Slug & Lede

Twins Bill and Jeff Haines have run their own barbershop since 1961 but now that they are planning on retiring, the shop is going to close.  Spokesmanreview.com created a video about the pair and their shop.

The video was just under three minutes long but did an amazing job showing the shop as a quaint reminder of the past that will no longer be around in this new era.  With the sound of a razor buzzing lightly in the background, their story unfolds about how this inseparable  pair has run their shop over the years and made friends within the Lincoln Heights community.  It displayed the amiable nature between the Haines and their clients.  And seeing the various customers talk about struggling to find a new barber after the shop closes was so moving that it served to reinforce the idea that the closing of this one small shop will truly be a loss in the community. 

The one major problem I had was the difficulty in figuring out just where this shop was located.  It was mentioned as a part of Lincoln Heights community but the name is common enough to exist in several different states.  Fortunately, the comments below the video list the location as Spokane.

I was scared at first.

The title, “Last Call for Haircuts,” threw me off — I thought the twin brothers were barbers in a jail! Even worse, on Death Row!

The second voice, a man getting his hair cut but one of the brothers, said, “Someone told me these were good barbers down here.” I thought by “down here” he meant in the basement of a jail where men went down to visit the barber. Correct me if I’m wrong, but did the matching coats make you think the same? I know maroon is not standard prison uniform hue, but really… Did the unforgiving light of the shop give off an air of creepiness?

But enough about my prison rant. I like Dan Pelle’s idea of a video journal. It’s a really great idea for a blog. It was simple. No background music. No graphics. Nothing. I sort of enjoyed it that way because it seemed more intimate.

And I suppose that style of video reporting is what makes their story so sad!

I pity Bill and Jeff for having to close their “focus of Lincoln Heights” of a shop, which probably meant a lot to many Lincoln Heights residents. It’s even more sad that they didn’t have anyone to succeed them. I think the video did a great job of interpreting that.

And the repetitive “yeah” clip around the 1:19 minute mark? Hilarious. Was Pelle trying to pull a Christopher Guest or something?

But the prehistoric cash register the bros worked with and $5 tip almost brought a tear to my eye.

However, I think the video needed a bit more — more b-roll of the building or something. I wish I could see what the front of shop looked like! Here’s a video I did a few months back where I set the scene of my story (which was about a bookstore), by getting a scene-setting shot of the facade of Iowa Book, and then interviews and other b-roll followed that shot.

The short descriptive video, Last Call for Haircuts, is a peek into the last few days of an small town barber shop that after 48 years, is being forced to close its doors.

The opening frame of the rolling red, white and blue barber sign with the soft buzz of razors, sets the scene perfectly for the homey barbershop. Almost immediately, the clip continues with the interview of a current customer.

Jeff and Bill Haines, the twin owners of the shop give a brief narration, but the bulk of the video is interviews by satifisfied patrons who hate to see the ‘twins’ having to close shop.

The most moving interview is by Don Black, a long time customer. The video shows his process start to finish at the place he has been coming to get his hair cut for years.  The majority of the visuals in the video positively contribute to the overall meaning. The only frame that seems out of place was the pan on the sports magazines.

The video’s background audio is muffled conversation which is surprisingly comforting and necessary for the viewers to understand the spot that has been the “focus of Lincoln Heights for quite some time.”

The closing frame at the register leaves the viewers with a sad acknowledgement that this transaction will be one of its last.

Overall I thought the video “Last Call for Haircuts” did a really good job of conveying the emotion of the twin barbers Jeff and Bill, and also did a good job of showing the history of their shop. I really liked the way the video began with the shot of the spinning barber pole, with the sound of a razor in the background which informs the viewers on what the video is going to be about without actually saying anything. This one shot set the scene for the video as a whole, preparing the viewer on what was to come.
The switch from the barber pole to the outside of the shop slowly brings the viewer closer to the characters before you meet them, which I thought worked really well. It shows the viewer an overview of what is going on between the barbers and the customers. I also really liked the clip right after the outside of the shop of the razor blade being washed. I felt this really starts to show the viewers the history of the barber shop and the tradition it holds.
The first customer we meet gives us an idea of the importance the twins and the shop hold in his life, before we even meet Jeff and Bill which I think is a good introduction to them. A real customer telling us about his experience makes the whole situation seem more believable for the viewer than hearing it just from the owners. I also liked how the customer was getting his haircut while being interviewed which shows us exactly what Jeff and Bill do and how they do it.
I don’t think the clip of Jeff and Bill worked very well within this video. Since Jeff was standing up, it gave me the sense that Jeff was superior to his brother, Bill, which took away from the importance of the ‘twins’ owning and running this shop. Also, the fact that Bill didn’t speak at all seemed a little strange for me.
One part of the video that was really random for me was the shot of the various magazines on the table. This didn’t really seem to fit in with the whole focus of the story, and it, in a way, was a minor break in the video for me.
My favorite part of the video story was with Don Black, the regular customer at the twin’s barber shop since 1959. I liked how his section of the video told a whole story in itself. The viewers get to see him drive to the shop, walk in the door, follow the “barber shop” sign down the stairs, and then proceed to getting his hair cut by Jeff. This is where the most emotion came through to me, in the interaction between Jeff and Don. Jeff doesn’t really seem to know how to respond to Don’s meaning of the barber shop, where a sense of sadness came through in Jeff, as if he was reminiscing on the times. I did feel that the shot of Don against the wall talking was a bit too close, but I did like how his face was off center on the screen, and I think it did a nice job of following the rule of thirds, directing us Don’s eyes.
The video had a very efficient ending with the old cash register, once again showing the history of the shop and the hand shake between Jeff and Don, which then fades out to black. The dialogue does continue, which I think was a good way of showing that the shop may be closed, but that doesn’t mean it is the end of the twin barbers.

I enjoyed watching Dan Pelle’s video on twins brothers and barber shop owners Bill and Jeff Haines, who after 48 years are forced to close down their shop. I thought the story was told very well through the lens of a camera.

For starters, I liked the first opening clip of the close-up of the barber pole and then a shot of the window pane of the Lincoln Heights Barber Shop with a customer getting a haircut. I think it works well because from the beginning, you know where you are and it allows for an easily transition into the story that is about to be told.

Another thing I thought worked well was the sequence around the 1:07 mark of the video. The sequence shots show a customer entering into the shop. It starts with a close-up of the customer’s hand on the door getting ready to enter, then focusing on a sign that points to stairs that lead to the barber shop, and finally the customer walking down those stairs. I thought that was a neat way of showing progression from once place to another and a way to capture the audience’s attention by switching up the type of shots. If it had all been one similar shot, it would have been very boring but because the angles and close-ups were different, it seemed to work well.

I also enjoyed the interviews with the customers. I like how Pelle shot not only customers who had been regulars at the barber shop for many, many years, but also the younger and newer customers. I think it was a good way to balanced out showing the longevity and appeal of the shop without overdoing it.

Lastly, I really enjoyed the final shot of the video. I like seeing the customer pay and having the camera focus on the old-fashioned cash register, even though I think the shot was a little too long. I think the final action of having the customer and one of the twin brothers shake hands was a wonderful way to end the video. I feel like there’s a lot of meaning in that handshake and I think it’s a great way to capture a moment where words might have failed.

For a not-quite-three-minute video, I thought it was really well put together. There were a lot of interesting shots and I think the story was told well. There were a few shots that I found questionable because the camera seemed to linger on certain items (i.e: scissors, magazines, etc.) longer than needed and I didn’t feel like they added much to anything. But overall, this video had enough to capture my attention and succeeded in telling its story.

The Spokeman-Review’s video piece entitled “Last Call for Haircuts” was an overall effective visual piece with a few slight imperfections. There was inventive and creative use of shots and editing in telling an emotional and bittersweet story but some pieces of video seemed awkward and out of place.

                The opening shot of the barber pole fading into an establishing shot of the actual barber shop was very effective. It successfully established the setting of the story and caught the viewer’s attention with a creative edit. The SOT’s and interviews worked to advance the story and inform the viewer. They also worked to establish the close relationship that these barbers have and have had with their customers. The order and flow of shots was good and followed the storyline.

                The most questionable segment of this piece was a segment of video where the barber is cutting a customer’s hair and just repeats the word ‘yeah’ three times. This seems to be wasted video that takes up space that other video would have worked much better in. The exchange seems awkward and throws the viewer off track from the story being told. The segment seemed to break up the piece and disrupted the flow. Considering that the piece was just over two minutes in length it seems that much more important that every piece of video used be valuable, significant and informative to the viewer.

                The piece did a wonderful job of concluding the story though. Taking the viewer through a particular customer’s last haircut in the shop from sitting in the chair to finally paying, tipping and shaking the barber’s hand in a final goodbye was a perfect way to end the piece. It both literally and symbolically ended the piece and the business of the barbershop that was going out of business after the retirement of the barbers. It was a great narrative and contextual decision that made for a great conclusion.

Chad Cooper

Multimedia Intro