Annex Business Media presentation by Ellin Bessner, Centennial Journalism
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Transcript of Annex Business Media presentation by Ellin Bessner, Centennial Journalism
Storytelling with VideoAnnex Business Media
Cambridge, Ontario Nov. 2, 2012
Why video?
• Broaden your storytelling
• Extend your brand (seamlessness between print, online and mobile editions)
• Extend to new audiences
• Extend opportunities for advertising (pre-roll, sponsored segments)
• Drive traffic to your website –stay longer= BOOST engagement=Boosts Google SEO
You are already…
Doing many things right!
Great story IDEAS
A series about Canada’s safest employers
Promos for forums
Tons of product videos…
Showcasing your audience to themselves
Annex Bus Youtube channel
Putting Your EditorS on-air
Some of you
• Are going GANGBUSTERS
• Others, can certainly improve
• Many are at the same stage as your competitors, i.e.Rogers-owned publications: extremely limited use of multiplatform storytelling
AWARDS
What you told me in the survey:
No time for videos…
Need $$ resources
Lightweight, versatile, cheap
Want training in shooting and interviewing…
Tip:keep camera beside you during interviews
Need some training in editing
More host/reporters on camera on location and more DIY videos
How to shoot a better Video story
• Remembers that Web video is different then video for BIG SCREEN TVs or MOVIE THEATRES
• It is intimate (watched by one person at a time at the time of their choosing).
• Sometimes wearing headphones.
• Shots need to be close ups and medium shots. Not wide landscape shots. Sequences. Engaging.
Think visually
• It’s a different animal then Print.
• It shouldn’t be an afterthought.
• It needs to be planned BEFORE you go to an event/location
• It’s different then PHOTOGRAPHY. It has to be told in sequences.
Video storytelling
• FIND A COMPELLING CHARACTER/SUBJECT
• Make us care about them, in the first 20 seconds
• Let us hear from them very soon: min by 20 seconds
• Next, tell us the reason we are doing the story: issue/conflict/drama/problem/ over b-roll
• Then add one (or two more) interviews with experts.
• People make the best video BUT not boring talking heads. Video works best with Action. Emotion. Natural Lines. Movement.
Video sequences
How to choose….Different formats
• Steal a lot! –Masthead Magazine publisher.
• Experiment!
• Choose a compelling location (get out there)
• Find compelling guests
• Have story meetings about video
So many possibilities
• Vlog : Sean Mallen, GLOBAL NEWS
• Round table with industry leaders; “At issue panel on CBC” : create celebrities that readers won’t want to miss (EPIC Mealtime—BACON STRIPS)
• Discussion with editorial staff: find articulate people
“Take a tour with me” – Globe and Mail’s Mississauga story
• Insider subscriber perks eg: different magazine covers/web exclusives
• Industry/market updates: as often as daily, weekly, monthly
• Guest features (CAJ does a regular profile of a new member or newsroom)
Decide on format
Structure of a Full Video package
For a 2 minute story:
• You need lots of different kinds of video shots
• Probably 10-15 different video shots –each held for between 8 to 10 seconds
• Plus an interview and a stand up (reporter /you on camera)
Wide/Establishing Shots
• Tells the viewer “Where are you?”
• Locates the action for a viewer
• Shoot each shot and hold it for about 8-15 secs
• DON’T ZOOM OR PAN in every shot
Medium Shots
• More interesting.
• Viewer can detect some specific activity but still not 100% sure what is happening--this needs your/someone’s narration to help explain it better.
• Shots last approx 8-15 sec each
Close ups
• Even more interesting visually. You now care about the person/thing being shown.
• Usually introduces an SOT(sound byte/excerpt of interview)
Extreme Close up
• Used to show extreme emotion.
• Not used in every story but good to shoot these just in case you need it later for editing purposes.
cutaways
• Related to the story but not the main action.
• Often used as reaction shots to action.
• Medium shots and close ups
Use varied shot angles
Make your shots visually interesting
Use lines to make it interesting
Subjective shots
• What the subject sees
Point of View
• From behind the subject’s head
People are most interesting
• Medium and close up shots with people are engaging for viewers and work best for t.v. esp. on the web/mobile phones
Interviews (SOTs)Framing is important
In interviews
• the reporter IS usually NOT on camera but can be
• We use an interviewee’s ANSWERS only
Keep the camera behind you/to the side, and at eye level with guest
SOT/Interviews FRAMING
Left side or
Right side
Looking in
How to frame them:eyes at top third of screen
Framing of the face
Bad Good
Height of tripod
• Tripod
• At the guest’s eye level
• Not at Videographer
level
Best videoAnd audio :02 sec thenVoice over pix
SOT-protagonist/Hero interview
History/facts/statsnutgrafVoice over video
SOT sExperts/opponents/witnesses
Your voice gives more info over video
Your closing on- camera stand up
Start end
DoDon’t shoot ONLY panning shots
or zooming shots. They make the viewer nauseous if they are
edited back to back. Use movement for a reason. Instead Use sequences. Build our story
around a protagonist/hero/subject.
On Location Do’s….
• Use a tripod! Shaky video looks amateur
• Hide the audio mic cable UNDER the person’s shirt. Loose cables distract the viewer from the content.
• Use an external mic! Poor audio is annoying. They will click off.
DO White Balance
BAD-blue indoorGood-white balanced
• Always WHITE BALANCE when changing locations
• the camera needs to reset its white colour in different light conditions (daylight, indoor light etc)
Do
• Listen for loud background audio when you are shooting (if there is a loud hum from a generator, move!)
• Take CLOSE Ups and Medium shots for web video. Beautiful wide shots are great for big screen tvs but not for mobile screens (IPADS, Phones, Laptops)
• Use video sequences…to tell a story. Video is different then photography.
In Post prod: After
• Use Background sound/natural sound on Videos –it gives the story credibility.
• Adding a musical track can be distracting –so do it only for a good reason.
• Use TAGS, proper File naming conventions, and make the story SEO friendly. People won’t click on a file name of a video that says “Gala Intro”.
• Help the viewer know immediately where this video is (LOCATION subtitle) and who is speaking (guest and or interviewer subtitles)
DON’T
• Don’t use same shots twice in the video. Viewers hate that.
• Don’t jump around chronologically. Viewers hate that.
Do show one sequence, then move to the next area or scene. Don’t show snippets of an indoor scene and then go outside, and then return to the indoor trade show next, 20 seconds later. Viewers get confused.
My Other hats
• Our students make great interns
• Launching 7 new niche and b2b
• magazines in December
• Would love your feedback
Paul Grossinger’s or mine?
Canadian Association of Journalists
Membership $45 : Training, events, advocacy, Media Magazine (needs a home) Mags panel at CAJ2013# in Ottawa, want to plan it/sponsor it?
Thank you!
• @Ebessner on Twitter
• http://ellinbessnersblog.blogspot.ca/