The piece was done by photojournalist Jeremy Carroll and reporter Noelle Walker, who both work at KNTV NBC 11 in San Jose, Calif. Pay special attention to the great use of natural sound in this piece and to Jeremy's amazing use of natural light. His creative camera angles take your eyes where they normally do not go.

Q. How did you find this story?
A. This was the initiative of the photographer, Jeremy. He saw it in The San Francisco Chronicle, and approached me with the idea. The article was compelling, but we thought it was a story that was made for audio and video.

Q. How do you collaborate on adding words to the pictures? What were your discussions like during the scripting process?
A. We talked about some of the iconic imagery we wanted to juxtapose against the gritty tenderloin. Jeremy gave me some incredible pictures to work with that seemed to beg for a little breathing room. There were times I would run line options by Jeremy. For the most part, I write with a "soundtrack" in my head. Sounds a bit nutty, but I hear the pacing of the reporter track, nat sound and sound bites in my head before I put them in the script. The advantage of working with someone who is on the same page and approaches a story similarly is that I don't have to do a lot of interpreting!

Q. The sounds in this piece really make it special, especially the sound of snoring. Give us a lesson in how important sound is to a video story. What makes for great sound?
A. The sound makes the story. The less of me, the better! We've been asked if the snoring was real, which it was, of course! But not all snoring sounds the same. I took the wireless mic and walked through the pews listening for different, interesting snores. Same with the steam coming out of the manhole. I played "chicken" with oncoming traffic after midnight one night to get the wireless close to the source, while Jeremy watched my back and the traffic from the sidewalk!

Q. This piece includes music that you added during the editing process. Lots of journalists oppose adding music to video pieces. How did you think through that issue?
A. The music helped set a tone and, maybe more importantly, helped weave the piece through the passing time. I don't think music sound should be a "bed" for a piece, but I do think that when used in the right circumstances, it can add to a piece.

-- Kelli Polson