Advanced Video Journalism

Video Storytelling

What are some tools you have at your disposal to tell a video story that do NOT involve words? (Aka apart from narration and interviews.)

Pacing/Rhythm

Music

Natural Sounds

Transitions

Composition

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A few more shooting tips:

FOCUS

 It is really easy to shoot video that is OUT OF FOCUS with these cameras. If your stuff isn’t in focus, you just wasted a lot of people’s time. So pay attention to focus at all times.

• Use the focus ring on the lens to shift focus (turn ring with your elbow down, not sticking out sideways)
• Zoom in all the way on your subject and focus, then zoom back out to your desired framing; the subject will stay in sharp focus

 

SHAKY SHOTS

Because the sensor on these cameras is so large and sensitive, any little movement you make will cause camera shake. These cameras are basically impossible to handhold. Some camera lenses have image stabilization technology, but it makes a low-lowel, constant mechanical grinding sound that is audible on your camera, so unless you are recording audio separately and syncing later, TURN OFF THE IMAGE STABILIZATION (IS) FEATURE ON YOUR LENS. 

• Use a tripod
• Use a monopod
• Use a shoulder mount
• Set the camera down on a flat surface (the ground, a table, a stack of books, etc.)
• If you are in a breaking news situation and must handhold (not recommended) or you are on top of a ladder or in some extreme circumstance, turn your body into a tripod by using both your arms and your face—if the camera is connecting with three points, it is always steadier.

The importance of good quality audio:

Here are some resources where you can find free music/sounds:

https://freesound.org
http://soundbible.com
https://www.audioblocks.com
http://freemusicarchive.org
https://www.youtube.com/audiolibrary/music
http://dig.ccmixter.org

 

How journalists can improve video stories with shot sequences

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Assignment (due Tuesday, Feb. 15)

Film a story in 10 shots, set to music. It can be anything—you can collaborate on this with a classmate if you like, or recruit a family member, or simply go out and see what stories you find on the street. It can be staged or candid. Upload it to your Vimeo account, and create a post here on the site with the link.

This will be similar to the 5-shot sequence you all learned in your previous multimedia class, but you have a bit more room to be creative. Feel free to start with the classic shots of a 5-shot sequence, or incorporate some of those shots throughout; remember that the purpose of a sequence is to orient the viewer as to where we are, what we’re seeing, what is happening, and how it’s happening. Use your ten shots to tell a story.

Don’t forget to set up your shot before you hit record. Record a steady shot for at least ten seconds before you stop recording.

 

Announcement

First Dollars & Sense meeting of the semester on Thursday, Feb. 8 in the journalism department conference room at 1pm.

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DSLR Camera Settings
…and how we apply these settings to video

White Balance

You can always use auto white balance on the fly or if you’re uncertain as to the light temperature. The problem with AWB though is that it can change when light changes, even a little bit. So if you’re shooting a person talking and they lean forward, the colors in your shot could potentially take on a different tint.

• White balance will only appear in the menu as an option if you’re not shooting in Auto.
• There are little pictures in the camera to help you with white balance.

• The picture of the light bulb is TUNGSTEN LIGHT. Tungsten light is most indoor light (except for FLUORESCENT LIGHT, which has its own setting)—lamps, non-fluorescent overhead light, most stage lights, etc. Tungsten light is ORANGE. So when you tell your camera you are shooting in this orange Tungsten light, it corrects for it by adding what is at the opposite end of the color wheel (blue).
• The picture of the sun is for outdoor light, or KELVIN LIGHT. Kelvin light is BLUE, so the camera corrects for it by adding orange. There are also pictures for different gradations of light (i.e. shade, cloudy).

• You can also MANUALLY set your white balance in numbers based on the KELVIN SCALE. This is very useful for two-camera shoots where you want the light temp of both cameras to match.

EXPOSURE

When you are controlling for exposure, that means you’re telling the camera how much light to let in.

What overexposure looks like.

When using a DSLR, there are THREE WAYS to tell the camera how much light to let in

• Shutter speed
• ISO
• Aperture (F-stop)

SHUTTER SPEED

• For still photos, the shutter speed is important because it tells the camera in what way you want it to freeze motion (do you want a bike whizzing by to be a blur in the photo or do you want it to be completely frozen so you can see every detail?) Since we are shooting moving images, we don’t have to worry about this. For video, as a rule of thumb, you want your shutter speed to be double the number of frames per second you are recording. Since with these cameras, we’ll be shooting in 30 frames per second, WE SET OUR SHUTTER SPEED AT 1/60.

• We shoot with our shutter speed at 1/60 probably 99% of the time. However, to let more light in in a low-light situation, you can get away with setting your shutter speed at 1/30.  DON’T SET IT LOWER THAN 30 BECAUSE IT WILL MAKE YOUR IMAGE STUTTER.
• If it’s really bright out or you’re shooting a performance with hot stage lights and you want to let in less light, you can, however, set your shutter speed higher than 60 (in multiples of 30—so you can set it at 90, 120, etc.)

ISO

 ISO tells your camera sensor how much light to let in.

• THE HIGHER YOUR ISO NUMBER, THE MORE LIGHT YOU ARE LETTING IN.
• Remember, with DSLRs it is always a give and take, push and pull relationship with letting in light and image quality. So the higher your ISO number, the grainier your image.
• In general, if you are outside you’re using a lower ISO (like 100 – 320) since outdoor light is brighter, and inside you’re using a higher number (like 800 – 1600) since indoor light is weaker.
• Generally if you use an ISO 2000 or higher you start to see grain on these cameras (although that doesn’t mean you should never do it.) 

APERTURE (F-STOP) 

• F-stop tells your lens how much light to let in
• THE LOWER YOUR F-STOP NUMBER, THE MORE LIGHT YOU ARE LETTING IN
• The other important thing your f-stop controls is your DEPTH OF FIELD
• DEPTH OF FIELD: the distance between the nearest and the farthest objects in a shot that appear in focus.
• The LOWER your f-stop number, the SHALLOWER your depth of field.
• The HIGHER your f-stop, the DEEPER your depth of field (i.e. more is in focus)
• Even though a shallow depth of field looks really cool and cinematic, you have to ask yourself if it is serving the story well. There are absolutely storytelling reasons you would want everything in the shot in focus and other storytelling reasons you would want only a small portion of the shot in focus.
• MAINTAINING FOCUS WHEN SHOOTING WITH A SHALLOW DEPTH OF FIELD IS WHAT TRIPS A LOT OF PEOPLE UP. At f/2.8, for example, your subject’s eyes might be in focus, but the tip of her nose is not. If she moves forward even half an inch, her eyes are no longer in focus. So you have to be on your toes at all times shifting the focus ring to maintain focus on her when she leans in to tell you that juicy secret, or your moment is lost.

The relationship between the ISO and the f-stop is what you’re always negotiating when deciding what to shoot.

The LCD screens on our cameras skew a little dark, so it is easy to OVEREXPOSE (let too much light in so your shot is blown out—similar to blowing out your audio because your mic levels are up to high, or “too hot.)

But if you can master depth of field, you can use pull-focus or rack focus shots to great effect.

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Signing Out Cameras

We’ll get everyone set up with a camera—you’ll sign it out either for the semester OR for the first assignment or two. You have the option of the 70D camera OR a 77D/T6S.

If you are doing the 10-15 minute documentary this semester, I recommend taking out the 70D because you’ll have more control over your audio when doing interviews. If you’re doing the option with the visual poem, you might want to at least start with a 77D/T6S because the kits are less bulky and you don’t have to worry about interview audio for your first assignment. You will all have the option to check out a different camera later in the semester when your needs shift, if you so choose.

Please take a thorough inventory of your kit and let me know if anything is missing!

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Assignment for next class (which won’t be until Thursday Feb. 8 because Tuesday follows a Friday schedule).

Film a story in 10 shots. It can be anything—you can collaborate on this with a classmate if you like, or recruit a family member, or simply go out and see what stories you find on the street. It can be staged or candid. Upload it to your Vimeo account, and create a post here on the site with the link.

Image: Nyasha Kadandara

Introduction

Here’s me.

Video journalism has changed a lot in recent years. The arrival of DSLR cameras that also shoot video meant that a dozen years ago, it was suddenly affordable to shoot and edit a 1080p HD video as a “one-man-band” and the quality of the resulting product would blow editors away.

These days, with the sudden ubiquity of 4K and beyond cameras and other advances in technology, video has become a bit of an arms race—it’s become more expensive to stay competitive. There are still plenty of outlets that will hire you if you’re shooting on a Canon 5D (DSLR) or equivalent, but more and more are looking for a higher-end cinema camera. Many outlets are also looking for someone who can deliver extra bells and whistles like drone footage. But there are rental options like KitSplit that have popped up to help you work at that high level without having to go deep into credit card debt. And video tends to pay better than print or still photography, so it has that going for it as well.

The advent of the streaming era has also given rise to a golden age of documentaries. There is a lot of prestige and money in documentary films and docu-series these days, especially those shot in verité style. I’m currently in talks with National Geographic to have Baruch host a screening of “The Territory,” which just premiered at Sundance.

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Now your turn: What are you hoping to get out of this class, and what sort of video storytelling interests you? Feature-length documentaries, dream job (VICE? BuzzFeed? NYT? Independent filmmaker?), subject matter, style, breaking news, short docs… what would you like to do?

Syllabus

Advanced Video Journalism

Please note that the schedule on this syllabus will be ever-evolving, with  dates subject to change based on availability of guests, etc. so please refer to this site for up-to-date due dates and scheduling. I will be posting class agendas each time we meet with updated and detailed info on assignments, due dates, etc.

A Sampling of Short Documentaries

For next class…

Set up a Vimeo account with photo and bio if you don’t already have one.

Please bring your memory card because we will be doing a hands-on workshop with the cameras, and you’ll be signing yours out for the semester (assuming that we stay at an enrollment of 12).