Screaming and yelling

I think typical British reserve might describe reaction in our chase car! We do get excited, but there's no screaming and shouting - why does there need to be? Chase videos with that kind of guff on get rather tedious to watch.
 
I realized that when I'm with Danny Neal and Adam Lucio I comment A LOT more than when I am with Skip Talbot or on my own. haha. I think sometimes it depends on who you're with as long to share excitement with. Like adam said it builds off each other. I have footage i'm silent for the most part with little commentary. then my most reason catch(yesterday) I am talking Adams is yapping. I think we knew we were going to score a FANTASTIC shot of the tornado from a great vantage point. Live in the moment enjoy it. I for one could care less how many people dont appreciate them. Other people will especially yourself. Those are moment you hold with yourself forever to remember. I know we all want that great shot to have, but what makes a moment memorable sometimes is the people around you. comments or no comments. I'm going to enjoy a tornado any way I feel it needs to be. ESPECIALLY with stupid commentary or not. I dont care to portray myself as someone else I am not to others.
 
I should take a count of how many times in my videos (which I will never release to the public because I'm such a terrible cameraman) I've said the following few phrases.

Tornado!
Wow. Wow wow wow. Oh wow!
Woo hoo.
I'm having a steak tonight.
Wow!
I don't say much but I tend to say the same thing over and over and over again. Then I giggle like a little girl.
 
The screaming is partly excitement but mostly I believe it's just copycatting --whether intentionally or unintentionally-- of other chasers. Chasers who learn to chase by watching the videos of other chasers tend to mimic behavior and mannerisms they see. The hollering, repeating of words, and the automatic use of terms such as "on the ground", "CG", "power flashes" and "violent tornado" (regardless of what they are actually looking at) are all examples of such learned behavior. They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery so Tim Marshall, Roger Hill, Reed Timmer I guess you should feel flattered.

I've been on a chase or two where I've actually had to turn to other chasers and ask them to shut up because they were spoiling my audio with all their antics. Of course, many chasers aren't out to enjoy the storms but rather they're just out to do something extreme. So the idea of asking them to maintain composure is probably a lost cause.

As for seeing this kind of video on TV, it makes me sick to see folks deliberately put themselves in extreme danger only to cry a sigh of relief about how they were "almost killed". This kind of stuff leads me to believe that most of what you see is all just show --designed to boost video sales by making the ordinary seem extraordinary. I suspect there will be someone at next year's ChaserCon doing a seminar on "tips for playing it up to the camera". I'm sure it will be a big hit. :-(

..Chris..
 
Chris Novy said:
The screaming is partly excitement but mostly I believe it's just copycatting --whether intentionally or unintentionally-- of other chasers. Chasers who learn to chase by watching the videos of other chasers tend to mimic behavior and mannerisms they see. The hollering, repeating of words, and the automatic use of terms such as "on the ground", "CG", "power flashes" and "violent tornado" (regardless of what they are actually looking at) are all examples of such learned behavior. They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery so Tim Marshall, Roger Hill, Reed Timmer I guess you should feel flattered.
Click to expand...

I disagree. I chase with a few inviduals who love tornadoes and weather as much as me. the comments are just naturally being said. Copycatting is so difficult to say people are doing that. I see power flashes I always say power flash. that is one word that comes out of me. I don't say it because I heard some hundred other people say it in their video. learned behavior? I would agree, but copycatting is far from right. Naturally I usually tell myself to be quiet however depending on who i am around. I am more vocal. other people i'm much more silent. this is humans at our best. naturalistic behavior if I remember correctly from psychology. There are learned behaviors people have, but there are also naturalistic behaviors people have when around other people.

Personally trying to come up with a reason why people say what they say is really going down a beaten path. However, some people enjoy just the audio. Generally if i knew i were to put out a DVD i'd try to handle everything as professional as possible. However, I chase because I enjoy storms and I dont care how much vocal pollution is in my videos unless I know i have a anterior motive.
 
The yelling isn’t for me, I’d rather hear the sounds of nature instead but I have seen examples where it didn’t necessarily detract from the video. As long as it isn’t contrived and/or over the top then a little emotion can lend a natural human perspective to the scene. Personally I try to stay quiet and let nature do the talking but I remember my exclamations and babbling when capturing my first tornado on video. While embarrassing in a way I’m glad that I let my feelings flow as I can look back and relive how I felt realizing a lifelong dream.

As for talking while filming an event I really try to avoid slipping into that excited announcer type voice. I hear it on so many videos and I catch myself doing that on occasion. Instead of narrating observations in a calm voice it sounds more like Val Castor’s reporting on the 5-3-99 F5 to Gary England. That was great stuff for live news, especially given the circumstances, but can sound silly when the exhorting is about a much less remarkable event for the sake of video. But that’s my preference and obviously not that of the masses as that style does have a marketability.
 
I don't mind hearing a little screaming if it's in moderation. Raw human emotion can be a good touch to a video displaying the raw power of nature, but only in moderation. It is cool to be able to hear nature, but most of the time, the sound equipment on even HD video cameras is not of high enough fidelity to accurately record what the human ear hears. Most of the time if someone's close enough and outside, all you hear is the wind clipping and distorting the sound track by overwhelming it.

What I'm really getting tired of is hearing people say on their video that the tornado they're seeing is huge and violent, when it is usually not one, and sometimes neither. I won't mention names, but I saw a few videos of the tornadoes in Illinois on Tuesday and heard people claiming a 50-yd wide tornado at the ground was a wedge or was huge. That just gets really annoying, especially when it comes from someone who has chased and seen tornadoes before. I've started turning down the audio on a lot of videos I watch for that reason (as well as for excess screaming)
 
Jeff Duda said:
What I'm really getting tired of is hearing people say on their video that the tornado they're seeing is huge and violent, when it is usually not one, and sometimes neither. I won't mention names, but I saw a few videos of the tornadoes in Illinois on Tuesday and heard people claiming a 50-yd wide tornado at the ground was a wedge or was huge. That just gets really annoying, especially when it comes from someone who has chased and seen tornadoes before. I've started turning down the audio on a lot of videos I watch for that reason (as well as for excess screaming)
Click to expand...

Actually this is something that has been recently discussed in the SpotterNetwork forums. The issue here being exaggeration or distortion of the facts --whether deliberately or based on the excitement of the moment. Many of these "large" tornadoes are in fact just rope tornadoes. While size doesn't necessarily make any difference when it comes to the actual issuance of a warning a description of some phenomenal event can influence forecasters and EMs into taking inappropriate actions. I guess it's no different than NWS being fast and lose with the term "tornado emergency". You just have to be careful what you say.

I come from a TV background so when I shoot I'm always tryig to capture the raw moment --not my emotions-- and leaving the footage pristine as possible so I have more options in the editing process. I figure I can always add the screaming, dirty word "bleeps", and phoney storm sirens in post-production --just like they do on Discovery.

..Chris..
 
I wish there was more comedy. I would love to see some one-liners, imitations, jokes, etc....just for a little variety. Maybe we can get someone to do the Mike Myers copy of the Sprocket video when they see their next tornado, since it's been posted here.
 
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