Notetaking on a real newscast

While watching the Kare 11 new this morning, I noticed smaller details that I never noticed before. Most of the stories the anchors told or described had to do with proximity or had some significance to the people around the area. For example, there was a homicide in Oakdale and they had interviews with many of the neighbors which also included soundbites, lighting, and many questions.  Other things I noticed were the stories. They were about one to two minutes long in length, the only exception was stories or updates to do with traffic or weather. Weather clips used a lot of soundbites as well. The anchors in between stories would talk to each other and joke around with some of the new knowledge from the news stories which I think relates to comic relief on a tragic story in some cases. But that's about all I noticed this morning.

Notetaking on Camera Techniques

INTERVIEWING:
• What seven items should you bring with you when you are shooting an interview?
(Clocks Tick Tock Making Heads Pound Loudly)
Camera
Tri-pod
Tape/card
Microphone
Headphones
Power
Lights

• Shooting into a light source = Silhouette


• Where do you want your light source?
Behind the camera


• On what object should you focus the camera?
Focus on the nose. White Balance. hold up white sheet of paper, focus on the sheet.

• No tripod = BAD


• Date and Time = Never put date and time. No display


• SP/EP = Standard play, Extended play.

• Camera shoots in Standard Play.

• Pre-Roll- Have the camera roll 3-5 seconds before the interview.


• Post-Roll- Have the camera roll 3-5 seconds after the interview


CAMERA SHOTS:

***BACKGROUND:  Has some depth, interviewee is 6-8 feet away.

• 1 Shot= Middle of the chest to above the head. (Microphones are to be heard, not seen.

• 1 Shot with graphic= Same as a one shot, just use a over the shoulder graphic.

• 2 Shot= Two people with middle of the chest to above the head.

• CU- Close up

• MS- Medium shot: essentially a one shot

• LS- Long shot

• ECU-  Extreme Close Up: Series of shots

• Rule of thirds- Imaginary lines that divide that image into 3rds place important elements on these lines.


CAMERA MOVEMENTS:
• Tilt- Moving the camera up and down.


• Pan- To follow movement while in a stationary position


• Zoom- To close in or zoom out on a shot


• Dolly- To move with the movement of the shot.

LIGHTS
• Key- Main bright light, usually from the side.


• Fill- Fills shadows opposite of Key.


• Back- Opposite of the key light, separates subject from background.


MICROPHONES:
• Unidirectional- Only picks up audio from the one mic.

• Omnidirectional- Picks up all audio from all directions. Mic on top of cameras.

• Cardiod- Unidirectional shaped like heart.

• Lav/Lapel Microphone- Clip-on mics.

• Boom Microphone- A microphone on  a poll. Places the mic between a multi-person conversation.

10 Steps to Writing a Story – Broadcast Journalism

1. Find a Topic.
- Sports
- Theater
- Upcoming events
- Trends

2. Find an Angle.
- Determines questions
- Focus' topic
- Angle can change

3. Collect Information.
- Names
- Location
- Times

4. Conduct the Interview.
- Experts on the story (i.e. Coach)
- Interview 3.
- Ask at least 3 questions (open ended questions i.e. What, Why, How)
- Soundbite: Piece of audio that can stand on its own.

5. Shoot your reporter Stand Up.
- The one time the reporter appears on camera.
- Should appear in the middle.
- Used as a transition.

6. Organize your Soundbites.
- Each interviewee should have 3 soundbites
- Choose the soundbites you like
- Write the story around the soundbites

7. Write Segues in your story.
- Information in between the soundbites
- When the reporter speaks
- Filler

8. Write the Ins and Outs of your story.
- What the anchor says going into and out of the story.
- Don't use the same thing as the reporter/anchor
- Reporter helps writes ins and outs

9. Collect B-roll to add to your story (throughout steps 4-9)
- The game footage
- All footage that can be used for the story.
- Close-ups, long shots, natural sounds

*Steps 4-8 in your story are called the A-roll.
- All the audio in the story.

What Is Broadcast Journalism?

Define “Broadcast Journalism” in 1-3 sentences. 

• Broadcast Journalism is the reporting of current events that are newsworthy through television, radio, and internet.  It's a way of mass communication linked through the three ways of broadcasting.

List and describe the six criteria of newsworthiness.

TITLE DESCRIPTION EXAMPLE
1. Significance - Event that impacts a lot of people. More effects, more people involved. (i.e. 9/11)

2. Unusualness - Things that re-occur very often. (i.e. Elections)

3. Proximity - If the event effects you in your area. (i.e. Tsunami in Asia)

4. Prominence - When we care about celebrities (i.e. Brittany shaving her head)

5. Timeliness - We care about how recent the news is. (i.e. Weather/Sports)

6. Human Interest - Feel-good story. (i.e. New baby born)




What are the differences between print journalism and broadcast journalism?
1. Broadcast Journalism is much quicker/current than printing press.

2. Print Journalism allows you to read what part of the news you want.

3. Print Journalism is more in depth whereas Broadcast is constrained by time.


How is the Internet impacting broadcast journalism? 

• The internet links everyone who has it through a long line of servers. It can send information from one computer to many computers around the world and can help us communicate together. The internet combines both Print and Broadcast Journalism. You can read the news or watch it and is current/updated frequently.