Advanced Multimedia Reporting 2019

Breaking news in video

Most of the work we’ll be doing this semester is slower-paced video where you’ll have the ability to take your time to put together a thoughtful, carefully edited final product. But you might one day find yourself in a spot news or breaking news situation where you’re filing material throughout the day as you get it.

If you are working or stringing for a wire service, they will have a system for filing footage. You’ll need to file something called a dopesheet along with your video material. The dopesheet is basically a summary of what you’re sending them so they can see it all at a glance.

Information Document for AFP TV

Here is an actual dopesheet I filed on a breaking news assignment; feel free to use it as a template. The trick with dopesheets is not only to transcribe your sound bites accurately; it’s to distill the main takeaway of the story, because the news outlets that subscribe to your wire need to know at a glance what the point of it is, why they should care, and why it’s worth them deciding to run it. So it does come back down to good writing. Think about what your nut graph would be.

Chiromo dopesheet

The actual video file you’ll send them (I usually use WeTransfer, although some places may have another system in place, often via FTP) will be minimally edited, but the trick is that you have to work fast. You pull out soundbites, transcribe them, and cut together a sequence of your best B-roll. Then you put it all in one video project (sound bites first, then B-roll), export, and send. It will look something like this:

Discuss: What are some of the practical considerations you might want to keep in mind when covering a breaking news event?

Assignment:

At any point between now and March 13, you will cover a spot/breaking news story. You will file a video with at least two sound bites (from different interviews) and 45 seconds of sequenced B-roll, with accompanying dopesheet. The trick is that you must file it within 24 hours of wrapping your filming.

It’s up to you what you want to cover: one option is the Queens St. Patrick’s Day Parade which takes place on the first Saturday of March (I highly recommend this one over the big official parade in Manhattan; I covered that parade once and it was possibly my least favorite assignment of all time. I don’t want to be responsible for any of you quitting journalism).

In addition to the material you film with the school cameras, you will cover the story on social media. I’ve set up an Instagram account for our class where you will post at least one permanent photo and three Stories updates before you leave the scene. Password: studioh160

What makes a good (or fun) journalistic Instagram post and an informative series of Story updates?

Brainstorm: Breaking news stories/events in the next few weeks.

Reminder: Bring your footage to class on Monday! We will be devoting both classes next week to in-class editing/production. You should be just about done with your rough cut by the end of Wednesday’s class. However, if you would like to hold off on posting it to the blog because you plan to make additional changes to your video outside of class, you may post or update it at any time before class the following Monday, when we will screen and workshop them together.

I have two ideas for my visual poem, both of which I’d be interesting in shooting.

1. My first one would be about a local band in NY preparing for a show. I’d shoot the guitarists strumming, the pre-show conversations, the crowd, the set-up, etc. I think it would give a cool inside look into what a band puts into a show in the moments before it begins. I would set it to dramatic music, most likely, and would shoot it in a club where a band I know is performing.
2. I could also shoot “a day in the life at The Ticker.” Most people don’t realize how much work is put into producing The Ticker each and every week, and I’d like to show how much is done, particularly during the Thursday night production nights. I could also set that to music building up.

Announcement: You can find an updated list of due dates if you click on “Assignments and Due Dates” to the right.

Visual poems from past classes:

Things to keep in mind on shooting days:

Get comfortable with the settings and equipment before you go out, especially your tripods since those can be a little tricky.

Bring snacks/water! Filming is physically demanding work.

Know where the public restrooms are near you.

Fully charge your spare battery (as well as the one in the camera) and bring it with you.

Dress warm! Keep your spare battery in a pocket where it won’t get cold;  battery power and camera equipment in general don’t do well in extreme cold or heat.

These are large kits and you won’t need all the gear in them for this video, so anyone who would like to leave the bag in my office is welcome to.

Consider what kind of light you’ll be working with ahead of time and plan accordingly; if it’s likely to be a low light situation, you may want to check out a lens with a lower f-stop.

In video recording settings, Movie Servo AF is the setting which, if enabled, will automatically cause the lens to focus on a subject as it moves. In some situations, you may want this enabled, but remember that it takes control out of your hands so in many situations you may want to disable it.

Settings Cheat Sheet

Movie rec. size: 1920×1080 and 30fps
Shutter speed: 1/60 (or multiples of 30, ie if it’s very low light you can go down to 1/30 or if it’s very bright you can go higher)
ISO: Remember that if you go much higher than 800 or 1600, the image will start to get grainy. Sometimes this can’t be avoided, but avoid it if you can.
Aperture: The lower the f-stop, the more light you’re letting in, and the more dramatic the depth of field.
White balance: You can use Auto White Balance (AWB) if you expect to be changing light temperatures mid-shot (following someone outdoors, for instance). Otherwise it’s best to set it manually.
Movie Servo AF: Disable if you want to be able to control focus manually, and set the button on the lens itself to Manual Focus (MF).

We’ll wrap up a little early today so everyone can check out cameras.

For the visual poem I wanted to document the struggles of what it’s like relying on MTA on the weekends. I wanted to record my friend buying a metro card, swiping a metro card, going through the turnstiles, waiting for a train, getting on a train etc. I wanted to catch some background noise of the announcements of delays or schedule changes that play while you’re on the platform. Overall, I really want to capture how frustrating it can be taking the subway on the weekend. I’m not too sure about the music, but I wanted to find a dramatically slowed down version of “Empire State of Mind” or “New York, New York” to go along with the stress of taking the NYC subway.

I thought of doing the visual poem on a couple from new york city. I have a few ideas but I may just stick to this one for now for this project. If I am having trouble with it then I will do it on something else. My plan is to get some footage on a couple doing something like eating, talking, looking and dazing at one another. Many people in NYC are so busy with their lives we continuously hear the troubles that people go through. What about a simple NYC love story. In my opinion, I believe that would be a good thing especially for couple  and for the public. Something that is not about frustration of an overcrowded subway, or criminal acts. As New York City residents we want to hear about something good for once even if it is short and sweet. That is my idea for the visual poem.

For the visual poem I want to go through the struggles of going through the stages of preparing for a fight. I want to definitely show the physical aspects of the training as well as the emotional struggles. I asked my brother and a few of our fighters if I could record them during class, drill and free sparring. What I am trying to decide if I should show the actual fight or just build up to the fight without showing it. For music I am thinking of an inspiring eye of the tiger type theme, or the song Hallelujah.

For my Visual Poem, I want to record my friend, who writes his own poems. My plan is too record him in certain parts of the city or Brooklyn, at different times of the day to get a different feel.