video shooting tutorial

8/2/2019 Video Shooting Tutorial

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VideoGuideWhatisvideo?

Videoisastringofmovingpictures,usuallycombinedwithsound,thatcanbeedited

totellastory.

Whyvideo?

Videocanbeapowerfulmediumforstorytellingbecauseitcapturesmotionand

movement.Itisbestforstorieswithstrongvisualcomponents,especiallyaction.

Videocanconveystrongemotionsquicklytoviewers.

Whynotvideo?

Videohasproblemsconveyingcertaintypesofinformation,especiallystorieswith

lotsofnumbers.Viewersattentionspansarelimitedwithvideowhencomparedto

printstoriesoraudiopieces.Videoisthemostcomplexandtaxingformofmediatoproduce.Editingashortvideocantakehoursandtherearetechnicalhurdlesto

overcome.

TheComponentsofNewsVideo

A-RollTheinterviewsanddirectfilmofactionsthatwillprovidetheskeletonand

structureofanewsstory

B-RollFilmofthesubjectsatmosphere,actionsandotherelementsthatwillbe

usedtocovereditsinA-Rollandtoprovideavisualinteresttothenarration.

NaturalSoundSoundisanimportantelementofvideoanditshouldbegatheredtomatchwithB-Rollandwithaction-basedA-Roll

NarrationSomenewsvideoshavenarration,areporteroranchorsvoicereading

fromascripttodescribewhatishappeninginthevideo.Increasinglyonline,fewer

andfewervideoshavenarration.

MatchedactionTwoormoreshotsfromdifferentanglesthatillustrateoneaction

orpartsofaseriesofactions.Whenrecordinginthefield,itisimperativetomove

thecameraoftentocollectmatchedactionshotsforediting.

SequenceAseriesofmatchedactionshotsiscalledasequence.Alargepartof

editingiscreatingsequencesofB-Rolltocompressthetimeanactiontakesorto

illustrateafullactionofthesubject.

Typesofshots

Thereareessentiallythreetypesofshotsyoucangatherwhilerecording,butthe

lookoftheseshotschanges,dependingonthecontext.


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WideShotencompassesthewholesceneandgivestheviewerasenseofthe

environment.Dependingonthecontext,awideshotcanbeverywide,likea

cityscape:

Orjustwideenoughtoshowallofapersonsbody:

MediumShotisanintermediateshot,goodforshowinginteractionsbetween

peopleorpeopleactingintheirsurroundings.Onceagain,whatmakesamedium

shotdependsonthecontext.


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Itcouldbepartofsomethinglarge:

Withpeople,itoftenshowsyoursubjectfromthewaistorchestup:

TightShotalsoknownasaclose-up.Atightshotwillfocustheviewersattentionon

somedetail.Closeupsareoftentheendresultofsequencesasshotsoftenmove

fromwidetomediumtotight,butthisisnotarule.

Again,tightshotsdependonthecontext.Itcouldbeasmallpartofsomethingbig.


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Oritcouldbesomethingverysmallandspecificthatyouwanttoshowyourviewer.

Tightshotsarethebesttypeofshottoshowapersonsemotion,becausetheywillallowaviewertofocusonthesubjectsface.

Specialtypesofshots

Tightshotsarealsooftenusedascut-aways,aspecialtypeofshotthatisvery

importantintheeditingprocess.Acut-awaycanbeusedtocondensetimeor

transferbetweendifferentpartsofasequence.Tightshotsmakegoodcut-aways


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becausetheydivorcetheactionfromitscontextandallowtimetopasswithoutthe

viewernoticing.

Whenfilminginterviews,youcanalsofilmcut-awaysbytakingafewsecondsatthe

beginningofyourinterviewtofilmyoursubjectsfeetorhandsorawideshotof

themspeaking.Thesetypesofcut-awaysshouldbeusedasalastresort(SolidB-

Rollisalwayspreferable,buttheyaregoodtohave.)

Cut-awaysdonthavetobetightshots.Youcanalsouseverywideshotsthatdont

allowyourviewertoseethedetailsofwhatthesubjectisdoing.

Anotherimportanttypeofshotistheestablishingshot.Theestablishingshotis

simplythefirstimageyoupresenttheviewerinyourvideo.Itshouldgivethema

strongsenseoftheplaceandsubjectofthepiecewhilealsobeingvisually

compelling.Often,thisisawideshot.Butthisisnotalwaystrue.

Settinguptheinterviewshot

Itsimportanttoachieveanaturalframingwiththeinterviewshotsotheviewerwill

notbedistracted.Remembertoframeyourshotsusingtheruleofthirds:

Thismeans,ourinterviewsubjectshouldnotbeinthecenteroftheframebutoffset

tooneside.Theireyesshouldbeabovethecenterlineand,ideally,placedononeof

thegreendotsabove,likethis:


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Thespaceontherightiscalledlookspaceorlead space. Your subject should alwaysbe looking into the frame. You should position yourself and your camera to achieve this

framing.

Finally, the location of your interview is important. Locate your subject away from

windows to avoid backlight. Place them in the context of the story. If you are doing a

story about a swimmer, interview them in front of the pool. Use available so it is on theirface and not behind them.

When shooting, match the way your eyes work.

Eyes do not move smoothly from one image to next. Your focus shifts quickly from big

pictures to small details. This is how we gather the information we need to avoid dangeror assess situations. Your camera work should match the way eyes work.

That means you should NOT use:

Zooms a camera function that is editorial. Your eyes dont zoom.

Pans moving horizontally across an image. Instead use a wide shot, followed by a

medium shot of something in the picture.

Tilts moving vertically across an image.

Zooms, tilts and pans are attempts to make a boring image more exciting. It never works.

Also, even when you are walking or riding in a bouncy car, your eyes process a smooth

image. This means you should:

ALWAYS USE A TRIPOD OR SOME FORM OF STABILIZATION


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Tips for conducting a video interview

1.Askyoursubjecttheirnameatthebeginning,BUTaskitasatwo-partquestion,

i.e.Whatisyournameandwhatisyourposition?orWhatisyournameandwhat

didyouhaveforlunch?

Thiswillforceyoursubjecttostatetheirfullnameaspartofasentence.

2.Askopen-endedquestions.Askingspecificquestionsthathaveaspecificanswer

canleadtouneditablevideo.

NO

Q:Howmanypeopleworkforyou?

A:Fifty.

YES

Q:Canyoudescribeyourbusinessforme?

A:Well,wehavefiftypeopleworkinghere

Thefirstisgoodfornothing.Youhavevideoofyoursubjectsayingthewordfifty.

Thesecondisperfectforediting.

3.Askquestionsmultipletimesindifferentways.Thiswillallowpeopletogather

theirthoughts.Oneversionwillalwaysbeclearerthantheother.

TypesofNewsStories

Thefollowingaretypesofstoriescommonlyusedtoputtogetheratypicalnewscast.Theyallassumeareporteroranchor(persononcamerainthenewsstudio)is

narratingthestoryusingascript.

ReaderTheanchorsimplyreadsascriptdescribingthestorywhilethecamera

staysonher.Thereisoftenagraphic,calledanovertheshoulderorOTS.

VoiceOverorVOTheanchorreadsastorywhileb-rollgatheredinthefieldis

playedonscreen.Often30seconds.

VOSOTstandsforvoiceoversoundontape.Theanchorreadsastoryoverb-roll

andthenthereisaquote,apieceofa-roll,timedtothenarratorsscriptwhichcomesinatapredeterminedpoint.Often45seconds.

PackageApackageisthebasicformofaTVnewsstory.Itisreportedandproduced

byareporterwiththeirnarrationunderneath.Theanchorwillreadalead-inor

introductiontothestory.Then,thepre-editedpackagewillbegintoplay.Apackage

isacollectionofthebestb-rollanda-rollwithnaturalsoundthatthereporter

gatheredinthefield.


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Oftentimes,packageswillincludeastand-up,ashotofthereporteron-screen

talkingaboutthestory.Thesestand-upscanprovideanarrativebridgeforsome

partofthestorythereporterismissing.

Duringstand-ups,thereportershoulddosomethingillustrativeorinteresting.

Insteadofstand-ups,manytelevisionstationsnowuseliveshots.Theanchorwilltosstoareporterinthefieldwhointroducesherownstory.Apackagewithalive

shotatboththebeginningandtheendiscalledadoughnut.

AFewWordsAbouttheRelationshipBetweenShootingandEditing

Wheneditinganewsstory,theimagesonthescreenshouldmatchthewords

beingspoken.Listentoyoursubjectsandmakesuretogatherfootagethatmatches

thewordstheyaresaying.

Atypicalshotlastsaboutfourtosevenseconds.Whenfilming,youshouldsetup

yourshot,pressrecord,countto10andthenstoprecording.Thiswillgiveyoutime

oneithersideforshakyshotsoroutoffocusshots.

Editasyoushoot.EditBEFOREyoushoot.Themorevideoyouhave,thelongerit

willtaketoedit.Thinkoftheshotsyouneedbeforeyoustartshooting.Makealist

andgogetthem.

ThingsyouMAYbeabletofixintheeditingprocess:

-shotstodarkortoobright

-shotstoolong,needtobeedited

-badsound(rarely)

ThingsyouCANNEVERfixintheeditingprocess:

-shotoutoffocus

-shottooshort

-nosound!andmostbadsound

-shakyfootage

SomedifferencesbetweenWebvideoandtelevisionCloserinterviewshots,biggertitles

PeoplewatchWebvideosonsmallwindowsinsmalllaptopcomputerscreens.To

seeyoursubject,youneedtogetclose.

Lessnarration


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Webvideotendstofollowamoredocumentarystylethatallowsthesubjectsto

speakforthemselvesandleavesthereporteroutofit.Ofcourse,alltelevisionvideo

alsoexistsontheweb.Sothisisnotarule,onlyatendency.

Music

LotsofWebvideotendstofavortheconstructionandmechanicsofmovies.Thismeansmanypackageshavemusicunderneath.Nostealing!

Morecreativeframingandproduction

TherearelessrulesinWebvideoandoftenamorepassionateaudience.Thismeans

videographershavesomeroomtoexperimentwithframingandshotselection.Also,

ontheInternet,dependinghowyoulookatit,thedeadlineisalwaysnow,orthere

arenodeadlines.

Thismeansthatmanywebvideosarelongerandhavemorepost-productionvalues

becausethejournalistsareoperatingindependentofthedailydeadlinesthat

televisionjournalistsface.

WhatMakesforaGoodVideoStory

PreparationVideorequiresmoreofboththejournalistandthesubject.Be

preparedtoaskyoursubjecttotakeatleastanhouroutoftheirtimetotendtoyour

needs.Knowwhatyouwanttogettoillustratethestory.Makealist.Gogetit.

Checkyourequipmentbeforeyougo.

APersonVideostoriesareattheirbestwhentheycanshowemotionortella

personalstory.Videodoesnotlenditselftotellingbig-issuestories,becausethey

aredifficulttoillustrate.Ifyouwanttotellabigissuestory,youneedtotellit

throughonepersonorafewpeople.

VisualInterestItsalwaysbetterwhenthepersondoessomethingthatcanbe

capturedonfilm,somethingphysicalandvisual.Ifthepersonsitsatadeskallday,

theywillnotmakeforgoodvideo.

ConflictStoriesrequireconflicttobegood.Thisdoesntnecessarilyhavetobewar

orfighting,butthereneedstobesomesortofstruggleinthestorytomakeitgreat.

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