Thought Piece #2

Jasmine Brookins

21 January, 2026

Jeffrey Sauger

JRN 423

During this section it dives more into structuring a video when planning. It starts out by talking about a genre and how most videos have one. I can see that when it comes to films, but with other videos I struggle with it a little bit. 

The beginning of the section covers some background information on the thought process while filming in a way. On page 62 Stockman says “Structure gives meaning to a film”. I love how he gives examples about different ways you can change perspectives in a film. It would be interesting to see some films like HarryPotter and Hunger Games. It would have such a different feel to it. Stockman also talks about scripts. I personally am a decent writer but not when it comes to giving other people things to say. It was reassuring to know that videos do not necessarily need scripts. A script can be a list of scenes, which in my mind sounds somewhat like a shot list of locations and scenery. 

I agree with Stockman in chapter 16 that you can not go in blind and without a plan. It would cause a lot of “if this happens” situations. I think it is the same as photography in that aspect. Having at least a light plan of what you want to get and what you want to do is really important. On page 71 it talks about shot lists which further explains having a plan. Having a shot list is extremely helpful and it should be as detailed as possible. I really enjoy that Stockman gave an example of what is not an idea and how you can turn it into one. He gave an example of what a shot list could look like based off of a tv commercial he directed. I never realized how long these can be. On his there are at least 20 ideas, I do not even think I can come up with that. 

On page 82 there is a chapter talking about storyboarding. I had never truly heard what that term was or how to do it until reading this chapter. I can definitely see how it is helpful. It pretty much just plans the video on paper. One thing that is different from photography that I will have to get used to is that videos are planned out thoroughly. While in photography we plan, we can not direct our subjects but in videography you do. 

At the end of this section on page 94 it mentions how in order to truly make a great video you have to commit to every single part of it. Stockman says “ The more it pleases you, the better your chance for success.” I definitely understand how important that is, if you do not like what you made how can you expect someone else to make it. I really enjoyed reading this section overall and feel like I really learned about how to plan the production of a good video.