Thinking visually
Here’s a survey you might want to check out on the thinknews blog.
Are you looking for news about your community…your world…mindless drivel to pass the time?
Take a few minutes and click on the survey … co-contributer Kathleen Newell and I are curious what the audience wants (not just what the pros think they want).
It’s interesting listening to the next generation of passionate journalists. One of my students left for Mississippi a month or so back…very frustrated and concerned about what kind of jobs would be waiting for her when she graduates.
Plus I spent a weekend right after that in the company of Amanda Emily, new media geek from Spokane, WA. She is the transition generation…those who are living through the chaos of what journalism used to be and what it is morphing into (whatever the heck that is…).
Both Amanda and – oh heck, may as well name her – Catie Lau took to heart every lesson on ethics and law and doing the right thing they ever encountered. They both want a world where there is black and white, and they are riding white horses. They want the audience to believe the message.
And there’s a third member of this squadron of throw-backs. A intern/assignment desk assistant from a former station who wanted more than anything in the world to be a reporter and tell the truth and get the story out. She wanted a white horse too, but sadly is not in the business…she lost out because she was (a) too outspoken and (b) believe it not – too beautiful. (Looks can be an asset up to a point and then they are a distraction.)
Amanda and Catie…keep your heads high and never ever give up. So long as you still believe in what is best about journalism, I will continue to read and watch and listen to the news. I too need something to believe in…
What a weird thing to wake up to…does it have any significance?
With the studio really up and running, I want to expand the possibilities. Last spring I gave out an abbreviated form of this lesson – which didn’t quite work cause of technical issues in the control room. This year advanced students will produce a talk show as the major part of their second quarter grade.
I’ve posted the entire assignment on The VJ Classroom and will post the individual forms there soon.
The lesson is meant to teach students
Technology – how to use the control room lights, mikes, cameras, editing
Teamwork – they must collaborate and work together to achieve their goal/grad
Communication – pull all of the elements together to communicate with a targeted audience (which they must define)
And finally – not taught but highly encouraged – creativity. Don’t mimic, don’t go through the motions…have fun and make something new and real. Here are the basics.
• In a four person team, come up with a concept, set design, lighting, show open and close, and invite guests to appear on a (shot as live) talk show.
• Must have show open and close and an insert segment that contributes to the mood/theme of the show
• Possible themes could be sports, politics, teen issues, music, performing arts, academic subjects, community issues, or one suggested by your team.
The teams each have four students, each of whom has an assigned roll in each stage of production.
The show must run between five to ten minutes. I’m allowing about seven weeks to create this show…it has to fit into the schedule of daily taping of the Daily Bulletin, which will alternate this quarter between second and fourth periods. Additionally advanced students will have other assignments as they arise.
The rubic takes into account procrastination – there are a series of mini-deadlines that must be met so I know they are not putting off the inevitable. They are also (very) responsible for keeping a paper trail…a folder with all production paperwork including scripts, production forms, etc.
Let’s see how this plays out.
It has been an eternity since I did much with the old blogroll and I found a couple of sites thanks to teachj.
First is Digidave – Journalism is a Process, Not a Product. Some cool videos and more.
And AR&D – Reinventing Local Media has some great tips on standups and making them more relevant to a mutlimedia audience.
Nothing like late night web surfing to open up one’s eyes.
This is the third in a series on getting a high school TV studio up and running for a daily program (in our case at McNair High School, it’s the Daily Bulletin).
If you have it all together, you may get your show together in one take – meaning you roll the open, cut between anchors, roll other tape segments and supers and close, committing all to tape in one take.
If you’re like me and still trying to work the crew up to the reality of the one-take show, you’ll need to add elements with editing.
And being as I’m in cash-starved California, iMovie and Macs are our game plan for the foreseeable future.
Now iMovie is an okay program – in fact for apps like a simple show, it is perfect. No tiny edits…just add in elements. Since we do NOT have enough computers, I allow students to use my personal laptop with supplemental hard drive…but 99% of the time we are out of time once the show is taped, so I’m on my own at home putting in the finishing touches.
To break the monotony of the very recognizable templates of iMovie, I got some plug-ins through a company called GeeThree. They make plug-ins for transitions, titles, FX for iMovie, called Slick.
The Slick packages are all different…but the one I found works best for my purposes is the Filmmaker Kit. It has a combination of FX from a variety of the packages and I’m not sure if they even sell it anymore…but is based on volumes four and five.
What I found most useful: in titling I use Sidebar (allows video to run with credits on the side), Place Text (can put your text anywhere on the screen), Pic-In-Pic (run video in a small box over a full-screen video), and VidMix (in effect greenscreen, but you can key on any color, not just green). Three are also countdowns aka academy leaders and the ability to do some audio tuning.
But even without plug-ins, iMovie (or MovieMaker) can do a commendable basic job. In fact during my final year as a TV news photog I ran daily news stories through iMovie and microwaved to the main station – the stories made air and also made all of the main office photogs jealous cause I could do more in the way of transitions/effects than they could with their plain ole linear systems.
Audiences love both novelty and familiarity. They want consistency, but also look forward to change.
Here’s how to make these opposites work.
The consistency/familiarity are the format of the show. Have a recognizable format. Here’s mine:
One minute bars/ten second countdown (not part of the show/professional requirement)
Show open
Anchor intros
Pledge of Allegiance or Patriotic Moment
Announcements
Sports
More announcements
Anchor farewells
Credits
The audience knows they will get a consistent product each day. They know when to watch (for sports, Patriotic Moment, credits) and when they can tune out (I hope not).
The variables include:
Show open – each week I change out an anchor. We shoot the new anchor and include them AND the entire crew in the show opening.
Each day we are required to either have the student body pledge the flag OR recognize a historical fact or current event that contributes to student knowledge/understanding of our country.
Pledge of Allegiance – run at least once a week. We broke the Pledge down in to separate phrases and had different students/groups of students each recite a phrase. I plan to keep changing out parts of the Pledge every month to include new students.
Patriotic Moment – produced by students. Students are required to use history.com to find an interesting fact each day and then they must research it, write a short script, find (copyright free/open source) visuals and then produce a :30-1:00 narrated segment.
Sports – anchors read script while scrolling credits roll with duplicate information (sport/date/time/opponent).
Credits – this is where I hook my audience. We change this daily and tease it at the top of each day’s show. My goal is that every student on campus can say at least once a week, “I was in the credits” or “I know someone who was in the credits.” Credits run :30-1:00 and have included animations by my students, an English field trip to “West Side Story,” stills of the cross country team, video of finals in a French class (focus was on food of France and food was served), a male beauty pageant.
Staff tells me that students look forward to the daily announcements now and still (relatively) quietly while they are on.
So when you get your show up and running…remember to break it into manageable segments and remember also that your audience wants to be included. Personally I feel that one reason the news media may be in trouble today (and this is only one of the reasons) is that they have disconnected with their audience. Regional and national news do not serve local audiences…and unless the regional or national news impacts a local audience, they will tune out.
I will admit I’m blessed with a pretty sweet setup at my high school. The TV studio was actually (somewhat) planned and built for a purpose – to be used to teach broadcasting/multimedia and to produce a daily program.
So the configuration works. There’s the studio floor and the control room. We have more gear than necessary for a basic show (ignore my occasional whining…).
But what if you’re just getting started and you have to work in a space not designed for studio production?
I’ve seen “studios” that were almost as low-end as you can get and still get a show out. Sheets hung from the wall in a long narrow room with one camera shooting directly to tape using the built-in camera mike. And yes, that works. Skills learned include teamwork, directing, script reading, eye contact. I would never scoff at those with less than me if they do the best with what they’ve got.
But let’s assume you want to move up in the world a little. Play with two cameras and real clip-on or desktop mikes. You can make this work without a switcher or audio board…I did for a few weeks when our switcher went down.
Just work with your camerafolk so they know who is shooting what at what point in the script. You could start with camera one on a two shot, then go to camera two on one anchor…while that anchor is reading, have camera one go in for a one-shot on the other anchor. Edit the two tapes together, add in titles, FX, etc.
Want to add more? Again, I am lucky to have a studio com (communications) system so that the director in the control room can communicate with the floor director and floor camerafolks.
A cheap alternative might be some two-way radios with headsets so that the “director” (who may just be in the back of the room with a script) can “talk” to the floor crew.
Moving up the scale again. Lights. (Thank you LUSD for my light grid.) Room lights are okay…but with a fairly low cash outlay you can add some light for a more professional look.
Here’s three ideas, in order of cost. Go to your local feed store or hardware store and find one of those cheap scoop tin lights – we use them in the shop or for heat for baby chicks. You can put up to a 100 watt bulb in them and they clamp on to anything. Around $9-$15.
Next up – shop lights on stands (or clamps)…probably around $35-45 or so. They’re nice for the younger set cause they come with a screen to keep hands away from the hot area…you can cut the screens out with wirecutters if you don’t want the pattern they make. Low and high level settings and pretty balanced light. Only problem is they can’t go much higher than three feet.
Finally…getting into pro lights. If I were to go buy a kit, I’d avoid the scoop light kits altogether (why not just buy from the feed store for a lot less) and go straight to lights with focus (spot to broad) and more light (250-1,000 watt).
Gotta run for now…but back later with the rest of how to get your studio set up…
…later.
Okay…went through the relatively simple stuff. Hopefully for the rest you have cameras that will work.
Audio – right up there with video as part of studio needs. Don’t make your audience struggle to hear information. So your cameras must have mike inputs OR you need a way to feed audio from the studio floor into your “control room” (or equivalent) mixer or switcher.
Mixer – takes two or more audio sources and allows you to set levels for each so that they are matched.
Switcher – generally refers to a video (or audio/video) switcher that allows you to choose from a variety of sources…cameras, tape decks, DVD players. When you switcher video, the matched audio follows.
At this point in the game you should start looking at what you’ve got and what you need for a very basic control room. This includes:
A switcher
Two (or more) cameras
Record/playback deck
Audio mixer
Necessary cables (XLR, RCA, S-VHS, coaxial, etc)
And now you need to be prepared to spend some money. If you get a box setup (like Tricaster) you’ll still need your cameras, mikes, playback decks. If you piece your control room together, you’ll need monitors to track each visual input and a preview/program monitor.
Preview shows you what you’re doing/about to do.
Program shows what you are actually recording.
Choosing a switcher can be a bear. There’s a relatively new toy in the gamebox called “Tricaster.” Broadcast studio in a box – you feed your audio and video cables in and it contains the monitors, switcher, mixer. Costs begin around $3,000 and up. These little boxes are gaining popularity in the broadcast industry too for their simplicity and ease of setup and use.
The other alternative is a separate switcher – my studio boasts a Focus Enhancement MX-4. Now that it’s working properly, it is a dream. We can preview all effects…got the greenscreen up and tested today. Audio feeds through a mixer (mixer takes in two wired mikes, a wireless, DVD player, tape playback) which feeds the audio into the switcher.
Switchers can run the gamut…from $1,000 to the sky.
If you’re new to this, find a reputable company to walk you through the gear, what does what, what connects to what, how they mesh. Ask for a barebones system and then ask for a list of upgrades to get you to your final goal. You don’t have to start with a complete system.
Even though I have most of the goodies I need, my students are currently working only with switching two cameras – for a reason. I’m still working on getting the bugs out. We have on again/off again impedance problems with one of the mike lines. We’re trying to standardize our scripts and instructions for the floor crew. Each week brings new anchors and new crew who need to be trained.
The goal is to start simple and add on challenges every week or month as students gain experience.
Next post: How to format a show that keeps the audience looking forward to more.
This is the posting formerly known as “Impressing or getting it done…
A friend dropped by a while back to borrow some gear and bemoaned the fact they couldn’t afford the gear wanted/needed to do video productions.
So I showed off my Canon HV10…and got the immediate response, “but THAT won’t impress anyone.”
Hmmmm…
So now impressing the client/public is important? I’ve heard that before from still photogs, some of whom think that bigger is better (so, apparently, is black, so forget silver) so that folks KNOW they are pros.
I’ve gone through the whole “lost my impressive thing” business years ago…when I downsized out of news into teaching and went from a Panasonic DVCPro to a Canon ZR10.
So…stand by until I return with a way to ‘press your gear up…
…and here’s a way to dress up your gear. My reason – to make it more versatile. For those of you with self-esteem issues, these add-ons will bulk up your little “nothing” camera so that it will be sure to impress.
Let’s start with the basic camera – a little old Canon HV20 (and this, by the way, can work with any of the small prosumer/consumer models).
First, you need a bracket to attach all of your add-ons.
Practically speaking, here are ways to improve both your visuals and audio.
Small portable light – I’m using a Readylite 20. My dream is a Litepanel and it’s on my Christmas wish list.
Audio add-on so you can use pro XLR audio. A Beachtek, which allows me to use my Electrovoice 635 and Lectrosonics wireless.
Lens extenders for both telephoto and wide angle.
Scary….almost a Frankenstein of video production. But in bulking up or “pimping,” I’ve both improved my ability to get visuals and I’d say increased the BS (oops impress the client) factor by at least 7 out of ten.
But at a cost. Got the tele lens as part of an old VHS kit…dumped the camera, but kept the lens. Wide angle cost around $100. Beachek another $100 used. Bracket was $15. Light probably $40. The XLR cables/mike I already had. But lets add on another $300 for the tele lens, cables, mike (and that’s conservative). Another $550.
Is it worth it? If you want to impress, you can get it all for a lot less or just add that on to the cost of a bigger camera. Something…bigger…longer…
But it’s definitely worth it as far as extending your ability to be creative.
Here’s an update on what the TV/broadcasting studio/classroom at Ronald E. McNair High School in Stockton (CA) looks like.
First…below is a rough diagram of what the layout looks like so you can relate to the photos.
Rough diagram 7/09
And now for the tour. We’ll begin in the control room. The room can easily hold up to five students working and has a window looking out to the floor. It is NOT soundproofed…but since the control room crew works quietly, that is not an issue.
The studio has some real professional aspects and some parts of the design are frankly amateurish.
The pro aspects include the greenscreen and grey curtains that cover completely the south and west walls. Nice. The light grid…we only have two 1Ks up there, but can add probably another twenty of varying sizes…all controlled in the control room by a progamable light panel.
With the hole/pass through between the floor and the control room, students can set up in minutes. The anchor desk was a find – a display from a bankrupt store. Very heavy, holds two comfortably, and on wheels so we can move it around.
I’m still working on work stations in the control room – but here’s the basic layout. Enter the room and the light control is right inside the door. The rest of the workstations are in this order:
Audio board
Director
Preview screen for switcher
Video switcher
Playbacks (DVD, mini-DV)
Sony DVCam record deck to record the show
Monitors
Next is the on-air monitor for showing the Daily Bulletin as we playback for the campus – I currently have our Pansonic mini-DV deck hooked up for playback, although it really belongs over in the playback area.
We can also hook up the mini-DV deck to the small TV set for viewing tapes. Finally, a DVD duplicator.
There’s also a table in the room to hold the crew headsets and to work on scripts, etc.
I’m waiting for at least three (I hope) more computers…two to go just outside the control room for Internet access – none of my computers are currently hooked up.
Plus one computer (please let it have a DVD burner) for any add-ons to the show. Right now students are only switching between cameras and we have to edit in bars/countdown/show open and credits. As they get better, I’ll add in more components (live playback while shooting of bars/countdown and show open and credits).
Procedure to shoot the show.
Director and anchors get script (I type it due to time constraints) and read and mark their individual lines and which camera(s) will be up for each part of the script.
Floor Director is in charge of pulling mike lines and placement of microphones for the anchors. S/he also has to hook up their headset to their com line. Also is in charge of anything that happens on the floor, from working w/cameramen to communicating with anchors (plus telling students not working on the show to shush).
Cameramen pull cables (S-VHS and com line) to tripods and place tripods. They then get cameras/batteries and place cameras on tripods and hook up video to camera and their headset to com line.
Director is the boss and runs the show. All of the following must be stated over the com system so that all crew knows the Director is running through the checklist.
First s/he checks that all crew are in position and tells cameras what their first shot is.
Call for Floor Director to get “Quiet on the set!”
Directs switcher to roll tape and gets confirmation.
States that tape is rolling and to “stand by.”
Tells Floor Director to begin the countdown in “ten…nine…eight…”We are keeping the switcher’s job pretty simple right now…all they have to do is read the script and switch between the initial two shot and then between anchors as they read their lines, ending on a two shot.
I also keep the camera/anchor ID simple. Anchor One and Camera One are on the right, from the viewpoint of the Director in the Control Room. Anchor Two and Camera Two are on the left. Anchor One’s camera is Camera One – and Anchor Two looks to Camera Two.
Remember…we’ve only been doing this for two weeks and I felt it was best to keep it simple initially.
My final bugaboo: choosing anchors, rotating anchors, philosophy of student participation. This is a developing philosophy..and I’m gonna wander off a little here with some personal opinions.
When I worked in TV news, one of the things that really bugged me was when administrators marched out the same top-of-the-line kids every time media came on campus. We never saw real kids…just perfect kids.
My principal I know does the same…and I understand why. He wants to make the school look good. Good PR.
But by only allowing a select few opportunities, you create a culture of segregation. Those who have and get it and the great unwashed. Those who get to look and live in envy and crushed hopes.
Call me a daft – a fool – but I am in a way jettisoning decades of training that says that only the best and brightest deserve the spotlight. I want my slow kids and my gangbangers and my quiet bright kids to have the same opportunities as those with who live life with a silver spoon.
So the initial anchors for the Daily Bulletin were a semi-toughie (advanced student) who has always been a bit of a classroom clown and problem and who proved that my faith in him was warranted by anchoring like a pro (with only a few errors). His co-anchor a quiet B-Boy (yeah I love my breakers). After a week I rotated my clown into the Control Room as Director and pulled in a shaggy haired quiet advanced student. Every week I pull in a new anchor to work with someone from the previous week. And I’ll be going outside my classroom because I’ve appealed to staff to give me their readers – students who would like to try to anchor two a two week period.
Another important part of my plan is to keep the show interesting. When the Bulletin was read over loudspeakers to the classrooms, kids just didn’t pay attention. It was boring.
With the addition of the video Bulletin, we can keep the audience interested by changing visuals daily. The anchors appear daily in the show open. The credits (:30-1:00)change daily from animations shot by my students to highlights of the football game to campus events. The plan is to include as many students at all levels as possible so that at least once a week or more a student can say, “I was on the Bulletin or I saw someone I know on the Bulletin.”
This past week I sent out a notice to all staff that if they had events or meetings or games and could either provide video/stills or give me enough notice so that I could send a student to shoot the event, we would include them in the Bulletin credits. I sent the email on Friday morning and before the day was out I had every spot for next week filled with more coming in.
Our school librarian was even more on top of the situation. She has some of my students in her after-school Eagle Readers Club – and is having them produce a commercial about what a great club it is.
Final note: this is NOT a news show, so I am treating it as a community service program. We will, on occasion, insert a story, but building this into a real news show will take time. I need to build some depth in my crew…get students who want to return again and again so that their strengths and background will allow me to do more and more.
As always…please leave comments; let me know what you’re up to; criticize…thank you.
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