Category: Video

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Embracing Technology and Why

There’s a lot of talk these days about technology. Should I get a video camera or a hybrid camera? Should I twitter? Should I connect on Linkedin and Facebook? Should I upload videos to YouTube? Perhaps the question most people overlook is asking themselves why? And if they do ask themselves why – what kind of answers do they give themselves?

There is no one answer for everyone. But the worst way to try to answer those questions is to say because everyone else is. However, here are some possible answers to the question why?

Should I buy a video camera or the best video camera like the RED? Ask yourself if you want to target clients who are using more and more video. How are they using video – online? Broadcast? If the answer is online then perhaps the RED camera is a more expensive option than needed for something that will be output for online purposes. If your answer is broadcast then understand that those needs are high end and may require a high end camera. But don’t stop there. Ask yourself if you want to just be a shooter or do you want to play a bigger role in the production. Ask yourself if you are willing to devote the time necessary to learn these new skills of how to shoot motion. Ask yourself what are the markets that you want to work in. If you are leaning towards videojournalism, then perhaps the RED is not the camera for you. You may be better off with something more discreet.

Should I get a Facebook profile? Should I twitter? Should I use Linkedin? I’m a firm believer in utilizing all these platforms but only after you have come to an understanding of how and why. Each one of these platforms has the potential to either create awareness and strengthen your brand or do harm to your brand if you haven’t come to terms with who are you trying to target and why? Furthermore, you need to know that Facebook and Twitter are ways to give insight into your personality as opposed to Linkedin which is more of a professional networking platform. You should also realize that social media is all about sharing. So if your motives are to sell and promote in a direct way – it will be self defeating. Sharing builds trust. Sometimes that takes time. You need to be consistent and you need to be sincere. You need to be authentic. When you share and are sincere and are coming from a “right place”, good things will ultimately come from that.

Lastly, embrace technology because it enables you to go after opportunities. It levels the playing field. No longer do you need Hollywood budgets and big crews to tell a story in motion. No longer do you need the “gate keepers” to write the rules of who gets published and who doesn’t. Anything is possible because technology empowers all of us to fulfill our dreams. But you need to define your dream first. Only you can do that for yourself.

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Shooting Great Video Interviews

Whether you’re doing a multimedia piece or a video you will no doubt be doing interviews. So this entry will provide you with some tips for getting better interviews.

Number one rule of course is that your audio capture must be good. Make sure your microphone is no less that a foot from your subject. Make sure you monitor the sound or at least your sound check by wearing headphones. You might think you are getting sound by looking at the meter on your camera – but you don’t know if it’s good. There could be a buzz or interference that without monitoring through headphones – you’d never know.

Pick a suitable location – sitting someone next to a fountain for instance would quickly make your viewer head for the bathroom.

Make a list of questions – but don’t be afraid to depart from that list. Many times my best questions were sparked by an answer that my subject had just given. For instance if my subject has just mentioned that there was a tragedy in their family that turned their life around – your next question should be a follow up to that.

Don’t ask questions that have yes and no answers.

Many times you won’t use your voice so the audience won’t hear the questions. Instruct your subject to paraphrase the question while giving their answer.

Keep quiet – direct them by the nod of your head – instead of giving verbal recognition.

Don’t step on your subject’s line. Give a pause after they finish answering a question. That pause will give your some “air” and will help you in the editing room. But more importantly, people are uncomfortable with pauses and tend to keep talking. Many good soundbites have come from me waiting.

Like my dad used to say – let your ears do more of the work.

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Everything That Moves

Don’t ever underestimate the power of the simple idea. Sometimes – my best ideas happen when I’m not trying to come up with one. Like last night – I was watching a reunion of the group Blind Faith on TV. I was caught up in the music and nostalgia for the era that music represented and an idea hit me. Video is about everything that moves.

It’s a simple thought – video is about motion but yet an often overlooked one. Most people’s first inclination is to pick up the video camera and start moving the camera itself. They pan – they zoom – they jiggle their viewers into motion sickness.
They have forgotten that video is about recording motion – or everything that moves. Simple thoughts are the best.

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A Means To An End

I read this weekend about a memorial service for the late lindy hopper Frankie Manning. Frankie died last month – he was 94 years old. Frankie might have looked like his years but when he danced – he was 18 again.

I met and photographed Frankie Manning about 10 years ago when I was shooting a story about swing dancing for Smithsonian Magazine. I had pitched the story to Smithsonian at a time when “swing” had become the “thing” – once again. As much as I had a great time shooting the story, I kicked myself from time to time for pitching a story all about movement and sound to a print publication. But it got me thinking about video.

About the same time, technology was making a profound impact on video and specifically DV (digital video). I was hearing about how filmmakers and journalists were experimenting with video as an affordable means to approach their craft – without the need for huge crews and big Hollywood budgets. Then I read about the first DV symposium that was going to take place at the AFI (American Film Institute) in Los Angeles. I flew out to LA a month later to attend and it was a week that changed my world – my creative world that is. I listened to panel discussions, took workshops and learned about cameras and editing systems etc. It was a springboard for my mind and I started thinking of all the stories that I wanted to tell – that I could only tell – with a “motion” medium.

Ultimately, I got into video because it was the right medium to communicate certain messages. At that time video wasn’t the trend.  I didn’t feel  like I needed to learn it because everyone was doing it. For me it was the right tool for certain stories. It was a means to an end.

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The “just” Word

I’m beginning to hate the “just” word. “Why does it take so long-it’s “just” a picture?” “We “just” need a 3 minute video for You Tube – my kid does them all the time”.

Technology has changed our lives and certainly my profession in many many ways – both good and not so good. It has enabled me to produce and shoot documentaries and get them seen globally, when 5 years ago that wasn’t possible.

Technology has also made the greater public think that creating content is “just” so easy – a kid can do it. Of course that is true because kids do it all the time – look at You Tube and dozens of other video hosts. While every now and then quality and skill doesn’t matter if the message or story is so strong that inferior quality hasn’t compromised them, most times the message doesn’t come out because of the poor quality.

But when a client doesn’t even think about the skill set a professional brings to a project because it is “just” so easy, even a kid can do it – it not only demeans the process – it can actually do a great disservice to their brand. Most times, they realize this but it’s too late.

I have started giving workshops to still photographers who are interested in adding video to their skill set. The ones who will benefit are the ones who realize that it’s not “just” buying another tool. But like anything else – they must cultivate and learn their craft because everything isn’t always “just” that easy.

I wish it was “just” that easy. I wish that I could take back the angst that “video issues” have presented to me over the last 10 years. I wish there was a switch that I could flip that could make me something I want to be without putting in the effort – but there isn’t. But when I hear that “just” word – I take a deep breath and tell myself – they “just” don’t get it.

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The End of the Decisive Moment?

With the advent of the hybrid cameras from both Nikon and Canon, the future of photography will no doubt be rewritten.

Sports photography will change dramatically. Will these cameras be banned from future Olympic venues for fear that still photographers will be shooting video? Networks like NBC pay big money for ALL broadcast (video) rights. So what happens when a still photographer is shooting video under the guise or disguise of a camera that looks like a still camera?

My guess is that in the future, the TV guys shooting with high end digital video cameras will ultimately produce still images as a by-product. Why depend on photographers capturing the “decisive moment” when a buyer can scroll through the video files and pick that perfect frame?

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Trigger Finger

One tip I give to still photographers who segway into video is “don’t shoot like a still photographer”. By that I mean don’t fall into the trap of turning off the camera too soon – let it run. Still photgraphers shoot moments in time – video shooters shoot time in motion.

I had a still photographic assignment a few years back to shoot a story on the LL Bean’s workshops. LL Bean gives skeet shooting lessons and fly fishing lessons etc. I set out to cover a group who would be learning the basic techniques of how to shoot skeet targets with a shotgun. I got to the location early and had some time to kill – no pun intended. The instructor asked me if I wanted to give it a try. Now I’m a person who had never even seen a gun up close, let alone shot one – so I declined. But after about 10 minutes of gentle coaxing, I said yes.

The instructor gave me safety tips on handling a firearm and then I was ready to try my hand at shooting the clay targets. He pulled – I aimed – and shot the target dead on. We both laughed and he said – beginners luck. He told me to give it another try. He pulled – I aimed and I shot it dead on again. After the third try with the same results – he looked at me and said that he thought I had been kidding him when I told him that I had never picked up a gun before. Then it occurred to me that I’ve been aiming and shooting “targets” my entire career as a still photographer. It had become a natural instinct.

So when I teach still photographers how NOT to shoot video like a still photographer, my biggest challenge is to help them overcome this learned instinct of shooting “moments”. It’s a tough instinct to break but stop yourself and let the camera roll on.

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Creating Memories

I’ve just returned from a shoot in Mackinac Island, Michigan. For those of you not familiar with the island – it’s like a step back in time with no cars and very limited cell phone service.

The purpose of my trip was two fold – to attend a conference of a trade association I belong to, The Society of American Travel Writers and to shoot video of the island and the magnificent Grand Hotel.

The Grand Hotel is a historic landmark living up to its name. It’s family owned and operated and I had the pleasure of interviewing one of the owners, Danny Musser. He said something in the interview that really resonated with me. He said that they weren’t in the business of selling lodging and meals but of creating memories. And that they do – every little detail is a cinematic experience.

I thought about that philosophy – creating memories – and realized that this is essentially my goal as well when I shoot stills or video. My intent is to capture the essence of one’s experience, whether it be a travel experience or a documentation of a personal event.

So I need to remind myself that behind the technology is the visual message. Behind the beautiful shots and the attention to detail is the “message” or the “memory” captured. I’d like to think that what I capture today will ultimately be archived and “create memories”.

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Vertical TV Sets

Have you ever seen a vertical TV? I haven’t but I wonder with the hybrid cameras that look like still cameras but also shoot video will we all be turning our TV’s on end?

The point is that just because the camera shoots video, doesn’t mean the operator will be thinking like a video shooter. As one who still shoots in both mediums – still photography and video – I have to turn a switch in my head when I switch gears.

Shooting still images are “moments in time”. Shooting video is “time in motion”. You must think more in sequences when shooting video – each one having a beginning, middle and end. In addition, these independent “clips” need to be edited together to create a story. When I get into a shot – I need to think about how I will get out of that shot – or what will come next in the story line.

You also need to shoot a lot more when shooting video. You need to “shoot and move” – covering different angles and different focal lengths within those angles. You need a variety of wide, medium and long shots – AND closeups. One quickly understands why when they go to edit their piece. In fact editing your material will make you a better shooter.

So when you pick up your new camera that also shoots video – make sure you flip that switch in your head and think differently for a different medium. Otherwise you’ll be turning your 52″ inch TV set on end.

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Editing Anywhere

My partner and I recently completed a documentary called Freedom’s Ride. We documented two groups of high school students from diverse backgrounds as they retraced the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960’s. http://vimeo.com/4106326.

It was the first time we went HD and the first time we went tapeless. The shoot and working on the fly is a story in itself, but for this entry I’ll talk about the edit. Since the shoot itself was of the trip and interviews, the material was brought into the system along the way. When I got to home base, I transfered the files into mov files for Final Cut, imported them into my project and stored the media on external hard drives.

My intitial rough cut was 90 minutes long and was only intended for the students and teachers who had taken the journey. I wanted to make sure that all the kids were included in that edit. It also became the structure of the piece.

After that first cut, I got involved in other things,  but I knew that I was headed up to Maine in a month and I wanted to do the next edit working completely mobile while there.

I packed my MacBook Pro loaded with Final Cut Pro Suite, one external hard drive, a zip strip, headphones and a mouse into a relatively small backpack and headed up to Rockport, Maine. While my partner took The Platypus Workshop, I’d set up my portable editing suite at either the Rockport or Camden Library. It was quiet, peaceful and the Camden Library had the added plus of a beautiful seascape right out the window.

By the end of 9 days, I had cut the piece down to 28 minutes. My goal had been to finish before I headed for home. I not only made my goal, I got to show it to the Platypus participants who gave it a thumbs up.