Video News Package Primer

 1-2 minutes
 Includes Standup, Narration Voice-Over, Interview Sound Bites, B Roll, Lower Thirds
Titles, Story/Script (no credits, no music)
 Fade in from black at beginning and out to black at end.

Script

 Organize your script as you would organize a Five Paragraph Essay in English class.
o Lead (Lede), or Introduction/Thesis Statement (After identifying yourself and
your organization (Trailblazer Media), introduce the topic and provide
background/context.
o Body (At least Three Main Ideas that elaborate on the information from the lead)
 Each main idea is introduced with a topic sentence followed by details and
Sound Bites (short snippets of comments from interviews, just as you
might quote someone in an essay)
o Conclusion/Outro (restate your intro/thesis to summarize the conclusions drawn
from the story and interviews), then end with "Reporting for Trailblazer Media,
I'm YourNameHere."
o *Written news stories use the inverted pyramid style, which still applies loosely to
video news stories so be sure to have the most important/necessary/basic
information at the beginning, but still follow the 5-paragraph structure with a
strong conclusion that sums up the story as a whole at the end.
 Each News Package requires a Standup intro followed by voice-over narration and
interview Sound Bites. The Reporter is required to be on camera for the introduction and
conclusion. They can be on camera at other points in the video but not more than a couple
times and not for too long. The majority of the video should be B Roll while the voice
over or interviews are seen (don't have interview shots on camera too long - we want
short sound bites not lengthy documentary-style interviews).
 Sound Bites - The interviews provide support for assertions made in the body of the
report. The writing runs the story, not the interviews.
 After writing the story, conducting interviews, and rewriting the story, do the rewrite as a
split script, including all the video you plan to go along with the audio. On the audio side
of the split script, type the reporter standup/voice over in ALL CAPS, and the sound bites
from interviews (just the first few words) and any nat sound (see below) in regular type.
o Once your split script is complete and submitted for feedback, record your stand-
up/voice-over and begin post-production.

Camera Support

 To fully minimize camera shake, use a Tripod or other means of camera support while
videotaping (if you don’t have a tripod, a bean bag or a pillow on a table or chair or car-
hood or whatever can be an effective substitute). Handheld is a last resort.
 Other Support Systems
o Tripod Boom
 o Tripod Dolly
o Shoulder Mounts
o Slider
o Glide Cams
 Steady Cam Vest
 Flo-Pod
 Mini-Gliders
 Gimbals
 When handholding a camera as a last resort, keep elbows in against your body, support
the camera with both hands, and keep your hands close against your chest for
stabilization (thus turning your body into a temporary tripod). Camera Shake is the most
common mistake made that can ruin your footage.

“B” Roll

 “B” Roll is video footage pertinent to your story that runs while the reporter’s, or
interviewees, voice is heard. Always film more “B” Roll than you think you’ll need to be
sure you have a good variety to choose from when editing and include a variety of shots
(long shot, medium shot, close-up, extreme close-up).
 Also, shoot the same “B” Roll scene from several different angles for even more variety.
 Stills can also be used as “B” Roll, but It’s best to put motion on them to make it less dull
(panning, zooming in or out, split screens, etc. – it’s sometimes called “The Ken Burns
Effect” after the famous documentary maker who pioneered the technique). If you can’t
do that, try not to leave a still up for more than a few seconds.

Leader (Head and Tail)

 Anytime you shoot ANYTHING, include at least 5 full seconds of static footage at the
beginning and end of your recording.
 This allows room for editing later and ensures that needed words or footage isn’t cut off

Rule of Thirds

 The most interesting part (the center of interest, or subject) of the shot should be off
centered by dividing the frame into thirds vertically and horizontally and placing the
subject near one of the intersecting points on the grid.
 Sometimes, the subject is centered in the frame (for effect in a creative piece, and for
emphasis in news package) but the rule of thirds still applies to the vertical placement
subject’s eyes. The reporter should be centered, interviews should not, and either way,
place the eyes of the subject along the top horizontal line of the grid.
Head Room:

 Make sure your subject fills the viewfinder, but leave head room between the top of the
subject’s head and the top of the frame. A quick and easy way to get this right is to reach
out in front of the lens (when you’re behind the camera) with one finger and your arm
extended as far as it will go and leave that finger’s width of space between the border and
the top of the head. Placing the eyes correctly as described above usually takes care of
head room issues.

Nose Room or “Rule of Motion”:

 Leave more space in the direction the subject is looking or moving

  *Note this shot shows too little head room and not enough of the subject’s face. Be sure
to see all of both eyes when shooting semi-profiles such as interviews.

Lighting/Backlighting/Background:

 Sometimes you can use the existing light but it is always better to provide your own
lighting (this applies to both creative and informational video). Use portable light stands
and at the worst use a Key light. At the best use three-point lighting (Key, Fill, Back).
o Good lighting separates poor video from professional looking video
 Be aware of existing light sources (inside lighting and the sun outdoors). If a light source
is behind your subject you must add lighting to the front of your subject to eliminate
silhouettes. Generally speaking, you want back light as it helps to create depth, but it
can’t overwhelm the shot and leave your subject in shadow.
o Also note, for news we don’t want a lot of shadow on the subject’s face. We want
“High-Key” lighting, meaning equal lighting (a 1:1 ratio between key and fill).
For creative works, like a short film, you want shadows so should move more
towards “Low-Key” lighting in that instance.

 The above shots were taken about 4 feet apart with the same regular classroom lights and
you can see the problem with the overpowering backlight.
  Distracting Backgrounds. You don’t want a background that is too busy, thereby
camouflaging or distracting from your subject, but you should try to match your
background to the content as much as possible. So, rather than shooting interviews in
front of a screen in the studio, shoot in a space that is pertinent to either the story or the
person being interviewed. As much as possible, try to have lots of space behind your
subject to create depth in the shot and avoid anything in the background that will distract
the viewer.

Interviewing:

 For our purposes, do not film interviews with the reporter in the shot. Ask interview
questions off camera with the interviewer standing/sitting next to the lens and film the
interviewee talking with a Medium Shot while looking at the interviewer across the
camera (not at the camera).
 Be sure that the camera and the interviewer are at the same eye level as the subject.
 Be careful that the interviewee is not in full, or mostly, profile, you still want to see both
eyes and leave space the direction they are looking. When creating interview questions,
avoid phrasing that invites or allows yes, no, or one word answers. We want them to talk
and tell their story, point of view, experience, etc. So use “open-ended questions” and
have follow-up questions prepared.
 Interviews are used for adding personal detail to information already presented by the
reporter – not a series of questions and answers. In other words, a report should not be
just a series of uninterrupted interviews followed by a conclusion. The reporter should
tell the story, setting up interview sound bites. The reporter states the information (as
opposed to asking questions) and uses interview footage to supplement and provide detail
to the information already stated (much like you would use quotes in a formal essay or a
newspaper story).
 Before you shoot an interview, ask your subject to state their name and spell it while you
record. This allows you to get a quick sound check (ALWAYS replay your recording in-
camera right after you shoot it to ensure that the audio is working) as well as ensure you
spell and pronounce their name correctly.
 Do not announce that you did an interview - that is made obvious as soon as the audience
sees a cut to an interviewee talking. Make your point as a statement, cut to an interview
clip that supports what you said, then go back to telling the story and seeing either B Roll
or Standup footage of the reporter.
 Conduct pre-interviews (not recorded) when gathering information for your story.
 Make appointments with the people you want to interview and provide them with the
interview questions before the interview
 Shoot interviews BEFORE you shoot the reporter standup/narration. After you shoot your
interviews, go back through your script and make revisions so your interview answers
(sound bites) will match with your narrated main ideas.

Titles/Graphics

 Lower-Thirds. The first time anyone is shown on camera a lower-thirds graphic needs to
appear stating their name and position. It is not needed for each subsequent appearance.
  Make sure your titles standout from the video and are easily readable (use Serif Fonts).
Lower thirds should fade/float in and out and usually have a background around the
letters. Final Cut has lots of pre-made ones to use, with Premiere you have to build them
from scratch.

Audio

 Space - avoid areas that have too much ambient noise from people, machines, etc. Also
avoid areas that have high ceilings and are too wide open (such as the Commons or stair
wells, etc.).
 Sound Room - The best narration is recorded in the sound room in the studio, but since
there is no ambient noise sometimes you need to add noise to make the audio tracks
match better. For example, if you want your interview and voice over to match but you
record the voice over in the sound room, you'll need to loop some ambient audio from
your interviews (literally record about 30 seconds of just background noise from the
scene). Also, you might mix and match "live" recorded audio from a reporter standup,
then record additional narration in the sound room so you'd need ambient noise from the
the standup to match with the voice-over. Try to avoid all that, though, by shooting all of
your standup/narration in the same location and matching your interviews to the same
location, or similar one, so the audio matching problems are minimized.
 Natural Sound (Nat Sound) – Find captivating audio that goes with the story (this is
usually background sound in intros, transitions, voice overs, conclusions, outtros, and
standups, such as the sound of pounding ocean waves or keyboard tapping, or a rushing
river during a massive storm or the chugging of a train, etc. but it MUST tie into the news
story.
 The BEST microphone to use for an interview is a Lavalliere (Lav), or lapel (or clip-on)
mic. The wires from the Lav go under the shirt/coat and place the microphone itself away
from clothing as it can rub and cause static.
 If your subject is close to the camera (like within a few feet), you can also use a small
camera-mounted shotgun, but you'll get more ambient noise from the shotgun than the
Lavalliere. Handhelds are currently not working with the DSLRs.
o You can also attach a shotgun microphone to a boom pole if your subject is too
far away from the camera.