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SHOOTING AND EDITING VIDEO FOR THE WEB

Part One: How the Web changes everything

Learning to think Web and digital video

The unfolding revolution in online news means that reporters can now weave together elements of print, television and radio reporting with interactivity. If Paul Revere were making his midnight ride today, we would expect online news to give us:

  • Video of Revere galloping from town to town, as well as interviews with him and his fellow Colonists along the way
  • Text that explains the ride in terms of growing tensions between American Colonists and their British masters
  • An animated, annotated map that tracks Revere's progress
  • Paul's Blog to bring us his latest thoughts and plans
  • A podcast with a noted political science professor who can explain why this matters
  • A narrated slide show featuring images of the ride set against the Wordsworth poem
  • A live webcam trained on the site where the British are expected to land
  • A video profile of Revere the man, showing him at work and at home, as well as preparing for his ride (maybe a feature on the horse, too?)
  • A forum for Colonists to share news and opinion
  • An interactive timeline of events leading up to the ride
  • An archive of profiles of major figures on both sides and their official statements
  • An editorial urging a call to arms

And that's just for starters. The 24-hour news cycle requires updating the content around the clock.

Produce a package like this and people will flock to the site again and again to learn the latest, while marveling at what this new medium can do. But think of the challenges for the editors and reporters whose job it is to feed the beast. (Oh, and by the way, expect to be told you must find a way to do all this within existing budgets.)

If you can stop sobbing long enough, let's focus on what's essential and what's doable. For starters, video is clearly essential to the story. Podcasts and animated maps are great, but video is typically the top priority after producing text and still images.

Text and images alone cannot adequately convey the action of the ride itself. Video's ability to engage the viewer's emotions also makes it an excellent way to tell the story of Revere the man. Text is intellectual. Video is emotional.

So what's doable? Is it realistic to expect today's print reporters to learn to shoot and edit the breaking news of Paul Revere's ride? What about crafting the sophisticated mini-documentary on the man's lifestsyle? What will it take for today's reporters to become tomorrow's online multimedia creators? And what must news organizations do to make that happen?

Building individual and organizational capacity

Newspapers today typically try to add the capacity ot produce online video by: (1) re-training existing reporters, (2) re-treading broadcast journalists and (3) scouring the journalism schools for recent graduates with a full set of online skills. Each strategy has its benefits and drawbacks:

  • Re-training existing staff - Training existing staff to produce online video is an option, if budgets permit. However, resistance can be ferocious among print reporters who do not feel video should be part of the job. It also takes time and money to train people who may or may not be well suited to the job of telling stories visually.

  • Hiring boadcast reporters - Again, if budgets permit, this looks like a quick and easy way to add capacity. However, Web video and broadcast TV are not the same thing. Web video is more informal, and it has its own set of technical requirements and constraints. There is also the potential for cultural clash between print and TV reporters, who do not see the world the same way.

  • Competing for recent grads - Journalism students with these skills are a hot commodity on the job market. But do not suppose that all students graduating today are skilled in online multimedia and interactivity. Journalism schools are struggling to find faculty to teach online journalism. Students also find it hard to master the broad array of skills required. Not everyone in this new digital generation grew up making movies for their own Web sites and doing their own podcasts. Moreover hiring one person with the skills you need doesn't build much capacity. Is that young person capable of teaching others? Will experienced journalists balk at being trained by a kid?

News organizations are used to hiring bright, talented people who can learn on the job. Compared to other industries, news organizations have traditionally not invested much in professional development. The online newsroom may well change all that. The evolving demands of online news mean that reporters and editors need to become lifelong learners eager to ugrade their conceptual and technical skills.

The good news is that producing good video for the Web depends on teachable skills. The key is practice, not inherent talent. Yes, some people are born with such a keen eye for composition that shooting great video comes naturally. But the rest of us can learn what it takes to make the leap from awkward novice to reliable pro.

The following pages offer a crash course in shooting and editing news video for the Web. But they are just the first step in weeks if not months of practice required to gain mastery.

Part Two: Building a plan to p[roduce news video for the Web

Shooting and Editing Video for the Web

Part One: Exploring news ways to tell stories online

Part Two: Building a plan to produce news video for the Web

Part Three: The basics of online news video
    - Shots & sequences
    - Lighting
    - Basic composition
    - Audio matters
    - Shooting interviews & standups
    - Tech stuff

Part Four: Editing

Online video on a budget

Part One: The camera

Part Two: Accessories

Part Three: Editing software

Part Four: Posting on the Web

 

Bonnie Bucqueroux teaches digital jouralism at Michigan State University's School of Journalism and is a self-described Web geek.