Prof. Gustavo Mercado’s second book in The Filmmaker’s Eye series, The Filmmaker’s Eye – The Language of the Lens: The Power of Lenses and the Expressive Cinematic Image, was just published by Focal Press/Routledge.

About the book: 

The Language of the Lens explores the expressive power of the camera lens and the storytelling contributions that this critical tool can make to a film project. This book offers a unique approach to learning how lenses can produce aesthetically and narratively compelling images in movies, through a close examination of the various ways lens techniques control the look of space, movement, focus, flares, distortion, and the “optical personality” of a story’s visual landscape. Like The Filmmaker’s Eye, The Language of the Lens combines precise technical instruction with narrative analysis and cinematic aesthetics considerations.

Reporting and Writing 2 students found themselves on the other side of the camera on May 9 on their way to visit media giant Bloomberg. Videographer for Bloomberg’s @TicToc Madison Mills interviewed several of Professor Sissel McCarthy’s students, asking them what they thought about that day’s New York Times opinion piece about breaking up Facebook. After a few vox pops on the sidewalk, students went on a tour of Bloomberg’s headquarters that included a visit to the TV studio control room and the 29th-floor cafeteria with a killer view of Central Park and the Upper East Side.

Professor Sissel McCarthy and one of her favorite journalism professors were back in the classroom together, after more than 25 years, last Wednesday. Lloyd Siegel, a 44-year veteran journalist of NBC News, visited McCarthy’s Studio News Production class to critique the latest Hunter News Now show. Siegel taught newsroom management at Columbia’s Graduate School of Journalism back in the 1990s during and after stints as a reporter, field producer, line producer, executive producer and vice president for news partnerships with NBC affiliates.

Siegel said he watched the fourth Hunter News Now newscast of the semester three times, making note of the many things students were doing right.  “I am really impressed with how you’re serving the Hunter audience,” said Siegel, who particularly liked  Krystie Calle’s story about scholar-athlete of the week Skylar Gill and Alexandra Ali’s piece on the African Student Union’s fashion show. “Your newscast showcases all the diversity, aspirations, ambitions and hard work of the Hunter community,” Siegel said.

He also shared some storytelling tips to help students make their packages even better, including one of the most important lessons he learned as a rookie reporter. “There’s only one story per story,” Siegel said. Although he understands the temptation to include everything that happened, Siegel explained it’s much better to do one story well. “Decide on the story, then more reporting and more facts.”