2008 -162 basic television news production course

8/7/2019 2008 -162 Basic Television News Production Course

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UIB

Dep. of Information science and Media

Studies

Television News Production CourseFor

MEVI 162

Spring 2008

By

Z.Fahmy

Lighting Cameraman

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Elements of the course

News Interview Structure

The interviewer (the reporter)

The guest (whos talking?)

The viewer is a silent observer

This creates a three-way interaction. A successful interview will include all three groups in

the correct mix.

How do you set up your interview?

Standing

Seated

In car

Walking

Working

On phones

Vox pop

How do you shoot your reporter?

(Piece to camera) or (stand up) a reporters appearance in a TV news story

Usually a head and shoulders shot (medium shot)which features the reporter talking into amicrophone which often has the logo of the TV station at the scene of the news event, often

used as a transition, or at the beginning or ending.

You can also call it (Sound bit) the videotaped quote in television news

Static

Walk and talk

Intro Bridge- A transition between segments of audio or video

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Sign- off

Interviewing one person 1+1

FramingBefore you press the rec button and start shooting, do compose your frame

You must consider framing and if you will be hand-holding the camera or using a tripod.

Static Framing

The 2/3 rule

The triangle rule

BalanceOne centre of interest

The depth of the frame

Composing with the lens wide and tele

Colour harmony

The eye line

Remember the eye direction; ask the programme leader to sit in such a way that the object

will be looking at near camera (us the viewers).

Looking camera right or camera left

Looking up or down

Headroom and Nose room

Leave the proper amount of nose room and headroom in front of and above the person you're

shooting.

For example, don't have a shot where there's excessive empty space above a person's head.

That's just dead space. There should be just a little room above a person's head in a shot.

And if the person is looking to the side, add space in the direction in which the person is

looking.

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Background Interference

Avoid objects in the background which can distract from the person you are filming.

Have you ever recorded shots where trees seem to grow out of people's heads or telephone

wires appear to run through their ears?

Interviewing two people

If you will be interviewing 2 people, try to let them sit next to each other either on a sofa or 2

chairs or around a table, and remember different heights.

Maybe you will begin with 2 shots and then zoom in to one shot, you must find the right timeto pan between person A and person B.

Do not let person A and B look at each other the whole time, you must therefore stand so

close to the camera that they can communicate with you.

It is clever of the programme leader to call the guests by their names, it helps the

photographer to find a starting point and gives time for a new frame.

Walking and talking interview

Another technique of interviewing is the walking interview in which the interviewer and guest

stroll side-by-side toward the camera. The camera operator walks backwards maintaining a

constant distance. Obviously this must be well planned. The camera operator should have

someone to act as a guide, most of the time the sound person will be the guide as well as

holding the microphone, the usual routine is for the guide to place their hand in the middle of

the operator's back and walk with them.

(he needs to keep turning his head backwards and forwards to do both jobs)

Dynamic Framing for walking interview

Good camera work begins with a good composition and ends

with one

Framing through camera movement

Tilt-up or down

Tracking forward or Back

Framing the movement in side the frame

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VOX POP

Vox pop means asking a few people the same questions and then gathering all the answersinto one fast sequence.

Choose a busy area (e.g. the market square/shopping centre), and make the object come to

you, rather than running after him/her.

When you are out on location, try to find a light source, so that you have some exposure on

the interview object.

Try to find alternately where the object is standing against camera left or camera right, if you

would like to give the impression of something controversial.

When you interview a person who is standing up, hold the camera in such a way that you still

have room for the journalist interviewing the person.

Avoid shooting persons against a white background and open sky.

Sound in field interview

Sound quality is especially important in interviews.

The 5 Ws & HTalking about sounds do remember the 5 Ws &H

The primary questions a news story answers --Who? What? When? Where? Why? How?

Recording Sound for Interviews

Sound quality is especially important in interviews. The audience will be concentrating more

on what the guest is saying than how they look. Without crystal clear sound your interview

will be irritating to viewers.

Most in-camera microphones do a pretty good job of picking up general sounds during

recording. But please try not to use the on camera mic, it is not that good after all.

Avoid showing the microphone in the shot.

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The first decision is which type of microphone best suits your situation.

Hand-Held Mics

Hand-held mics are versatile and relatively easy to use. They are well-suited to mobile

interviews, and to situations where the interviewer needs to direct the talking (people can onlyspeak when the interviewer points the mic at them).

Lapel Mics

Lapel mics (mig) create high quality, consistent sound. Each person has their own mic, the

mics are (theoretically) always in the correct position and unwanted noise is rejected well.

The disadvantage is that they are slower and more difficult to set up, especially if there are a

number of guests coming in and out of the IV setting. Also, if the mic position does happen to

go awry, you have tointerrupt the interview to fix it.

Radio Mics

Any type of microphone can be plugged into a small battery-powered radio transmitter and

sent to a receiver at the recording end. This frees the interviewer and guest from the restraints

of audio cables. It also means the participants can be a long way from the camera (which

would obviously be on a long zoom).

Head phone

If you are on your own, use headphones to adjust the best audio level and monitoring the

sound

Recording your interview

Before you start shooting the interview, roll your new tape for 60 seconds color bar combined

with the 1000 Hertz at the beginning of your tape and 30 sec with the lens cap on.

This will avoid having any crinkles at the start of the tape appearing in the video you want to

shoot (if you are using an old camera)and it will give time to adjust the sound level at the

editing disc.

Do not stop or move the camera before you know that you are showing something new or

different.

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When camera is recording, do not zoom in and out all the time and constantly pan from side

to side, this irritates the viewer, it is best to use the zoom to focus if you have enough

batteries.

When you are on location and many things happen at the same time, the photographer must

have one eye on the view-finder and one eye on what to shoot next.

Label your tapes

When you are doing long interviews that require more than one tape, be sure to label each

tape at the scene. And pick a label that will make it easy to identify later.

There's nothing more frustrating than starting to edit and not knowing which tape is of which

shot or what is on each tape.

Cover-up

Since you very often must make a shoot quickly without having a precise script, it is better to

film too much rather than too little.

Inserts

In addition to cover the main theme, do some extra shooting (cut aways) in the area around

you, or a (reaction shot) of the reporter so that the editing person can use the extra material to

cover the reportage or the programme.

Noddies

"Noddy" is the term given to a shot of the interviewer reacting to the guest. The interviewer

may be nodding, smiling, frowning, looking concerned, etc.

Noddies perform two functions.

To include the interviewer and show their reactions.

To provide edit points.

OverlayA sequence of few shots which are laid over an interview, usually showing the interviewee

recorded at another time in another place.

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Lighting the interview

Where are you shooting

o Int or Ext

What do you need?

o A lighting toolkit which?

o Modern lighting equipment and the use of colour.

Existing light sources

o Sealing light

o Window light

Use of reflective materials

Grip equipments

Basic portraiture and interviews

o 3 point lightingo 2 lights

o 1 light

Dealing with mixed daylight and artificial lighting

Colour temperature correction

safety on location

Using camera light

Thank you and good luck

Z.Fahmy

Jan 2008

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2008 -162 basic television news production course

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