Out of all the packages I've worked on this was definitely my favorite one. Not only was the story of Mr. Cordes himself compelling, but he also had a personal effect on me after I had the chance to spend time with him. You could definitely still see aspects of his personality especially after hearing some anecdotes from those around him. His mother Gloria provided a lot of support to our project with his old photographs despite wanting to have some controlling input on how we put it together in some instances. Once again, we could have obtained a lot more B-roll than we originally had, such as of Huntington High School or the outside of Mr. Cordes's home (not to mention we could have done more to fix the lack of lighting inside the home itself). The VOs were a bit long, but at the same time I felt this might be necessary considering the descriptive, in-depth nature of the piece.
Overall I think we captured the essence of David Cordes's story. This could have been a much longer piece delving into more aspects of life but the gist of it is there.
TONIGHT WE CHECK
IN WITH SUFFOLK COUNTY’S OWN DAVID CORDES NEARLY 23 YEARS AFTER A CAR ACCIDENT
LEFT HIM WITH A DEBILITATING BRAIN INJURY.
QUINNIPIAC
NEWS’S DANIEL KEITH HAS MORE FROM HUNTINGTON.
PKG
TRACK 1
*shot of car
tires in intersection IN: 0:19* IT WAS FEBRUARY 1ST, 1993. DAVID
CORTES WAS HEADING TO A NATIONAL HONORS SOCIETY MEETING AT HUNTINGTON HIGH
SCHOOL, WHEN (*shot of street signs*) AT THE INTERSECTION OF HOLDSWORTH DR. AND
OAKWOOD, HIS LIFE CHANGED IN AN INSTANT.
*pan of
intersection IN 0:04 OUT 0:08*
WHILE MAKING A LEFT
TURN ONTO OAKWOOD, ANOTHER STUDENT COLLIDED INTO CORDES’S STATION WAGON, NEARLY
SPLITTING IT IN HALF.
*video of two-shot
of Dan and Gloria sitting IN 0:15 OUT 0:19*
AT FIRST, HIS
MOTHER—GLORIA—WAS TOLD BY SCHOOL OFFICIALS THAT HE WAS FINE. IT TURNS OUT THAT
IT WAS MUCH MORE SERIOUS.
SOT: GLORIA CORDES, MOTHER VIDEO AND
AUDIO IN 6:48 OUT 6:56
“He didn’t have
a mark on him, not a broken bone, not a cut, nothing. But he had massive head trauma.”
AUDIO ONLY IN 7:15 OUT 7:23
*picture of individual news clippings* “Basically,
umm, frontal lobes, everything was damaged”
AUDIO ONLY IN 11:38 OUT 11:40
“He has no motor
control whatsoever”
TRACK 2
*picture of group photo with tennis team* BEFORE THE
ACCIDENT, CORDES WAS THE CAPTAIN OF HIS TENNIS TEAM AT HUNTINGTON HIGH SCHOOL AND
*picture of Dave serving* WAS RANKED 2ND ON LONG ISLAND IN THE US
TENNIS ASSOCIATION. HE RECEIVED AN EARLY ACCEPTANCE LETTER *picture of letter*
TO GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY ON AN ATHLETIC SCHOLARSHIP AND BECAUSE HE WAS FLUENT
IN GERMAN, DAVID PLANNED TO STUDY LINGUISTICS. NOW, HE FACES HIS TOUGHEST MATCH
EVERY DAY.
DAN STANDUP VIDEO AND AUDIO IN 0:08 OUT
0:15
“Even the
simplest tasks for David seem to be very difficult, from getting out of bed in
the morning to going to bed at night.”
SOT: LAURA SWETZ, NURSE VIDEO AND AUDIO
IN 0:57 OUT 1:08
“He needs us to
bathe him and feed him and…he has a G-Tube in his stomach cuz he can’t swallow
liquids very well so he has to have liquids that way.”
TRACK 3
*VIDEO ONLY OF LAURA PUTTING ON
PROSTHESIS IN 0:09 OUT 0:16/0:17*
ONLY MONTHS
AFTER THE NEAR-FATAL ACCIDENT, DAVID WAS DIAGNOSED WITH A FORM OF BONE CANCER THAT
REQUIRED AN AMPUTATION OF HIS LEFT LEG. NOW DAVID REQUIRES A PROSTHETIC LEG
THAT HIS NURSE—LAURA—PUTS ON HIM DAILY.
VIDEO OF
LAURA SHOWING US AROUND DAVE’S ROOM IN 1:46 (NO AUDIO IN UNTIL 1:49 AUDIO OUT
1:54) VIDEO OUT 1:56
HIS LOVE OF
SPORTS HASN’T CHANGED THOUGH.
“This is his
favorite towel. Davey’s a Met fan.”
AND HE CAN STILL
NAME HIS FAVORITE TENNIS PLAYER
SOT: DAVE CORDES VIDEO AND AUDIO IN 4:11
OUT 4:21
“John…..McEnroe”
TRACK 4
VIDEO OF BRIAN TAKING RAMP OUT OF CAR,
PUTTING DAVID IN CAR
HOWEVER, DAVID’S
FAVORITE ACTIVITY REMAINS GOING OUTSIDE FOR A RIDE IN HIS SPECIALIZED VAN,
WHERE HE CAN FEEL A SENSE OF FREEDOM AND A CONNECTION TO THE OUTSIDE WORLD.
*Nat hit of
chair locking into place in van*
TRACK 5
VIDEO OF BRIAN PUSHING DAVE DOWN RAMP IN 0:09
OUT 0:16
DAVID IS A MAN
TRAPPED INSIDE OF HIS OWN BODY. DESPITE ALL OF THE DAILY CHALLENGES HE FACES, HE
REMINDS US OF A QUOTE FROM GHANDI THAT HAS INSPIRED HIM, AND HIS FAMILY, FROM
THE BEGINNING OF IT ALL.
*picture of
teenage David in dreads*: STRENGTH DOES NOT COME FROM PHYSICAL CAPACITY, BUT AN
INDOMITABLE WILL.
I was very fortunate when it came to finding this marketplace and dealing with the coverage of it in general. For starters, Nancy and Robin (sponsors of the event) were very amicable and accommodating. They allowed me to film wherever I wanted without having to pay the admittance fee. Secondly, I was able to go there on a cloudy day, which eliminated some of the problems I had last time at MIT with shade/lighting.
Overall, this was a pretty simple event to cover. I did kind of strain to find a variety of shots besides just the myriad of items that were there. Not to mention the music was louder than it should have been (in my opinion), but this was obviously easily fixable in Premiere. There were a couple of shots I had out of focus as well but thought the package itself came together well as a whole.
A SMALL ANTIQUE COMPANY IS RELOCATING THEIR POPULAR
MARKETPLACE. VINTAGE THYMES, KNOWN FOR THEIR MONTHLY FAIRES, IS SETTING UP SHOP
FOR THE FIRST TIME THIS WEEKEND AT ADAMS FARM.
QUINNIPIAC NEWS’S IAN COSMAN REPORTS FROM WALPOLE
PKG
Wide shot of barn/farm area
TRACK 1
OF THE MANY FALL FESTIVITIES TAKING PLACE THROUGHOUT NEW
ENGLAND,THIS ONE HAS A UNIQUE FEEL.
VINTAGE THYMES IS
BRINGING THEIR RENONWED MARKETPLACE TO ADAMS FARM, WHERE VENDORS FROM ALL OVER
THE REGION HAVE COME TO SELL THEIR ANTIQUE ITEMS.
SOT: NANCY, PART
OWNER OF VINTAGE THYMES
“We have vintage
and antique dealers. We have artisans that make things by hand. We have live
music all day, and we have food available for purchase, so it’s a family event.
We have something here for everyone.
TRACK 2
SURE ENOUGH, AMONG ALL THE JEWELRY AND VEGAN TREATS, ONE CAN
FIND CUSTOMIZABLE PILLOWS, ORGANIC CANDLES, AND FRAMED INSPIRATIONAL QUOTES.
NOT TO MENTION, A CERTAIN BLAST FROM THE PRESENT.
IAN STANDUP
“Adding a bit of a modern touch to all of the antiques
present, Adams Farm has set up a selfie station for attendees to take pictures
of themselves.”
TRACK 3
WHILE THE ITEMS THEMSELVES MAY OFFER SOME NOSTALGIA, IT’S STILL
THE PEOPLE THAT REMAIN THE MAIN ATTRACTION.
SOT: ROBIN AND MARY
BETH, PART OWNERS VINTAGE THYMES
“Honestly it’s
not the collection of items I just love the energy
*continue audio, play crowd shots*
from the all customers that get excited and
all the customers, and how many customers that come and show up so we’re pretty
excited about that.”
*cut back to interview of the two*
TRACK 4
FOR A SMALL ATTENDANCE OF $5 PER ADULT, THIS TWO DAY EVENT
PROVIDES THE PERFECT OPPORTUNITY FOR A BIT OF FAMILY FUN.
