Tips and tricks for DSLR video
Digital SLRs are making it much easier for visual journalists to share cinematic stories. As part of ONA’s 2010 convention, a panel of elite visual journalists addressed the challenges of shooting video with digital SLRs and provided workflow suggestions to make for a better product. The panel, moderated by NAU’s Kurt Lancaster, featured independent filmmaker Danfung Dennis, video journalist Travis Fox and photographer / videographer Rii Schroer. Full video from the panel is available here:
Danfung Dennis previewed his latest project, “Battle for Hearts and Minds,” which he shot with a Canon 5D while embedded with a combat unit in Afghanistan. Dennis, a still photographer who worked in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2006, said he couldn’t “get across the seriousness and the complexity of [military] stories with stills.” As a result, he moved into video journalism.
Dennis said DSLR video has allowed him to transfer the intimacy and astetics of still photography into videography to produce documentary films in a very cinematic way. In Afghanistan, he used a Canon 5D Mark II, 24-70 f/2.8, Sennheiser ME-66, G2 wireless system, Singh-Ray variable ND filter and Beachtek 2XAs (discontinued – now using a JuicedLink adapter) mounted on a Glidecam 2000 HD. His focus was to have a light camera with very little gear separating him from his subjects.
“I’m trying to utilize new technology to shake people from their indifference. To be able to tell stories in a completely new way – in a way that makes people look at it and ask – is it real? And, when they realize it’s real, it hits them even harder.” – Danfung Dennis
Travis Fox is an Emmy Award-winning filmmaker and entrepreneur in New York City. He previously worked as a videojournalist at the Washington Post before starting Travis Fox Films, which produces video journalism and documentaries for outlets such as PBS Frontline.
During his latest project, Fox teamed up with NPR business reporter Adam Davidson to produce a documentary for PBS Frontline on the aftermath of the Haiti earthquake. It was impressive to see the collaboration between a former newspaper videographer and radio reporter to produce a television documentary.
Before Fox started using DSLRs for video, he primarily shot with video cameras, specifically the Sony Z1U. He switched once a few essential DSLR accessories became available. Fox said he still feels like he is using a video camera with his current Canon 7D rig. He uses a separate audio recorder (MAudio Microtek) to gather audio in the field. The recorder has a “line out” and a “head phone out” so he can record audio with the recorder and the camera at the same time. This allowed him to meet Frontline’s audio specifications because the JuicedLink adapter wouldn’t cut it. In addition, the separate audio helped bypass the 12-minute recording limit on the Canon 5D and 7D cameras and allowed for a continuous interview.
For his Haiti project, Fox shot about 100 hours of footage and synced the audio each night using Plural Eyes, which automatically synchronizes the audio and video clips. Then, he would re-export the interviews using the higher-quality audio files. Fox said the Plural Eyes software is about 95-100% accurate as long as you’re using the same audio source. If it doesn’t work, it is usually with ambient sounds that are tough to match up.
Rii Schroer works as a photographer and videographer for the Daily/Sunday Telegraph and The Times, UK. Schroer shoots daily still and video assignments. To do so, she emphasized the importance of planning ahead and thinking about story structure before you start an assignment. That makes it easier to gather all the pieces for a story and helps decided when to shoot stills versus video.
“If you go to a job, obviously you want to keep the story open. Don’t have too much of a preconceived idea in your head or you’ll miss the really lovely things… Expect the unexpected and try to go along with the story.”
As an example, Schroer showed the hilarious awesome snail racing video that she produced for The Times, U.K.
Schroer used to shoot stills and video with two separate cameras, but now she sets up both cameras for video just in case. She records her audio using a separate Mrantz audio recorder and a Rode video mic on the camera as a backup. She also recommended Joby’s GorillaPod for a steady, light-weight tripod to carry in the field.
“In video, you work toward the pictures,” Schroer said. “It’s a completely different way of thinking.” At the same time, there are a lot of still-photography skills that can transfer directly to video storytelling, such as composing images, using natural lighting, building rapport with sources, anticipating moments and sharing a passion for visual storytelling.
Similar to Dennis and Fox, Schroer expressed the importance of packing light. “My rule of thumb is to be as light as you can plus one,” she said, with the plus one being any lens or accessory that could help experiment with news ways to visually tell the story.
It was very helpful to see how the three panelists are using different products and workflows to produce video stories with DSLRs. If you’re interested in learning more about DSLR video, you can check out NAU professor and panel moderator Kurt Lancaster’s book here: DSLR Cinema: Crafting the Film Look with Video. In addition, if you have a DLSR workflow that has worked for you, please comment below and I’d love to hear your thoughts as well. Thanks!
The murder of journalist Arthur Kasherman
In 1945, newspaper publisher Arthur Kasherman was gunned down on a snowy street in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Was he a crusader for justice, or a low-life who angered the underworld once too many? Watch the video, read the stories and maybe you’ll solve a 65-year-old murder mystery.
About the Site
Rubbed Out is an experiment in digital history that draws on public and private archival sources to present in-depth, investigative material. It’s about a violent chapter in American journalism, and how to engage an audience by providing numerous entry points to a narrative. Investigative reporter James Eli Shiffer independently researched the project and collaborated with Ewen Media to present his findings on the Web.
Rubbed Out includes three short stories on Arthur Kasherman’s death, including his Hell-Raising Tradition, his Last Chow Mein and the Aftermath. The project’s short documentary is available on YouTube and Vimeo. There’s also an interactive map of Minneapolis at the time of Kasherman’s death.
McKenna Ewen worked with James Shiffer to build the independent investigation into an online multimedia project. Ewen used historical images from the Hennepin County Library and Star Tribune, in addition to historical footage from the Prelinger Archives, to produce the Rubbed Out documentary. He built the interactive map using UMapper, a web-based map application with the Yahoo maps framework. The site was powered by WordPress and designed by Graph Paper Press. If you have any further questions, you may contact McKenna Ewen at mewen@ewenmedia.com.
Help share Arthur Kasherman’s story
If you enjoyed this project, please take a moment to share and recommend it to others. You may also use the following promotional text and images if preferred. Ewen Media launched this project independently and needs your help to make it a success. We appreciate your support.
Promotional text:
Minneapolis, MN – In 1945, newspaper publisher Arthur Kasherman was gunned down on a snowy street. Was he a crusader for justice, or a low-life who angered the underworld once too many? Watch the video, read the stories and maybe you’ll solve a 65-year-old murder mystery.
Download the promotional images:
http://ewenmedia.com/rubbedout/rubbedout590x350.jpg
http://ewenmedia.com/rubbedout/rubbedout320x190.jpg
http://ewenmedia.com/rubbedout/rubbedout170x100.jpg
Here’s a link to the Almanac segment where I previewed the Kasherman project. I was also joined by professor Jane Kirtley and MPR’s Bob Collins to discuss the some of the latest media controversies of the week.
Interested in partnering with Ewen Media?
Ewen Media is a multimedia production company that uses interactive multimedia to share meaningful stories. The organization’s mission is to use purpose-driven journalism to explore the world in its current state and the world that it could become. McKenna Ewen would like to collaborate with local news organizations and nonprofits to help create similar projects. If you are interested, you may reach him by phone at 952-212-3013 or by email at mewen@ewenmedia.com. He is also available on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Thank you very much for your interest in this project and please let us know what you think. Thanks!
Learning online video from the "White Castle lady"
Here’s a link to my Other Future of News (#ofon) presentation on “making the most of online video.” Please take a look and let me know what you think!
The Other Future of News conference took place on December 12, 2009, and was a response to MPR’s Future of News event that took place earlier this year. Other videos from the event are available here.
Learning online video from the “White Castle lady”
This summer, on the first day of my third internship at the Minneapolis Star Tribune, I was assigned to produce a video on White Castle customer Ariel Wade. Wade was upset because she tried to drive her motorized scooter through the White Castle drive-thru after the dining room had closed and the employees refused to serve her. She contacted the Star Tribune’s Whistleblower team and argued that White Castle had discriminated against her because of her disability (degenerative arthritis). The story ran here with a short video.
Ariel Wade showed me the power of online video after the story ran. First, Huffington Post linked to the video, which is essentially every intern’s dream, and Wade quickly became a viral celebrity. Dlisted, a raunchy celebrity site, embedded the video and it took off. Other similar blogs picked it up and Wade became an “American Hero” who was “fighting the fight.” However, because the Star Tribune’s video player did not allow any sharing or embedding options, a user ripped the video from the Star Tribune’s site and uploaded it to YouTube.
To me, this story demonstrated the powerful potential of local news video to reach new viewers when the content can be emailed, embedded and shared with others. In this case, the primary audience for a White Castle drive-thru story might be on Dlisted rather than unique visits to the Star Tribune. The easy embeddability of the YouTube player allowed new viewers to see the story without any additional cost to the news organization. It also significantly expanded the potential viewing audience by targeting a new set of news consumers.
Shortly after the initial launch, the Star Tribune added the video to its YouTube channel and brought in an additional 25,000 video views, plus 20,000 video views from the previous user (who was asked to remove the video). From the YouTube channel, the video was embedded on nine different channels and even inspired a spin-off video.
In this case, YouTube appeared to be an effective way of distributing video content. However, if the Star Tribune’s video player allowed for sharing and embedding, the 45,000 views would have been added to site’s video traffic and helped maximize pre-roll advertising from the content. While loyal visitors might be easier to monetize, this example showed that this video’s value, along with many others, were not limited to a particular news site.
The best multimedia is the kind you can’t do – yet
Recently, when talking with multimedia journalist Jeff Achen, I was asked how young journalists could develop the skills necessary to compete in a new media environment. At the time, I wasn’t really sure. However, when I watched this video (see below), it all made sense.
As a Minnesotan, I was born loving Herb Brooks’s famous “miracle” speech. There isn’t anyone, even this kid, who can deliver the speech that he did. However, “Rizzo” made this speech his own. In the same light, when I look at the current journalism environment, I am always looking for ways to compete with traditional journalists by making these stories my own. I ask two questions:
1) How has this story been told?
2) How have I told similar stories?
Then, I do the opposite. These two questions have been very powerful tools for me. The first question is your competitive advantage in a given market. This defines the work that you can do that no one else can. The second question is your area for growth. I consider this the “wouldn’t it be cool if…” philosophy.
For example, “wouldn’t it be cool if a 4-year-old kid could imitate Herb Brooks on YouTube and become a viral sensation?” Yeah, I think that’d be pretty cool.
Individual journalists should think like publicly traded companies (I know… stay with me). If you’re not learning and growing, then you’re losing your marketability. No one wants to invest in last year’s Turbo-Man.
Most of my projects have been inspired by other journalists’ work. When I started college, I really wanted to produce a video piece similar to Lou Raguse’s “Road Trip (2004).” As a result, I started learning Final Cut Pro and similar video editing tools. Similarly, when I produced Times of Recession, I was first inspired by Ohio University’s Soul of Athens project (2007). So I always ask one more question:
3) Who’s telling this story better than I am?
There are a lot of innovative journalists out there who are doing really great stuff. There’s nothing more humbling and motivating than watching some of the finest in online multimedia. When I see great journalism, I study these pieces and learn from them. Then, I try to figure out how they’re made. That’s the fun part.
Lastly, here’s my “hit list.” These are works that are so amazing that they make me want to learn.
1) Choosing a President
2) Crisis of Credit
3) Charity Water
4) Times of Crisis
5) Auto-Tune the News (just because)
