Thought Piece #3

Jasmine Brookins

23 January, 2026

Jeffrey Sauger

JRN 423

This section covered a lot of different information. It started with talking about anticipation and how it is important when trying to edit with your brain. If something happens that you do not want covered you can mentally get rid of it or think about how to change it so that you do like it. The further I get into this book I feel the chapters progressively get shorter and shorter. I really enjoy that because I am not stuck reading 10 plus pages of information that does not need to take up all of that space. For example; chapter 24 was only four pages long. It surprises me that so much information can take essentially three pages. 

In this section Stockman talked a lot about the importance of anticipation. On page 115 it talks about knowing when to move. This is a really helpful tactic that can really only be used when you are familiar with your subject. With my photography I sometimes cover new events but I try to stick with what I know how to follow. If you are entertained and enjoy what you are covering the viewers will enjoy it too. The more I watch videos, I can start to tell when the creators are bored with it. Feelings, emotion, and creativity start to lack making it hard to want to watch. 

Along with anticipation, Stockman talks about lighting. I know personally that I struggle with that when I do video because I do not want to edit it in my camera or have to heavily edit it after. One difference I know between photo and video is that video lighting is much more unpredictable. It can go from overexposed to perfect to completely underexposed in the time span of five minutes. That may honestly be part of why I do not do video that much where it requires me to keep the camera sitting in the exact same spot for a period of time. A tip mentioned in the book is to place yourself and your camera in front of the light source. In that instance it is the same as photography where you do not want the light source directly behind your subject. On page 112 it says “Placing the camera intentionally forces you to think about what you're shooting.” The more I think about this phrase, the more I realize how true it is. If you place the camera on the ground filming there is going to be nothing interesting to like at. On the other hand if you use a tripod in front of the focus of the video it is likely to be more entertaining and insightful. I think I enjoyed this section the most because it gave a lot of useful tips especially since I am someone who has very little knowledge in the field of videography.