Web video

M

mbwkrause

Well-known member
Even in Germany web videos are becomming big for newspapers. I just came back from a 14 day stint covering the primaries in Florida and California shooting for the German weekly "Die Zeit". I thought some of you might be interested in the footage. I wish, the technical quality would be better but they wanted me to shoot DV and the HV20 doesn`t do too well in that area. And the encoding lets much to be desired. But anyhow, have a look and let me know what you think:
http://www.zeit.de/video/player?videoID=200802069da5b8
http://www.zeit.de/video/player?videoID=20080204ec8ded
http://www.zeit.de/video/player?videoID=2008013053f7cc&from=left
http://www.zeit.de/video/player?videoID=200801280816e5
http://www.zeit.de/video/player?videoID=200801257f9056
 
Hi mbwk,

I only checked out the first clip. I like your cutaways and would have liked to see more B roll added in the later part of the clip. The editing was at times a bit choppy, perhaps due to insufficient footage that was useable (like the door hanging scenes).

The framing and composition was okay but could use some improvement.

The segment where Robert quickly opens the door was amiss. Robert shouldn't begin by looking directly at the audience - initially he would address her (the person knocking on the door). Also, the lighting was way off, blown out on one side of his face, black on the non-sunny side. If you're using the sun as your keylight, either reposition the talent or use a reflector.

Moving inside, raise your keylight up several feet so the softbox doesn't bounce off the talent's glasses. Also, the light was way too bright - either move it back, use a smaller bulb, add diffusion, or correct your camera settings so the talent face is not all washed out (white).

I liked the transition to action where the campaign representatives were making calls. Here's a good time to use a few cutaways (such as their POV looking at the roster, script line, etc).

The quality of the audio was fine for the type of equipment you are using and the nature of your production - good job.

Try to avoid making small zoom in changes that distract the audience. They aren't necessary.

At minute 6:00, move the talent away from a white wall. True, you did use an angled shot but shooting against a boring white wall is the last place you want to shoot. If you absolutely must use this location, then at least tape a poster on the wall behind the talent or move in some kind of prop. Also, having only one softbox for a keylight hurts the quality and casts shadows on the walls.

At minute 7:00, begin with a tight shot of the speaker, then pull back to the wide perspective shot. Here's the time to use your zoom (I realize you only have one camera).

All in all, I liked the video - very good content with human interest and nice pacing.

Warm Regards, Michael
 
Hi Michael,
Thank you so much for taking the time to watch the video and make your very helpful and well though out comments. I agree with basically everything you are saying even though it`s hard to make it all happen when you are a one man band. I also had only about two hours in total to shoot and everything was produced on a very tight deadline. Which, of course, doesn´t matter for the viewer, only the result counts. As for the lighting: I agree that the light in the Robert scence is horrid but I didn`t want to interrupt the interaction between the two since it was all spontaenious and I wanted to keep it as real as possible. It would probably have been a little better if I would have shot over her shoulder though, since I couldn´t prevent him from looking directly into the camera. All the indoor lighting is just an on-camra VidLed which I clearly need to balance better. I only pickd up a video camera nine month ago, so there is still lots of room for improvement. Thanks again for your comments, they motivate me to do better next time.
Best,
Matthias
 
Hi Matthias,

I must say the footage looks excellent for such a small camera! Editing is also excellent!
I also like the whole attitude and think its a good documentary on the elective situation.
Great job !!
 
Rehi Matthias,

Good follow-up, thanks for the explanation. Yes, running out of time and lack of familiarization with gear are always some of our greatest problems. However, I do agree with videographer greats like Randy Stubbs that we should always practice-practice-practice evey day. Even if it's just a few minutes every day, like any professional - golfer, musician, etc, we should practice our trade. But the truth be known, most of us are guilty as charged!

Anyway, you should be proud of your achievement - you have a real talent to capture an interesting human interest story. And you take your craft seriously enough to submit it for peer review, so you will definitely improve your skills.

BTW, after my prior post I remembered one other item for you to consider. Looking at the video it was clear you were using only one camera with a photojournalism approach. So you generally only captured "the real world' without staging any shots (perhaps the black man looking at the camera was an exception). While that approach is certainly genuine, it is not "cheating" to incorporate some staged shots which add interest to the viewer. My recommendation is after you take the primary shot, go back and recreate the scene - then take additional footage from a different angle. For instance, where you were taking the footage of the callers doing the solicitations, after you took the shot you could have moved behind the caller to take a few over-the-shoulder shots of the person dialing, looking down at the roster or script sheet, etc, etc. You get the point - take some quickie B roll cutaways of the actual scene with talent in place. Then in post, edit the shots so it looks like you are doing a multi-camera shoot. From the audience's perspective, this approach will add interest and involvement, having the audience see the movie from the perspective of the talent. Honestly, doing this only takes an extra minute to capture 5-10 seconds per sequence. Don't worry if half of them don't work out since it's all extra footage that may or may not fit. But if in 5 minutes you only get a few extra perspective shots, it will have been worth it. The point is, don't be afraid to ask the talent to stage a scene and capture a brief shot from another perspective.

Hope that helps. Again, you're off the a great start.

Michael

PS - Previously I forgot to compliment you on taking a few shots from "position 2". Many videographers forget that with a handheld camera we can take shots from five positions:

1. Very low, at anke position
2. Low, at crotch position (hand fully extended)
3. Medium, at stomach position (camera tucked under arm for bigger camera)
4. Medium high, on shoulder
5. Very high, over the head

As mentioned above, we should do our daily practice sessions and perfect hundreds of shot types including these camera heights.
 
Last edited:
mbwkrause said:
Even in Germany web videos are becomming big for newspapers. I just came back from a 14 day stint covering the primaries in Florida and California shooting for the German weekly "Die Zeit".
Click to expand...


I was out on the campaign trail shooting a new series for the IFC and i was surpized by the amount of journalist shooting video for newspapers. i met a number of different people including some journalist from newsweeks and other from Denmark and Australia all shooting video for more typical print media.

I didn't get to Florida or Cali (i was in iowa, NH, SC). Are you going to be at the conventions later this year? if so, see you there!
 
I might go down to Texas or up to Ohio and I will definitely be at both conventions. it´s pretty hard to get a hotel in Denver though... Would be nice to meet some people...
 
yea, i heard Denver has been sold out since 07. Lucky for us one of our producers grew up in Denver, so we may be sleeping on the floor of some of her friends. I may be down in Texas, i havent gotten word yet, but it would be sweet.
 
Don't let the "Hollywood" types get you down with technical quibbles, and please don't fall into the trap of doing staged shots or otherwise altering rather than observing reality. When you do that, you are doing entertainment, not news.

I watched your L.A./Obama video and the FL/Giuliani video. Both were fine. They gave me a clear, obviously "true" view of the people and places, and that should be a news shooter's only objective.

There is an art to doing news video correctly. It is an art similar to making driftwood sculpture where you use existing shapes and put them together in an interesting way rather than carving wood into the shapes you want. It is the difference between fiction and non-fiction, a line American TV news has been crossing for many years, and I'm glad you are not crossing it.

Disclaimer: I edit several large-scale tech news websites for a living, and we are doing more and more video-based reporting, none of which is fancied up in any way -- on purpose. I also do what I call "Zen video" or more accurately "Found Art Video" in my spare time, which means I work strictly from reality (no pre-planned or set-up shots, no storyboards, no preconceived notions at all) and work to make entertaining and informative pieces from whatever I shoot.

I don't add light, either. I know *how* to light, sure, but I save that for dramatic work. Ditto makeup. My truism on this topic -- quoting an article I wrote for the Online Journalism Review here -- is, "If they wear more makeup in front of the camera than they wear to go to the grocery store, it's entertainment, not news."

Yes, this is a purist's view. But it's a necessary view if we (reporters) want to have the public trust that we are giving them the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

Thank you for some fine, straight-up video reporting.
 
moonlitnite said:
Also, the light was way too bright - either move it back, use a smaller bulb, add diffusion, or correct your camera settings so the talent face is not all washed out (white).
Click to expand...

...or use the on-board dimmer and dim it down. :)

-----

Good job Matthias; I liked the movement of the piece, and it never seemed dull (considering the subject matter - that says a LOT! :)).
Editing could of been just a tad tighter, but overall a good job in my opinion.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top