Video Example Critique

I watched a news video on CNN.com entitled "Healthy fast food."  It presented Atlanta Area Fresh 'n Fit Cuisine, a healthy fast food-to-go option, focusing on Tiffany Hoffine's experience with the business.  The reporter interviewed Hoffine and showed clips of her walking out of the a discount nutrition store with the food, getting in her car, bringing it home to her husband, and eating it at the table as a nice meal.  She also interviewed the chef at the company, showing the kitchen and the food being made, along with an interview with a registered dietician.  It was a pretty good video.  I would have liked to see interviews withe more Fresh 'n Fit Cuisine customers.  Does this company just benefit a couple with no kids?  Could a family use this?  Hoffine mentioned that she had already lost ten pounds and the chef said that the company caters to 1,200 and 2,000 calorie diets.  Is this for people who want to lose weight or is that just a side benefit?

As for the B-roll, I feel like it was a little unnecessary to show Hoffine physically walking out of the store with her food, opening her car door, getting into her car, etc.  I think it would have been a better visual to show all of the different food options in the store and show her deciding which to buy.  They also could have included in the story different places were the food is available.

It was a little corny also when Hoffine used lines such as "Honey, I'm home!" when she brought home the food to her husband and "Bon appetit!" when they sat down to eat it.  It seemed unnatural, like she was clearly acting for the camera.  The camera didn't seem to be merely a fly on the wall. 

This story would not have been as strong as a text only story.  People need a visual of food; something they are going to be eating needs to look appealing.  It was also important to get a look into the kitchen.  The food appeared to be high-quality and the fact that the couple sat down in the dining room with the food on their nice plates, drinking wine added an element that would have been harder to pick up on with just words.  If the story was only told in words it would have to rely much more heavily on sensory words and descriptions.