You are currently browsing the daily archive for October 17, 2007.
The past month I’ve been living with a Casio Exilim Z75. Tiny camera and originally not much expected from it. But I’ve been proven wrong. This little hunk ‘o metal has some real potential. I took it to school…to Australia…been carrying it eeryday in my pocket or purse and because it is so handy, I actually use it. Let my students use it for animation (easy for them) and I used it to document my visit to DownUnder. Even shot some video with it that has amazed my cohorts because of the quality. I guess my point is – if you have a camera, you use it. If you have to hunt for it or dig it out or if it is too burdomsome, then you don’t use it.
Ever wonder how all those high school activities are run? It’s called co-curricular. What it really is is indentured service by teachers…in addition to the regular hours of teaching and then the hours (paid) for prep and then the hours and hours (unpaid) for prep and grading and meeting with or calling parents. Usually it’s not too bad – just another ten to twenty hours annually. I happen to like football, so in addition to advising an on campus club I’m on the chain gang for junior varsity football. My freshmen English students love it – Fridays the guys are nervous…their first year playing high school sports. They take a beating but kept getting up and fighting back. Even though they lose more than they’d like, I am proud of their spirit. And every Monday we have the post game rehash.
The only place to be at a high school (or any other) football game is the sidelines. You are part of the action…you can feel the intensity. I spend most of my Friday night games on the chain gang, so really don’t have much opportunity to shoot. As luck would have it, I did get to shoot a game while in Ohio this past Friday. Haven’t shot a game in donkey’s years…and after a few false moves, it all came back. Keep one eye open and follow the ball. Yeah, it’s just a little game in a mid-size mid-west town. But the crowd let the teams know they were there for them. And for a little while I got to play news photog again.
What the heck is a “visual” story. In my humble (yet expert) opinion, it is a story that doesn’t just depend on talking heads…the visuals carry the story rather serving just to cover audio. The real advantange the print media has over broadcast is print – the ability to cover a story thoroughly with words, using art/graphics to clarify. Broadcast can rarely turn out a non-visual complex story as well as newspapers. Lord knows I’ve tried…but have had to resort to shooting pages of text spinning on a turntable…using special fx and lighting tricks…all to try to make the viewer “get” it. TV reporters/photogs/vjs are stuck when a nonvisual story is assigned. They do the best they can. Newspapers can go with the print version and make choices about whether to go with video or not. So much for the down side of this subject.
I’ve been perusing quite a few newspaper sites lately, checking out their video and some of the strangest stories have made me stop and think again. A charitable fundraising community walk – just folks walking by the camera, yet I bet the paper got a lot of hits on that one. People watch for people they know. A visual story generally has strong interviews or strong visuals. A strong character with a compelling story is a visual story. Stories that make people care.
Newspapers converting to video must think beyond the obvious and about how to incorporate visuals onto their sites. MOS/opinion of the day….poll your community. Yes, those Friday night football games (or basketball or volleyball) will bring in a hefty audience. Check your hits each day and see what the folks in your community want to see. But beware – do not fall into the trap many broadcast news programs have fallen into.
On the other end of visual stories are those that attract voyeurs or the voyeur in each of us. Fight videos. The OJ (or any police) chase. The Hussein execution. T&A. Stories that may or may not be news, but attract an audience. Think – is this the audience you want? If you get this audience, will you pander to it – give it more of what it wants?
News walks a fine line between giving the audience want it needs (responsible stories that inform and educate) and what it may want (titillating stories that simply amaze or entertain). There is a balance of each in a good newspaper or program…but thought and care must be given to making sure the balance in heavily weighted to responsible stories.
…until you try to teach it. I think I’ve mentioned a comment Willie Kee made once, when I told him he would be a remarkable teacher. He said, “Yeah, and after I’ve talked for an hour…then what?” We always underestimate what we know…sometimes even the importance of what we know.
All this leading up to a couple of workshops I did last week in Canton, Ohio, for Gatehouse Media. In teaching video to high school students my biggest problem is they come in “knowing it all.” They are, after all, teenagers. Most of the folks at the Repository who came in for the point and shoot class admitted to knowing little, if anything, about video. There was not a lot of common knowledge to build on, so we started from the bottom. Here’s the camera – here’s what each button does. The basic shots. How to hold the camera still (you can’t unless you’re dead) while still breathing. Capturing/importing to iMovie. Basic drag and drop editing. A little on sequencing and patterns (repetitive actions), implied consent. Interviewing video style. They caught on quickly and seemed to enjoy the class (I’ll know more about that when the surveys come back).
Their two major concerns weren’t even technical. Concern number one was just how would they get subjects to agree to be “on camera” with such a small camera (Exilim), given that they are not in a broadcast market (nearest market is Cleveland about 50 miles away) and the locals either weren’t used to video interviews or were outright uncooperative. Concern number two was time management – how could they fold this new technology and its demands into their work routines.
The small camera issue was also brought up by the photo staff. Professional gear brings with it a perception by the public that you are professional. Prosumer gear/consumer gear can create a different perception. The only two comments I could reassure them with were that with time the local community would get used to the smaller cameras and change their expectations – but that it was also in how they carried themselves. The professional attitude does contribute to the professional look. A pro has a certain self-assurance – a stance – that says they are here to work. Amateurs uncertain. When I brought this up with Kathy Newell, she said that since 911 most of the pro photogs in Sacramento took to wearing their dogtags/press credentials all of the time. This might have to be the case when a staff makes the move to the smaller cameras – it helps telegraph who they are.
The time management issue is one that should take care of itself as the staff works more and more with video and becomes more competant. But this is also a whole staff/management issue. Reporters using the Exilim can shoot a few minutes of interview or cover shots…less than ten minutes of their field time I’d guess. However downloading and editing may take more time.
Photographers face an even more difficult dilemma – which should they choose to use: still or video? At this time stills drive the Repository – this is what the photo staff excells at and what the public buys the paper/tunes onto the website to see. As the paper becomes more active online the balance between the need for stills or video will shift – and management needs to consider which should be given preference. Should the photographer make a decision in the field to shoot video of a breaking story (where there might only be one opportunity for the money shot) or stills? There must be a policy that says which to go for – or a policy that says the photographer makes the decision. If the latter – management must totally support the photographer’s decision without any second-guessing. If the former, then photogs at least know which camera to grab. The same should apply to everyday assignments – because initially there will be problems. It will take longer to get both video and stills. There will be issues with doing either well – something has to give. Does the photog focus on stills and just peel off some video or visa versa? This should be an on-going discussion in the newsroom – looking back at stories done the day before and forward to upcoming stories.
More another day…
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