Newest articles on The Sacramento Press tagged as "video journalism"

News10 reporter shares tips for video storytelling

2011-09-24T01:10:29Z

“The nature of the media is changing,” said KXTV News10 reporter George Warren at Thursday evening’s video storytelling tips and shortcuts workshop, hosted by The Sacramento Press.

Warren is an Emmy-winning reporter/multimedia journalist. He recently celebrated his 30th anniversary working with News10. He started started creating videos when he was a senior in college and has shot with primitive videotapes and 16mm film.

“The equipment today has gotten so good that it’s easy for one person to go out and produce really good content in just a short amount of time,” Warren told the audience of about 30 aspiring writers, journalists and community members.

Warren used his own recent videos to demonstrate examples of what a single person can do to produce quality videos and tell memorable stories in as little as an hour and 15 minutes.

“You usually want to start with your strongest element,” Warren said. “But on the other hand you want to build to the big finish.”

Warren showed an example of this through his story about a shoplifter caught on a surveillance camera stealing $300 worth of merchandise. The piece began with the footage of the woman filling her bag multiple times with stolen merchandise. It built up to the final kicker: the shoplifter was only caught because, at the end of her spree, she filled out a raffle ticket with her full name and contact information.

“Think about how you’re going to start the story, think about how you’re going to end, and the rest will fall into place,” he said.

Warren added that when planning the beginning and end of the story, the reporter must choose strong pictures for both.

Prosumer camcorders and microphone kits are available in the $5,000 range, though small handheld cameras, camcorders and video phones work well and get the job done.

If using smaller cameras, it is important to invest in a tripod, he said. Smaller cameras are very sensitive to any type of movement – even simply the pulse in your hand, Warren joked.

For those serious about video journalism, it is not ideal to depend on the camera’s built-in microphone, he added. Investing in external wireless microphone options allows for improved audio, particularly in windy or less ideal situations.

Images should be shot wide and should not be head on. The subject should fall off-center onto the left or right third.

“Shooting people wide allows them to use their hands and guarantees they won’t lean out of your frame,” Warren said.

Other tips included: let people and cars in the background enter and exit shots; let shots linger as you film; allow natural sounds in the background; shoot more video than you think you need; avoid excessive head room; film in tight, medium and wide shots; and avoid panning and zooming in and out. These practices allow for best overall footage and edit points.

To narrate the story behind the footage, Warren emphasized the use of an active voice opposed to a passive voice. “To be” verbs such as “was,” “is” and “were” should generally be avoided. Action verbs provide a direct approach to conveying the message and setting the scene.

Narrations should be kept simple and should reinforce the videos. The audio should not retell what is already seen on the screen.

It’s important to have a specific shot in mind for every piece of narration written. To reiterate this, Warren shared the common saying, “If we didn’t shoot it, it doesn’t exist.”

Jason Silva, an architect who often makes videos about future projects, said he took away a lot of information about composing the pieces.

“It’s not just about taking shots and building it later,” he said. “It’s about building it first in your head, narrating it in your head and then filming to match that.”

“While I don’t shoot video,” said Trina Drotar, who recently started writing articles for The Sacramento Press, “I thought there were a lot of really good tips that he gave us for even taking photographs that accompany our articles as well as (for) writing our articles.”

Every year, the number of people watching local news on television drops. Because of this, Warren said there is a move toward experimenting with unconventional methods to present news in videos outside the traditional package.

“They’re encouraging us to kind of push the envelope, to be uncomfortable, to take chances.” Warren said. “Anything goes.”

Intro to Video Storytelling Workshop- Journalism in a Multimedia World

2011-07-28T22:51:27Z

Journalists are “no longer restricted to one medium of storytelling,” Andrew Nixon said as he began the Intro to Video Storytelling Workshop at The Sacramento Press Wednesday night. You don’t have to use video in every story either, he added.

Nixon is a multimedia producer for Capital Public Radio based in Sacramento. His past experiences include professional photojournalism, motion graphics, web platforms and currently video journalism.

Several of his own videos, some of which incorporate his background in still-frame photography, were used as examples for the techniques he delivered to an audience of about 35 budding journalists, artists and editors.

Mentioning from the beginning that this presentation is given from his own subjective viewpoint, Nixon shared his tips and techniques for the use of multimedia that he employs to create a compelling story.

“Content becomes very important,” he said. “One photo captures the mood – with video, you have that in every frame.”

The two-hour presentation included a play-by-play outline of the pre-production, shooting and post-production process of telling a story, as well as technical considerations for types of cameras, lenses and microphones to use.

To prepare for an interview with a subject and choose the right questions to ask, “Do your homework,” Nixon said. It's best to know as much as you can about your subject before you go to speak with them. It also helps, he added, if you have a direction in mind beforehand so the subject doesn’t dictate the story. “You want an idea of what’s going on, and you want them to be able to clarify,” he said.

Nixon also addressed the importance of the initial sound check of the interview. “Ask them what they ate for breakfast,” he said, because they’ll answer in their normal voice, giving a good guideline for the sound level in the interview so microphones can be set correctly.

One good way of getting better quotes during interviews is to use pregnant pauses – allowing there to be an uncomfortable silence so that the interviewee feels the need to fill that silence by elaborating more, Nixon said.

“It’s a beautiful technique to get a candid response, and it works for everyone,” he added.

While capturing the content of your film, Nixon said to go with your journalistic instinct – identify what to shoot and film accordingly.

Nixon said he would shoot 15 to 20 minutes of footage for a three-minute film. You want to shoot to edit, he said, for flexibility. He described his method of planning ahead for the amount of editing you will do for each clip, and have content at either end to cut if needed.

“Having too much is better than having too little,” he said, “You can always cut it down.”

Another technique Nixon uses while editing to create the story he calls a “cold opening.” He described the “cold opening” as beginning the film with something from the middle or the end. The example given was from a video he shot about a Second Saturday Art Walk, which began with a shot from the nightlife and then proceeded with actions shot earlier in the day.

It gives a sense of where you’re going, he said, and gives the viewers something to think about.

The examples Nixon showed in the workshop exhibited many of his different styles of filmmaking. Some were only narrated by the subject and were shot in still-frame, as a type of slide show. Others included ambient sound in addition to the action on the screen “to give a sense of place,” Nixon explained.

The Second Saturday video didn’t include any audio such as dialogue or ambient sound except for background music to set the tone for the content on the screen, he explained.

Nixon explained the variety of techniques he used based on the way audio and visuals assist each other. Both work as narratives, he said – “your eyes are seeing one thing, your ears are hearing another . . . you have to think about how they’re going to work together." A few of these fell under a category he called "visual variety" in which one should think in sequences, remember the objective of the story being covered and remember that the story isn't always best told with the best shot- sometimes you have to get multiple shots to get the message across.

Othello Curry, a community contributor for The Sacramento Press, poet and legal consultant, said he came to the workshop to “broaden my base of knowledge” and to learn video techniques for his poetry and art.

“When I go to do some videos, I want that quality,” Curry said, alluding to his interest in Nixon’s style of filmmaking. “He gave me a lot of ideas.”

Josh Staab, editor of the Fair Oaks Patch and a friend of Nixon said he came to support his friend and see “if I could steal a few tricks.” Staab said he was particularly interested in Nixon’s method of “organizing in the post-production stage.”

As for the notion of multimedia becoming a new type of journalism, Staab said it’s good to “write a story and present the whole package,” that multimedia is “necessary to distinguish yourself from so many other media outlets” and that multimedia journalism is “definitely where this industry is heading.”

Staab and Nixon both worked together at The State Hornet together. Nixon has now moved from photography to photo/video journalism.

“It’s a skill set,” Nixon explained, and “it’s worth trying out. If it fails, it fails.”

As for his comments on multimedia storytelling, he described how it is accessible to everyone, that “content delivery is free,” and stated “the web is where it’s going to go.”

Nixon does freelance work in addition to his work at Capital Public Radio and posts his videos on his own blog. To learn more about his work, click here.