Hi, Mary – and thanks for sending us another delicious slice of Parisian life. Listen, if you sent us a montage of slow pans of people eating baguettes we’d probably air it – every one of your reports adds a certain je ne sais quois to our program. But this people-on-the-street array is a special treat.

Why? Because there’s more art to the ol’ “P-O-S” (what usually is people-on-the-street, Parisians-on-the-street to you) than first meets the eye. Yeah – we did not even grade you for writing. But interviewing, construction, pacing and framing, and journalistic balance are all really important when presenting an array of opinions.

Let’s start with the journalism. You really let each person have their say. P-O-S groupings are easily manipulated. By just taking a part of a phrase, peoples’ words can be twisted. While we didn’t see your out-takes, I get the strong impression that you allowed each person to express her-or-himself in the way he or she intended. That’s the micro level. On the macro level, you presented a range of opinions. From deeply thoughtful (that first young woman made a surprising and interesting point) to off the cuff (or rather, off the messenger bag). Ending with someone who points out you can’t generalize about America felt just right.

Also terrific – both the visual and audio pacing. Some wide shots, some close-ups. Some long bites, some short. Kept us interested. With one exception. For timing, we edited out the little stretch of music and scenes from a tram window (see the full version here ), which didn’t add anything except for…scenes from a tram window. Another way to punctuate would have been to cut in some natural sound of motor scooters or baguette crunching in between a couple of the bites. That would establish your concept. But one long stretch in the middle felt like filler.

Kudos to your camera person – your people were positioned to make the most of the natural lighting. And since the Parisian point of view IS the point – great to keep the framing wide enough to capture some of that great scenery in the background. An exception here: your last standup. You seemed to be peering up from the bottom of the frame, instead of “Kilroy was here”…”Daphne was here.”

But we’re glad you’re there, and glad you keep sending us your video postcards. Leaves us wondering where to fill out our applications for Study Abroad.

Your score, by the way, is 96 out of a possible 124. 77% – very good for just asking people a very basic question!

Read the Student Evaluation Explanation for more information on how we score Training Reels.