Slug & Lede

Ehrin Macksey’s video package titled Van Mon:The Forgotten Existence captures the lives of elderly patients who are recovering from their diseases at Van Mon, a dermatology hospital.

The video did a great job using a variety of still shots, photographs, and slow motion shots. In the very beginning of the video, black and white photographs of the patients were displayed. I thought that this beginning was very effective because the audience was given a chance to be introduced to the subjects that were going to be discussed.

Macksey’s use of text slates was nicely incorporated into the video. Throughout the entire video the interviewee, Robert Lucius, Executive Director of Send Me NGO, narrates and explains the patients experiences living in Van Mon. With his voice in the background, black and white pictures were displayed explaining what Lucius was saying.

The majority of the shots in the video were still shots of black and white photographs of the patients. Thsi effect was useful in bringing emotion and making everything seem more meaningful and precious. The use of medium shots, wide shots, close ups of patients were nicely incorporated making the audience visualize what these patients were going through. Within these shots there were the use of “bird’s eye” view, “worm’s eye” view, and normal point of view shots. This variety also made it more informative, and brought the environment and mood of Van Mon alive.

Throughout the entire video, everything was black and white except the interview with Robert Lucius. The rule of thirds was nicely used in this interview, and there was extra space for breathing.

However, if I were to re-edit this package, I would introduce some color into some scenes. There were shots that were not still shots, and when we were brought directly into the scene where the patients were chanting prayers at a Buddhist temple, I felt that color should have been used. The use of color would have brought the audience directly into the scene. The video was also a little long at just over 5 minutes, but I personally felt that the time was used effectively.

Overall, this video was very effective in telling the story of the patients at Van Mon. It was also more effective because the interviewee was speaking throughout the whole video which made it seem more personal because this person was interacting with patients. He knew what they were going through to some extent, and this made it more interesting. This video also used a variety of still shots, black and white photographs, slow motion shots and interviews which made it very interesting.