Quick Tips for Mobile Journalism from Glen Mulcahy
Summary
TLDRThe video script focuses on mobile journalism (MOJO), emphasizing the use of smartphones to create professional-quality content. It provides tips for enhancing video quality, such as locking focus and exposure, avoiding digital zoom, and physically moving closer to subjects. The script also discusses techniques for conducting interviews, including capturing safety shots and bridging edits with relevant visuals. Additionally, it covers the importance of capturing key journalistic elements like 'who,' 'what,' 'where,' 'when,' 'how,' and 'why,' and the use of various smartphone features like slow motion and time-lapse to enrich storytelling.
Takeaways
- 📱 'Mojo' stands for Mobile Journalism, which is the use of smartphones to create high-quality broadcast content.
- 🔒 Locking focus and exposure on your smartphone can prevent unwanted changes in brightness and focus during filming.
- 📍 Avoid digital zooming as it degrades video quality; instead, physically move closer to the subject for a better shot.
- 🎥 Safety shots are crucial for bridging edits in interviews, providing continuity and smooth transitions.
- 👥 When filming interviews, use a variety of shots like close-ups, reverse angles, and wide shots to maintain viewer interest and cover edits.
- 🤔 To avoid jump cuts, build a sequence with multiple shots rather than relying on a single shot.
- 📍 Capture 'who,' 'what,' 'when,' 'where,' and 'how' through specific shots like establishing shots for location and close-ups for details.
- 👤 Maintain interpersonal space in filming by positioning the camera at a conversational distance from the subject.
- 👀 Focus on capturing the subject's eyes and expressions, as they convey much of the emotional content and communication.
- 🎬 Ensure a good variety of shots including wide, mid, and close-ups, and roll for at least 10 seconds on each to provide editing flexibility.
- 🌟 Utilize special effects like slow motion and time-lapse available on smartphones to add depth and context to your storytelling.
Q & A
What does MOJO stand for in the context of the video script?
-MOJO stands for Mobile Journalism, which is the use of smartphones to create high-end professional broadcast quality content.
Why should one avoid zooming while filming with a smartphone?
-Zooming on a smartphone simply magnifies the pixels, which can greatly depreciate the quality of the shot. It's recommended to move closer to the subject instead.
How can you prevent a smartphone from going into focus hunt mode during filming?
-You can lock the focus to prevent the smartphone from constantly adjusting focus and exposure, which can cause the shot to fluctuate in brightness.
What are safety shots and why are they important in interviews?
-Safety shots are additional footage that allows for bridging edits in an interview, ensuring smooth transitions between answers without noticeable jumps in the video.
What is the significance of capturing 'who, what, when, where, and how' in journalism, as mentioned in the script?
-These are the key elements that provide context and information to the audience, helping them understand the story better. Specific shots are used to capture each element effectively.
Why is it important to capture a wide shot, also known as an establishing shot, in a video?
-A wide shot gives the audience a sense of location, providing context for where the story is taking place.
What is the recommended distance for interpersonal space when filming a conversation?
-The recommended distance is about a meter to a meter and a half away from the subject to mimic a natural conversational distance.
How can close-up shots enhance the storytelling in a video?
-Close-up shots capture the raw detail and emotion of the subject, such as facial expressions and hand movements, which are crucial for conveying feelings and details.
What is the purpose of using slow motion in smartphone videography?
-Slow motion allows viewers to see quick actions in more detail by shooting at a higher frame rate, which can be slowed down during editing.
How does time-lapse photography add value to a video story?
-Time-lapse photography speeds up time, effectively showing the passage of time and can be used to add context or highlight changes over time.
What is the minimum duration recommended for each type of shot when filming?
-It's a good discipline to roll for a minimum of 10 seconds on each shot type, such as wide, mid, and close-up, to ensure enough material for editing.
Outlines
📱 Mobile Journalism (MOJO) Techniques
This paragraph introduces Mobile Journalism (MOJO), which is the practice of using smartphones to create high-quality broadcast content. It emphasizes the importance of locking focus and exposure to maintain video quality and advises against digital zooming, recommending physical movement closer to the subject instead. The paragraph also discusses the use of 'safety shots' for smoother interview edits and suggests using multiple shots to bridge edits and avoid jump cuts. Techniques for capturing key information like location, subject, and action are highlighted, with a focus on interpersonal space and capturing detailed expressions.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Mobile Journalism (MOJO)
💡Focus Hunt Mode
💡Locking Focus and Exposure
💡Zooming
💡Safety Shots
💡Bridging Edits
💡Interpersonal Space
💡Action Shots
💡Slow Motion
💡Time Lapse
💡Journalistic Principles
Highlights
Mojo stands for mobile journalism, which is the use of smartphones to create high-end professional broadcast quality content.
The video is being shot on a smartphone, showcasing the capabilities of mobile journalism.
To overcome focus hunt mode, lock the focus on the subject to maintain consistent exposure and avoid unwanted zooming.
Avoid pinch-to-zoom as it degrades video quality; instead, move the phone closer to the subject for a better perspective.
Safety shots are crucial for bridging edits in interviews, ensuring a seamless flow in the final video.
Bridging shots can include close-ups of hands, reverse angle shots, or wider shots to mask edits effectively.
To avoid jump cuts, build a sequence of shots rather than relying on a single shot.
Journalistic principles like who, what, when, where, and how are essential for capturing key story elements.
Establishing shots, such as wide shots of a location, provide context and a sense of place for the audience.
Interpersonal space in video corresponds to being about a meter away from the subject for a natural conversational feel.
Capturing action involves getting close to the subject to reveal raw details and emotions.
Close-ups of the subject's hands and face are important for conveying emotions and the nuances of communication.
Varying shot types, such as wide shots, mid shots, and close-ups, provide a good range of perspectives.
Smartphones offer special effects like slow motion, which can reveal details in fast-paced actions.
Time-lapse is useful for showing the passage of time and can add context to a story.
When using special effects, consider whether they add value to the story and enhance the viewer's experience.
Transcripts
[Music]
mojo stands for mobile journalism it's
effectively the use of smartphones who
make high-end professional broadcast
quality content this is actually being
shot on a smartphone this is mojo the
very first thing is when the phone
starts to go into focus hunt mode in
other words if something moves in the
scene and if the focus is not locked on
the course subject it starts to pump in
and out so you can overcome that there's
an ability to lock the focus so that it
does not pump like that that actually
will also lock the exposure so the shot
doesn't get brighter and darker the next
thing you need to be aware of you should
try to avoid zooming if you pinch to
zoom all you're doing is simply
magnifying the pixels and that basically
means that your shot is going to greatly
depreciate in quality so you can always
just move the phone's closer to the
subject as long as it's safe to do that
and that will still give you a change in
perspective but it won't deteriorate the
quality so those are three tips to help
you get better quality with your
smartphone when you're conducting an
interview you often want to get yourself
safety shots that allow you to bridge
edits when you're actually putting an
interview answer together so for
instance if you were to ask me three
questions and needed them to take them
the middle answer that I gave you out of
that you would have answer one and
answer three and clearly if you cut the
two of those together there will be a
job because I'm moving around them
animated usually you might bridge that
edit with a sequence of shots something
relative to what I'm speaking about that
involves three four or more shots
overlaid over the interview so you don't
see the Edit often those bridging shots
will be simply a cutaway of perhaps a
close-up of the hands a reverse angle
shot of the person who's asking the
questions or maybe a wider shot showing
the two people both the guests and the
interviewer personally my favorite way
to sort of to solve the issue of jump
cuts is to effectively have a sequence
to build out rather than a single
[Music]
we go back to the principles of
journalism the ink what when where and
how
why idea there are specific shots that
allow you to capture those key pieces of
information for instance the where can
be a wide shot of location some people
call it establishing shot the other
things you can use it like place holders
signs landmarks anything that gives the
audience a sense of where a story is
taking place for who you really need to
move the camera a bit closer to the core
subject so in interpersonal space you're
usually about a metre to a metre and a
half away from one when you're having a
conversation with them in many ways
that's exactly what you need to do at
your camera you need to bring it to that
level of the interpersonal space with
the subject that way the audience
watching the video feel that same
relationship and then for the action the
real key skill here the idea of getting
really really close in with the camera
to capture the real raw detail of
whatever the action is usually that
involves getting a close-up of the
subjects hands if you want to get a
sense of how they feel and the camera
has to get a shot of their face they
need to particular CV eyes they say the
eyes are the windows to the soul
but actually so much of our
communication skills are based on
expression as well as the nuanced tone
it's really really important that you
get a good variety of shots the simplest
forms of those would be to get a wide
shot and mid shot and a close-up and
it's really good discipline to allow
yourself to roll for a minimum of 10
seconds on each one of those aside from
the basic features of being able to take
good photographs and shoot video your
smartphone is more than likely capable
of a whole myriad of other special
effects so for instance like slow motion
which slows time down by shooting a
multiple of higher frame rate slow
motion if you want to see something that
is happening very very quickly in more
detail when you shoot in slow motion you
can slow it down in the Edit and it
basically will give you far more detail
and time to look at what actually
happened and then the flip side of that
is many smartphones also have a time
lapse which speeds time up time lapse as
it suggests is very very effective and
showing the package of
time the key thing is to understand do
they add something to the story
something that the viewer will
appreciate something that gives them
additional context
[Music]
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