SUBCOURSE EDITION

DI0351 A
ELECTRONIC JOURNALISM II
ELECTRONIC JOURNALISM II
Subcourse Number DI 0351
EDITION A
Army Public Affairs Center
Fort George G. Meade, Maryland
10 Credit hours
Edition Date !e"tember 1##0
!$%C&$'!E &(E'()E*
*e designed this subcourse to "ro+ide you ,ith an entry-le+el
understanding of the o"eration of Electronic .e,s Gathering /E.G0 and
Electronic Field Production /EFP0 e1ui"ment2 the selection and set u" of
micro"hones2 the "re"aration and "erformance of 3( ne,s inserts2 +ideota"e
editing2 and the res"onsibilities and functions of an E.G 3eam Chief.
3his subcourse is "resented in fi+e lessons. 4ou must ha+e a basic
5no,ledge of military broadcasting "rior to ta5ing this subcourse. 3here
are no "rere1uisites to this subcourse. 6o,e+er, it is suggested you
com"lete !ubcourse D)0780, Electronic 9ournalism ), before ta5ing this
subcourse.
3his subcourse reflects the doctrine current at the time the subcourse ,as
"re"ared. )n your o,n ,or5 situation, al,ays refer to the latest official
"ublications.
$nless other,ise stated, the masculine gender of singular "ronouns is used
to refer to both men and ,omen.
3E'M).A: :EA'.).G &%9EC3)(E
AC3)&. 4ou ,ill learn about the o"eration of E.G;EFP e1ui"ment2 the
selection and set u" of micro"hones2 the "re"aration and
"erformance of 3( ne,s inserts2 ho, to edit +ideota"e2 and ho,
to "erform as an E.G 3eam Chief.
C&.D)3)&. 4ou are gi+en the material "resented in this lesson.
!3A.DA'D 3o demonstrate com"etency of this tas5, you must achie+e a
minimum of <8 "ercent on the subcourse e=amination.
i D)0781
3A%:E &F C&.3E.3!
Page
!ubcourse &+er+ie, ......................................................i
:esson 1 &"erate E.G E1ui"ment .........................................1
Practice E=ercise .......................................... 1<
Ans,er >ey and Feedbac5 .................................... 1?
:esson @ !elect and !et $" Micro"hones ...............................1#
Practice E=ercise .......................................... 77
Ans,er >ey and Feedbac5 .................................... 7A
:esson 7 Pre"are;Perform 3( .e,s )nserts .............................78
Practice E=ercise .......................................... <7
Ans,er >ey and Feedbac5 .................................... <A
:esson A Edit (ideota"e ..............................................<8
Practice E=ercise .......................................... ?7
Ans,er >ey and Feedbac5 .................................... ?A
:esson 8 Perform as E.G 3eam Chief ...................................?8
Practice E=ercise .......................................... #<
Ans,er >ey and Feedbac5 ..................................... #?
ii D)0781
LESSON ONE
OPERATE ENG EQUIPMENT
AB' !oldierCs Manual 3as5 @1A-1<<-1718
&(E'()E*
:E!!&. DE!C')P3)&.
3his lesson ,ill "ro+ide you an o+er+ie, of the o"eration of E.G;EFP
e1ui"ment.
:EA'.).G &%9EC3)(E
AC3)&. Describe "rocedures necessary to "ro"erly obtain, in a field
en+ironment, +ideo and audio for tele+ision "roduction.
C&.D)3)&. 4ou are gi+en the material "resented in this lesson.
!3A.DA'D Perform all the duties described in this lesson.
'EFE'E.CE! 3he material contained in this lesson ,as deri+ed from the
follo,ing "ublications
!3P AB-AB'1A-!M-3G !oldierCs Manual D 3rainerCs Guide,
%roadcast 9ournalist, M&! AB' !5ill :e+els 1;@;7;A, August
1#??.
Defense )nformation !chool 'adio and 3ele+ision 6andboo5, May
1#?@.
1 D)0781
OPERATE ENG EQUIPMENT
INTRODUCTION
3he age of the high-1uality, "ortable mini-camera is here and here to stay
/!ee :esson &ne, !ubcourse D)07800. 3he ad+ent of small-format +ideo
systems truly re+olutioniEed the tele+ision industry, "articularly Army
broadcasting. *here once ,e could only use a film camera, the Electronic
.e,s Gathering;Electronic Field Production camera has effecti+ely re"laced
this older system ,ith cost-effecti+e, "ortable ne,s gathering e1ui"ment.
.ot only is it "ortable, it can e+en allo, the broadcaster to "lay bac5
the recording on the s"ot. *ith the older film format, the "rocess ,as
not only time-consuming to de+elo" and see the film, but also e="ensi+e by
com"arison.
*here :esson &ne of !ubcourse D)0780 discussed e1ui"ment common in todayCs
E.G;EFP systems, this lesson ,ill deal ,ith the o"eration of that
e1ui"ment. *ith ad+ancements in technology so ra"id they often ma5e ne,
e1ui"ment obsolete e+en before it hits the mar5et, it is difficult to 5ee"
reference and learning materials u" to date. 3herefore, this lesson ,ill
concentrate on the ty"e of e1ui"ment issued to $nited !tates Army 'eser+e
Com"onent, since that e1ui"ment is standard for more than B0 "ublic
affairs units.
!ince the basic o"eration of e1ui"ment differs little bet,een E.G and EFP,
this lesson ,ill address E.G ,ith notations ,here+er there ,ould be a
significant difference for EFP. 3he "rimary difference bet,een E.G and
EFP is e+ident in the terminology. E.G is the co+erage of uncontrolled
e+ents such as training accidents and fires. 3he "ictures and story are
gathered on the scene, as the e+ents ha""en. EFP uses the same e1ui"ment,
but under controlled circumstances. A story or scri"t is usually ,ritten
in ad+ance. 3he e+ent is carefully "lanned and e=ecuted until the final
"roduct is finished ,ith "redetermined results. 3he "roduction of
tele+ision s"ots, s"orting e+ents and "lanned e+ents that ta5e "lace
outside the tele+ision studio are e=am"les of Electronic Field Productions.
THE CAMERA
For anything to be seen by anyone on a tele+ision screen, it had to be
"re+ie,ed by a tele+ision camera before the introduction of digital
electronics, 3he images that a""eared ,ere determined by ,hat a camera
could see and ho, it could see them. 3herefore, the most ob+ious
"roduction element in tele+ision ,as al,ays the camera. All other
elements and techni1ues ,ere geared to the "hysical and electronic
D)0781 @
characteristics of the camera. :ighting, scenery, audio, ,riting, and
directing all de"ended on the "otential of the camera.
*here once they ,ere large and bul5y, cameras ha+e e+ol+ed to smaller,
lighter, more easily handled "ieces of e1ui"ment. Portability, along ,ith
the ad+ent of +ideota"e, e+en allo,ed the tele+ision camera to re"lace the
film camera in the gathering of ne,s. )n E.G;EFP ,here actual e+ents are
the to"ic, ,e are concerned mostly ,ith "ortable cameras.
)t is the intent and design of these "ortable cameras to be 1uic5ly and
easily adFustable to e=treme "roduction situations. /!ee Fig. 1-1 %asic
camera.0
F)G$'E 1-1. %A!)C CAME'A
3here are three maFor "arts to the tele+ision camera. 3hey are the lens,
body and +ie,finder. !ince they ,ere discussed in lesson one of subcourse
D)0780, this lesson ,ill be more concerned ,ith the effect of each on
camera o"eration.
CAMERA OD!
3he camera body consists of the housing and those "arts inside it. 3hat
includes either camera "ic5u" tube/s0 or a solid state image de+ice and
the internal o"tical system.
3he internal o"tical system is a series of "risms or mirrors. 3here are
also circuitry boards, resistors, ca"acitors and ,ires. 3his assortment
of electronics ta5es the +isual information it recei+es from the internal
o"tical system, "rocesses it, and con+erts it into electronic im"ulses for
feed to another source.
7 D)0781
3he other source can be a monitor, a +ideota"e recorder or a system to "ut
it directly on the air. Cameras ha+e +ideo out connectors through ,hich
the electronic information "asses. /!ee Fig. 1-@ Camera &ut"ut
Connector.0
F)G$'E 1-@. CAME'A &$3P$3 C&..EC3&'
At the front of the camera body is the Color 3em"erature Com"ensation
Filter Disc, more sim"ly referred to as the filter ,heel /!ee Fig. 1-7
Filter disc0. 3his enables ra"id adFustment to +arying light conditions
,ith Fust the turn of a ,heel. 3here are three or four "ositions. 3hey
are 7@00 degrees >el+in2 8B00 degrees >el+in2 8B00 G1;? .D /.eutral
Density0 or G1;A .D /see :esson 3,o, :ighting for E.G, subcourse D)07800.
!ome cameras -not all -ha+e a fourth "osition, ,hich is a ca". 3he filter
,heel must be set in the "ro"er "osition before you ,hite balance the
camera /7@00 degrees >el+in for artificial lighting, 8B00 for daylight,
and G1;? or 1;A .D for bright sunlight0. 3he filters ,ill aid in the
,hite balance "rocess. As you learned in :esson 3,o, :ighting for E.G,
!ubcourse D)0780, ,hite balancing is the "rocedure that insures the camera
can re"roduce colors accurately.
F)G$'E 1-7. F):3E' D)!C
D)0781 A
THE LENS
As you learned in !ubcourse D)0780, the lens and certain attachments to it
are sometimes called the e=ternal o"tical system. 3he lens selects a
certain field of +ie, and "roduces a small, clear o"tical image of this
+ie,.
*ith the lens ,e ha+e four "rimary concerns. 3hese are focal length,
focus, f-sto" and de"th of field. *hat you need to do no, is understand
the functions of each, and a""ly them to your use as an E.G +ideogra"her.
)f some things are re"eated in this lesson, it is merely to sa+e you the
effort of ha+ing to go bac5 and refer to subcourse D)0780.
"oc#$ Le%&'(
Portable tele+ision cameras, the cameras ,eCre concerned ,ith, ha+e a
Eoom, or +ariable focal-length lens, ,hich enables them to select fields
of +ie, at different distances from the camera ,ithout mo+ing the camera.
)t allo,s you to change the focal length of the lens from long to short
and from short to long in one continuous o"eration.
3here is an im"ortant difference bet,een Eooming in or out, and "hysically
re"ositioning the camera closer or farther a,ay. /A camera mo+ement
called Hdolly inH or Hdolly out.H !ee Fig. 1-8.0 3he ,ide use of a Eoom
lens and its ease of o"eration has caused many +ideogra"hers and directors
to rely on the Eoom ,hen they should mo+e the camera. A Eoom lens sim"ly
magnifies or reduces an image, but itCs necessary to dolly the camera to
get the full three-dimensional effect. 3his is "articularly im"ortant
,hen mo+ing "ast door,ays, arches or stationary obFects.
3he degree to ,hich you can change the focal length of a Eoom lens is
called the Eoom range. 3o you, the o"erator, itCs more im"ortant to 5no,
the magnification, rather than the numbers. 3hat is something that ,ill
come only ,ith e="erience. !ome cameras ha+e a Htimes t,o function,H
,hich allo,s you to double the focal length at any "oint in the Eoom.
3hat is another area ,here youCll need e="erience in order to become
"roficient. %y recording the change from Htimes oneH to Htimes t,o,H or
the other ,ay around, you can create an interesting effect, if you do it
"ro"erly.
3he s"eed at ,hich the focal length of a Eoom lens can be changed is
determined by the o"erator, ,hether it is done manually or ,ith a Eoom
ser+o.
8 D)0781
A Eoom ser+o is nothing more than a small motor controlled by a le+er.
6o, far the le+er is de"ressed determines the s"eed of the Eoom. 3here
are situations ,here a slo, Eoom ,ould be better than a fast one, and
other times ,hen the fast Eoom ,ould be "referred. 4ouCll ha+e to de+elo"
a touch to be able to control the s"eed as ,ell as a feel for the s"eed
re1uired in each case.
3he +arious focal lengths of lenses ha+e +arying effects on your +ideo.
3hings to consider are field of +ie,, "ers"ecti+e, distortion, de"th of
field, effect of camera mo+ement and subFect mo+ement, and limitations
youCll ha+e to deal ,ith. !ubcourse D)0780 discusses these at length.
&nce you learn them, it ,ill be much easier to understand ho, they ,ill
affect your +ideo "roduct. %e sure to use them to your ad+antage.
"ocus
Focus ,ith a lens is the same thing as focus ,ith the eye. !har" and
clear is in focus, ,hile fuEEy and unclear is out of focus.
*hene+er "ossible, you should Eoom focus. 3hat means to Eoom all the ,ay
in, focus and Eoom bac5 out to the desired shot. .ot only does it 5ee"
more of the +ideos"ace in focus ,hen you Eoom bac5 out, but ,hen Eoomed-in
e+erything is magnified and youCll be able to see much finer details to
focus on. 3hat means your focus ,ill be much clearer and shar"er. 'ac5
focus means to focus the shot ,here it is and, unless a certain effect is
desired, is done ,hene+er situation or time donCt "ermit a Eoom focus.
f)S'o*
!ince too little light falling on the "ic5-u" tube or chi" ,ill ma5e the
"icture 1uality suffer, it is e=tremely im"ortant to be sure you ha+e
enough light. !ince the camera ,ill be used both indoors and outdoors,
you ,ill ha+e to adFust for e=treme +ariations in light le+els. 4ou
"robably ,onCt be carrying a light meter, so youCll need some ,ay to 5no,
,hene+er the light le+el is sufficient.
4our camera has both automatic and manual iris controls /!ee !ubcourse
D)07800. Most of the time, youCll ,ant to use the automatic control.
Changing focal lengths re1uires a change of lens dia"hragm o"ening and
this can be accom"lished more efficiently by the automatic control. )t
can e+en inform you if there is insufficient light. )f the automatic iris
is all the ,ay o"en, the camera is see5ing more light. )f you mo+e the d%
gain s,itch to #d% and the automatic iris doesnCt close do,n at all, you
still donCt ha+e enough light to o"erate the camera. )t has to be +ery
D)0781 B
dar5 to re1uire using the 1?d% gain, and "icture 1uality suffers greatly,
so use the 1?d% gain only in cases of absolute emergency. EIAMP:E A
+ideo cre, at the .o+ember 1#?# destruction of the %erlin ,all ,ith
daylight fading and no lights on hand ,ould ha+e used the 1?d% gain
because a substandard "icture is better than no "icture at all.
>ee" in mind, the automatic iris control ,ill do e+erything for you, but
it deals ,ith the a+erage light le+el for the +ideo s"ace. 3hat means, if
youCre shooting +ideo of someone standing in the middle of a field co+ered
in sno,, he ,ill a""ear as a dar5 silhouette because the automatic iris
,ill gi+e you the o"ening re1uired by most of the "icture, ,hich is the
sno,. As long as you are a,are of this fact, you can go to manual control
,hene+er necessary. %ecause of the contrast range limitations of the
camera, you ,ill come across conditions ,here the camera ,onCt be able to
encom"ass e+erything the eye can see. )tCs u" to you, the o"erator, to
5no, the limitations so that you can ma5e sure that ,hat is lost is not
essential to the shot.
f-sto"s affect more than Fust the amount of light entering the camera and
this is im"ortant for the E.G o"erator to 5no,. 3hey also affect the
de"th of field.
De*'( o+ ",e$-
As you 5no,, the de"th of field is that area of the field of +ie, ,here
the obFects are in focus. 4ou 5no, too, that you can control the de"th of
field ,ith lens dia"hragm o"ening, camera to subFect distance and focal
length of the lens. 4ou ,ill ,ant to e=ercise that control for different
"ur"oses. 4ou may ,ant a shallo, de"th of field in order to se"arate your
subFect from the bac5ground or foreground. 4ou may ,ant a greater de"th
of field so you can mo+e around ,ithout getting your subFect out of focus
too easily. 3he im"ortant thing is for you, the o"erator, to understand
the basic "rinci"les and a""ly them "ro"erly.
THE .IE/"INDER
3he +ie,finder sho,s you ,hat the camera sees. /!ee Fig. 1-A.0 !ince it
is a miniature tele+ision, it has brightness and contrast controls. 3his
can fool you ,hen it comes to satisfactory light le+els. *hat a""ears to
be enough light in the +ie,finder may not be, because the brightness
control is turned u". .e+er rely on the brightness of the "icture in the
+ie,finder to indicate light le+els.
$se the +ie,finder to frame, com"ose and focus the camera shots. )n
addition, there are a number of functions commonly dis"layed in the
< D)0781
+ie,finder eye"iece. 3hese can include any or all of the follo,ing
o A recording light to indicate the recorder is on or off.
o %attery ,arning lights to indicate lo, le+els in both the camera and
recorder batteries.
o A ta"e ,arning light to indicate the recording ta"e is nearing the
end.
o A camera db gain indicator.
o A lo, light-le+el indicator.
F)G$'E 1-A. ()E*F).DE'
CAMERA OPERATION
)n E.G there are a number of things you need to master, not the least of
,hich is camera o"eration. %efore you can o"erate the camera, or any
other e1ui"ment, you must accom"lish setu". $sually the camera and the
recorder are set u" at the same time. !et them u" by inserting a battery
or connecting an AC ada"tor. *hen you ha+e connected the camera and
recorder ,ith a +ideo cable, turn the "o,er on and chec5 the battery
charge ,ith the camera battery le+el indicator. Chec5 the +ideocassette
for the needed red "in and insert the cassette into the recorder.
Connect the hand-held micro"hone /see :esson 3,o, !elect and !et $"
Micro"hones0 to the recorder. Connect the head"hones to the recorder.
!et u" the needed lights /see :esson 3,o, :ighting for E.G, !ubcourse
D)0781 ?
D)07800, or reflectors if natural light is used. !et u" the tri"od.
&f course, you must learn the technical as"ects. 4ou ,ill need to be able
to ,hite balance the camera according to the o"eratorCs manual. :i5e,ise,
youCll ha+e to be able to record ,ith it, but Fust as im"ortant, youCll
need to "erfect the aesthetics. 4ou ,onCt al,ays ha+e a scri"t a+ailable
to you beforehand, es"ecially in the co+erage of fast-brea5ing s"ot ne,s.
*hen you do ha+e a scri"t a+ailable "rior to shooting, itCs a good habit
to rechec5 it for any additional +ideo re1uirements.
C#mer# Comm#%-s
3ele+ision "roduction has a language of its o,n, and itCs im"ortant that
you learn it. As ,e go o+er the different camera mo+ements, ,eCll call
them by name. Each name, or mo+ement, should be referred to by that term.
E+eryone in the industry 5no,s the language and can communicate
effecti+ely on a common le+el. EIAMP:E )t may seem nit"ic5y, but ,hen
tal5ing about shooting ,ith a "ortable tele+ision camera you should use
the term +ideota"e rather than Hfilming.H After all, film is an entirely
different medium and although most "eo"le ,ho misuse the term 5no, ,hat
they mean, it ta5es a,ay all chance of misunderstanding to say ,hat you
mean.
C#mer# mo0eme%'
3here are t,o ,ays to mo+e a camera Changing the aim of the camera, and
changing the "osition of the camera. EIAMP:E As a subFect mo+es from
left to right across your field of +ie,, you can Hfollo,H it by changing
the aim from left to right in order to 5ee" it in your "icture. 4ou can
also Hfollo,H it by mo+ing the camera from left to right at the same rate
,ithout changing the aim at all. 3hatCs ,hy ,e use s"ecific mo+ement
language instead of Fust saying, Hfollo, it.H
P#%1 6oriEontally "i+oting the camera left or right, to change the aim of
the lens ,hile the camera remains in the same "osition is called "anning
/!ee Fig. 1-80. 3he command is HPan rightH or HPan leftH. 3here could
be more s"ecific commands gi+en such as HPan right and follo,,H ,hich
,ould gi+e guidance as to the s"eed of the mo+ement. Mo+e at the same
s"eed as the subFect. 3here is also the s,ish "an, or ,hi" "an, ,hich is
so ra"id that it creates a blur of mo+ement.
A "an, Fust as any other camera mo+ement, should ne+er be done aimlessly
or ,ithout good reason. )t should ha+e a definite starting and sto""ing
# D)0781
"oint, or it should be follo,ing something. *hene+er "ossible, there
should be some ob+ious moti+ation for the mo+ement such as someone in the
"icture loo5ing off to the side and then the camera ma5ing the "an to sho,
,hat he sees. 3hat ,onCt al,ays be "ossible, es"ecially in E.G, the
co+erage of uncontrolled e+ents. )n all cases though, ha+e the start and
sto" "oints fi=ed in your o,n mind. 3hat ,ay, the mo+ement ,ill be
decisi+e and direct.
T,$'. 3he +ertical mo+ement of the aim of the camera lens is called tilt.
/!ee Figure 1-80. )n the language of tele+ision, the command ,ould be
Htilt u"H or Htilt do,n.H 9ust as ,ith the "an, tilts should be moti+ated.
*ithout good reason, any mo+ement ta5es a,ay from the +alue of a
"roduction. 3he amount of tilt is more critical than that of the "an, due
to the dimensions of the +ideos"ace /7 units high by A units ,ide0. !ince
the horiEontal dimension of the screen is one third larger than the
+ertical dimension, there is more room for error in the "anning mo+ement,
ma5ing it e+en more im"ortant to ha+e the start and sto" "oints firmly
established in your mind.
Pe-es'#$. !imilar to the tilt, the "edestal mo+ement is an u" and do,n
mo+ement. 6o,e+er, it is not in the aim of the camera, but rather the
mo+ement of the camera itself ,ithout changing the aim /!ee Figure 1-80.
3he command ,ill be H"edestal u"H or H"edestal do,n.H 3he "edestals that
studio cameras sit on, as ,ell as the tri"ods that "ortable field cameras
sit on, ha+e +arious ,ays to raise and lo,er the camera. 3he tri"od you
,ill be using ,ith a "ortable camera ,ill most li5ely ha+e some sort of
cran5 handle to raise and lo,er the camera ,hile the aim remains the same.
Juite often, the "edestal mo+ement ,ill be used in conFunction ,ith the
tilt mo+ement. *hen this is the case, there ,ill need to be some sort of
e="lanation "re+ious to the actual e=ecution command. EIAMP:E H*hen )
gi+e you the command to "edestal u", tilt do,n at the same time and rate,
so ,e can 5ee" the subFect in the "icture, but change our shot angle.H
2oom. *e ha+e discussed the Eoom under focal length earlier. 3he Eoom,
although a mo+ement, does not constitute mo+ement of the camera or the aim
of the camera. 3he only thing to add at this "oint is to re-em"hasiEe
that any camera mo+ement, "articularly Eooms, must be moti+ated. 3he
tendency for beginning +ideogra"hers is to do a lot of camera mo+ing.
3hey fail to realiEe that their Fob isnCt to create the action, but to
ca"ture on +ideota"e the action already ta5ing "lace. 3he command for the
Eoom is HEoom inH or HEoom out.H 3here is also a s"ecial effect called the
sna" Eoom. 3his is an e=tremely ra"id Eoom, either in or out, that is
used to em"hasiEe a dramatic "oint. )t is more common in EFP than E.G and
D)0781 10
calls attention to itself. 3he +ie,er canCt hel" but notice it, and it
should be used only for ma=imum effect.
"ocus. 3he commands HEoom focusH and Hrac5 focusH mean s"ecific actions
that the o"erator is to accom"lish. A Eoom focus is done ,hene+er the
situation and time "ermit. 'ac5 focus is done ,hen there isnCt enough
time to Eoom focus, or for an effect. Another effect ,ith focus that ,ill
call the +ie,erCs attention is de-focus. 3his ,ould be to begin the shot
out of focus and bring the subFect into focus at a designated time. )t
could also be done in the re+erse by ta5ing the subFect out of focus to
bring something else in the +ideos"ace into focus, or merely to indicate
the end of the need to see the subFect.
Do$$3. Dolly is the mo+ement of the camera to,ard or a,ay from the
subFect /!ee Figure 1-80. 3he commands to dolly are, Hdolly inH or Hdolly
out.H
Cr#%e1 A crane is the mo+ement of the camera ato" a long arm of a crane.
Also called a boom, this is another function that is more common in EFP.
3he command is Hcrane u",H or Hcrane do,n.H *hen referred to as a boom, it
,ould be Hboom u",H or Hboom do,n.H
Truc4. 3ruc5 is the mo+ement of the camera to the right or left ,hile
5ee"ing the aim of the camera generally the same /!ee Figure 1-80. 9ust
as there is a difference bet,een a tilt and a "edestal, there is a big
difference bet,een a "an and a truc5. )f a subFect ,as tra+eling
horiEontally across the +ideos"ace and the o"erator Fust "anned to follo,
it, the shot angle ,ould change. %y truc5ing ,e 5ee" the angle of camera
to subFect the same. 3he command is Htruc5 right,H or Htruc5 left.H 3o
truc5 to one side or the other for more than Fust a short distance is
called a Htrac5ingH shot. )t is used most commonly in motion "ictures and
sometimes in EFP ,hen the camera is going along /usually on trac5s for
stability0 ne=t to a mo+ing subFect. EIAMP:E 3he inter"lay of dri+er
and shotgun rider on a stagecoach ,hen the scenery is flying by and the
subFects remain in the same s"ot in the +ideos"ace.
Arc. An arc can be either a combination of truc5 and dolly in a straight
line to arri+e at a "rescribed "oint, or a semi-circular mo+ement to one
side or the other /!ee Figure 1-80
11 D)0781
F)G$'E 1-8. CAME'A M&(EME.3
D)0781 1@
3he command is Harc rightH or Harc left.H Most often an arc is used to
"ro+ide another angle of a subFect ,hile allo,ing the +ie,er to see the
change of angle ta5ing "lace. )n some motion "ictures, you may e+en ha+e
seen an arc go com"letely around a subFect.
All of the camera mo+ements and their commands a""ly to both studio and
"ortable camera o"eration. 3here are some things ho,e+er, that you should
5ee" in mind ,hen o"erating the "ortable E.G camera.
o )f you are not o"erating a one-"iece cam-corder you must be certain
that your connections to the recorder are secure and that both
"ieces of e1ui"ment are mo+ed in unison.
o Chec5 your mounting "late and be sure not only that the camera is
mounted securely to the "late, but also that the "late is mounted
securely to the tri"od.
.o, that you 5no, the different camera mo+ements and ,hat they are called,
you must realiEe that the need for these mo+ements comes about because
your +ie,ers rely on you to "ro+ide a +isually understandable "roduct.
*hat you "ut into the +ideos"ace is im"ortant, but ho, you "ut it there is
Fust as im"ortant. 4ou learned the basics of framing and com"osition in
!ubcourse D)0780, Electronic 9ournalism. 3here are t,o different "oints
of +ie, that you should ta5e regarding "ro"er framing and com"osition
that of the +ideogra"her, and that of the editor. 4ou need to 5no, ho, to
do both. 3here ,ill be times ,hen you ,ill shoot for someone else to
edit, and times ,hen you ,ill edit someone elseCs +ideo. *hen youCre
shooting +ideo, you must 5ee" the editing "rocess in mind ,hether or not
you ,ill be the one ,ho edits the final "roduct.
EIAMP:E
)f you are Eooming in or out on a subFect, you may ,ant to do it se+eral
times, ta5ing different lengths of time for each. &ne fi+e-second Eoom-
in, a ten-second Eoom-in and e+en a sna" Eoom. 3hat ,ay, the editor ,ill
ha+e a choice of Eooms to use.
*hen you log the +ideo, you must s"ea5 the language of tele+ision on the
chance that someone else may ha+e to edit it. 3he follo,ing t,o e=am"les
are different ,ays of logging the same %-roll ta"e. Com"are them side by
side. )f you ,ere the editor, ,hich of them ,ould you ,ant to ha+e
"ro+ided to youK
17 D)0781
EIAMP:E &.E
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D)0781 1A
EIAMP:E 3*&
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Pro"er e1ui"ment o"eration is essential to E.G. )t includes thin5ing far
beyond Fust building the +ideos"ace. !ince the electronic ne,s gatherer
is often camera o"erator, director, lighting director, gaffer, ,riter,
editor and audio engineer he must be able to correctly o"erate all of the
e1ui"ment.
18 D)0781
!o far you ha+e learned ho, to o"erate the camera. Part of that o"eration
is to 5ee" in mind the "oints you must consider to shoot anything from a
feature to a s"ot ne,s story. DonCt forget ,hat you learned in :esson
3hree, Framing and Com"osition, subcourse D)0780. Good shot com"osition,
+ariance of angles, lead room and transmission loss ,ill all come into
"lay in all the +ideo you shoot.
LIGHTING EQUIPMENT
4ou learned the "rinci"les of tele+ision lighting in !ubcourse D)0780.
&"eration of e1ui"ment is nothing more than a""lying those "rinci"les. )t
may hel" you to re+ie, :esson 3,o of D)0780.
RECORDING EQUIPMENT
9ust as ,ith the technical as"ects of camera o"eration, you ,ill ha+e to
refer to the o"eratorCs manual for the "ro"er setu" and use of your
recorder. 3here are a fe, "oints you must remember about the use of any
recorder
o Plug your "rimary audio micro"hone into channel t,o and your natural
sound or bac5ground micro"hone into channel one. Channel t,o is on
the inside of the ta"e, and "rotected from edge damage.
o Plug in your head"hones and listen to the audio you record. DonCt
Fust assume you are recording ,hat you ,ant and in the balance you
,ant it.
o )f your recorder is not the ty"e that is connected to the camera
body, be sure the cables connecting the t,o are secure, and are not
,here someone "assing by ,ill tri" o+er them.
o 'ecord some +ideo and "lay it bac5 to ma5e sure the camera and
recorder system are functioning "ro"erly.
'emember, you can al,ays eliminate un,anted audio and +ideo in the editing
"rocess. 4ou canCt al,ays create the audio or +ideo you need if it isnCt
there. )n the o"eration of the recording e1ui"ment, the 5ey is to ma5e
sure you record all you need ,hile on the scene of the e+ent.
A final "oint to remember is that along ,ith the o"eration of E.G
e1ui"ment must go "ro"er care of that e1ui"ment. )t is each cre, memberCs
res"onsibility to ma5e sure each "iece of e1ui"ment recei+es the best of
care at all times.
D)0781 1B
P'AC3)CE EIE'C)!E
:E!!&. 1
!$%C&$'!E .&. D) 0781
&PE'A3E E.G EJ$)PME.3
).!3'$C3)&.!
'e+ie, the material in this lesson. Ans,er the 1uestions belo, by
circling the H3H or HFH ne=t to each 1uestion.
Com"are your ans,ers ,ith the ans,er 5ey on the ne=t "age.
3 F 1. *hene+er camera mo+ement is called for, the camera o"erator should
already ha+e the start and sto" "oints fi=ed in his mind.
3 F @. &nce a good, smooth Eoom has been accom"lished, ,hile +ideota"ing
in the field, itCs not a good idea to ,aste ta"e by trying it
again.
3 F 7. 'ac5 focus is another term for Eoom focus.
3 F A. 3here are three maFor "arts to a "ortable tele+ision camera the
lens, the body, and the +ie,finder.
3 F 8. 3he degree to ,hich you can change the focal length of a Eoom lens
is called the Eoom range.
3 F B. !ince s"orts is usually a segment of the ne,s, co+erage of a
s"orting e+ent is considered electronic ne,s gathering.
3 F <. All "ortable tele+ision cameras ha+e to ha+e a four-"osition
filter disc.
3 F ?. A good camera o"erator concentrates on getting the good shots and
doesnCt concern himself ,ith editing.
3 F #. 3he camera lens is sometimes called the internal o"tical system.
1< D)0781
A.!*E' >E4
P'AC3)CE EIE'C)!E
:E!!&. 1
!$%C&$'!E .&. D) 0781
&PE'A3E E.G EJ$)PME.3
1. 3'$E /Page 100
@. FA:!E /Page 170
7. FA:!E /Page 110
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8. 3'$E /Page 80
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D)0781 1?
LESSON T/O
SELECT AND SET UP MICROPHONES
AB' !oldierCs Manual 3as5 @1A-1<<-1@01
&(E'()E*
:E!!&. DE!C')P3)&.
3his lesson ,ill "ro+ide you an o+er+ie, of selecting and setting u"
micro"hones.
3E'M).A: :EA'.).G &%9EC3)(E
AC3)&. Describe "rocedures necessary to "ro"erly select and set u"
micro"hones for electronic ne,s gathering "roductions.
C&.D)3)&. 4ou are gi+en the material "resented in this lesson.
!3A.DA'D Perform all duties described in this lesson.
'EFE'E.CE! 3he material contained in this lesson ,as deri+ed from the
follo,ing "ublications
!3P AB-AB'1A-!M-3G !oldierCs Manual D 3rainerCs Guide,
%roadcast 9ournalist, M&! AB' !5ill :e+els 1;@;7;A, August
1#??.
Defense )nformation !chool 'adio and 3ele+ision 6andboo5,
May 1#?@.
1# D)0781
SELECT AND SET UP MICROPHONES
INTRODUCTION
According to *ebsterCs .inth .e, Collegiate Dictionary, the definition of
tele+ision is an electronic system of transmitting transient images of
fi=ed or mo+ing obFects together ,ith sound o+er a ,ire or through s"ace
by a""aratus that con+erts light and sound into electrical ,a+es and
recon+erts them into +isible light rays and audible sound. 3oo often
those in+ol+ed in the "roduction of tele+ision ha+e thought of it as a
+isual medium and forgotten that half of it is sound.
'egardless of ho, good the +ideo is, if the audio is ,ea5, so is the
"roduction. 4ou should "lan and "roduce the audio ,ith the same care and
attention to detail as the +ideo.
/HAT IS SOUND5
%efore discussing the selection and setu" of micro"hones, itCs necessary
to say something about the characteristics of sound. )n this lesson,
,eCll stay +ery basic and gi+e you only ,hat you need to 5no, to "erform
on a satisfactory le+el. &f course, if you ,ant to learn more about
sound, it ,ill enhance your "roficiency.
!ound occurs ,hen a body +ibrating bac5 and forth creates "ressure
+ariations ,hich are "ushed out,ard in ,a+es through the air. 3hese ,a+es
tra+el a,ay from the source e1ually in all directions, much li5e the
ri""les in a "ond caused by something stri5ing the surface.
Many things can affect sound ,a+es, Fust as many things can affect the
ri""les in a "ond. *hen ,e tal5 about sound from a "roduction stand"oint,
,e are referring to ho, the sound is "ercei+ed by the human ear after it
has been affected by all the e=ternal influences. Also, there are
im"ortant differences bet,een the "hysical "ro"erties of sound and ho, ,e
actually hear it. All the +arious factors in+ol+ed ,ould be too detailed
to discuss no,, but there are t,o im"ortant factors you should be familiar
,ith to ,or5 ,ith tele+ision audio. 3hey are sound fre1uency and sound
intensity.
Sou%- "re6ue%c3
3he sound ,a+es of a +ibrating body go in cycles and can be illustrated by
a Hsine ,a+eH /!ee Fig. @-1 !ound *a+es0.
Each cycle is measured from the beginning of one ,a+e to the beginning of
the ne=t. 3he number of com"lete ,a+es, or cycles, "er second determines
D)0781 @0
the fre1uency of the sound. 3his is called hertE /6E0. 3hat is ,hy a
thousand cycle tone is the same as a thousand hertE tone. 3he height of
the ,a+es is the am"litude, or loudness. *e measure this in decibels /d%0.
3he faster the +ibration of the body, the more cycles "roduced and the
higher the "itch of the sound. For e=am"le, the number of cycles "er
second "roduced by a trainCs ,histle is far greater than the number of
cycles "er second "roduced by a shi"Cs fog horn. 3hey may both ha+e the
same intensity, but they ha+e +ery different "itch. 3he human ear can
"ercei+e from 1B 6E to 1B,000 6E. &f course, some "eo"le hear better than
others, but this is the general range. .ormal hearing is most sensiti+e
to sounds bet,een 800 6E and A,000 6E. 3his is the range of sound
fre1uency most im"ortant for understanding s"eech. Professional audio
e1ui"ment is ca"able of re"roducing sound fre1uencies from about 1B 6E to
@0,000 6E, ,hich is the full audio s"ectrum necessary to "ic5 u" and
re"roduce sound and music accurately.
F)G$'E @-1. !&$.D *A(E!
Sou%- I%'e%s,'3
!ound intensity is directly related to the amount of energy e="ended in
creating the +ibrations. For e=am"le, the harder you hit a drum, the
louder it sounds. 3he increase of "ressure through a ,histle increases
@1 D)0781
the loudness of the sound. )n both cases, the "itch remains the same, but
the +olume goes u".
As "re+iously mentioned, loudness or sound intensity is measured in
decibels /d%0. )tCs also im"ortant for you to understand ho, the decibel
scale ,or5s. *e sense the difference in t,o sounds by com"arison rather
than by a "articular measurement. 4ou canCt tell ho, many decibels a
sound is Fust by listening, but you can tell ,hich of t,o sounds is louder.
3he decibel scale is a logarithmic scale. A doubling of the intensity is
re"resented by an increase of 7 d%. )n other ,ords, ,hene+er ,e double or
hal+e the intensity of a sound, ,e change it by 7 d%. A change from 7 to
B d% is doubling the sound intensity. A doubling of # d% ,ould not be 1?
though. )t ,ould be 1@. /An increase of 7.0 And of course, the same goes
for lessening the loudness.
4ou should be familiar ,ith the decibel scale because it is often used in
audio "roduction to refer to audio le+els. 3he common ($ meter on audio
boards is calibrated in decibels and "ercentage of modulation /!ee Fig.
@-@ (olume $nit Meter0.
F)G$'E @-@. (&:$ME $.)3 ME3E'
D)0781 @@
T!PES O" MICROPHONES
3here are t,o basic "arts common to all micro"hones 3he dia"hragm and the
generating element. 3he dia"hragm is a fle=ible de+ice, sensiti+e to the
air "ressure +ariations created by sound ,a+es. 3he generating element is
attached to the dia"hragm, and con+erts the +ibrations into electrical
energy. 3his is not unli5e the camera lens and the camera, ,here the lens
ca"tures the +isual images and the camera con+erts them into electronic
signals /!ee Figs. @-7, @-A D @-8 Micro"hones0.
Se$ec',%& T(e Correc' M,cro*(o%e
%egin by conducting an acoustical analysis. 4ou do that by assessing ho,
audio ,ill carry or be distorted in the recording en+ironment /e.g.,
studio, em"ty room, room filled ,ith furniture, small room, room ,ith high
ceiling, outdoors, etc.0. *hile doing this, 5ee" in mind the micro"hone
ty"es and "ic5u" "atterns of the micro"hones a+ailable. 3hen ta5e into
consideration any "ossible audio "roblems. 3his a""lies to both your E.G
and your EFP ,or5. 3hin5 not only about the "rimary audio and the
e1ui"ment re1uired to best achie+e the re1uired result, but about the
bac5ground audio, or ,ild sound as ,ell. !elect the ty"e of micro"hone
that ,ill "ro+ide the best "ic5u" for the situation. 3here are three
"rimary ty"es of micro"hones you ,ill deal ,ith Dynamic, 'ibbon and
Condenser.
3he DYNAMIC micro"hone is durable and e=cellent for outdoor use as a
"roduction micro"hone. 3his ty"e of micro"hone is the least +ulnerable to
distortion and the most common in use in E.G. /!ee Fig. @-7, Dynamic
Micro"hone0
F)G$'E @-7. D4.AM)C M)C'&P6&.E
@7 D)0781
3he RIBBON micro"hone is fragile and sensiti+e to strong, loud or sudden
sounds that can damage the ribbon. 3his micro"hone should be used
indoors. )t is desirable for use on announcers, singers and musical
instruments. )tCs not as good for E.G since youCll need more control o+er
se"aration. 4ouCll need to se"arate "rimary audio and ,ild sound more
than this micro"hone ,ill "ermit. 'emember too, you ha+e little or no
control o+er strong, loud or sudden sounds outside the studio that ,ould
harm the ribbon micro"hone. /!ee Fig. @-A, 'ibbon Micro"hone0
F)G$'E @-A. ')%%&. M)C'&P6&.E
3he C&.DE.!E' micro"hone generates a lo, signal and needs a
"re-am"lifier to boost its strength. )t re1uires a se"arate
"o,er su""ly, ,hich is large and bul5y. 3his ma5es the use
of this micro"hone difficult for E.G since one of the main
concerns of the E.G team is to lessen the amount of
e1ui"ment rather than add to it. 3he condenser micro"hone
"ro+ides the highest 1uality of sound of the three ty"es of
micro"hones. Although it is too sensiti+e for outdoor use,
it is e=cellent for music "ic5u". )ts use in E.G;EFP ,ould
be limited to something such as a +ideo s"ot for the $.!.
Army %and. /!ee Fig. @-8, Condenser Micro"hone0
F)G$'E @-8. C&.DE.!E' M)C'&P6&.E
D)0781 @A
PIC7UP PATTERNS
*hen selecting the micro"hone, consider the +arious "ic5u" "attern of each
micro"hone.
3he OMNIDIRECTIONAL micro"hone "ic5s u" sounds coming from any direction
e1ually ,ell. 3his micro"hone is recommended ,hen one micro"hone must
co+er a ,ide area or ,hen un,anted noise is not a "roblem /!ee Fig. @-B
Pic5u" Patterns0.
3he UNIDIRECTIONAL micro"hone "ic5s u" sounds coming from one direction
and su""resses sounds coming from the rear and sides. )t is recommended
if un,anted noise is a "roblem. $nidirectional "ic5u" "atterns ha+e three
general categories bidirectional, Cardioid, and su"ercardioid /!ee Fig.
@-B, Pic5u" Patterns0.
3he BIDIRECTIONAL micro"hone "ic5s u" sound coming from directly in front
and in bac5. 3his micro"hone is not good for tele+ision because it "ic5s
u" studio noises. )t is good for t,o "eo"le ,ho face each other, as in
the old radio drama, but in tele+ision the side o""osite the "erformer is
usually the camera and behind the scenes /!ee Fig. @-B, Pic5u" Patterns0.
3he sha"e of the CARDIOID "ic5u" "attern is similar to that of a heart, as
you ,ould sus"ect from its name. Most cardioid micro"hones are sensiti+e
to about 1@0 degrees on either side of straight for,ard, although this can
+ary some,hat. 3he ad+antage of some directional isolation in addition to
a ,ide audio "ic5u" range ma5es this a good micro"hone for tele+ision.
E+en ,hen the "erformer is some distance a,ay from this micro"hone, it
,ill "roduce better 1uality sound than an omnidirectional micro"hone.
3he SUPERCARDIOID is the most highly directional "attern, and is designed
to "ic5 u" sound ,ithin a +ery limited range. &ften called a shotgun
micro"hone, the biggest dra,bac5 to this ty"e of micro"hone "ic5u" "attern
is its highly unidirectional sha"e. $nless the micro"hone is "ointed
directly at the sound source "oor audio 1uality ,ill result. )ts
ad+antage is in its ability to "ic5 u" sound at far greater distances /!ee
Fig. @-B, Pic5u" Patterns0. E+en though it is designed to "ic5 u" sound
at greater distance, the closer the source, the better the sound that ,ill
be re"roduced.
3he "oints to remember ,hen considering the "ic5u" "atterns of each
micro"hone are the desired mi=ing or se"aration of sounds for the
"roduction, the li5elihood of un,anted sounds occurring during shooting
and the amount of gear to be trans"orted to the shoot site. 3here is
really no best micro"hone "ic5u" "attern. Each is designed for a
@8 D)0781
"articular situation. 3he tric5 is to let the micro"honeCs "ic5u" "attern
,or5 for you by focusing on the sound you ,ant and eliminating the sound
you donCt ,ant. An inter+ie, ta5ing "lace ne=t to a busy high,ay, for
e=am"le, ,ould be better conducted ,ith a unidirectional rather than an
omnidirectional micro"hone /!ee Fig. @-B, Pic5-u" "atterns0.
F)G$'E @-B. P)C>-$P PA33E'.!
IMPEDANCE
Another im"ortant factor for you to understand about micro"hones is
im"edance. )m"edance is the amount of resistance in a circuit. :o,
im"edance means little resistance and a greater current flo,, ,hile high
im"edance means greater resistance and lesser current flo,. 3he numbers
are not im"ortant for you, as an o"erator, to 5no,. 3hey are more
im"ortant to engineers, but you need to understand t,o im"ortant facts
:o, im"edance micro"hones "ermit the use of long cables ,ithout
D)0781 @B
significant loss of signals, and a micro"honeCs im"edance must al,ays
match the in"ut connector im"edance on a ta"e recorder or audio mi=er.
3hat means if your recorder uses a high im"edance in"ut connector, you
,ill ha+e to use a high im"edance micro"hone, and therefore, a relati+ely
short cable of a""ro=imately ten feet or less, or a transformer designed
to match the lo, im"edance of the micro"hone and the high im"edance of the
recorder. &f course, this ,ill be of more concern to the E.G team chief
than it ,ill to the +ideogra"her, but remember, you could +ery ,ell be
both.
PLACEMENT O" MICROPHONES
Another consideration ,hen selecting a micro"hone is its "lacement. 3his
is dictated by the subFect or situation. !ince ,eCre tal5ing about +ideo,
the a""earance of the micro"hone is also im"ortant to consider. (ery
often ,hen an inter+ie, ta5es "lace, the micro"hone has a flag /little
symbol that identifies the station or unit "roducing the "iece0 in +ie, of
the camera. &f course, it shouldnCt be a distraction.
3he LAVALIER micro"hone is most commonly used for studio tele+ision, but
can sometimes be used in the field ,hen it is necessary for the talent to
ha+e his hands free. )t is al,ays omnidirectional, and the s"ea5er tal5s
across, rather than directly into it. )t should be "laced on the la"el in
the direction the "erformer ,ill face and .&3 under any clothing.
Production "ersonnel should "lace the micro"hones on non-"rofessional
talent. A guest ,ho "uts on his o,n micro"hone ,ill ,orry about ho, it
loo5s instead of sound 1uality.
3he DESK micro"hone is "ositioned in the direction the talent ,ill face on
a des5 or tableto". )t is sensiti+e to des5 noise. $se a foam rubber "ad
under the micro"hone stand to eliminate some of this "roblem.
3he HAND micro"hone is commonly used for tele+ision re"orting in the
field. 3he inter+ie,er has com"lete control o+er "ositioning because he
is holding the micro"hone. A bac5u" to this micro"hone could be a %&&M
micro"hone sus"ended abo+e the sound source. )t can be sus"ended
mechanically or handheld.
3he STAND micro"hone is basically a hand micro"hone "ositioned on a stand
and therefore 1uite common in E.G;EFP. &n a stand it is used by singers
or near musical instruments.
@< D)0781
3he HEADSET micro"hone is used ,hen an off-camera announcer needs to ha+e
his hands free. )tCs used fre1uently for s"orting e+ents, ,hich are EFPs.
3he WIRELESS micro"hone is any small micro"hone ,ith a battery-"o,ered
transmitter. )t does not ha+e a cord, and allo,s for free mo+ement.
3he SHOTGUN micro"hone is a long, tubular micro"hone and is highly
unidirectional, /'emember the su"ercardioid "ic5u" "attern0. )t can be
se+eral feet from the s"ea5er. 3his micro"hone loc5s in on the main
source of sound ,hile eliminating e=traneous noise. )t is +ery useful
,hen you canCt get near the source.
CALES AND CONNECTORS
)n most cases, the out"ut of micro"hones must tra+el through a cable in
order to reach the recorder. 3his re1uires the use of s"ecial audio
cables, connectors and rece"tacles. *eCll tal5 about them se"arately.
C#b$es
An audio cable is t,o ,ires inside "rotecti+e insulation. At each end is a
connector. 3he e=ce"tion is the la+alier micro"hone. 3he la+alier is
connected "ermanently to its cable and there is only one connector on the
other end of the cable. &n most others -- hand, des5, stand, and boom
micro"hones -- there is no "ermanently attached cable, but a female
rece"tacle in ,hich to "lug a cable.
Cables ha+e a natural coil or cur+e to them. 4ou should follo, it ,hen
you ,ind them u" for storage. Failure to do so can result in damage to
the ,ires inside the cable and cause audio "roblems. )t is ne+er a good
idea to ,ind the cable around your elbo,. )t is also not a good idea to
tie the cable off by its ends. 3,ist ties or "i"e cleaners ,or5 ,ell for
holding the cable together.
*hen running audio cable, al,ays ha+e sufficient length for any mo+ement
that may be necessary. )tCs also a good idea to ha+e a minimum of cable
+isible in your "icture. A+oid ste""ing on your audio cable and ta5e the
necessary measures to "re+ent others from doing so as ,ell.
Co%%ec'ors
Professional micro"hones and cables use a standard connector called a
cannon "lug. )t is actually a cannon I:' ,ith three-"ronged male and
D)0781 @?
female "lugs, /!ee Fig. @-<, Micro"hone Connector Plugs0. Most audio
out"uts use a male "lug and most in"uts use a female rece"tacle. 3hey
loc5 into "osition ,hen connected. 3his is a safety "recaution to ma5e
sure they donCt come a"art during use. 3he male "lug has a release button
that must be "ushed to disconnect.
F)G$'E @-<. M)C'&P6&.E C&..EC3&' P:$G!
/IRELESS MICROPHONES
*ireless micro"hones, as the name im"lies, o"erate ,ithout any cables.
3hey gi+e you all the ad+antages of a la+alier or hand micro"hone ,ithout
the restrictions of cables.
3he ,ireless micro"hone is a con+entional la+alier or hand micro"hone
connected to a small battery-"o,ered transmitter. 3he signal is
transmitted through a small antenna on an FM radio fre1uency to a
recei+er. 3he out"ut of the recei+er can then be fed into a camera, a
recorder or an audio console.
Many hand-held ,ireless micro"hones ha+e the battery and transmitter in
the micro"hone case. 4ou may ha+e seen singers "erforming into a
micro"hone ,ith a little antenna "rotruding from the bottom of the case.
3he transmitter and battery for ,ireless la+alier micro"hones are in a
"oc5et-siEed unit that is easily carried by the "erformer ,hile allo,ing
his hands to remain free. 3his can be beneficial in any number of
a""lications.
@# D)0781
Early models of the ,ireless micro"hone ,ere subFect to interference from
many sources, such as ta=i and "olice radios. .e,er 'F micro"hones use a
di+ersity recei+ing system ,hich is designed to "re+ent those "roblems.
*ireless micro"hones ,ith the di+ersity recei+ing system are reliable and
de"endable.
3he transmission range of ,ireless micro"hones is any,here from 80 to 1000
feet de"ending on conditions. &f course, youCll ,ant to "osition your
recei+er as close to the micro"hone as you can.
3he one disad+antage of the ,ireless micro"hone is cost because a se"arate
transmitter and recei+er is re1uired for each micro"hone. 3he ad+antages
of freedom of mo+ement and increased range, may or may not be ,orth the
e="ense.
"ILTERS
Micro"hones are susce"tible to loud, sudden sounds and ,ind noise. Po"
filters and screens are used on micro"hones to diminish these sounds. Po"
filters are built-in, usually in dynamic micro"hones. 3hey are e=cellent
against distortion. *indscreens are e=ternally mounted but cannot
eliminate loud distortion. Filters are most used ,hen re"orting in the
field.
THE RIGHT TOOL "OR THE JO
Determine the number and ty"e of micro"hones, cables and filters needed.
%ase this u"on the information "ro+ided to you in the scri"t, your
acoustical analysis, and your decision on the ty"e, "ic5u" "attern, and
"osition/s0 of your micro"hone/s0. 3he ty"es of micro"hones you use and
their "ositioning ,ill be based on your subFect and the situation.
THERE8S MORE TO IT
For E.G ,e must also consider s"are micro"hones and cables. Carry this a
ste" further and be sure you ha+e s"ares for any of your e1ui"ment. &nce
youCre out in the field, you ,onCt ha+e the chance to run into the
e1ui"ment cabinet to re"lace a burned out bulb, or an audio cable that
doesnCt ,or5. Chec5 all of your audio e1ui"ment. !"ea5 into or across
each micro"hone in a normal +oice. )f any are not ,or5ing, chec5 the
connector cables and ma5e sure the micro"hones are s,itched H&..H )f a
micro"hone doesnCt ,or5, re"lace it. )f audio feedbac5 or interference
occurs, re"osition the micro"hones until the "roblem is eliminated.
D)0781 70
Do this in the station;studio;office. 3hen ta5e s"ares along any,ay.
9ust as ,ith all the e1ui"ment necessary for the "roduction, your
chec5list should include s"ares for any e1ui"ment that could malfunction
and 5ee" you from com"leting your mission.
Finally, there is no substitute for "lanning in E.G and EFP. Audio is as
much a "art of any E.G;EFP "iece as +ideo e+en if itCs only natural or
bac5ground sound. After all the "lanning it is still im"ortant to not
ta5e shortcuts ,hile shooting. $se the headsets to actually hear the
audio that is being recorded. DonCt ta5e-for granted that itCll be there
and s"end all your efforts on +ideo only. &nce the e+ent has ta5en "lace
and you return to your editing suite, there is no going bac5 for something
you missed, and if you donCt ha+e e+erything, including audio, all your
time and effort is ,asted.
71 D)0781
P'AC3)CE EIE'C)!E
:E!!&. @
!$%C&$'!E .&. D) 0781
!E:EC3 A.D !E3 $P M)C'&P6&.E!
).!3'$C3)&.!
'e+ie, the material in this lesson. Ans,er the 1uestions belo, by
circling H3H or HFH ne=t to each 1uestion. Com"are your ans,ers ,ith the
ans,er 5ey on the ne=t "age.
3 F 1. Audio is the one area of E.G ,here you can afford to ta5e
shortcuts.
3 F @. A shotgun micro"hone is also called %idirectional.
3 F 7. All E.G micro"hones ha+e a dia"hragm.
3 F A. Modern ,ireless micro"hones are still subFect to interference
from ta=i and "olice radios.
3 F 8. !ound fre1uency is measured in decibels.
3 F B. !ound is "ressure +ariations in the air ,hich tra+el in
,a+es.
3 F <. !ound am"litude is measured in hertE.
3 F ?. A ($ meter is calibrated in decibels.
3 F #. &mnidirectional means only in one direction.
3 F 10. !ome micro"hones ha+e built-in filters.
77 D)0781
A.!*E' >E4
P'AC3)CE EIE'C)!E
:E!!&. @
!$%C&$'!E .&. D) 0781
!E:EC3 A.D !E3 $P M)C'&P6&.E!
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D)0781 7A
LESSON THREE
PREPARE9PER"ORM T. NE/S INSERTS
AB' !oldierCs Manual 3as5 @1A-1<<-1711
&(E'()E*
:E!!&. DE!C')P3)&.
3his lesson ,ill "ro+ide you an o+er+ie, of "re"aring;"erforming
tele+ision ne,s inserts.
3E'M).A: :EA'.).G &%9EC3)(E
AC3)&. Describe "rocedures necessary to "ro"erly "re"are;"erform
tele+ision ne,s inserts.
C&.D)3)&. 4ou are gi+en the material "resented in this lesson.
!3A.DA'D Perform all the duties described in this lesson.
'EFE'E.CE! 3he material contained in this lesson ,as deri+ed from the
follo,ing "ublications
!3P AB-AB'1A-!M-3G !oldierCs Manual D
3rainerCs Guide, %roadcast 9ournalist,
M&! AB' !5ill :e+els 1;@;7;A, August 1#??.
Defense )nformation !chool 'adio and
3ele+ision 6andboo5, May 1#?@.
Defense )nformation !chool, %roadcast
9ournalism !tyle Guide
78 D)0781
PREPARE9PER"ORM T. NE/S INSERTS
INTRODUCTION
3he "re"aration and "erformance of tele+ision ne,s inserts are the meat
and "otatoes of the electronic Fournalism business today. 3his is true in
both the ci+ilian and military ,orlds. )n the ci+ilian ,orld, there are
entire net,or5s concerned ,ith ne,s only, /and ad+ertising, of course0.
3he "ublic affairs mission of the Army is di+ided into "ublic information
/P)0 and command information /C)0, both of ,hich can often best be ser+ed
in a ne,s format.
4our role as +ideogra"her, /already co+ered in the o"eration of E.G
e1ui"ment under camera o"eration0, ,riter, announcer, editor, director or
assignments manager ,ill re1uire you to 5no, a lot about the "re"aration
and "erformance of tele+ision ne,s inserts. )n this lesson, ,eCll address
the things youCll need to 5no, for announcing, ,riting, scri"ting,
inter+ie,ing and editing. *hat youCll need to 5no, about assignments
manager res"onsibilities ,ill be co+ered latter in this subcourse.
/RITING
*riting and scri"ting, although t,o slightly different elements, are so
closely related that ,eCll co+er them together. &f course, all the
"rinci"les co+ered "re+iously under announcing, e+en though they ,ere
mostly aesthetic elements, ,ill still a""ly and ,eCll be mentioning them
again. .o, ,eCll "ay more attention to the mechanics. !ome things may
seem redundant to you, and they "robably are. 'emember, ,e ha+e already
tal5ed about a lead, for e=am"le. *e tal5ed about ,hat it is su""osed to
accom"lish, the t,o basic ty"es of leads and so forth. *hen ,e again tal5
about leads, e+en though ,e ,ill be stressing the mechanics, ,eCll again
touch on some of the aesthetics of them.
Proce-ures #%- L,m,'#',o%s
3he ability to ,rite comes from much learning and "ractice. )tCs
difficult, if not im"ossible, to teach someone to ,rite, much less ,rite
,ell, in one short lesson. 3he efforts of this lesson ,ill be directed
to,ard gi+ing you the rules that must a""ly to broadcast ,riting and ho,
it differs from ,riting for "rint media. 3he best ,ay to learn to ,rite
is to -- ,rite, ,rite, ,rite. )t also hel"s to read a lot. &bser+e the
,ritings of others.
D)0781 7B
*hen ,riting for broadcast, you should a""ly si= HCCsH. 3hey are2 CLEAR,
CONCISE, CON.ERSATIONAL, COMPLETE, CURRENT, and most im"ortantly, CORRECT.
:etCs address each of these "oints, one at a time.
C$e#r. %roadcast co"y must be clear. )f something isnCt clear, the
reader, listener;+ie,er ,onCt understand it, and he canCt go bac5 o+er it
since itCs being read to him by someone else, ,ho isnCt going to re"eat
it. &nce gone, itCs gone fore+er.
Co%c,se. *riting concisely adds to clarity and sa+es air time, allo,ing
t,o or three more stories to be included in a 70-minute ne,scast.
Co%0ers#',o%#$. 3he co"y is going to be read to its intended audience and
it should be done in a con+ersational manner, something that ,ould be
"ossible only if the co"y ,ere con+ersational in the first "lace. 'ead it
aloud before you turn it in to your editor or air it yourself.
Com*$e'e. 4our ,riting must ans,er all the "ertinent 1uestions --the ,ho,
,hat, ,hen, ,here, ,hy and ho,. .e,s stories should ans,er 1uestions, not
raise them.
Curre%'. 6ere again, there are some e=ce"tions, although usually e+en
,hen something is "resented as being of or about another time, it is
"resented as in the "resent. For e=am"le, e+en if ,e recei+e something
that is of a historical nature, ,e "ercei+e it in the here and no,. *e
ne+er lose sight of the fact that thatCs ,here ,e are, so the co"y
shouldnCt either.
Correc'. 3he im"ortance of being correct cannot be stressed enough. 3he
broadcast media hold a certain credibility ,ith the maFority of "eo"le.
H) sa, it on tele+isionH is enough "roof for many "eo"le. 3his is both
good and bad. )t adds a certain +alue to those things ,e say in our +ideo
scri"t,riting, but it re1uires us to ,or5 e=tra hard to ensure somethingCs
accuracy. 3he structure of a ne,s story for broadcast usually differs
from that of the "rint media. 3he first thing in the broadcast story is
the H*6A3H. 3his ,ill attract the listenerCs attention and alert them to
,hat is about to follo, the details. !ince +ie,ers cannot absorb all the
facts in the first line, they must be gi+en them in a form that ,ill
enhance understanding. )nstead of *hat ha""ened to ,hom, ,hen and ,here
,ith a ,hy thro,n in and then e="laining it in the rest of the story,
broadcast style is more li5e H*hat ha""ened,H H)t ha""ened ,here and
,hen,H H3his is ,hy it ha""ened,H and ,eCll "ut in the ho, if ,e ha+e it.
7< D)0781
T(e Le#-
3he lead sentence should ha+e enough information about *hat ha""ened to
arouse the listenerCs interest, ,ithout "assing on too much information
for the listener to com"rehend. A lead sentence should be @0 ,ords or
fe,er and contain as much information as "ossible ,ithout o+erloading the
listener. A good idea is to begin the sentence ,ith one or t,o ,ords that
are .&3 the essential information in the story. DonCt begin ,ith
essential numbers for the same reason. Much of the time, the +ie,ersC
minds arenCt geared for the story and it ta5es a ,ord or t,o for them to
be fully alerted to recei+e the essential information. $sually, a lead
can be made much better by changing it around a little. EIAMP:E H170-
36&$!A.D !&:D)E'! C&$:D %E C$3 F'&M 36E A'M4 ). 36E .EA' F$3$'E, )3 *A!
A..&$.CED 3&DA4.H 3his ,ould be more assured of the listenerCs
understanding if it ,ere ,orded H36E A'M4 A..&$.CED 3&DA4 A.3)C)PA3ED
MA.P&*E' C$3! &F 170-36&$!A.D ). 36E .EA' F$3$'E.H
T(e o-3
After the lead, the story must ha+e a logical de+elo"ment. 3his is the
body. )tCs, 1uite sim"ly, telling the rest of the story in an orderly
fashion, flo,ing smoothly to an end. &f course, the most im"ortant fact
,ill come ne=t and the ne=t most im"ortant fact ne=t, and so on. 3his is
im"ortant in broadcast ,riting because air time is limited and +aluable.
3y"ically, the same story ,ill be di+ulged in both the "rint and broadcast
media. )t isnCt at all uncommon for the broadcast +ersion to be only one
tenth as long as the "rint +ersion.
Te%se. 3he natural tense for broadcast co"y is the P'E!E.3 3E.!E, since
most ne,s re"orting is of current, or at least, +ery recent ne,s.
6o,e+er, e+ery story doesnCt ha+e to sound as though it ha""ened in the
last minute. As a matter of fact, many e+ents that the audience 5no,s are
in the "ast must be re"orted in the "ast tense. A good e=am"le of this
,ould be in re"orting s"orts scores. )tCs acce"table to headline
something in the "resent tense to entice the audience to come bac5 after a
brea5, such as H&hio !tate u"sets .otre Dame...that, and the rest of the
s"orts scores right after this.H %ut the fact that they are final scores
ma5es them "ast tense and they should be re"orted as such.
.o,ce. %roadcast co"y should be in the acti+e +oice. 3he acti+e +oice
has the subFect of the sentence doing the action rather than the subFect
recei+ing the action. )tCs not only 1uic5er, itCs more con+ersational and
carries more im"act.
D)0781 7?
EIAMP:E:
Passi+e 36E E()DE.CE *A! GA36E'ED %4 36E P&:)CE DEPA'3ME.3.
Acti+e 36E P&:)CE DEPA'3ME.3 GA36E'ED 36E E()DE.CE.
/r,'e +or '(e e#r. )n 5ee"ing your co"y con+ersational youCll be ,riting
for the ear. 4our +ideo ,ill enhance the audio, but the audio must be
able to stand alone. )t is for this reason that ,e refer to broadcast
,riting rather than Fust tele+ision ,riting. 'emember, blind "eo"le
listen to tele+ision and much of the time, sighted "eo"le listen to
tele+ision ,hile theyCre doing other things. $se e+eryday language.
*rite as "eo"le s"ea5. $se contractions.
EIAMP:E:
%ad *6E. J$E')ED, )3 *A! ).D)CA3ED %4 36E P&:)CE
C6)EF 36A3 A. A''E!3 *A! )MM).E.3.
Good *6E. A!>ED, 36E P&:)CE C6)EF !A)D A. A''E!3 *A!
)MM).E.3.
Se%'e%ce $e%&'(. >ee" sentences short. 3heyCre easier for the ne,scaster
to read and easier for the audience to understand. 'emember, the lead
should be @0 ,ords or less and the rest of the sentences should be @8
,ords or less. E+en though they can be @8 ,ords long, sentences other
than the lead should only a+erage 1< ,ords. 3hey should +ary in length to
a+oid a "attern effect. For s"ot announcements, the ma=imum sentence
length should be 1< ,ords. !horter sentences gi+e a feeling of action and
urgency, but itCs also easy to sound cho""y if youCre not careful to +ary
the sentence length ,ithin the ,ord limit.
EIAMP:E:
!ince they ,ere not for,arded for a final +ote, they can be
resurrected only by a t,o-thirds +ote of the house or by being added
to bills under consideration later in house-senate conference
committees, in ,hich conferees try to reach agreements on bills that
ha+e "assed the house and senate but in different forms.
3his e=am"le is a sentence that ,as ta5en directly from a daily ne,s"a"er
in a maFor American city. )t illustrates the need to shorten sentences
for broadcast co"y. )f you can go o+er it again, you can understand it,
but try to read it aloud and ma5e yourself understood. %y di+iding this
7# D)0781
8B ,ord sentence into four sentences of 1A, #, 18 and 1# ,ords, ,e ma5e it
much clearer.
36E %)::! *E'E.C3 F&'*A'DED F&' A F).A: (&3E, %$3 36E4
CA. !3):: %E 'E!$''EC3ED. &.E ME36&D )! 3*&-36)'D!
(&3E %4 36E 6&$!E. A.&36E' )! %4 ADD).G 36EM 3& %)::!
$.DE' C&.!)DE'A3)&. :A3E' ). 6&$!E-!E.A3E C&.FE'E.CE
C&MM)33EE!. 36E!E C&MM)33EE! 3'4 3& 'EAC6 AG'EEME.3 &.
%)::! 36A3 6A(E PA!!ED 36E 6&$!E A.D !E.A3E, %$3 ).
D)FFE'E.3 F&'M!.
Quo'#',o%s #%- #''r,bu',o%. )t ta5es a little subtlety on the "art of the
broadcast ,riter ,hen it comes to 1uotations and attribution. )n the
"rinted format, it ta5es nothing more than "utting something in 1uotation
mar5s. 6o,e+er, the listening audience canCt see 1uotation mar5s. 3his
can be o+ercome ,ith the use of "hrases li5e, Hhe saidH ,ith a slight
"ause before the 1uoted ,ords or a faint change of tone. 3his ,ill lea+e
no doubt in the mind of the listener that he is hearing the e=act ,ords of
the original s"ea5er.
EIAMP:E
36E C6)EF PE334 &FF)CE' *A! A!>ED F&' 6)! &P).)&., A.D
6E !A)D,....H) 36).> !6EC! 36E F).E!3 !6)P AF:&A3.H
*hen it is absolutely necessary to remo+e all chance of doubt from the
listenerCs mind, you can use HJ$&3EH and HE.D J$&3E.H 6o,e+er, this is
disconcerting and certainly uncon+ersational and you should a+oid it ,hen
you can. )f youCre 1uoting someone and itCs necessary to use a long
1uote, donCt ,orry about rules for sentence length. A+oid long 1uotes
,hene+er "ossible for ob+ious reasons. *hen you ha+e to lin5 the s"ea5er
,ith the 1uote, use con+ersational "hrases.
EIAMP:E
36E C6)EF ADDED....
or
6E C&.3).$ED %4 !A4).G...
)tCs usually a good idea to identify your source as 1uic5ly as "ossible.
*e donCt ,ant the listener;+ie,er to miss any of the im"ortant information
because heCs trying to figure out ,ho is being 1uoted.
D)0781 A0
Cre-,'s. *hen 1uoting source material, since ,e canCt use footnotes, ,e
need to gi+e oral attribution to both the source and its author, and it
should be done in the first reference. 3hen in subse1uent references ,e
can attribute either the source or the author.
EIAMP:E:
). 36E H.).36 .E* C&::EG)A3E D)C3)&.A'4H, ME'')AM
*E%!3E' P$3 36E ACCE.3 &. 36E F)'!3 !4::A%:E ). 36E
.&$., HA33')%$3E.H *6E. )3C! A 3'A.!)3)(E (E'%,
6&*E(E', 36E ACCE.3 )! P$3 &. 36E !EC&.D !4::A%:E.
*hene+er a "roduction is going to re1uire a lot of attribution, it can be
done all at once in the form of credits at the end. )t can be done ,ith a
cra,l by the character generator as ,ell as by an announcer. )t ,ouldnCt
hurt to include the credit in the co"y since the +ideo can be missed by
anyone in the audience ,ho is Fust listening. &f course, 5no,n facts need
not al,ays be credited. EIAMP:E
)3C! 3)ME F&' A:: &F $! 3& 'EM).D &$'!E:(E! 3&,
HA!> .&3 *6A3 4&$' C&$.3'4 CA. D& F&' 4&$2 A!> *6A3
4&$ CA. D& F&' 4&$' C&$.3'4.H
As a broadcast ,riter, you must e=ercise careful Fudgment in determining
,hether such material is sufficiently original or identifiable ,ith its
author or source as to not re1uire credit.
Numbers
"rom o%e 'o %,%e1 *rite out &.E, 3*&, 36'EE, etc., unless they are being
used for s"orts scores, times, dates or tele"hone numbers.
"rom 10 'o ;;;. $se numerals 10, @0, 70, 1@?, #@8, etc.
More '(#% ;;;. %oth of the "receding styles a""ly ,ith one slight
addition. !ubstitute for the Eeroes, ,ords that mean ,hat those Eeroes
re"resent, such as &.E-6$.D'ED, 18-6$.D'ED, 36'EE-36&$!A.D or <1-
%)::)&., etc.
A1 D)0781
D#'es. 9A.$A'4 1!3, 9$.E @#36, 9$:4 A36, etc.
!e#rs. Four digit numerals such as 1#?0 or 1##8.
Mo%e3. 10-36&$!A.D D&::A'!, 3*&-M)::)&. 4E., @#-D-MA'>.
"r#c',o%s. 3*&-36)'D!, &.E-F&$'36, 1<-36)'34 !EC&.D!.
Perce%'#&es. F)(E PE' CE.3, @@ PE' CE.3.
Te$e*(o%e %umbers. 8A@-A01A or EI3E.!)&. A-0-1-A /for em"hasis0
A--resses. &.E *E!3 EAGE' !3'EE3, B8808 .&'36 B#36 A(E.$E.
u,$-,%& %umbers. %$):D).G &.E2 %$):D).G A002 etc.
A&es. 36'EE-*EE>-&:D %A%4, @1-4EA'-&:D P')(A3E.
T,me. #00 36)! M&'.).G or .).E A-M.
Dec,m#$s. 18-P&).3-F)(E or F)(E-P&).3-3*&.
Rom#% %umer#$s. :&$)! 36E 1B36, P&PE 9&6. PA$: 36E !EC&.D.
R#',%&s. .$M%E' !)I &. 36E C6A'3, 'A.>ED @B36 %4 36E AP *')3E'!.
Scores. < 3& 7, 1# 3& 1@, 78 3& .&36).G.
L,ce%se. %-' 8A#
M,$,'#r3 u%,'s. !EC&.D %A33A:)&., ?@.D A)'%&'.E, !E(E.36 A'M4. /*ritten
as s"o5en0
E6u,*me%' -es,&%#',o%s. M-1B ')F:E, C-F)(E-A HGA:AI4H, C-&.E-70 H6E'C$:E!H
Pu%c'u#',o%
T(e *er,o-. As in any ,riting, the "eriod indicates the end of a sentence
or thought. More "eriods are used in broadcast ,riting because broadcast
ne,s sentences are shorter and more con+ersational.
T(e comm#. A comma indicates a "ause shorter than that of a "eriod.
Geogra"hical names and most items in dates and addresses are also set off
by commas.
D)0781 A@
EIAMP:E:
*E M&(ED F'&M F&'3 %'AGG, .&'36 CA'&:).A, &. 9$.E @#36,
1#?8.
T(e -#s(. $se the dash to set off a""ositi+es and other "arenthetical
e="ressions.
EIAMP:E
.A3& -- 36E .&'36 A3:A.3)C 3'EA34 &'GA.)LA3)&. -- )!
P')MA'):4 'E!P&.!)%:E F&'....
T(e (3*(e%. $se the hy"hen to hel" announcers in "hrasing difficult ,ords
and to instruct them to "ronounce indi+idual elements distinctly.
EIAMP:E
'E-AD9$!3, 'E-E(A:$A3E, *-A-%-C, F-%-), $-!, A-M
D& .&3 hy"henate or di+ide a ,ord at the end of a line. !"ell out the
entire ,ord &' mo+e it to the ne=t line.
T(e -o's. &ccasionally, you can use a series of three dots to indicate a
"ause longer than that of a comma. 3he series of three dots can be used
for dramatic effect
EIAMP:E
36E 9$'4 F&'EMA. A..&$.CED ). A C:EA' F)'M (&)CE...
H)..&CE.3MH
T(e 6uo'#',o% m#r4s. )n addition to their normal use for indicating
1uotes, the 1uotation mar5s can also be used to set off nic5names, titles
of boo5s and "lays, etc.
EIAMP:E
36E &.E-6$.D'ED F)'!3 A)'%&'.E D)()!)&. -- %E33E' >.&*.
A! 36E H!C'EAM).G EAG:E!H -- MA>E! )3! 6&ME A3 F&'3...
P#re%'(eses. )n broadcast co"y, material in "arentheses is information
for the announcer, and normally not meant to be read aloud. )t includes
notes to the announcer such as "ronunciation guides, a date, reading
rates, etc.
EIAMP:E
C&:&.E: PA4>E. /PA4->E.0 A'')(E! &. !$.DA4 /MA4 @1!30.
A7 D)0781
S*e#4,%& O+ /or-s
'emember, anyone can turn on a radio or tele+ision set. Choose ,ords that
e+eryone ,ill understand, the announcer as ,ell as the listener. DonCt
e="ect things of your audience. Ma5e your co"y clear and understandable.
Co%'r#c',o%s. )n day-to-day con+ersations, contractions are used
liberally. H)tCsH instead of Hit is,H HtheyCreH instead of Hthey areH
,ill ma5e your co"y more con+ersational. A cou"le of e=ce"tions to this
are the Hit ,illH contraction, HitCll,H and Hthey ,ill,H HtheyCll,H ,hich
are a,5,ard to the ear.
Pro%ou%s. 3here is a danger in using "ersonal "ronouns in broadcast co"y.
4ou must be sure your audience 5no,s ,ho youCre tal5ing about ,hene+er you
use Hhe,H HsheH or Hthey.H 3he ear canCt go bac5 and "ic5-u" the
identification.
A$$,'er#',o%s. *hen you com"ose a sentence consisting of se+eral ,ords
beginning ,ith the same +o,els or consonants, you ha+e alliterations and
the announcer has a "roblem.
E<AMPLE:
36E *E!3E':4 *).D! *):: *6)P *'A36 *)36). *).D!&'...
or
36E DE(A!3A3ED DAM D$MPED D'$DGE A.D D)'3 &. DE! M&).E!
S,b,$#%'. 3oo many HsH or HshH sounds tend to create a hissing sound ,hen
read aloud.
EIAMP:E
36E !)I36 !)C> !6)E>C! !)I36 !6EEPC! !)C>
And of course, you should al,ays be a,are of ho, difficult your co"y ,ill
be to read aloud. 3ry it yourself if you ha+e any doubt. 3his can be a
second reason for reading your co"y aloud in addition to double chec5ing
it for time. *eCll discuss ho, to time your co"y later.
Homo%3ms. *atch out for homonyms, ,ords ,hich sound ali5e but ha+e
different meanings. 3he listener canCt hear the difference bet,een H,onH
and Hone,H CCbearH and Hbare.H
Here #%- '(ere. !ince your listeners could be any,here, HhereH and
HthereH can mean something different to each of them and change the
meaning of your co"y. 3hese ,ords can be a+oided sim"ly by calling
D)0781 AA
HhereH or HthereH by its name. )f HhereH is Fort >no=, say HF&'3 >.&I.H
L,be$ous =or-s. A libelous ,ord ,ould be any ,ord that, if used
im"ro"erly in your story, could lead to libel. %e +ery careful ,ith ,ords
li5e atheist, fascist, seducer, bigamist, ra"ist, murderer, illegitimate,
deadbeat, addict, etc. %e es"ecially careful ,ith the ,ord Hfor.H !aying
someone has been arrested Hfor murderH im"lies guilt. )nstead say
something li5e Harrested on a charge of murderH or Harrested in connection
,ith the murder of...H >ee" in mind also that until someone is con+icted
of a crime, they are only a Hsus"ectH or the HaccusedH and their act is
Halleged.H
No'> ?%o'1? A+oid the use of the ,ord HnotH in your co"y. H.otH can
easily be dro""ed inad+ertently and lea+e the listener ,ondering if he
heard HnotH or not.
EIAMP:E
$se A+oid
D)!6&.E!3 .&3 6&.E!3
)..&CE.3 .&3 G$):34
F&'G&3 D)D .&3 'EMEM%E'
$.A%:E .&3 A%:E
O'(er me#%,%&$ess =or-s. A+oid meaningless ,ords li5e HlatterH, HformerH
and Hres"ecti+elyH ,hen referring to "ersons, "laces or things already
mentioned. Again, listeners canCt refer bac5. :i5e,ise, a+oid
transitional "hrases ,ithin your stories such as Hmean,hile,H Hmeantime,H
Hincidentally.H 3heyCre crutches. *hile each thought, "hrase or "aragra"h
should flo, to the ne=t, it should be done ,ith s5illful organiEation, not
thro,a,ay transitional ,ords.
!teer clear of flo,ery "hrases and trite e="ressions that ta5e u" time and
s"ace and add nothing. A+oid slang, +ulgarisms and dialect in ne,s
,riting.
Al,ays translate military Fargon, technical, legal and foreign terms into
sim"le language.
A8 D)0781
EIAMP:E
$se A+oid
A!!)G.ED DE3A):ED
%EF&'E P')&' 3&
E.:)!3ME.3 6)3C6
)F ). 36E E(E.3 &F
!A)D C:A)MED
Goo- '#s'e. *hat can ,e say about good tasteK )tCs relati+e. )tCs +ery
easy to be misunderstood, and e+en ,hen your meaning is 1uite clear,
thereCs a chance that someone ,ill feel itCs in bad taste. 4ou M$!3,
therefore, ta5e all "recautions to be sure your ,ords, "hrases and manner
of "resenting information ,ill not embarrass your command, your ser+ice,
or the $nited !tates Go+ernment.
H#%-$,%& T,'$es #%- N#mes
DonCt lead off a broadcast story ,ith a "ersonCs name if you can a+oid it.
)n the case of names and titles being used together, "recede the name ,ith
the title. )t should be, H!PEC)A: AGE.3 E::)&33 .E!!,CH not HE::)&33
.E!!, !PEC)A: AGE.3.H 3his alerts your listener that a name is coming u"
and gi+es them a better chance to com"rehend your story.
&fficial titles
'efer to federal office holders by title or as HmisterH or Hms.H 3hat is
!E.A3&' 9&.E! or M)!3E' 9&.E!...C&.G'E!!MA. !M)36 or M)!3E'
!M)36...C&.G'E!!*&MA. %'&*. or M! %'&*....
D,++,cu$' %#mes. *hene+er a difficult name isnCt essential, use the
"ersonCs title, such as H36E F&'E)G. M).)!3E' &F !*EDE....H
I%,',#$s. )tCs best to omit initials in a "ersonCs name unless it is a
,ell-5no,n "art of the "ersonCs name such as 6&*A'D >. !M)36 or M)C6AE: 9.
F&I or F. :EE %A):E4. 3he other e=ce"tion is ,hen the nature of the story
re1uires further clarification, such as births or deaths.
P(o%e',c s*e$$,%&. )f thereCs any ,ay for an announcer to mis"ronounce a
difficult or unusual name, assume heCll do it. !o gi+e him all the hel"
you can. *rite the "honetic s"elling in "arentheses, and "lace it
immediately behind the troublesome ,ord. %e sure to underline the
"honetic syllable that is to be accented or stressed.
D)0781 AB
EIAMP:E
!E'GEA.3 >&::MA. /C&A:-MA.0 E.3E'ED...
M$.)C6 /ME*-.)C>0, GE'MA.4 )! 36E CAP)3&: &F....
Ma5e sure the "honetic s"elling a""ears on the same line as the ,ord it
re"resents.
*hen abbre+iations are used, they are intended to be read as
abbre+iations. 3he use of ,ell-5no,n abbre+iations is "ermissible, such
as...4-M-C-A, F-%-), $-!, A-M, or P-M. 4ou may also use M'., M!., and D'.
H!3.H may be used instead of H!A).3H as in !3. :&$)!.
Do not abbre+iate military ran5s or installation names. $se CAP3A).
CA':)!:E /not CP3.0, !3AFF !E'GEA.3 %A):E4 /not !!G or !!G3.0. $se F&'3
/not F3.0 >.&I. $se .A(A: A)' !3A3)&. /not .A!0. $.)3ED !3A3E! or $-!
A)' F&'CE /not $!AF0.
O'(er Co%s,-er#',o%s
Abbre0,#',o%s. A good rule to remember on the use of abbre+iations in
broadcast co"y is...*6E. ). D&$%3, *')3E )3 &$3. 6ours and hours of e=tra
time s"ent in ,riting things out isnCt ,orth trading for one momentCs
embarrassment on the air. Consider as ,ell, the additional chance of
misunderstanding on the "art of the listener.
.e+er abbre+iate names of states, cities, countries, "olitical "arties
/e=ce"t G-&-P0, days of the ,ee5, months, titles of officials and address
identification such as street, a+enue, dri+e or boule+ard.
.e+er start a sentence ,ith an abbre+iation, ,ord, or
number. *6E. ). D&$%3, *')3E )3 &$3.
Acro%3ms. *hen using an unfamiliar abbre+iation or acronym that ,ill be
"ronounced as a ,ord, be sure to s"ell it out in the first usage.
EIAMP:E
H36E DEFE.!E ).F&'MA3)&. !C6&&:, C&MM&.:4 CA::ED D).F&!..H
HC6AMP$! - 36E C)():)A. 6EA:36 A.D MED)CA: P'&G'AM F&' 36E
$.)F&'MED !E'()CE! - 6E:P! !E'()CEME. A.D 36E)' FAM):)E!.H
A< D)0781
A$$)CAPS or U**er9$o=er c#se1 Do you ty"e broadcast co"y in all-ca"s or
u""er and lo,ercase lettersK !ome ne,srooms fa+or an all-ca"s format for
consistency ,ith co"y coming o+er telety"es. !tudies, ho,e+er, sho, that
co"y ty"ed in u""er and lo,ercase letters is easier to read. &ne thing to
consider ,hen using u""er and lo,ercase is the chance of failure to
ca"italiEe, ,hich could confuse an announcer and cause him to stumble.
T,m,%& 3our co*31 3he total line count of a broadcast ne,s release is the
most common measure of the length or time. )n tele+ision scri"ts, the
storyline, or audio, shares the "age ,ith the +ideo. 3herefore, ,ith only
half the "age for the story content, the ty"e,riter margins are set for an
a+erage of 78 characters or s"aces "er line. As a result, 1A to 1B lines
of tele+ision co"y ,ill a+erage 70 seconds, or t,o seconds "er line.
To'#$ =or- cou%'. 3hough not the "referred method, the length or time of
a broadcast ne,s release can also be measured by total ,ord count.
Announcers read at +arying s"eeds, but the a+erage is t,o-and-a-half ,ords
"er second. 3his ,ould mean a""ro=imately 180 ,ords for a B0-second story.
Number,%& *#&es. *hene+er your broadcast co"y is more than one "age,
"ages are numbered consecuti+ely 1 of NN, @ of NN, 7 of NN. )f your
scri"t is 10 "ages long, the first "age ,ould be numbered 1 of 10, and the
last "age ,ould be numbered 10 of 10. Page numbers are ty"ed in the u""er
right hand corner of the "age. Page numbers are e=tremely im"ortant in
broadcast co"y. )magine an announcer on his ,ay to an air shift, e=actly
on time ,ho dro"s his co"y and gets the "ages mi=ed u". 3here ,onCt be
enough time to sort them out if they donCt ha+e "age numbers.
T(e +our)u%,' (e#-,%&. 3his consists of a slugline, date, length of co"y
and ty"e of release. 3he slugline ser+es as a little headline of the
story. 3he date is the date the release ,as "re"ared. 3he co"y length
tells in seconds a""ro=imately ho, long it ,ill ta5e to read the story.
3here are t,o ty"es of releases the immediate release for hard ne,s items
and the li5e, and the general release for soft ne,s, features, s"ots or
any other material that doesnCt ha+e the immediacy of hard ne,s.
EIAMP:E
&$3D&&' 'EC'EA3)&. AP'): 1, 1#II
/70 !EC&.D!0 F&' GE.E'A: 'E:EA!E
)n "lace of the ty"e of release, you can ha+e a D& .&3 $!E AF3E' line ,ith
time and date. 3his is for timely material, usually about an e+ent
D)0781 A?
that ,ill run for a limited time. )t gi+es the broadcaster a cut-off date
or time to discontinue airing the release. 4ou can also ha+e a 6&:D F&'
'E:EA!E $.3): line for ad+ance releases. 3his is a good tool for
"ro+iding material in ad+ance, e+en though it shouldnCt be aired until a
certain time. )t allo,s others to "lan and schedule ,ithout "utting the
material out too soon.
.,-eo)c(#%&e s*#c,%&. )n tele+ision co"y, the rule is double s"acing.
*hen a +ideo change is to occur in a tele+ision scri"t, ,e then tri"le
s"ace. 3his alerts the announcer that there is a +ideo change ta5ing
"lace. )t may be returning from something else to the announcer on camera
,here more eye contact is re1uired. 3he announcer shouldnCt be seen
loo5ing off camera, and if for some reason he needs to loo5 else,here,
such as to a monitor for an on-cue "oint, the scri"t ,ill alert him as to
,hen he ,onCt be on camera.
O%)cue. *hen reading to a +ideota"e in a tele+ision scri"t, announcers
need a ,ay to "re+ent coming out ,ay ahead of the ta"e, or being too slo,
and thus behind the ta"e. 3he method used to do this is H&.-C$E.H At
selected "oints in the scri"t, the ,riter builds in "laces for the
announcer to "ause, loo5 at the studio monitor and ,ait for a "articular
"oint at ,hich to restart. 3he number of times this is done in a scri"t
de"ends on the length of the scri"t. 3he longer the scri"t, the more
times the announcer should "ause. 3his is one ,ay to "ro+ide for the
+arying s"eeds at ,hich different announcers read.
T(e e%- or @ @ @. 3he number symbols, O O O, indicate the end of your
broadcast release. !ometimes called HDun"hys,H they should be centered
under your manuscri"t column. 4ou should ha+e the ,ord HmoreH in that
same "osition at the end of each "age to indicate that there is more co"y
on another "age.
E-,',%& ro#-c#s' Co*3
Absolutely clean co"y -free of mista5es -is the rule for co"y designed for
outside release to tele+ision stations. !lo""y co"y is a distraction to
the broadcaster and it says something about you, your leadershi" and your
unit that no one ,ants said. For in-house "roductions, edit mar5s may be
used s"aringly, but only those edit mar5s that are easily understood. D&
.&3 $!E P').3 MED)A C&P4 ED)3 MA'>!.
*hen inserting a "eriod, comma, 1uestion mar5, e=clamation "oint,
a"ostro"he, etc., Fust insert the mar5 ,here it should go. For other
corrections, use one of the follo,ing broadcast editing methods
A# D)0781
To correc' m,ss*e$$,%&s. Com"letely blac5en out the miss"elled ,ord and
"rint or ty"e the correct +ersion abo+e
EIAMP:E
PC&::)DED;
36E !6)P! ). 6EA(4 F&G.
Do not attem"t to correct a letter ,ithin a ,ord. Correct and re,rite the
entire ,ord. %roadcast has no editing mar5 to correct a single letter
,ithin a ,ord.
I%ser',%& =or-s or *(r#ses. 4ou insert ,ords or "hrases by "rinting or
ty"ing the desired ,ords abo+e the line and indicate the "oint of
insertion.
EIAMP:E
G&(E'.ME.3
...:A'GE J$A.3)3)E! &F !$PP:)E!.
Se*#r#',%& =or-s. !e"arate run-together ,ords by a single line
EIAMP:E
36E F)'E !3A'3ED ).36E E.G).E...
De$e',%& # =or-. Delete a ,ord by blac5ening out the ,ord and bridging
the ga"
EIAMP:E
36E 3EAM APPEA'ED 3)'ED.
Delete ,ords or more than one line
EIAMP:E
36E %&!3&. !&:D)E'
'ECE)(ED A F$:: PA'D&..
"e#'ure /r,',%&
A feature "ro+ides a change of "ace to a ne,scast. Features usually focus
on soft ne,s items and "ro+ide a lighter note.
$se colorful treatment ,hen ,riting a feature story. Colorful treatment
uses acti+e, +i+id, descri"ti+e ,ords ,ith "recise meanings. (erbs
D)0781 80
are in the acti+e +oice and "aint ,ord "ictures.
Features need logical de+elo"ment to be con+incing. 3he lead sentence
should grab the listenerCs attention. A se1uential arrangement of facts
brings the story to a logical conclusion.
At the end, a telling "oint illustrates the central idea or the
informational obFecti+e of the story. &ften, the telling "oint refers to
the lead by restating the same idea.
Good features donCt Fust ha""en...theyCre created through s5illful ,riting.
S*o' A%%ou%ceme%'s
Americans gro, u" ,ith commercial messages and s"ot announcements. )n
contrast to features that may be used only once, commercials or s"ots are
usually aired o+er and o+er again.
De"artment of Defense "ublic affairs members do not ,rite commercials. *e
,rite s"ots or s"ot announcements. $nderstandably, there is a similarity,
since commercial messages are often called s"ots.
*e thin5 of the ci+ilian media s"ot or commercial as something that sells
a "roduct. 3he s"ot announcement, as it a""lies to D&D "ublic affairs,
can do e+en more. )t can HsellH the +ie,er on an organiEation, acti+ity
or attitude.
T3*es o+ s*o's. 3here are t,o forms of s"ot ,riting !E::).G and
).F&'MA3)&.A:.
3he !E::).G s"ot informs the +ie,er, then tells him to -o some'(,%&. 3he
selling s"ot has three ste"s A33E.3)&., APPEA:, and AC3)&..
3he ).F&'MA3)&.A: or information s"ot sim"ly ,%+orms. 3he information
s"ot uses only the A33E.3)&. and APPEA: ste"s. )t does not s"ecifically
tell the audience ,hat to do /action, etc.0. )t sim"ly informs.
.one of the sentences in a selling s"ot should be o+er 1<- ,ords and the
action ste" should not e=ceed si= ,ords.
81 D)0781
/E=am"le of E9 !cri"t for a !tudio :ead-)n0
D)0781 8@
/E=am"le of 3( .e,s !cri"t for E90
87 D)0781
/E=am"le of 3( .e,s !cri"t - ContCd0
D)0781 8A
/E=am"le of 3( .e,s !cri"t ,ith Actuality0
88 D)0781
/ContCd E=am"le of 3( .e,s !cri"t ,ith Actuality0
D)0781 8B
/E=am"le of 3( !"ot !cri"t for E90
8< D)0781
/E=am"le of 3( -!"ot !cri"t for E90
D)0781 8?
ANNOUNCING
3he announcing in 3( ne,s inserts is done by a re"orter. 'e"orters are
the heart of the ne,s gathering system. *ithout them, there ,ould be no
ne,s. )n most cases, they go out, gather the facts, do the initial
,riting and editing and "rocess it all into a ne,s story.
*hile there are fe, differences bet,een military and ci+ilian broadcasts
,hen it comes to tele+ision, one of the most ob+ious is in the a""earance
of the re"orter in the ne,s insert. )n ci+ilian tele+ision re"orters are
seen doing their ,or5 in the field or in the studio. 3he audience comes
to 5no, them and res"ect them. Most re"orters gain a celebrity status.
3hey usually ha+e some title such as in+estigati+e re"orter, or economics
re"orter, field re"orter, general assignments re"orter, and so on.
3he military re"orter, on the other hand, usually does all the re"orting,
and seldom a""ears in his ,or5. *e are not in the "osition for the
"ur"ose of mar5eting oursel+es or becoming celebrities. A certain amount
of recognition is una+oidable in the course of getting the Fob done, and
it ,ill e+en lend credibility to our "roduct. 4ou ,ill find a le+el of
coo"eration "resent almost e+ery,here that fe, other military "eo"le
e="erience. )tCs all right to smell the "erfume as long as you donCt
drin5 any of it. 'emember ,hat you are there for, and that your most
+aluable asset is the ability to communicate information and ideas clearly
for the "ur"ose of command or "ublic information. $se the recognition and
coo"eration to get the Fob done and create a better "roduct.
)n this lesson, ,eCll tal5 about ,hat re"orters do ,ith E.G technology,
and ho, they do it. Although technology doesnCt do the ,or5 for the
re"orter, it does ha+e a lot to do ,ith it. Good solid re"orting still
begins ,ith *ho, *hat, *hen, *here, *hy and 6o,. 3hose elements,
"rocessed ,ith accuracy, bre+ity and clarity, are still the necessary
ingredients of good ne,s re"orting. %eyond that, the ability to find the
right ,ord or turn a "hrase at Fust the right time to ma5e the re"ort
interesting, informati+e and illuminating, ,ill ma5e the ne,s re"ort, as
,ell as the re"orter, stand out.
3here are t,o basic ty"es of ne,s re"orts you ,ill generally be dealing
,ith. 3hey are the s"ot ne,s e+ent and the ne,s feature. 3he techni1ues
you em"loy to co+er these t,o ty"es of stories ,ill be similar, but ,ith
one im"ortant difference. 3hat difference is in ho, much time you ha+e to
"re"are for the story. 3he ne,s feature can be "lanned ,ell in ad+ance,
allo,ing the re"orter time to thin5 about and "lan the co+erage. An
e=am"le of the ne,s feature ,ould be the flu shot "rogram or the
remodeling of a facility ,here it is ne,s, but "lanned. 3he s"ot ne,s
e+ent is
8# D)0781
a brea5ing e+ent, usually fast-mo+ing and s"ontaneous. )t seldom allo,s
for any "lanning e=ce"t in the most general sense. E=am"les of s"ot ne,s
,ould be fires, accidents, e="losions, natural disasters, hiFac5ings,
shootings and other bad ne,s e+ents.
3he only "lanning for s"ot ne,s e+ents ,ould be in the form of some 5ind
of disaster "lan. 3he best ,ay to begin to formulate a disaster "lan is
to say, H*hat if..H and then follo, it ,ith e+ery contingency you can
thin5 of. Although youCll ne+er be able to antici"ate e+ery "ossibility,
you ,ill be better "re"ared for many s"ot ne,s e+ents.
T(e S*o' Ne=s E0e%'
Co+erage of a s"ot ne,s e+ent, a brea5ing story, "resents a number of
challenges. 3here ,ill be t,o basic situations youCll be in ,hen the
story brea5s. &ne ,ill be ,hen youCre around your unit or station doing
other things. 3he other ,ill be ,hen youCre out co+ering something else.
)f itCs the first, grab the e1ui"ment, find out as much about the
situation as "ossible in a minute or t,o and get out to the site of the
e+ent. )f itCs the second situation, the timing usually means youCll ha+e
to either discontinue or ra"idly conclude the story youCre ,or5ing on and
mo+e to the ne, location. 6ere is ,here "lanning of a general nature ,ill
come into effect. *ill it be your habit to ta5e double the batteries and
ta"es out on each shoot, or ,ill you not ha+e enough ,ith you to do
another storyK
E="erienced re"orters ,ill attest to the fact that this is ,here youCll
ha+e the most difficulty in E.G. 3he ability to change gears right in the
middle of the story and go to something com"letely unrelated and start all
o+er is "erha"s one of the most difficult things to achie+e. )t can e+en
be a bit dangerous in certain situations such as e+ents ,here there is
confusion and chaos. Peo"le get hurt in training accidents e+en ,hen
training is all they ha+e to concern themsel+es ,ith. Coming from an
unrelated situation and different mind-set ,ill add to any danger that is
"resent.
Tr#,% +or s#+e'3. !ince tele+ision ne,s field re"orting can ta5e you
any,here it is necessary to stress safety. Air cre,s are constantly
reminded that safety is "aramount. 3hey are alert to dangerous situations
and try to stay out of them. 3hey follo, "reflight chec5s and flight
rules scru"ulously. 4ou should "ay as much attention to safety as the air
cre,.
E.G e1ui"ment is bul5y, and youCll often ha+e to ta5e it into dangerous
areas. $se common sense, shar"en your instincts, and "rotect yourself and
the other members of your cre, from danger. )t ,ould be silly to dri+e
D)0781 B0
so fast to a ne,s e+ent that you ha+e an accident on the ,ay. :i5e,ise,
around a construction site, you should stay clear of hea+y e1ui"ment in
o"eration. !tay ,ell bac5 from e="osed electrical "o,er lines. DonCt
lean far out of a tenth floor ,indo, to get that high-angle shot. DonCt
set u" in the middle of a su"erhigh,ay for that great into-frame-out-of-
frame se1uence. DonCt set u" your tri"od on loose ground. *hen carrying
the camera, be careful of ,here you ste" and al,ays be a,are of ,hat is
beside and behind you. Abo+e all, donCt become fi=ed in the +ie,finder so
much that you are una,are of danger around you. !ince the +ie,finder is a
miniature tele+ision screen, donCt get the feeling that since youCre
seeing the action on tele+ision, itCs the same as sitting in your li+ing
room ,atching a ,ar mo+ie. !ou8re s',$$ ,% '(e '(,c4 o+ '(e #c',o%.
Te#m=or4. 3he relationshi" of the re"orter to the cre, is critical. )t
must be a "ositi+e relationshi" if the team is to succeed. )n a business
,here "ersonalities and egos sometimes get s,elled out of "ro"ortion, it
is im"erati+e that e+eryone be ,illing to acce"t the "rofessionalism of
others, "articularly in military organiEations ,here duty assignments
re1uire "eo"le to ,or5 in the same "lace ,ithout consideration of
"ersonalities. Personnel administration has enough in the ,ay of
limitations ,ithout adding "roblems li5e the inability of t,o large egos
to ,or5 together "rofessionally.
)t may not be necessary for cre, members to li5e each other "ersonally,
but they must get along ,ell "rofessionally, and not allo, "ersonal
differences to get in the ,ay of the mission. Perha"s the most im"ortant
element to being able to ,or5 together is to communicate. )f e+eryone is
,illing to tal5 out differences ,ith an o"en mind, you ,ill come to an
understanding, sooner or later. %e "olite to your fello, team members,
and mean it. De+elo" the habit of using the ,ords H"leaseH and Hthan5
you.H A little courtesy goes a long ,ay, both ,ith your fello, ,or5ers and
,ith the "ublic.
E+eryone should ha+e a mutual res"ect for the e1ui"ment, and the "roblems
the other cre, members ha+e in o"erating it. 4ou canCt detach yourself
from the need to "rotect it and ta5e "ro"er care of it.
Re*or',%& '(e s*o' %e=s e0e%'. 3here are fi+e general re"orting "roblems
that ,e must deal ,ith in the s"ot ne,s e+ent.
o 3ime constraints and deadlines
o Fact gathering
o !ources
o %uilding the story
o Clarity
B1 D)0781
T,me co%s'r#,%'s #%- -e#-$,%es. 3here are fe, assum"tions that are
acce"table, es"ecially ,hen you deal in facts. &ne of them, ho,e+er, is
assuming that you ,onCt ha+e enough time to get e+erything you need for
your story. DonCt hurry to the "oint of doing substandard ,or5, but if
you 5ee" in the bac5 of your mind the fact that youCll seldom ha+e enough
time, youCll be less li5ely to ,aste it. 4ou may ha+e deadlines or time
"ressures of another 5ind "laced on you. Maybe the e+ent occurs mid-
afternoon and you need to get your re"ort co+ered and filed before the
e+ening ne,s. 3iming is e+erything. )f it isnCt on the ne,s tonight,
itCll be in the ne,s"a"ers before the ne,s tomorro, night and that ,ill
ta5e all the immediacy out of your re"ort.
As you race around to find out ,hat you can, stic5 to the basic elements.
4ouCll ha+e a better chance of getting ,hat you need than if you run
around ,ithout any organiEation. 'emember !ergeant Friday of
Dragnet...H9ust the facts, MaCamMH
"#c' &#'(er,%&. 4ou must ca"ture the basic frame,or5, the *ho, *hat,
*hen, *here, 6o, and *hy of the story as 1uic5ly as "ossible. 3hese are
al,ays the basics you need in any story. 3he 6o, and *hy are not al,ays
as easy to obtain as the others, but they are also the t,o that you can
find out more about later. %e,are, ho,e+er2 they are also the t,o ,here
"eo"le are most li5ely to s"eculate.
Sources. %e sure of your source. (ery often ,hen you are at an e+ent,
"eo"le ,ill ,ant to get on tele+ision and they ,ill ,ant to be
inter+ie,ed. 3hat ,ill ma5e it difficult for you to sift out ,hat is
factual and ,hat is not. 6ereCs a list of things for you to thin5 about.
o *ho is in chargeK
o *ho is the official sourceK
o *ho or ,here is the information coming fromK
o )s there anyone here ,hom ) 5no, is the authorityK
o )s there more than one side to thisK
o )f so, ,ho is the s"o5esman for each sideK
o )s ,hat ) hear the same as ,hat ) seeK
o Do ) see something others donCtK
o Can, or should, ) do something about thatK
o Does anyone here ha+e a "ersonal interest in thisK
o *hat can, or should, ) do about thatK
o )s there more than meets the eyeK
o *ill this e+ent affect other im"ortant thingsK
*hen as5ing yourself these 1uestions, you may not be able to come u" ,ith
ans,ers to all of them. 3he information you get ,ill determine ho, many
1uestions youCll be able to ans,er correctly. !ome "eo"le may gi+e you
o"inions based on limited 5no,ledge they ha+e at the moment. !ome may try
to gi+e their +ersions for "ersonal reasons. And remember, e+eryone isnCt
D)0781 B@
a Fournalist, and some "eo"le s"eculate. 3he more you co+er the better
youCll get at sensing ,hat are facts. 3he more you 5no, about the
military, the more youCll be able to distinguish truth from fiction in
military e+ents. 4ou ,ill ha+e to rely on common sense, e="erience and
gut feelings. As5 yourself Does this ma5e senseK )s it logicalK Does it
come from more than one sourceK Did you chec5 ,ith more than one sourceK
)s this the best sourceK Does the source 5no, first hand or second hand,
or e+en less directlyK )f your source uses "hrases li5e H) ,as told,H or
H) heard,H "erha"s you should see5 out another "rimary source. )s it
official, unofficial or rumorK *e ne+er re"ort rumors, but ,e do chec5
them out.
u,$-,%& '(e s'or3. 4ouCll find the most "recious commodity at a s"ot
ne,s e+ent to be the time necessary to thin5 things out. 3here ,ill
seldom be enough time, but you must ta5e enough time to formulate your
story "ro"erly. Determine the a""roach you are going to ta5e ,ith the
story. !tay ,ith the basics. De+elo" a sense for ,hat is im"ortant and
,hat is significant. )tCs u" to you to build for your audience a clear,
concise "icture of the main elements of the e+ent. >ee" it
straightfor,ard and sim"le. 3a5e it a ste" at a time. De+elo" and finish
one element before going on to the ne=t. DonCt Fum" bac5 and forth
bet,een im"ortant elements in the story. >ee" the story organiEed and
mo+ing for,ard. Ma5e your story a tight re"ort of 5no,n facts and 5ee" it
in logical se1uence.
After you ha+e done a good Fob of building the story and gi+ing your
audience all the im"ortant facts in logical order, be sure to ha+e a good
solid ending. 6o, you end the story can be the finishing touch, or the
one effort that destroys all your other efforts. 4ou may ,ant to re-ca"
or summariEe the facts youC+e re"orted. %ut be brief. DonCt get carried
a,ay ,ith your elo1uence.
C$#r,'3. 3here ,ill be later cha"ters on ,riting and scri"ting, but it is
logical to "oint out here that all the rules of sim"le, tight, easy-to-
understand ,riting that a""ly to the ,riting of a scri"t, also a""ly to
anything you may conFure u" or ad-lib on the s"ot. )tCs almost im"ossible
to maintain "ro"er ,ording and grammar if you start using a lot of
com"ound and com"le= sentences. 4ou ,ouldnCt do it in the ,riting of a
scri"t. 4ou shouldnCt do it in ,hat you "ut together in the field on a
s"ot ne,s re"ort. Al,ays try to
o $se declarati+e sentences.
o >ee" +erbs in the same tense throughout the story.
o >ee" "ronoun references clear.
*hen using big colorful ,ords, you ta5e a chance on con+eying an incorrect
meaning or creating a false im"ression. !ometimes the more sim"le
B7 D)0781
language is called for. )tCs better to s"ea5 belo, some of your audience
and be understood by all than to s"ea5 abo+e any of your audience and not
be understood by some. %e,are of s"ea5ing do,n to anyone though. !tri+e
for that balance ,here your audience understands you and can relate to
,hat you say.
T(e Ne=s "e#'ure
$nli5e the s"ot ne,s e+ent, the hard ne,s feature ,ill "robably allo, you
at least a little time to research the subFect, to "lan the co+erage
"ossibilities, and set u" some as"ect of the co+erage in ad+ance. &n-
camera inter+ie,s ,ith "eo"le ,ho ma5e the ne,s can be scheduled. 4ou can
outline the story and a tentati+e structure can be a""lied to it.
Pro"er research ta5es hard ,or5. 4ouCll get a Fum" on any story ,ith
library files and scri"ts on file of all of your "ast stories. )f you
ha+e any sort of beat system, you should ha+e file footage and facts
concerning your beat. 3hese may include ne,s"a"er and magaEine article
cli""ings, other bac5ground information, any notes youC+e made, lists of
"hone numbers and in short, anything regarding anyone or anything you may
be called u"on to co+er. &f course, youCll ha+e to ha+e some sort of
filing system that ,ill allo, you to lay your hands 1uic5ly on needed
information.
E+en if youCre not a fountain of information on a gi+en subFect, you may
ha+e sources that can enlighten you about your to"ic. %y contacting
5no,ledgeable sources, you might 1uic5ly im"ro+e your chances of getting
the right information, or at least bringing u" to date ,hat you ha+e.
)f you donCt e+en ha+e enough information to 5no, ,hat to find out, that
in itself is a good 1uestion. H)f you ,ere me, ,hat ,ould you as5KH )f
research is im"ortant --and it is --,hat you do ,ith the information is
e+en more im"ortant. $se ,hat you learn as a foundation. 3hin5 things
through and try to imagine and 1uestion e+ery "ossible as"ect of the
situation. *ho is in+ol+edK *hat do you ,ant to as5 themK *hat is the
mood of the storyK *hat are some of the +isual "ossibilities and
o""ortunitiesK *hat about natural soundK *hat might be "articularly
difficult, dangerous, sensiti+e, or hard to understandK 6o, can you really
bring the story to life for your audienceK *hen you get ans,ers, thin5 of
,hat further 1uestions they bring about. 3here is no substitute for
research. 3he better you are informed, the more com"letely you can tell
the story.
D)0781 BA
3hose are Fust some of the 1uestions you can as5 about almost any
situation or story. As you go through the mental e=ercise, other
1uestions ,ill come u". 3hatCs one of the ad+antages of the "rocedure.
All the ,hile, youCll be getting +aluable insights and "ers"ecti+es on the
story, and thatCs the first ste" in "roducing a "recise re"ort that ,ill
ma5e sense to your +ie,ers.
*hen do you s"end time on researchK )n s"ot ne,s e+ent co+erage, the e+ent
is ha""ening no, and if you ,ere to ta5e time to research something, the
e+ent ,ould be o+er and you ,ould not ha+e co+ered it. 3hatCs ,hy you
ha+e contingency "lans. )n the ne,s feature, there is more often time to
s"end on research. 4ou may thin5 that time is too "recious to ,aste, but
the truth is, you canCt afford not to s"end the time. )tCs the "rice of
e=cellence and success. 6a+ing done your research, you begin to gather
the facts in the field. !tart loo5ing for information that ,ill hel" you
ans,er the final 1uestions you should be as5ing yourself. 3he most
im"ortant 1uestions are
o *hat do ,e really ha+e hereK
o *hat is this story aboutK
o *hat does this story meanK
o *hat do ,e ,ant to con+ey to the +ie,erK
3hese are sim"le 1uestions. 3ry to come u" ,ith e1ually sim"le ans,ers.
%e a,are that sometimes the most ob+ious ans,er may not be correct. 3a5e
a good loo5 at your ans,ers and try to find fault ,ith them. Play the
de+ilCs ad+ocate to yourself.
All this may be a lot of mental e=ercise, but itCs ,orth it. 4ouCll find
that the rest of the Fob ,ill be much easier. .o, youCre coming to the
most interesting "art of the Fob, "utting together your field re"ort and
organiEing all your facts into a story. 'emember, a story has a
beginning, a middle, and an end.
O*e%,%& Se&me%'. As ,e said, your story must ha+e a beginning, a middle
and an end. *hich is the most im"ortant "artK E+en the e="erts disagree.
E+eryone ,ill agree, ho,e+er, that all three "arts are im"ortant. 3he
best ,ay to treat that 1uestion ,ould be to feel that they are all too
im"ortant to gi+e any less than ma=imum effort. 3hey are three distinct
segments and each of them is im"ortant in its o,n ,ay. )t ma5es good
sense to gi+e each of them s"ecial attention.
3he intent of the o"en or lead is to attract the +ie,ersC attention. 4ou
must grab their interest and "oint them in the direction the story ,ill
ta5e.
B8 D)0781
3here are t,o ty"es of leads hard and soft. A soft lead is rather non-
s"ecific and generaliEed. )t sort of flo,s into the story. A hard lead,
on the other hand, is much more s"ecific and direct. )t Eeros in on the
most ne,s,orthy element of the story.
Either ,ay, the lead must stimulate the +ie,ers to "ay attention to the
story. %ut itCs not Fust a matter of getting their attention, it must be
done in such a ,ay as to be consistent ,ith the rest of the story.
Changing gears right after the lead ,ill only ser+e to disorient or
disa""oint your audience ,hen ,hat you really ,ant to do is focus their
attention on your message.
I%c$u-,%& A% Ac'u#$,'3. )f you are going to include an actuality in your
re"ort, be +ery careful in the ,ording of your 1uestions. 'emember, you
ha+e one goal, to get the ,ord Hstraight from the horseCs mouth,H so to
s"ea5. 4ou ,ill use either the ne,sma5er or an eye,itness of the e+ent.
Either ,ay, the inter+ie,ee ,ill most li5ely be unaccustomed to being on
camera or at least unfamiliar ,ith ,hat you need most from him. 3here are
t,o haEards to a+oid the yes-or-no ans,er ,hich is, of course, too short
and the non-sto" tal5er ,hose ans,er ta5es too long. Most "eo"le ,ill
fall into one of these categories if not handled correctly. )tCs the
1uestion and ho, itCs as5ed that ,ill assure your success or failure in
a+oiding these "itfalls.
4our inter+ie,ee ,ill most li5ely lac5 announcing s5ills as ,ell. 6e
,onCt 5no, ho, to tal5 to only one "erson ,hen addressing a camera. %e
the one "erson for him to tal5 to. :isten to his ans,ers and loo5 at him
,hen he is ans,ering your 1uestions. :oo5ing around or chec5ing your
notes ,hile he is tal5ing is both rude and distracting. 6e ,ill "robably
thin5 that you ha+e tuned him out, and may e+en sto" tal5ing in the middle
of his ans,er. 4ou ,ill also stand a much better chance of coming u" ,ith
that ob+ious follo,-u" 1uestion that ,ill clarify his ans,er.
Co%'ro$ o+ ',me. !ince youCre ta"ing your actuality, re-as5 a 1uestion if
the ans,er is too long-,inded. 'e,ord your 1uestion so that the ans,er
,ill be more along the lines youCre loo5ing for. %ut a+oid things li5e,
H)n other ,ords, you mean .....H 3his is bad for t,o reasons. 4ouCre
"utting ,ords in the inter+ie,eeCs mouth ,hich may or may not be ,hat he
,ants to say, and you might get a sim"le, H4es.H Another time-control
measure is to 5ee" your 1uestions short and to the "oint. :et the
inter+ie,ee tell the story. After all, thatCs the "ur"ose of doing an
inter+ie, in the first "lace. )nter+ie,ees can sometimes get off trac5 or
"ro+ide more detail than you need. 6ereCs ,here you must ta5e control.
Although interru"ting is normally rude, it may be necessary. 3here are
acce"table ,ays to do it. %e gentle. A HPardon me,H or HE=cuse me,H
ne+er
D)0781 BB
hurts, but they can go along ,ith a H:etCs em"hasiEe that "oint,H or HCan
,e go bac5 o+er thatKH to let the subFect in on ,hat youCre doing. Most
"eo"le ,ill understand if you handle it "ro"erly. 4ou might be sur"rised
at ho, your subFect ,ill res"ond to a ,ell-coined "hrase li5e H)n the
remaining fe, seconds,H or H*e ha+e time for Fust a brief ,ord.H )f they
ha+e e+er ,atched tele+ision, chances are theyC+e seen this done before.
Get in the habit of lea+ing a brief "ause bet,een 1uestions and ans,ers.
)t neednCt be anything long, but youCll find that a little s"ace ,ill come
in handy during editing. 4ou ,ill al,ays be able to edit out any dead air.
Re0erse 6ues',o%s. 3hese are also called re"orter cuta,ays. 4ou ,ill
,ant to as5 the 1uestions again ,ith the camera on you. 3he subFect ,ill
understand ,ith Fust a brief e="lanation. %e sure to do it in the
"resence of the inter+ie,ee and in the same s"ot for continuity in
editing. .ormally you ,onCt use the 1uestions in your finished "iece, but
be +ery careful to as5 the 1uestions ,ith e=actly the same ,ording so if
you do need to use all or "art of the footage, youCll be able to edit
any,here you ,ant. 3his re+erse angle footage can be useful in a number
of ,ays. &ne ,ould be to cut an ans,er short by s,itching to the +ideo of
you, ,ith a slight "ause beforehand, going into the ne=t 1uestion.
4ouCll ,ant some re+erse angle +ideo of your reactions to the subFectQs
ans,ers. 3hen if the subFect loo5s off camera, or something else of a
+isual nature is distracting, you can Fust edit it out, ,ithout
interru"ting the audio that you ,ant to 5ee".
Ge' 'o '(e *o,%'. )f the o"ening segment grabs the +ie,erCs attention and
the close ,ra"s it all u", then the middle is ,here you do the real
telling of the story. !tic5 to the "oint. 'ememberK *hat does this story
really meanK DonCt be afraid to e="lore side issues, es"ecially if they
add to or shed light on the real story, but ma5e sure you donCt ramble
around on a lot of issues that donCt belong in the story. DonCt forget
the fi+e *Cs and the 6.
Co%c$u-,%& T(e S'or3. 3he closing of your story is at least as im"ortant
as the o"ening. After an o"ening aimed s1uarely at the mar5 and a body
that brings all out the facts and gi+es a clear, concise "icture of the
e+ent, you need to tie it all together in a manner that ,ill ma5e sure the
+ie,er gets all the information. %e sure that your close comes from the
facts already in the story. A summary or reca"itulation of the three or
four main "oints of the story ,ill ensure the +ie,er understands ,hat has
been "resented.
B< D)0781
Abo+e all, remember that re"orters are re"orters and not editorial
,riters. 9ust as you ,ould not insert conclusions that are not su""orted
by fact, neither should you insert your o,n "ersonal o"inions, Fudgments
or characteriEations. Good field re"orting re1uires all of the re"orterCs
ability to tell the story in a clear, concise, logical manner. 3he hard
ne,s feature re1uires careful "lanning, organiEation and intense focus on
the storyCs main "oint. 3he s"ot ne,s e+ent by its nature doesnCt allo,
the s"ecific e+ent "lanning of the feature, but "lanning in the generic
sense should still be there. And, of course, tight organiEation and
intense focus are still a re1uirement. %ecause time ,ill not allo, you to
tell e+erything there is to 5no, about a story or e+ent, itCs u" to you to
decide the main "oint of the story and con+ey it to your audience.
INTER.IE/ING
3his is ,here itCs e=tremely difficult to do the ,hole Fob by yourself.
)nter+ie,ing in the field is best done by t,o. &ne, the re"orter, and
t,o, someone to shoot the +ideo. )t can be done by one "erson, but if at
all "ossible, there should be at least t,o members in the cre,. 3his
lesson is going to address the t,o "arts of an inter+ie,2 from the
stand"oint of the re"orter, and the shooting of the inter+ie, by the
camera o"erator.
)nter+ie,ing is the "art of E.G that camera o"erators find the most
boring. 3here are already too many Htal5ing headsH on tele+ision ne,s
"rograms, but ,hen they ha+e something interesting and significant to say,
they are an im"ortant "art of the daily ne,s. $se them to tell the story,
,hen they are the authority or ,hen they are closer than you to the story.
9ust be sure that ,hat they ha+e to say is "ertinent or im"ortant.
Camera location in relation to the subFect is +ery im"ortant and there are
se+eral commonly used shots and angles. 3he most common angle used is
o+er the shoulder of the re"orter. /!ee Fig. 7-1 )nter+ie, Camera
Angles0. From this angle, you can affect three ,idely acce"table camera
shots. *ith a ,ide field of +ie, /the long shot0, the re"orter and
subFect are sho,n together.
D)0781 B?
F)G$'E 7-1. ).3E'()E* CAME'A A.G:E!
3his shot sho,s the +ie,ers that ,hat they are loo5ing at is an inter+ie,.
A medium shot ,ill still ha+e a "ortion of the re"orter in the "icture
,hile allo,ing the audience to get a closer +ie, of the subFect. )t ,ill
still gi+e the +ie,er a sense of the closeness of the subFect to the
re"orter. And of course, the tight shot doesnCt sho, the re"orter at all
and gi+es the +ie,er a close u" +ie, of the subFect.
During an inter+ie,, the "erson being inter+ie,ed ,ill usually be tense
and ner+ous. After all, he is for the most "art, doing something
com"letely foreign to him. 3his can be o+ercome by an e="erienced
re"orter, and indeed, itCs his Fob. :et the inter+ie,ee 5no, that he is
to gi+e his ans,ers directly to you, to loo5 at 4&$ ,hen he ans,ers 4&$.
)tCs im"ortant that you loo5 bac5 at him ,hen he is tal5ing to you. 3his
,ill ma5e it more li5e a natural con+ersation to him. Put him at ease.
6e ,ill be de"ending on you as a security blan5et and confidant.
3he o+er-the-shoulder angle establishes a line of action. *hiche+er
shoulder you shoot o+er, all shots should be on that side of the re"orter
and subFect /'emember the 1?0 ruleK0. And of course, remember all the
little tidbits of information you learned about "lants gro,ing out of
"eo"leCs heads and so forth. 4ou can ma5e the bac5ground fit the
inter+ie,. 4ou can se"arate the bac5ground ,ith light and dar5ness. 4ou
can lose the bac5ground ,ith de"th of field.
B# D)0781
Another thing you should 5no, ,hen it comes to the inter+ie, is the four-
"oint lighting system, e+en though most "ortable lighting 5its ha+e only 7
instruments /!ee Fig. A-@, Four-Point :ighting !ystem0.
F)G$'E 7-@. F&$'-P&).3 :)G63).G !4!3EM
)n the four-"oint lighting system, the 5ey light for one subFect is behind
the other subFect and ,or5s as a bac5 light ,hen the beam is s"read Fust a
bit. *ith the addition of the fill light on the same side, you then ha+e
a combination of the three-"oint lighting system and the modified three-
"oint lighting system. 3he 5ey and fill lights for one subFect ,or5 the
same as the t,o bac5 lights of the modified three-"oint system for the
other subFect. And of course the other subFect has a 5ey light and a fill
light in addition to the t,o bac5 lights.
EDITING
After all the functions youC+e "erformed in announcing, ,riting, scri"ting
and inter+ie,ing, you ha+e still more. )tCs li5e all the "arts of an
automobile. 3heyC+e been manufactured, but theyCre still Fust "arts.
3hey must be assembled to ma5e a car. 3he same holds true for your 3(
ne,s insert. 4ou no, ha+e all the "arts, but you must assemble them.
3hat Fob is called editing, and Fust as in the assembly of the car, you
still ha+e im"ortant ,or5 yet to do. De"ending on local !&P, there ,ill
"robably be additional elements to add to ,hat youC+e already shot in the
field, such as color bars, countdo,n leader, start flash, etc. *hile you
edit the P')MA'4 and !EC&.DA'4 footage you shot in the field to your sla+e
ta"e, youCll 5ee" a close eye on audio and +ideo le+els. >ee" the 1uality
le+el of "erformance high as you "erform these routine and sometimes boring
D)0781 <0
tas5s. Ma5e sure all your edits are clean and a+oid Fum" cuts. /:esson
Four, !ubcourse D)0780,0
A fe, years ago, the Ford Motor Com"any informed the "ublic in its
commercials of ho, to s"ot "oor automobile assembly, ,hat to loo5 for in
the sho,room. 3he ga"s at "laces ,here "arts Foined. *hat a seam bet,een
door and fender should loo5 li5e. E+idently they felt that they did a
better Fob than their com"etition in "utting together e1ually good "arts.
Pro"er assembly is im"ortant. )tCs so im"ortant, that this subcourse
de+otes an entire lesson to it e+en though there ,as an introductory
lesson to it in !ubcourse D)0780. 3herefore, ,eCre Fust going to
em"hasiEe the im"ortance of it here, and refer you to :esson Four. Go
forth and learn more about +ideota"e editing.
<1 D)0781
P'AC3)CE EIE'C)!E
:E!!&. 7
!$%C&$'!E .&. D) 0781
P'EPA'E;PE'F&'M 3( .E*! ).!E'3!
).!3'$C3)&.!
'e+ie, the material in this lesson. Ans,er the 1uestions belo, by
circling H3H or HFH ne=t to each 1uestion. Com"are your ans,ers ,ith the
ans,er 5ey on the ne=t "age.
3 F 1. 3( ne,s inserts ma5e u" a +ery small "ortion of the
electronic Fournalism business.
3 F @. 3he basics of any ne,s story are the ,ho, ,hat, ,hen, ,here, ,hy
and ho,.
3 F 7. 6o, you ,ord your 1uestions ,ill ha+e a lot to do ,ith ho, an
inter+ie,ee ,ill "erform.
3 F A. 3he ne,s feature is fast brea5ing and allo,s no time for
"lanning.
3 F 8. 3he si= CCs of broadcast ,riting are clear, concise, courteous,
com"lete, current and correct.
3 F B. Material in "arentheses is information not normally meant to be
read aloud.
3 F <. 3he s"ot ne,s e+ent and the ne,s feature are the t,o ty"es of
ne,s re"orts.
3 F ?. De"artment of Defense s"ots may only be aired once.
3 F #. 4ou should include as many facts in the o"ening of a story as
you can.
3 F 10. 4ou should tri"le s"ace lines at "laces in the co"y ,here +ideo
changes occur.
3 F 11. 4ou should ne+er interru"t an inter+ie,ee in the middle of an
ans,er.
3 F 1@. 3he lead of a story should grab the audienceCs attention.
<7 D)0781
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D)0781 <A
LESSON "OUR
EDIT .IDEOTAPE
AB' !oldierCs Manual 3as5 @1A-1<<-171?
&(E'()E*
:E!!&. DE!C')P3)&.
3his lesson ,ill "ro+ide you an o+er+ie, of editing +ideo-ta"e.
3E'M).A: :EA'.).G &%9EC3)(E
AC3)&. Describe "rocedures necessary to "ro"erly edit +ideota"e.
C&.D)3)&. 4ou are gi+en the material "resented in this lesson.
!3A.DA'D Perform all the duties described in this lesson.
'EFE'E.CE! 3he material contained in this lesson ,as deri+ed from the
follo,ing "ublications
!3P AB-AB'1A-!M-3G !oldierCs Manual D
3rainerCs Guide, %roadcast 9ournalist,
M&! AB' !5ill :e+els 1;@;7;A, August 1#??.
Defense )nformation !chool 'adio and
3ele+ision 6andboo5, May 1#?@.
<8 D)0781
EDIT .IDEOTAPE
INTRODUCTION
3he most useful or im"ortant thing about +ideota"e is the fact that you
can edit it. Editing can range from sim"le cut-only edits to electronic
edits that go through s,itchers and effects ban5s to create daEEling
s"ecial effects. 3he 5ind of system a+ailable to you ,ill determine the
degree of com"le=ity and le+el of accuracy in your editing. All 7;A inch
+ideo cassettes re1uire an inserted red "in to "ermit editing on them.
*hene+er your system ,onCt edit, chec5 that first.
MECHANICAL EDITING
)n the early days of +ideota"e recording, the only ,ay to edit +ideota"e
,as to "hysically cut the ta"e and s"lice it bac5 together the ,ay film is
edited today. 3his is e=tremely difficult because unli5e film, ,hich is a
"hysical or chemical "rocess from start to finish, +ideota"e is all
electronic. 4ou canCt actually see ,here a "icture starts or sto"s on the
ta"e, and you canCt Fust cut it any,here li5e you can audiota"e. )t has
to be s"liced bet,een in+isible electronic +ideo frames to "re+ent the
"icture from tearing and brea5ing u" during "laybac5. 3here is a s"ecial
fluid you can a""ly to the control trac5 to ma5e the electronic "ulses
+isible in order to s"lice bet,een them, but they are +isible only under a
microsco"e. 3o ma5e matters ,orse, there is a se"aration bet,een the
+ideo heads and the audio heads ma5ing the audio at a different "lace on
the ta"e than the +ideo. Also, the +ideo is diagonal due to the helical
scan "rocess. 3he com"licated "rocess of cutting and s"licing +ideota"e
is all but a forgotten art, and is no, used only in cases of e=treme
emergency. 3oday, +ideota"e editing is done electronically.
MANUALL! CONTROLLED ELECTRONIC EDITING
3he "roblems you face ,ith mechanical editing, trying to locate the e=act
edit "oint and trying to cut "recisely, are no longer "roblems ,ith
electronic editing. Electronic editing is a transfer "rocess ,here a
"laybac5 machine transfers the recorded segments of "rogram material to an
edit;record machine. )n other ,ords, itCs sim"ly a dubbing "rocess ,here
the recording machine co"ies the material from the "laybac5 machine. *ith
most +ideocassette editing systems, there are "laybac5 machines, record
machines, 3( monitors and edit controls /!ee Fig. A-1 (ideota"e Editing
!ystem0. 3he edit controls allo, you to find accurate beginning and
ending --Hin and outH --"oints for your edits. 3he 3( monitors allo, you
to
D)0781 <B
+ie, the +ideo being "layed bac5 and the +ideo being recorded. 3he
editing controls shuttle the ta"e bac5 and forth, allo,ing you to do the
actual edits.
F)G$'E A-1. ()DE&3APE ED)3).G !4!3EM
)t is already ob+ious that +ideota"e editing differs from audiota"e
editing. !o far ,e ha+e s"o5en of one manner only. 3he second ,ay it
differs is due to the fact that +ideota"e ta5es a second or t,o to get to
the "ro"er s"eed and stabiliEe. 3hat means that the ta"e must be
tra+eling the correct s"eed ,ith all the electronics stable ,hen the edits
are made. 3his can be a little tric5y in the manually controlled
electronic editing "rocess. )tCs called Hediting on the fly.H
3he "rocess is usually done in si= ste"s. 3hey are as follo,s
1. Determine the HinH "oint on the record;edit machine. )t ,ould be a
good idea to "lay the scene o+er a fe, times to be able to hit the e=act
same "oint ,ith regularity. 3his ,ill be the "oint ,here you ,ant the
ne=t scene to begin.
@. Find the HinH "oint on the "laybac5 machine. 3hatCs the "oint ,here
the ne, material begins, the material you ,ant to transfer to the ta"e
youCre creating.
<< D)0781
7. 'e,ind both machines e=actly the same number of seconds and frames.
3his is called the "reroll, and it is used to gi+e both machines enough
time to get u" to s"eed and stabiliEe before the edit is actually made.
)n manually controlled editing, it should be about ten seconds. 9ust ma5e
sure that both machines are re,ound EIAC3:4 the same amount.
A. .e=t, start both machines in the "lay mode at the same instant and
,atch the record;edit machine monitor. *hen it gets to the "recise "oint
,here you ,ant the edit to begin, "ush the record button. 3his ,ill
change the machine from "laybac5 to record ,hile e+erything is rolling at
the "ro"er s"eed and all the electronic circuitry is stabiliEed. 4ou are
no, ma5ing the edit.
8. :et the edit /both machines0 run "ast the "oint ,here you ,ant the
ne=t edit to begin and then sto" them. 3his is called a +ideo "ad. 3he
"ur"ose of the "ad is to allo, you the room to begin the ne=t edit ,ithout
ha+ing to be so "recise on the in "oint.
B. 3hen, of course, recue the record;edit machine and chec5 your edit.
Ma5e sure itCs clean, ,ithout +ideo brea5-u". )f there are more edits to
be made, start o+er ,ith ste" 1.
)t should be e+ident no, that "recision and accuracy are of utmost
im"ortance in this editing "rocess. )f either ta"e machine is the
slightest bit off, the edit ,ill be too early or too late. 3oo early
means that you ha+e recorded o+er something you ,anted in the "re+ious
scene, and too late means you ha+e gone beyond the desired "oint to begin
the edit.
Assemb$e E-,'s
All electronic editors "ermit you to edit in t,o modes. 3hey are
HassembleH and Hinsert.H 3here are a number of facts about assemble
editing that are not true about insert editing. 3hey are
1. 3he assemble mode edits e+erything on the ta"e to include the control
trac5 /!ee Fig. A-@, Assemble and )nsert Editing0.
@. 3here is no "reconditioning of the record;edit ta"e necessary.
7. !ince the control trac5 is laid ,ith each edit, there is the
"ossibility of a +ariance in the s"acing of electronic "ulses that ,ill
cause a tearing of the "icture at that "oint /!ee Fig. A-@ Assemble and
)nsert Editing0.
D)0781 <?
A. Follo,ing each edit, there ,ill be a loss of control trac5 causing a
Hdirty edit.H 3his ma5es it absolutely necessary to lea+e a +ideo "ad at
the end of the edited segment.
F)G$'E A-@. A!!EM%:E A.D ).!E'3 ED)3).G
I%ser' E-,'s
3he initial "ur"ose of insert edits ,as to allo, the addition of audio and
+ideo to "rograms that already e=isted. E+eryday you see e=am"les of such
additions. 3he mo+ies ha+e done it since their beginning. For e=am"le,
you may see someone loo5ing into a bo=, then see ,hat they see inside the
bo=, then see them again for their reaction. &f course, the shot sho,ing
you ,hat is in the bo= ,as shot se"arately from the other, and edited in
later. 3o do this in +ideota"e ,ith the electronic editor, you need to
select the in and out "oints in the insert mode. 4ou must "rogram the out
"oint because other,ise the ta"e ,ould continue to edit beyond ,here you
,ant it to sto".
)nsert editing uses control trac5 that already e=ists and allo,s you to
edit the +ideo trac5, the audio one trac5, the audio t,o trac5 or any
combination of the three. !ince no ne, electronic "ulses are being laid
on the ta"e, there isnCt any danger of +ariance in s"acing of the "ulses
that could cause tearing of the "icture. )t is a much more stable edit
and most e="erienced editors "refer this method. 3he disad+antage though,
is that you must first lay control trac5 for the length of ta"e you intend
<# D)0781
to use. A one-hour ta"e, for e=am"le, ,ill re1uire you to record an hour
of control trac5. 3his is called crystal blac5 and you must record it
from another ta"e, studio out"ut or a blac5 burst generator. &f course,
to record control trac5 on your ta"e, you ,ill ha+e to be in the assemble
mode. 4our editing ,ill then be done normally, but in the insert mode.
R R R R &PE'A3&' *A'.).G R R R R
After laying the control trac5 in the assemble mode, be sure
to change the edit control unit to insert mode. &nce you
begin to ma5e your first +ideo or audio edit, if you ha+enCt
changed out of the assemble mode, the end of the edit ,ill be
dirty and there is no ,ay to correct it ,ithout re-laying the
control trac5 for the entire length of the ta"e.
&f course, if you thin5 ahead, youCll ha+e a su""ly of "rerecorded crystal
blac5 ta"es on hand so that emergency editing Fobs or fast-brea5ing
stories can be insert edited on a momentCs notice.
PROGRAMMED ELECTRONIC EDITING
3here are se+eral edit "rogrammers or edit control de+ices a+ailable for
both 1uadra"le= and helical machines. 3hey allo, you to "redetermine the
e=act "oints ,here you ,ant the edits to begin and end.
Although the edit "rogrammers differ slightly, the basic "rocess ,or5s
li5e this
o Find the in "oint on the record;edit machine by Fust cueing the ta"e
to the e=act s"ot ,here you ,ant the edit to begin. 3here ,ill be
some sort of Hedit inH button for you to set the "oint into the
machineCs memory. Do the same for the Hedit-outH "oint.
o Do the same thing on the "laybac5 machine to locate and cue the "oint
,here you ,ant the ne, edit material to begin.
o Most "rogram edit systems ,ill automatically "reroll both machines.
4ou can accom"lish this no, by setting some Hautomatic editH function.
D)0781 ?0
o At this "oint, you may "re+ie, the "ro"osed edit ,ithout actually
accom"lishing it. 3he record;edit machine ,ill not actually ma5e the
edit on the ta"e, but ,ill dis"lay it on the monitor ,ithout altering
the edit in and edit out "oints. )f there is something about the
edit you ,ish to change, you can do it at this time. )f not, you can
sim"ly e=ecute the edit by either "ressing the Hauto editH or HrecueH
and then Hauto edit.H
o 3he Hauto editH may be called different things in different systems.
)t ,ill most li5ely be Hauto editH or Hedit recordH or something that
means the same. *hate+er itCs called in your system, it ,ill start
both machines simultaneously, loc5 them into synchroniEation, and
ma5e the edit "recisely at the "re"rogrammed edit "oints.
o !ubse1uent edits ,ill be accom"lished by re"eating the "rocess. &f
course, you ,ill ,ant to re+ie, the entire ta"e after you ha+e edited
it to see if all the edits are clean.
?1 D)0781
P'AC3)CE EIE'C)!E
:E!!&. A
!$%C&$'!E .&. D) 0781
ED)3 ()DE&3APE
).!3'$C3)&.!
'e+ie, the material in this lesson. Ans,er the 1uestions belo, by
circling H3H or HFH ne=t to each 1uestion. Com"are your ans,ers ,ith the
ans,er 5ey on the ne=t "age.
3 F 1. 3he "rocess of cutting and s"licing +ideota"e is the "erfected
ne, method of +ideota"e editing.
3 F @. (ideota"e ta5es a fe, seconds to get u" to s"eed and stabiliEe.
3 F 7. Assemble edits edit e+erything on the ta"e.
3 F A. )nsert edits edit e+erything on the ta"e.
3 F 8. Many "rogrammed electronic editing systems allo, you to "re+ie,
an edit before actually ma5ing it.
3 F B. )nsert edits al,ays lea+e a dirty edit follo,ing the edit out
"oint.
3 F <. Preroll for manually controlled electronic editing is usually
fi+e seconds.
3 F ?. Electronic editing is merely a dubbing "rocess.
?7 D)0781
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D)0781 ?A
LESSON "I.E
PER"ORM AS ENG TEAM CHIE"
AB' !oldierCs Manual 3as5 @1A-1<<-@701
&(E'()E*
:E!!&. DE!C')P3)&.
3his lesson ,ill "ro+ide you an o+er+ie, of "erforming as an E.G team
chief.
3E'M).A: :EA'.).G &%9EC3)(E
AC3)&. Describe "rocedures necessary to "ro"erly "erform as an E.G
team chief.
C&.D)3)&. 4ou are gi+en the material "resented in this lesson.
!3A.DA'D! Perform all the duties described in this lesson.
'EFE'E.CE! 3he material contained in this lesson ,as deri+ed from the
follo,ing "ublications
!3P AB-AB'1A-!M-3G !oldierCs Manual D
3rainerCs Guide, %roadcast 9ournalist,
M&! AB' !5ill :e+els 1;@;7;A, August 1#??.
Defense )nformation !chool 'adio and
3ele+ision 6andboo5, May 1#?@.
?8 D)0781
PER"ORM AS ENG TEAM CHIE"
INTRODUCTION
3he res"onsibilities of an E.G team chief can be stated +ery sim"ly....
e+erything that has anything at all to do ,ith the gathering of ne,s
electronically, is in one ,ay or another, the res"onsibility of the E.G
team chief. )n some cases, there ,ill be only one "erson to accom"lish
e+erything. )n other cases, the E.G team chief ,ill ha+e little to do
other than su"er+ise and be res"onsible. )n all cases, the E.G team chief
is res"onsible for the final "roduct its technical 1uality, its
thoroughness, its aesthetic 1uality and its ethics. A good E.G team chief
must be "re"ared to su"er+ise or accom"lish all E.G tas5s in all
situations.
SELECTING EQUIPMENT AND PERSONNEL
For the most "art, there is little difference in ci+ilian and military
electronic ne,s gathering. &ne difference that ,ill become most ob+ious
to you in the e+eryday "erformance of E.G team chief functions ,ill be in
e1ui"ment selection. )n a ci+ilian station, the ne,s de"artment has a lot
to say about the e1ui"ment "urchased by the station. )n the military,
ho,e+er, your e1ui"ment has been selected by the "ro"onent, ,ithin
guidelines-established by the military "rocurement system. 3he e1ui"ment
selection ,as made ,ith an eye to,ard your mission and you should already
ha+e e+erything youCll need to do the Fob. 4ou might say that the
e1ui"ment has already been selected for you, lea+ing you only the choice
of ho, much of the e1ui"ment youCll need to ta5e to the site.
A big "art of your res"onsibility as team chief ,ill to be sure that all
the e1ui"ment is on hand, ser+iceable, "ac5ed and ready to go. %atteries
need to be charged and youCll need a sufficient number of ta"es ,ith red
"ins. 4ou must ha+e the "ro"er lighting e1ui"ment ,ith electrical cords,
stands, barn doors, s"are bulbs, insulated glo+es, screens and reflectors.
3he camera, recorder, tri"od and connector cables ,ill ha+e to be ready.
DonCt forget micro"hones and cables. )n short, youCll need to 5no, ,hat
e1ui"ment ,ill be needed for the "roFect and ta5e the needed ste"s to get
it on location.
3he E.G team chief must also select the team members for each "roduction
from those "ersons a+ailable. &ther duties, lea+es, "asses, tem"orary
duty assignments, illnesses and "ersonal abilities or limitations are all
factors you must consider.
D)0781 ?B
4our most +aluable asset ,ill be chec5lists. E="erience ,ill ma5e things
routine, but you should ne+er rely strictly on your memory. 3here is a
lot to thin5 about in the business of E.G and your mind ,ill al,ays be
occu"ied ,ith many other things. A chec5list for the e1ui"ment re1uired
for each ty"e of "roduction youCll be called u"on to do, ,ill be not only
a timesa+er, but the insurance that ,ill "re+ent a disaster sooner or
later.
CONDUCTING SITE SUR.E!S
A +ery small "ortion of ,hat you do ,ill be s"ot ne,s stories. A large
"art ,ill be co+erage of "lanned e+ents. 3hat ,ill allo, you to conduct
site sur+eys. %efore you can "roduce successfully at a remote location,
you must conduct a site sur+ey.
3here are many things youCll need to 5no, about the E.G location, and the
time to find them out is in the "lanning stage. *here should the camera
be "ositionedK 6o, much light is a+ailableK *here can ,e "ar5K 6o, far
must ,e carry the e1ui"ment from the +ehicleK *ill there be enough
electrical "o,er for the lights and other e1ui"mentK *ill there be outside
noise to ,orry aboutK *hat about "roblems ,ith mi=ing of color tem"erature
of lightK /More about this in HDetermining :ighting 'e1uirementsH0.
4ouCll need the ans,ers to these and more 1uestions.
!ite sur+eys ha+e three main "ur"oses. 3hey are to determine the
location for the "roduction, to determine ,here all the "roduction
e1ui"ment and "ersonnel ,ill be "ositioned, and to determine if all the
"roductionCs needs and re1uirements can be handled at the site. (ery
often, the first 1uestion, H*here is a suitable locationKH is ans,ered by
the e+ent itself. A change of command ceremony, for e=am"le, ,ill ta5e
"lace on the "arade field or in the theater in case of inclement ,eather,
and you ,onCt ha+e much to say about the location. &n the other hand,
something li5e a training e=ercise ,ill gi+e you some o"tions as to ,hat
"articular segment youCll co+er and therefore, some o"tion as to location.
)f youCre co+ering something outdoors, ma5e your site sur+ey at the same
time of day you intend to co+er the e+ent. 3hat ,ay, the daylight ,ill
"robably be the same, if the ,eather is any,here near the same. At least,
youCll be able to "osition the camera or cameras ,ith the bac5 to the sun.
)t ,ould do little good to conduct a site sur+ey at ? oCcloc5 in the
morning ,ith the sun in the east if the e+ent is going to ta5e "lace at A
in the afternoon ,hen the sun ,ill be in the ,est. *hen you 5no, e=actly
,here the sun ,ill be, youCll see the length and "osition of shado,s,
contrast bet,een light and dar5 areas and anything else time related.
?< D)0781
Although it may seem that indoor e+ents ,ould not ma5e any difference as
to ,hat time of day you need to conduct the sur+ey, itCs not al,ays the
case. 3raffic "atterns might be different and affect your ability to get
some,here in a certain length of time, or the a+ailability of "ar5ing
might change, or e+en a change in the "edestrian traffic at the location
could gi+e you "roblems. 3here could e+en be a large difference in the
drain on electrical "o,er from one time of day to another.
Finally, ta5e nothing for granted. Do the electrical outlets you intend
to use actually ,or5K Does that ,indo, you ,ant to run a cable through
really o"enK )s that ele+ator or escalator going to be ,or5ing ,hen you
,ill need it, or ,ill it be turned offK )tCs certainly better to
o+ersur+ey the site than to miss one im"ortant "oint that ,ill lead to a
disaster later.
*hile e+ery remote "roduction site ,ill differ at least slightly, there
are still some common "oints that must be considered by the E.G team chief.
Loc#$ Co%'#c's #%- C$e#r#%ces
4ou should al,ays ha+e a local contact ,ho can "ro+ide access,
information, and hel" ,ith +arious details. )t might be someone connected
,ith the site, or someone connected ,ith the e+ent. )f itCs someone
connected ,ith the e+ent, you may ha+e to ha+e another contact ,ho is
connected ,ith the site or facility. Get their names and "hone numbers,
and those of any assistants ,ho might also be hel"ful. *hen "ossible, you
may also ,ant to establish contact ,ith electricians, "lumbers and
maintenance "eo"le.
Access. Establish ,here youCll need access to the site, ,hen youCll
arri+e, ho, youCll get your e1ui"ment from your +ehicle to the ,or5ing
area, and ,hat hel", if any, youCll need. )f youCre going to be arri+ing
at odd hours, ma5e sure someone ,ill be on hand to grant you access.
Perm,'s. )f your e+ent is in the ci+ilian ,orld, remember they re1uire
"ermits for e+erything. 4ou may need a "olice "ermit to "ar5 +ehicles on
the street. 4ou may need s"ecial "ermission to bloc5 traffic. 4ou may
need some hel" ,ith cro,d control so you ha+e an unobstructed +ie, of the
e+ent. &f course, you ,ill ,ant to "re+ent any danger to your e1ui"ment
from a cro,d. *hate+er you need in the ,ay of "ermits should be obtained
,ell in ad+ance of the scheduled e+ent.
D)0781 ??
Perm,ss,o%. 3here are many "laces ,here youCll need s"ecial "ermission to
gain access. 3here may be security "recautions. Maybe youCll be co+ering
something that ta5es "lace in a camera restricted area. 4ouCll need, not
only an escort, but something in ,riting to sho, that you ha+e the
"ermission to enter and +ideota"e in the area. )n the military, a
memorandum for record ,ill usually suffice. )f youCre going to be
escorted by the "ublic affairs officer or his re"resentati+e, it might not
be a bad idea to be sure they ha+e the "ermission they need to get you in.
&f course, that is something that must be handled tactfully. .o one li5es
to ha+e you hint that he might not 5no, ,hat heCs doing. $sually a
1uestion li5e, HDoes this building re1uire any s"ecial "ermission to bring
a camera inKH ,ill do the tric5.
P#r4,%&. 4ouCll need to arrange for "ar5ing for your +ehicle as ,ell as
any "ri+ately o,ned cars of your cre,. !ometimes you ,onCt ha+e much say
in the matter, but try ,hene+er "ossible to ha+e your "roduction +ehicle
as close to the shoot site as you can. 4ou ne+er 5no, ho, many tri"s
youCll ha+e to ma5e bac5 and forth, or ho, urgent one of them might be.
DonCt forget that you need to ha+e unrestricted mo+ement bac5 and forth to
your +ehicle as ,ell.
C#mer#s
Positioning of the camera/s0 is an e=tremely im"ortant decision that you
must ma5e during the site sur+ey. *ill you be re1uired to mo+e a camera
at some "oint during the e+entK %e a,are of reflecting surfaces and the
"ossibility of the camera ca"turing its o,n reflection. )f there is more
than one camera, 5ee" them out of each otherCs shots, unless thatCs the
effect youCre loo5ing for. DonCt forget screen direction and the 1?0 rule.
3ry to antici"ate things that could ha""en during the e+ent to affect your
camera shots, such as an audience rising to its feet and bloc5ing the
cameraCs +ie,. 3hin5 about "eo"le mo+ing around and ma5e sure tri"od legs
are not going to get 5ic5ed or tri""ed o+er.
Au-,o
E+en in the studio, under +ery controlled conditions, the "roduction of
high-1uality audio is difficult. *hen you thro, in all the acoustical
"roblems and un"lanned noise you e="erience at a remote location, the
"roblems magnify.
?# D)0781
!ome of the basic things youCll need to 5no, at site sur+ey time are
o *hat sound sources /including "eo"le0 must ha+e micro"honeK
o *ill the micro"hones a""ear in camera shotsK )s that acce"tableK
o *hat "otential audio "roblems are thereK /e=ternal noises li5e air
conditioners running, etc.0
o Are there any s"ecial arrangements to be made such as "ool audio or
tying into a "ublic address systemK
*ith the ans,ers to these 1uestions, youCll be able to decide ,hat
micro"hones youCll use to get the high-1uality audio you ,ant and need.
All your decisions ,ill be made ,hile considering the e1ui"ment a+ailable.
4ouCll consider the "ic5u" "atterns a+ailable. !ometimes you may e+en
ha+e to com"romise some,hat because of limited a+ailability of e1ui"ment.
E="erience ,ill hel" you a+oid, or at least minimiEe such com"romises, but
site sur+eying ,ill hel" you 5ee" the 1uality of the audio ,ithin
acce"table standards.
T#$e%'. Announcers, "lay-by-"lay s"ortscasters and commentators can
usually get by ,ith la+alier or hand-held micro"hones. )f you ha+e a
headset micro"hone, it ,ill allo, hands-free o"eration and maintain a
constant announcer-to-micro"hone distance. 4ou must consider any mo+ement
fle=ibility re1uired. Maybe, youCll ,ant to use a ,ireless micro"hone.
*ill there be any e=ternal interferenceK &f course, if you use normal
cables, they should be run around any high-traffic areas and a,ay from
"o,er lines.
N#'ur#$ sou%-. 3he natural sounds are necessary to ma5e any e+ent real
and belie+able. 4ouCll rely hea+ily on the camera micro"hone, but
sometimes you may e+en ha+e to "lace a micro"hone for o"timum rece"tion of
natural sounds. Consider the "ic5-u" "atterns youCll need. Cro,ds, for
e=am"le, ,ill best be ca"tured ,ith an omnidirectional "attern. 4our
camera micro"hone is a shotgun or su"ercardioid "ic5-u" "attern.
Po=er
Calculate the "roductionCs total "o,er re1uirements, and be sure the "o,er
you need is a+ailable. %esides noting the +oltage and am"erage, ma5e sure
the ,iring configuration is com"atible ,ith your e1ui"ment.
4ou ha+e batteries for your e1ui"ment and usually thatCs the sim"lest ,ay
to go, but remember, batteries limit the amount of o"erating time. Also,
after you ha+e used u" your batteries, you canCt use them again until
after recharging.
D)0781 #0
*hat if some fast brea5ing ne,s story re1uires you on the
,ay bac5 to the stationK )f you Fust used all your
batteries, you can do nothing about it. Al,ays use
a+ailable AC "o,er at the site ,hen you can. !a+e your
batteries for the emergency that ,ill al,ays "o" u" ,hen you
least e="ect it.
Chec5 all outlets in ad+ance. .e+er assume that they ,or5.
>no, ,here the brea5er bo= is located. 3ry to s"read your
"o,er re1uirements out as much as "ossible to a+oid blo,ing
a fuse or thro,ing a brea5er in the first "lace.
C#b$es. Plan the "o,er cable runs to cameras, recorders,
lighting instruments and any other "roduction e1ui"ment.
DonCt use e=tension cords intended for home use. 3hey are
too thin a gauge ,ire for your re1uirements. Ma5e sure your
cables are the hea+y-duty, insulated electrical cable for
"rofessional use that "ro+ide the durability, safety and
"o,er load for a remote situation. Plan not only on the
number youCll need, but the length as ,ell. *hen "lanning
the "o,er cable runs, remember that they should not be run
,here they can interfere ,ith audio cable signals. DonCt
forget to 5ee" them out of the camera shots.
Commu%,c#',o%s
3here are t,o ty"es of communications you must consider ,hen sur+eying the
site. Are there tele"hones a+ailable to call bac5 to the station if
necessaryK *hat 5ind of communicating are you going to ha+e to do during
the e+ent bet,een cre, membersK *ill you need P:sK Can you do ,hat
communicating you need by sign languageK .e+er lea+e yourself unable to
communicate or restricted in your ability to communicate ,ith your cre, or
your on-site contacts, if you can "ossibly a+oid it.
Secur,'3
*ill you re1uire any s"ecial security arrangementsK 6o, about for your
e1ui"mentK %e sure your e1ui"ment is secured against both theft and
damage. Peo"le ha+e no conce"t of the cost of tele+ision e1ui"ment. 3hey
canCt imagine a camera costing more than an automobile and their treatment
of them reflects it.
3he remote location site may ha+e security that ,ill re1uire you to ha+e
credentials and "asses. During the site sur+ey is a "erfect time to
arrange for them. 4ouCll ha+e to s"ecify ho, many "eo"le youCll need
"asses for, to include staff, technical cre, and talent.
#1 D)0781
"oo- #%- Lo-&,%&
4our local contact ,ill be a great hel" in "ro+iding food and lodging for
your cre,, but itCs u" to you to ma5e sure that itCs ta5en care of. 4our
Fob, no matter ,hat ran5, is that of a first sergeant, ta5ing care of the
troo"s. )tCs a good idea to 5ee" e+eryone together for meals that are
during the "roduction, such as brea5ing for lunch. 3hen you ,onCt ha+e to
,onder if e+eryone is going to ma5e it bac5 for the afternoon session.
*hen co+ering something li5e a field e=ercise, youCll "robably eat ,ith
the troo"s any,ay and your cre, ,ill then be in close contact ,ith you for
the entire brea5.
E+en if you donCt ha+e to "ro+ide a full meal, some sort of coffee and
doughnuts /in cold ,eather0 or cold drin5 and a snac5 /in hot ,eather0
,ill be greatly a""reciated. 3he lift in morale ,ill be ,ell ,orth the
effort on your "art. &f course, if you need to be on location o+ernight,
itCs u" to you to arrange billeting for the cre,.
Tr#%s*or'#',o%
4ou are res"onsible for trans"ortation, not only to the site, but to and
from the lodging for the duration of the "roduction. 3hat can be
something +ery sim"le, or a maFor logistical o"eration.
Co%s'ruc',o%
*ill there be any s"ecial construction re1uiredK !caffolds to ser+e as
camera "latforms, or lighting or announcer "latformsK )f so, find out
during the site sur+ey and ha+e e+erything done "rior to the e+ent.
Gr#*(,cs
)f the "roduction is going to re1uire any gra"hics or character
generation, you should "lan it at this time. >no,ing ahead of time ,ill
allo, you to ma5e a+ailable to yourself the gra"hical e1ui"ment youCll
need. After the on-site "roduction, you may not ha+e time to get the
gra"hics together and shot in time to meet your deadline. At the time of
the site sur+ey, you ,ill "robably be able to antici"ate all of your
gra"hic needs.
PRODUCTION MEETING
&nce the site sur+ey has been conducted, the final "re"aration "oint is to
ha+e a "roduction meeting. E+en if there are only t,o "eo"le ,ho are
going to accom"lish all the tas5s, it is necessary for those t,o to meet
D)0781 #@
and discuss all facets of the "roduction. %e sure that e+eryone 5no,s
,hat his Fob is and that all Fobs are co+ered by someone.
4ou ha+e tried to thin5 of e+erything that needs to be addressed. 4ouC+e
as5ed yourself 1uestions about e+erything that is li5ely to ha""en. .o,
as5 1uestions concerning some things that are e+en unli5ely. Ma5e some
contingency "lans. 9ust li5e defensi+e dri+ing, e="ect the une="ected.
)f you ha+e already as5ed yourself ,hat you ,ould do if a certain thing
,ere to occur, and ans,ered the 1uestion, you ,ill be ,ell "re"ared to
handle the situation if it does occur. &f course, if on the other hand,
you ha+enCt e+en thought about that same "ossibility, the chances are
"retty good that it ,ill cause you a lot of "roblems.
DETERMINING LIGHTING REQUIREMENTS
Ou'-oors
During the daytime, there ,ill usually be enough light outdoors to satisfy
the technical re1uirements of the camera. 3hat doesnCt mean that you ,ill
ha+e nothing to do about the lighting. 3here are a lot of different
circumstances that can re1uire additional lighting outdoors. )tCs your
concern, as E.G team chief, to ensure, not only sufficient lighting, but
"ro"er lighting for the "roduction. 9ust because youCre going to be
shooting outdoors, donCt neglect to carry ,ith you and "lan the use of
lighting instruments, sun guns, reflectors, stands, cables, screens,
scrims, barn doors, s"are bulbs, fuses and any other "iece of e1ui"ment
necessary. 'emember color tem"erature ,hen augmenting lighting outdoors.
I%-oors
All of the e1ui"ment you M)G63 need outdoors to hel" ensure "ro"er
lighting, you *):: need indoors. 3he e+ent youCre co+ering ,ill most
li5ely be lighted for human eyes and not for tele+ision. As you 5no,, the
camera re1uires a certain amount of light to o"erate, and itCs your Fob to
su""ly that light. 3his can be a serious "roblem in a lot of situations.
3he "erson in charge of the e+ent may ha+e reser+ations about tele+ision
lights and the chance that they could interfere ,ith the e+ent itself.
4ou ha+e to 5no, ho, the lighting could cause heat, glare and distractions
to "ersons in+ol+ed in the e+ent, and reassure those res"onsible.
Consider ha+ing a "ro"erly lighted area for inter+ie,s off to the side
some,here. 3hin5 about lighting a "ortion of the e+ent if you canCt light
e+erything thatCs ta5ing "lace. )n lighting an e+ent indoors, also
#7 D)0781
consider your ability or inability to control all the light on the scene.
)f there is light of another color tem"erature that you canCt eliminate,
you must ,hite balance for the mi=ture that youCll be shooting. )f you
eliminate some other light, be sure to re"eat that ste" ,hen the e+ent
actually occurs.
Much of the time, you ,ill ha+e to ha+e a lot of tric5s u" your slee+e in
cases ,here the e+ent is ta5ing "lace in a large area indoors. More and
more, "ortable tele+ision cameras are re1uiring less light to o"erate.
>no, ,hat your camera needs and be sure you o"erate ,ithin your systemCs
limits, and be sure that both the technical and the aesthetic re1uirements
of lighting are satisfied.
PRETESTING EQUIPMENT
9ust because e+erything ,as ,or5ing at the last e+ent, doesnCt mean that
itCs still going to "erform u" to standards for you. &f course, if you
,erenCt the last one to ha+e the e1ui"ment out, you ,ill ,ant to 5no, that
e+erything is still ,or5ing before you de"end on it. )t has been
trans"orted since its last use and that in itself could be enough to cause
something to malfunction.
3here is no substitute for "ro"er care of e1ui"ment and in s"ite of the
best care, things still go ,rong. 3he time to find out if something isnCt
,or5ing "ro"erly is before you need it. As you are undoubtedly becoming
a,are, e+ery "iece of your e1ui"ment "lays a +ital role in the
accom"lishment of your mission. &ne "iece not ,or5ing "ro"erly can ruin
your ,hole "roduction. %e a,are of Mur"hyCs :a, /anything that can go
,rong ,ill go ,rong0, and ta5e a,ay as many "ossibilities of failure as
you can.
COORDINATING TRANSPORTATION
During your site sur+ey, you found out e=actly ,hat trans"ortation ,ould
be re1uired. >no,ing about it doesnCt get it done. 4ou ha+e to follo, u"
and be sure that you can get e+eryone and e+erything to the site. DonCt
de"end on someone at a motor "ool some,here understanding the im"ortance
of your mission. 3hey ha+e ,orries of their o,n and someho, your getting
the e+ent co+ered doesnCt ran5 too highly on their list of "riorities.
6a+e emergency bac5-u" "lans to co+er the "ossibility of someone not
5ee"ing their "romise.
D)0781 #A
ASSIGNING AND RIE"ING PERSONNEL
Most of ,hat you do as E.G team chief ,ill touch on the res"onsibility of
assigning and briefing "ersonnel. $nless you are going to be doing
absolutely e+erything yourself, and chances are, youCre not, you ,ill need
to be certain that each member of the cre, understands his
res"onsibilities. 3o correctly assign "ersonnel, you must 5no, them.
>no, their strengths and ,ea5nesses. 3hen itCs a matter of using your
resources "ro"erly. Assign "ersonnel to the Fobs they can best fill and
5ee" them a,ay from those tas5s theyCre not 1ualified to "erform. Abo+e
all, you must be sure they understand ,hat is e="ected of them and ,hat
they need to do in order to accom"lish it.
SUPER.ISING ON)SITE SETUP
$nli5e studio "roductions, ,here certain necessary elements are in "lace
and set u" all the time, e+ery remote situation must be set u" from
scratch. As soon as you arri+e on the scene, youCll begin to ,or5 on
getting things in the order of the "lan you made during the site sur+ey.
Cameras ,ill be un"ac5ed and "laced at "lanned locations and set u" on
tri"ods. 4ouCll already ha+e built any necessary "latforms, stands or
barriers. &nce youC+e accom"lished this, the o"erators ,ill "o,er u" the
cameras and recorders and go through their chec5lists.
3hose res"onsible for audio ,ill un"ac5 e1ui"ment, run cables and "lace
micro"hones /hand, la+alier, boom, shotgun, etc.0 at the "ro"er locations.
De"ending on ho, many micro"hones and the li5elihood of confusion, you may
,ant them labeled ,ith the name of the "erson ,ho ,ill use them. At each
audio "osition, youCll ,ant to run an audio chec5, then ma5e certain the
instrument is secured in a manner to ma5e sure it ,onCt be mishandled or
damaged before the "roduction.
All necessary lighting instruments should be set u", tested, "ositioned
and focused. !ince this ta5es a little time and e+erything else de"ends
on lights, you may ,ant the lighting setu" to begin a little earlier than
other things so that e+eryone ,onCt ha+e to ,ait for lights. For
elaborate situations, you may e+en ,ant the "eo"le res"onsible for
lighting to arri+e before e+eryone else.
&nce e+erything is in "osition and set u", youCll ,ant to chec5 it to be
sure that it all ,or5s "ro"erly. 3he trans"orting is o+er for no, and
,hat still ,or5s, ,ill "robably continue to ,or5. *ithin reason, try to
5ee" s"are "arts such as e=tra light bulbs and so forth, close to ,here it
might be used. )f a bulb ,ere to burn out, you ,ouldnCt ,ant to hold
e+erything u" ,hile someone had to run out to the truc5 to get a s"are, or
#8 D)0781
miss co+ering that much of the e+ent. &f course, you canQt 5ee" t,o
com"lete systems on hand in immediate reser+e either.
A final briefing before the action begins is al,ays a good idea. E+eryone
should ha+e one last chance to as5 1uestions and clarify his role. 3hat
,ay, the team ,ill 5no, ,hat each member needs to do, and be sure all
bases are co+ered.
SUPER.ISING REHEARSALS AND SHOOTS
)f you ha+e the o""ortunity, rehearse. 3he more you do anything, the
better youQll be able to do it, and rehearsing the "roduction ,ill enable
you to ,or5 out any difficulties as ,ell as "oint out to you ,here they
may "o" u" une="ectedly. An uncontrolled e+ent such as fast-brea5ing s"ot
ne,s ,ill certainly not allo, for rehearsal, but if your cre, has ,or5ed
together in the "ast and rehearsed at e+ery o""ortunity, they ,ill be able
to function as a tightly 5nit team in all situations. E+en if an e+ent
seems routine to you, the entire team can benefit from rehearsal.
SUPER.ISING ASSEML! O" THE "INAL PRODUCT
As stated in cha"ter three, after all the functions youQ+e "erformed in
announcing, ,riting, scri"ting and inter+ie,ing, there is still more to
do. As E.G team chief, the same holds true. After all the functions that
ha+e been "erformed in sur+eying, coordinating, setting u", shooting and
e+erything else, there is still more.
3here are still to be made. *hat 3'EA3ME.3 *):: 4&$ G)(E 36E C&(E'AGE ).
F).A: ED)3).GK *ill you use musicK *ill you try to ma5e the co+erage
hard hitting or Fust matter-of-factK 3hese are decisions that you, the
E.G team chief, must ma5e. 4ou can see5 and rely on ad+ice from your
cre,, but in the final analysis, you are res"onsible. *hen credit is
gi+en for a Fob ,ell done, it should be shared among e+eryone ,ho
contributed, for they all had a hand in 5ee"ing the standards u" and
ma5ing the "roduct e=cellent. *hen the standards are not u" and the
"roduct is not e=cellent, there is only one "erson to blame. 3he "erson
in charge.
D)0781 #B
P'AC3)CE EIE'C)!E
:E!!&. 8
!$%C&$'!E .&. D)0781
PE'F&'M A! E.G 3EAM C6)EF
).!3'$C3)&.!
'e+ie, the material in this lesson. Ans,er the 1uestions belo, by
circling S3T or SFT ne=t to each 1uestion. Com"are your ans,ers ,ith the
ans,er 5ey on the ne=t "age.
3 F 1. !ince the military trains "ersonnel in all facets of E.G,
it doesnQt matter ,hich "erson is assigned to ,hich
"osition in the cre,.
3 F @. 3he camera micro"hone is the only acce"table ,ay to ca"ture
natural or bac5ground sound.
3 F 7. A "roduction meeting after a site sur+ey is a good time to
be certain that e+eryone understands ,hat is e="ected of
him.
3 F A. !ite sur+eys are to determine ,here all the "roduction
e1ui"ment and "ersonnel ,ill be "ositioned.
3 F 8. After all the functions ha+e been "erformed in sur+eying,
coordinating, setting u", and shooting, the E.G team chief
has fulfilled all his duties.
3 F B. )f your e1ui"ment ,as ,or5ing "ro"erly at the last
"roduction, and still functioning at the station, there is
no reason to sus"ect it ,onQt ,or5 ,ell at the ne, location.
3 F <. )t is the res"onsibility of the E.G team chief to decide
,hat e1ui"ment should be "urchased for remote "roductions.
3 F ?. 4ou should rehearse co+erage of routine e+ents.
3 F #. 3he E.G team chief is res"onsible for getting the entire
cre, to and from the site of an e+ent.
3 F 10. Camera "ositioning should not be determined until Fust
before an e+ent begins since "lans often change and you
,ant to a+oid unnecessary e=tra mo+ement of delicate
e1ui"ment.
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