“Telling Stories with Video”
Journalism Next by Mark Briggs Chapter 8
The game has changed in more ways than one.Video cameras have become so easy to use that news organizations have created video journalists, or backpack journalists, who report, record and edit their own broadcast. It is multi-tasking to the nth degree.
“The quick and less polished video content on news sites,” explains author Mark Briggs, ” often draws bigger audiences.”
There are still different qualities of videography, but the majority of viewers don’t mind someone sitting at a desk talking to them through a webcam or a highly edited segment.
To plan a video story there are a few different ways to do it.
1. Breaking news: capture reactions from witnesses, investigators and the scene.
2. Press conferences: single, stationary subject that has good lighting because of other news teams.
3. Hightlight clips (in sports): just get actions shots that help convey the story.
4. Documentary-style video: you have more control of what you want the audience to see. You decide which interviews and scenes will make the most impact with your audience.
“A good ratio [of different shots],” comments Briggs, “would be 25 percent wide-angle, 25 percent close-up and 50 percent medium or mid-range shorts for the general footage.”
You can build these shots in five steps:
1. Close-up on the hands
2. Close-up on the face
3. Wide shot
4. Over-the-shoulder shot
5. Creative shot
If you want to start creating video content but you don’t have a video camera, here are some guidelines:
1. Media type: the camera could download to its hard drive, a memory card(or solid-state media).
2. High Definition: practically every camera at any price range comes with HD, so there’s no point not to.
3. Software: Final Cut Express HD, Adobe Premium Elements, Sony Vegas Movie Studio, Corel VideoStudio Pro X2, Pinnacle Studio Ultimate.
Must Haves
Tapes and Batteries
Microphones
Tripod
Headphones
Lighting
With a video story, Mark Briggs recommends to:
“Define your story in the first 20 seconds; hook the audience.”
“Make sure you have a beginning, middle and end.”
Don’t let the viewer have a chance to be bored.”
“Focus on one central idea and stick with it.”
“Remember that characters make stories. The better your characters, the better your stories will be.”