Video tips for photographers

Ken Kobré offers tips for photographers making the jump from still to video in his book “Photojournalism: The Professionals’ Approach,” calling on pioneering multimedia journalists for their perspectives. Some take-aways:

1. When beginning in video, do yourself a favor and choose a character-driven topic with a willing subject whose story lends itself to visual representation (pg. 308).
2. ‘Platypus’ is a fun synonym for a one-man band, which in the context of journalism is a backpack reporter who can capture audio, shoot video and stills, even write and edit (pg. 309).
3. Context — a series of related moments rather than a discrete single frame — is more important in video than in still photography, so moving from one to the other requires a different mindset (pg. 314).
4. Kobré says external mics and headphones — not earbuds — are a must. I struggle with this when interviewing because headphones seem to isolate the interviewer from the subject. It feels like you are not listening when you’re ensconced in over-the-ear headphones (pg. 320).
5. Avoid zooming unless there’s a narrative payoff for the viewer. It’s amateurish and unnatural and is more satisfying for the videographer than the audience (pg. 322-4).
6. For ease of editing, let every shot roll for a minumum of 10 seconds (pg. 324).
7. When it’s time for organizing what you’ve shot with your editing software, slice scenes into clips and sort clips into bins. Name clips and bins precisely to aid in editing. Make sub-bins with a maximum of 20 clips if bins become unwieldy (pg. 328-329).
8. B-roll that simply decorates and doesn’t advance the plot is referred to as wallpaper, and, like most wallpaper, is best avoided (pg. 330).
9. Don’t overdo transitions. Straight cuts and dissolves are the only tools that really need to be in your transition arsenal. However, be careful to avoid jump cuts where two pieces of similar footage are cut together and cause the subject to jump in the frame from one position to another. Footage of the person’s hands, B roll or other cutaways can help (pg. 328, 332).