Tips on Shooting 'Good' Video

For some print reporters, entering the world of video journalism is a daunting task. A reporter's first foray into this different form of storytelling invariably comes with questions: Do I tell the story the same way? How long should it be? How fancy should it be? How hard will it be?  
 
Here's a bit of advice that puts the task into perspective: "Don't do Web video if you don't have anything interesting to show, and don't compete with TV unless you can do something they can't or won't. In other words, use the medium," wrote Kurt Andersen in a February 2007 column in New York Magazine.
 Online news video can be classified into several forms, from basic, single-shot interviews to full-blown documentary-style features. Angela Grant, multimedia journalist for the San Antonio Express-News, describes these in the March 2008 issue of Quill magazine*:*

• Video illustration: "The simplest type is just one or two shots totaling 30 seconds or less that complements or illustrates a text story.... It enhances the print story by showing something that is not as effectively described in print as by video." Appropriate uses for a video illustration include scenes of car accidents, house fires, and to show emotional testimony in court or in controversial public meetings.
• Deadline video package: "This is a stand-alone video that can run with a text story, but does not rely on it for context and meaning....[It includes] source interviews and can also feature a reporter-written and recorded voiceover." This format is usually produced on deadline and runs less than two minutes.
• Documentary video: This story form "usually runs in multiple videos that can be as long as five minutes each or even longer. [It] gives the viewer an in-depth look at a topic or at the lives of the subjects. An accompanying print story is unnecessary, but often documentary video is packaged with text...."

Video footage is classified as A-roll and B-roll. "The interview is called A-roll and will be the main sound track for the piece. The images you shoot of whatever the subject talked about is called B-roll. For a minute-long interview, you'll need dozens - DOZENS - of different B-roll shots related to what he's talking about," wrote Chuck Fadely, visual journalist for the Miami Herald, in an e-mail.

 Basic Rules of Videography

Fadely sums it up in a few basic principles:

It's about emotion. The first thing to consider is the story you're trying to tell. Video stories are not about facts and figures. Video deals best with emotion and feelings. Use video to tell the viewer how your subject feels.
Tell a story. The second thing to remember is that video stories are linear - you need a beginning, a middle and an end.  A video is like a short story, not like an inverted pyramid. Find a character.

It's visual. Third, video is a form of visual communication.  The visuals must be compelling, with interesting shots and action.  A talking head is not good video.

Can you hear me now? And finally, the most important thing in video is the audio.  If the sound is bad, you've lost your audience.  Record carefully.  "Sound is the most important thing in video," according to Fadely.

Tips for Success

Fadely, Andrew Satter, videographer for Congressional Quarterly and Ryan Sholin, director of community site publishing for GateHouse Media, contributed several of these best practice tips for producing good videos.

Plan.  Plan before you go, says Sholin. "For example, if you'll be shooting a car crash, you'll need video of witnesses - emergency workers, police, survivors. For the wreckage - you'll need a wide shot of the location, close-ups of broken glass, and emergency staff at work. And for B-roll - video of broken glass"

Shoot with discipline. Besides shooting the interview, take video of everything the person talked about.
 
Shoot for variety. Be conscious of the shots you take, and be very careful with panning and zooming.

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Get more tips from this piece of Zooming In on Online Video here. And, leave your own tips for others here in the wiki by clicking on "add a comment" below.