T351 Week 7 - Spring 2008

Agenda:

• Interview / Lighting tips
• Review treatments
• Review tips for next week's Midterm

Reality check:

• Turn in Lighting Exercise critiques this week. Those that missed it on Wednesday will need to make it up. (You can shoot it Wed AM if you are not shooting your interview.)
• Interview / Feature Story exercise this week. You can view it on-line. No official lab this week - take the time to shoot your interview / feature story projects. You should have turned in your pre-production materials! If not turn them in this morning or ASAP. Next week's lab: You will have the first part of lab to fine tune. It is highly recommended that you have your project roughed out by lab next week. (Have everything digitized and a rough edit completed.)
  • It is highly recommended that you reserve any equipment you need directly after class.
  • If you don't have a partner and would like one, stick around after class and we'll try to hook you up. (Since so many intervews are happening outside of lab Friday and Wednesday folks can also serve as each other's PAs.)
• Art Video Proposals proposals and treatments are due next week.
• Drama / Storytelling proposals & treatments are due the following week

The interview (setting, lighting, audio, background):

Are there distractions in the background?
Subject lit - stands out from background?
(show clips?)

In general:

Just because the subject is framed well doesn't mean it will look good. It needs to be lit.

Just because the subject is lit doesn't mean it's lit well.

Faking a 2-camera shoot with 1 camera. In single camera shoots where you need to shoot both the interviewer and the subject, remember to start off with an establishing shot showing both people. Theen you can shoot the subject answering questions first. When the subject is done you can thank them and after they've left, shoot the questions, along with the nods, hmmms, & head turns. You'll be glad you shot them when you edit.

Interviews/testimonials can be shot in interesting locations.

• Where would you shoot the director of the Musical Arts Center? What would be in the background?
• What about an ice cream vendor who works out of a van?
• How about a skateboarder?

While it's not feasible to light every interview, you should always at least use a reflector to add some soft key.

Interview / Feature Story Tips

Here are a few tips to help you approach a news/feature story based around interviews.

Planning

• Research the topic & formulate story idea. Think about how you want to approach your topic. Discuss the topic and questions in advance with your interview subjects. Explain your needs in terms of both production story elements. Listen to any insight or input they might provide.
• Schedule and coordinate the taping and a site visit. You may even want to bring a digital camera and take some stills. Remember that you'll want access to the location to setup lights and audio about an hour before you start taping. Schedule time after the interview to shoot B-roll. As you consider possible locations, consider the following:
  • Is it quiet? (fans, construction, car & pedestrian traffic)
  • Consider the background behind where the interview subject will be located. Does the background tie in with subject or content, or is it a distraction? Can you position the camera far enough away from the subject to get a small depth of field?
  • Is it free from problematic lighting issues (large windows, etc.)
  • Enough room to set up lights?
  • Adequate power sources for lights and monitors?
  • B-roll opportunities?
  • Draw a site sketch before leaving. You can use this later to create a lighting setup.
• Discuss clothing/makeup requirements with your interview subjects. (Avoid white clothing, commercial logos, other people's intellectual property, etc.)
• Think about and plan the B-roll - this is what makes the story interesting.

Production Set up

• Assemble proper equipment and supplies
• Get to location an hour before the start of the interview. This will give you time to set lights and check audio. Use your PA or a stand-in to check framing and lighting. Be sure to keep your subject's focus/gaze close to the camera. (If the interviewer is too far away you'll end up with a profile. Be sure you can see both eyes clearly.)
• Is camera level? Distractions in the background. Is lighting close to perfect?
• Make a test recording, set time code, record color bars and wait....
• When the guest shows up make them feel comfortable. (Sometimes I provide some water, etc.)
• Schmooze and thank them for their time. You may need to explain the rules/process.
• Have them sign a release form.
• Check talent’s physical appearance (hair, clothing) before shooting.

Production

Producer/Reporter duties:

• Start recording and ask your subject to spell his/her name and title. You'll need this for their lower third. If you forgot to get a talent release, record an on-camera release.
• Use an “ice-breaker” question to start. (So when did you first get interested in _______?)
• Ask open-ended questions.
• Don’t interrupt - always wait an extra few seconds before jumping in with the next question.
• Listen carefully to the responses (They might lead you to another angle.) Also consider your planned B-roll and any other footage you also need to shoot.
• Look interested. Nod and act encouraging.
• Don't hesitate to have them repeat the responseif there is a noticeable flaw or if you want to get a closer shot for editing.
• Sometimes you need the question restated in the answer
• Keep your eyes open for potential problems or bad habits. (Collar straight? Hair neat? Bad Habits: rocking back and forth, shifty eyes, etc)
• With microphones in place record 60 seconds of room tone.

Photographer

• Is the camera level?
• Don’t forget pre-roll and post-roll. (I usually just keep rolling during the whole interview.)
• Have pan & tilt locks slightly loosened to adjust for talent movement
• Make sure camera placement will work for the shots you will frame
• Check audio levels at the meter and monitor the recording with headphones
• Give yourself room for a slow push in if needed. I almost always shoot at a MCU or CU with room to move into a CU or ECU (Use a sloooow zoom in for intense emotional moments)

Wrap

• Ask the talent if there is anything they'd like to add.
• Ask the photographer, PA if they have any unasked questions.
• Review part of the interview
• Don’t be afraid to ask the talent to redo parts of the interview if there are any technical problems.
• Shoot appropriate location B-roll.
• Thank your talent profusely
• Shut lights off immediately and strike all other equipment before putting lights away
• Remember which batteries are dead, which have some use and which are still fresh.

Proposals/Treatments/Scripts

Program Proposals - Programs start with a proposal. (see Jim's Program Proposal overview. The two most important things you need to start with are an objective and a target audience.

For smaller news, features, and industrial videos, the proposal can include a treatment. For films, TV shows, and longer-length productions, the treatment is usually a separate document.

The Proposal and Tratment are required to pitch a program. Once the program is sucessfully sold/pitched, you can write/refine the script

Scripts

See Jim's script overview. Film style vs. two-column.

How do you get every shot you need? Visualize every shot & write it down.

This will be in a script or storyboard.

Storyboard vs. film style

Don't forget to match angles and eye vectors

OTS shots work well in two person exchanges (X-files clips)

When blocking a scene - don't forget the basics. How would you start? CU? Establishing shot? It's common practice to start with a long or establishing shot, then to start moving in. You can start with a CU, but viewers get frustrated if they don't find out where and when.

Avoiding Jump Cuts in a single character sequence: Sometimes you need to shoot a sequence of a subject for B-roll over an interview or for a montage. When shooting, have the talent enter the shot or leave the frame, or use a camera movement to change the focus either up to or away from the subject. The reason is that we don’t want to cut from a shot with the subject in the frame to another shot with the subject in the frame. (Home Alone 2 example)

 

 

Midterm Quiz – next week

Review on-line class notes and readings

Cameras

Review lighting (eg broad vs narrow) and Cybercollege units 27, 28, 31 & 32.

Review Continuity: Insert, cutaway, thematic (montage), continuity editing, parallel editing, 180 degree line (Cybercollege 50-52)

Review technical continuity (Cybercollege 53)

Review the tech info (Waveform monitors, etc) and timecode (Cybercollege 16 & 57).

Waveform monitors and vector scopes should only be trusted after seeing SMPTE color bars through them to ensure that they are caliberated. They don’t adjust the signal. They only show you its characteristics. Adjustments must be done at the camera, camera control unit or with a TBC (time base corrector).

Waveform monitors - graphically display brightness (luminance) information along with sync pulses Used during studio production & sometimes in the field. Found in every decent post-production/edit room. Very useful when tweaking video signals with TBCs or making graphics.

• Scale starts at –40 – goes to 0 then up to 120 IRE Units (Institute of Radio Engineers)
• One f-stop translate into about 20 IRE units
• NTSC black is 7.5 IRE. Digital and PAL black is 0 IRE. This is often called the “setup” or pedestal” adjustment.
• The brightest white is 100 IRE
• If the display is up over 100, your image is overexposed
• If the display is well under 100 (and you’re not shooting a dark scene) your image is underexposed. The blacks are getting compressed.

Vectorscopes – display color (phase) information. They have a round pattern on the display glass along with targets that show where all the colors in a color bar signals should go.

Time code: Why use drop frame over non-drop frame? VITC vs LTC. Make sure you understand the difference between drop-frame and non-drop frame timecode.

 

 

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