched action or not, and you should check it out--a good example of covering interesting, everyday people in the community.

Assignment: Blog Post, Matched Action

Part One: Fine an online video with a matched action sequence and post a link to it here, including how far in the match is. Give us a few sentences on whether you think it works or not.

Deadline: 7 p.m. on Sunday

Part Two: Shoot a series of three photos - from different angles and with different compositions - as if you were doing a three-shot matched action sequence in video. We'll download and sequence them in SoundSlides on Tuesday in class.

Workshop - What to Expect

A sample of what to expect from the weekend workshop ...


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Syllabus, Day One

The syllabus has been posted, time to start reading it, folks. 

Assignment 1: Three questions about the syllabus, written down, for the start of class on Thursday. 

Almost There

Doc Photo will go active again on Jan. 8. Stay tuned.