Slug & Lede

Spokesman-Review’s “Last call for haircuts” worked well in video form since it showed people’s faces. It showed the people who would be most affected by the closing of the barbershop: the owners/barbers—twins Jeff and Bill Haines—and the customers. The video was able to physically show the broad range of men who frequented the shop, from the Haines’ oldest customers to their newest and youngest. By showing diversity, the video attempts to show the breadth of people who are affected by something as small as the closing of a barbershop. The video serves as a jumping point of a much larger story as well: the closing of many small family-owned businesses. The big business model of chains is making it harder and harder for the individual person to run their own business. Though this is a well-known problem, video footage showing the very personal affects of the problem—how even something as small as a barbershop closing could pose a problem to society—is an excellent way to publicize the plight of flagging small businesses. The shots which showed the poor the condition of the barbershop accented these problems as well.  

However, the video fails in other ways. Though the most important point was pushed across, the video has a lot of boring and silent segues. The viewer does not need to see one of the barbershop twins saying “Yeah” for fifteen seconds while he trims eyebrows because it adds nothing to the piece. It also lacked transitions that could have been provided by a voiceover. Without the voiceover, the viewer is left to infer their own meaning behind the video. While I thought it was about a much larger problem, other viewers could take it at face value—that it is just about Lincoln Heights Barbershop closing and that is it. There could have also been more nameplate cards. There was one for Jeff and Bill Haines, but not for their customers. It would be nice to know the names of the customers featured in the video and also the number of years they have been going to Jeff and Bill for haircuts. It is important to establish tiny details which will bring the whole piece together and become more pleasing to the viewer’s eye too.

This story might have been better in a written medium, such as a feature story in a magazine. A video, if not done properly, can come off as lazy and uninventive. Even better, no matter what media this story takes place in, it should be a part of a series all about small businesses closing, putting an economic downturn spin on the series to give it timeliness. As the video stands now, it seems rather isolated and is in need of improvement.