Ask the Local TV News Videographer

In My Humble Opinion
1

What the hell.

I’m stuck on overnight editing while my broken heel heals, so I have the time.

BG: 22 years in the business, now planted in Washington DC for the last 7 years. As stated I work for a local affiliate shooting news usually for the 5,6,7 & 11pm shows.

I will go with the first question on my own - actually I am starting this thread having read the how do lawyers defend criminals thread here.

To the question "how can you live with yourself when you go bang on the victim’s family’s door?’ I have the following response:

It must be understood that in my business some reporter and videographer will be assigned to go ask the family of some victim if they want to talk to us. That is guaranteed. So if I am tasked to do this I will readily go because I know that in this interaction I will treat the family with the most compassion, kindness and care that is possible. In short, if it is guaranteed that someone will be going there, I know I will treat them with the minimum trauma.

Furthermore, when dealing with families (and the like), what most people don’t realise is that the way a normal request for interview goes is first the reporter walks up tothe home alone to request permission to interview the family. I wait in the car or on the sidewalk, camera put away & off.

If the family does not want to be interviewed we apologise and leave. That’s it. We respect their privacy.

We do get aggressive when pursuing a more unsavory character: an accused criminal, etc, however we tend to respect even the criminal’s family.

To be sure there are other members of the media who are not so kind, and just like a bad cop or a nasty lawyer, the rest of us get tainted by their behavior. However the method I described for asking for a tough interview is followed by about 95% of local news crews.

Anyway, there’s my start. Fire away.

2

OK. I was at an event earlier this month. They were interviewing someone else in the room I was in. They were talking to that person about something he was doing for me. Then they asked if they could film a few shots of something I had in my hands. I said that was fine but that I didn’t want to be on camera myself. They asked my name and few questions about the event. Except for saying my name I was never even looking at them. The next day people coming in start teasing me about seeing me on TV. My mother called and said they showed the interview with me four times. I’m thinking, “What interview? I didn’t do an interview and I said not to put me on camera.” Apparently, they did film me and put the whole thing on the evening news. I didn’t see it but everyone who laughs at me about it says I was great. I don’t even remember what I said.

I’ve been kind of pissed and really embarrassed by the whole thing. Are they allowed to what they did?

3

Ah, yes. You were ‘interviewed’ because you were within earshot of a camera. Depending on the situation, the microphones are very good at picking up audio without a reporter actually holding a microphone up next to you.

The long and short of it is the only way you can be sure you won’t end up on tv is to leave. Most of us would honor your request not to be in the story, though I am sure we would politely try to change your mind if we thought it would help the story. Sadly it sounds like the crew chose not to honor your request, and for that I am sorry. There is also the chance that the folks taping you did not pass your wishes along to the writers and editors, but I don’t know your individual circumstances and I could not tell you if that is what happened here. It has been known to happen.

As for ‘are they allowed?’, it is clearly layed out in law that news gatherers do not need to ask permission to tape anything; by seeing a camera in your presence you acknowledge they are there and they have the right to roll tape & use it.

If you are on private property and you have the authority to do so, you may order the crew to leave the property and they must comply, though they can continue to tape as they leave. In the case of public property there is no reason a news crew can be compelled to stop doing their work (with certain public safety exceptions that are case by case.) Also, depending on the jurisdiction, no-one (including newsgatherers) may engage in wiretap, or the recording of audio without consent. For example in Maryland I cannot engage in hidden camera audio recording, in Virginia I can. But once again, if you see I have a camera then it is assumed it records audio and I am not obligated to stop recording.

In reality though, if you ask me politely, I most often will work with you and not tape you. I do understand it is not everyone’s cup of tea. Perhaps in the future you might repeat this request to a visiting crew, or just not deal with them.

Once again, sorry that happened. That just makes it harder for the rest of us to do our jobs.

4

Who’s the “boss” on a story when you’re out with a reporter? If the reporter wants you to go with her so she can grab an interview while you want to stay where you are and continue to shoot, who decides?

Is everything digital, or do you still use tape either in the field or in the studio? For that matter do you still use old terminology like “rewind” and “footage”?

What’s the difference between those big studio cameras and the small ones you use in the field? How much does a field unit cost?

What are the rules for your station using material shot by free-lancers?

By any chance, did you know George Hughes?

5

Not really a question but a plea: Can’t you camera folk convince the reporters to stop walking around while they are talking? It’s obvious that it is a setup and that they are trying to make it look much more dramatic (or something). It just looks dorky and distracts from the information they are trying to present.

And stay off my lawn! ;^)

6

I am so annoyed at the cliche shots filmed for stories:

In a Gay Pride parade, 300,000 people participating, 98% dressed like your average person who works in the cubicle next to you, but you have to/must/by law show the 9 foot tall drag queen and the lesbians with tatoos on their foreheads. Out of curiosity, did you also used to show blacks eating watermellon at Civil Rights demonstrations in the 60’s?

If there is a tornado/earthquake/fire/hurricane you simply have to/must/by law show the torn little doll next to the tricycle, perhaps hinting there is a dead little girl somewhere? The knocked down neighborhood isn’t enough - it is necessary to make the story just a tad creepier and sadder?

If someone dies in a car crash/fire/shooting you simply havet to/must/by law dash up to the wife/mother/grandmother and ask, “How do you feel?”…expecting them to say, oh, I donno, “fine, but I’ve been having this rash on my left foot…” instead of breaking down and sobbing on camera?

I just think that most remote shots, and their story editors, are so cliche ridden trite that you might as well just run repeats of the last 374 times you have shot that same, tired script.

Oh, and don’t forget to tease me before the commercial break; “Stay tuned to find out if everybody in the 500 mile area will die tomorrow from the bomb they found today…”

7

I used to be involved in a local studio, shooting weddings, instructional videos, and industrial videos. Until I showed up with a Panasonic AG-DVX100A we used a pair of JVC GY-DV500Us. We did one news shoot, covering the recovery of the kidnapped Shasta Groene. Since it was a 4th of July weekend, apparently we were the only studio that answered the phone. :stuck_out_tongue: We went out live on FOX, and our footage was used on Geraldo Rivera’s show, I think. I know it was shown a few times.

Anyway… What kind of camera(s) to you use? What kind of light kit do you use?

8

When I’m shooting video (or shooting stills) I’m pretty fearless. There’s something about being behind a camera that makes everything seem harmless. Do you feel that way? What’s the most dangerous thing you’ve gotten on tape? Was it good (used on air)? Alternately, what’s the stupidest, most reckless (in retrospect) thing you’ve done to get a shot?

9

Answered within the quote:

10

Walk & talk tends to be the flavor of the month depending on what the latest consulted told management we should be doing. Trust me, we think it is silly too, but we like steady paychecks.

And sir I stay on the sidewalk. Public property.

11

Generally these are fair criticisms. We have shot each of these stories so many times before we tend to fall into a rut on how they are told.

I explained how I (and other proper journalists) handle the families of victims upthread. I know some crews are abusive, but in reality very few.

Teases: not my department. Yell at promotions, the grandchildren of snake oil salesmen. Actually that’s harsh, they have a really tough job to do - keep viewers from switching during the commercial break. I don’t envy them.

12

Right now I am using a Panasonic DVCPro tape camera; like I said we’re the only shop still using tape. We ingest to Avid for nonlinear editing and upconversion to HD. It really doesn’t look too bad.

Light kits, for the most part, are limited to the toplight of the camera. Time is of the essence for our shoots and I don’t have the luxury of being able to set up big lights often. Usually just for the live shots if I have time. I do have several choices for my Anton Bauer camera light, so I can make things look pretty good on the fly.

13

I am pretty aware of my surroundings at all times, and thus have not been injured on the job often. I literally tend to look around off the camera while shooting to keep an eye on what is going on around me; tripods are helpful that way.

I’ve been in the thick of a few riots and escaped unharmed; U of MD post Duke basketball riots, World Bank Protests, etc.

I think the most dangerous/dumb/wtf moment for me was when I had heard the police & fbi were surrounding the DC snipers in a rest area in Western MD one night, and I was out there sneaking around in the woods trying to get a shot when my sane side reminded me I could easily get killed out here, or compromise the operation, so I backed out of there and worked it from a distance.

14

Most “pros” I see use very large, heavy, unwieldy, shoulder-mount cameras. Some seen in the last 2 years include BetaCams, I think. Why not use the smaller, lighter semi-pro memory-card cams? The specs on some of them are pretty good, even HD, and I would think convenience would trump top of the line quality.

15

As someone who has a very decent semi-pro camera, a Canon XH-A1, I can answer that: Because smaller and lighter is not necessarily better in this case. It’s damned difficult to get a steady shot from eye height with a camera when you are holding it with one hand in front of your eye. A big camera that can rest on your shoulder, while it weighs more, that weight is comfortably seated up there, and your hand is just balancing it and controlling the zoom. That is why there isa whole aftermarket of mounts to try to make a small, light camera sit on one’s shoulder. Most don’t work very well.

A local news camera operator might have to stand around in a place like a courthouse waiting for someone to come out. A tripod is not practical, and you might have to run after the subject. Holding up even the smallest camera for more than 10 minutes at a time sucks.

16

There is a big movement in the industry towards this newfangled journalist idea called the MMJ or multi-media-journalist. Typically they operate smaller handicams like you describe, edit onto laptops in the field, feed their stories in via the internet, tweet, blog, write and do it all themselves.

Management claims it the best way for a journalist to get ‘in close’ with their subject and do solid journalism.

Bullshit.

It’s been done before, it’s known as one man band and it’s a way to do things cheap. I watch some of my fellow journalists do this every day in the shop - it’s exhausting, they are always a step behind traditional crews, and unless the person has some personal gifted attributes, it often looks like crap.

With all that as a background, the answer is yes, there are smaller, less unwieldy cameras available. Betacams are about 2 generations / 15 years ago in tv time, but the preference of videographers is (generally) the larger cameras because a shoulder mounted camera is easier on you if you have to operate it for hours on end. It’s harder to cradle a small camera in front of you and hold it steady than it is to put the beast on your shoulder.

Also what most people forget is the lenses. A good lens set makes all the difference in video quality; and they are not cheap. Good HD lenses run $20k these days for field units. Small cameras don’t do a very good job zooming into a subject from afar. A good field lens can go in 18x (at most) then also often has a “doubler” switch that pushes it into 32x zoom. Thats what you need when officer ‘stick up his ass’ decides you have to set up 4 city blocks away from the cat stuck in a tree and the desk is determined it’s the lead and you need that shot.

Given the choice between a nice, new, smaller camera and my 12 year old tape driven DVCPro, I’ll keep the old camera. It’s the beast I trust.

17

I was typing when you wrote this. You are absolutely correct.

I will say I wish I had one in addition to my big camera, for choice, but I don’t see that happening anytime soon.

18

I mentioned upthread is the use of MMJ (Multi Media Journalists) and how it has changed the business. One especially interesting thing for me has been that I have been asked to play reporter at times.

It is not uncommon for photogs to go shoot a story alone and bring the materiel back for someone in house to put together as if they were there covering it. Think of many stories anchors do and this is how it is done.

Sometimes photogs are asked to do what are referred to as ‘nat packs’ or natural sound only stories. These are actually very hard to do well, since you don’t use a reporter track to tell the story.

Now today I am on occasion asked to play reporter. If you would have told me 20 years ago I would (occasionally) act as a reporter in Washington, DC, I’d have died laughing. But here it is - I do it (maybe a dozen times a year right now.)

Here’s two examples of my work, one the Blizzard of 2010, the other a New Year’s Day polar plunge. Obviously I give away my real life identity in these clips.

Please don’t hurt yourself laughing.

19

I’m surprised your station has stuck to tape this long, especially in news. I shoot with a mixture of tape and SD card, and I find I resent the time it takes to capture from tape. One would think they would have upgraded to a tapeless system, if only to cut one more job.

20

It’s budgeted for the next year or two. It’s a huge infrastructure upgrade inside and outside the station. With the economy in the tank, I am happy to schlep an old camera around if they keep paying me.