Bill is on a road trip to Montevideo, Uruguay and is sending in video posts. Today is the first day and he is getting ready for a five day Backpack Video Journalism workshop. Bill will be at Ikusi a non-profit that uses multimedia and especially video.
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A Lesson from Video #3 of the Video Journalism Workshop, Shots 1-5 out of the ABCs of the Visual Language
Every visual story you see or tell uses the same visual alphabet, or what I call the ABCs of the visual language. Our written alphabet contains 26 letters. The visual alphabet contains fewer than half that and is covered in more detail in Video 3 of the Video Journalism Workshop.
These definitions may differ somewhat between filmmakers, just like slang words can mean one thing in one part of the country and something different in another. But these are the fundamental shots that are used for shooting a documentary. You should learn them and make them part of your professional vocabulary. Later on we will pull out just a few of these when we explore the Six-Shot System but for now this is what you need.
Extra Close-UP (XCU)
1. Extra (Extreme) Close-Up (XCU)
In the context of a face shot, the XCU would be just the eyes, or the glasses and the eyes. Or maybe just the hands typing on a keyboard.
Close-Up (CU)
2. Close-Up (CU)
The next shot is the Close-Up (CU), which is pretty much from the top of the head to just below the chin. You can take off some of the hair line, but you can never take off the chin, for two reasons. The first is that the audience wants to read the subject’s mouth and expression, which are critical in deciphering whether a person is telling the truth or not. The second reason is that editors and producers might want to put the person’s name under his/her face and you need the space at the bottom of the frame so as not to have lettering appear over the subject’s mouth. We refer to this lettering as title or lower third.
Medium Shot (MS)
3. The Medium Shot (MS)
The Medium Shot runs from the top of the head to the waist or just below your belt. We need to see the belt.
Wide Shot (WS)
4. Wide Shot (WS)
The Wide Shot (WS) includes everything from head to your toes.
Extra Wide Shot
5. Extra Wide Shot (XWS)?
An Extra Wide Shot (XWS) is even wider than a WS and might include visual information that’s in front of and behind the subject. The XWS also is referred to as a “Master” or “Establishing” shot because it shows where all the elements in a scene are located in relation to each other. You will understand this better when we get to the Six-Shot System, which we’ll go over in a future email.
Thank you for visiting our site and hope these lessons on making video documentaries are helpful. We would love to hear your feedback and questions. If you would like to receive emails like this and our free pdf book Tip, Tools and Resources for Making Documentaries please subscribe in the upper right corner.
About the ONLINE Video Journalism Workshop Course?
Discover the secrets of creating powerful video documentaries in the ONLINE Video Journalism Workshop course. You’ll enjoy an intensive 14-part immersion in the craft of learning how to make documentaries.
The course on making video documentaries covers the gamut of the storytelling craft from the genesis and shaping of story ideas, to shooting powerful images that drive the story, to capturing and using sound. You learn about script writing, narration, and editing with portable computers and modern editing software. Please visit the Video Journalism Workshop home page for more details.
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Stories are built by bringing together some essential pieces of information and putting them together in a specific order. It is a process whether you are doing it in print or in video. The process involves clips combined together to build scenes, which you combine several sequences together to form scenes and then ultimately stories. It is a process that can be learned, and it is a process that is covered from all angles by former Newsweek Photographer, Bill Gentile in his Video Journalism Workshop course.
In this video clip Bill talks to us about the process and building of powerful stories. To learn more about the process sign up and download the free Tips and Tools e-book http://videojournalismworkshops.com/
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Bill travels all over the world shooting and producing stories and documentaries for some of the best. Over the years Bill has honed down what to take, the essential tools. In this video he takes us through the bag and gives us a good insight into how to travel light but with the proper equipment.
Bill”s comment on what to carry in his backpack
“Although my focus is visual storytelling, equipment and the proper use of equipment are important components of our craft. I’m not a “gear head,” but if you don’t understand how gear works, then you won’t be able to make it do what you want it to do. You won’t be able to capture the images that your mind’s eye “sees.”
So this video is a short riff about some of the equipment that I take to the field. I hope it helps you in some way. Please feel free to contact me with questions.
Good luck and be safe.”
Bill Gentile
The Backpack Journalist, LLC
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Mark down for Monday, September 23, 2013 at 6PM EST for our weekly Video Journalism Show. This week we step inside our workshop and take you on a tour of all the parts. Our workshop is made up of 15 videos that walk you through making a visually compelling documentary. Nick Ray and Bruce Jones lead you on the tour.
Week 4 of the Video Journalism Show is a tour inside the workshop. Check it out at 6:00pm EST on YouTube.
Tune in at 6:00pm EST on YouTube or watch the recording later.
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What a great experience we had today with entrepreneur and venture investor Christopher M. Schroeder. We learned about his new book “Startup Rising, The Entrepreneurial Revolution, Remaking the Middle East“ and his views on some of the exciting things happening in the Middle East. We hear a lot about the bad things going on, but there are also a lot new and developing things happening because of the technology revolution. Chris talked about the changes happening because of mobile technology, social media and solar. You can hear the entire interview on the video below.
Chris’s Bio
Christopher M. Schroeder is a Washington D.C. and New York City-based entrepreneur and venture investor. He co-founded http://www.HealthCentral.com, one of the nation’s largest social and content platforms in health and wellness. Previously he was CEO of washingtonpost.newsweek interactive and http://www.LegiSlate.com. He currently is an active investor in and advisor to top US venture capital funds and over a dozen consumer-facing social/media startups. He’s had a career in finance and served in President George HW Bush’s White House and at the Department of State. Schroeder is also on the Board of Directors of the American Council on Germany, The Dean’s Board of the American University School of International Service, and member of the French American Foundation and Council on Foreign Relations. He graduated with honors from The Harvard Business School, and magna cum laude from Harvard College.
Startup Rising can be picked up at Amazon and other stores.
To Learn More about the Video Journalism Workshop and our online course
The Video Journalism Workshop is a course on how to tell compelling stories using video, you can learn more at http://www.VideoJournalismWorkshops.com
Make sure you sign up for our free Essential Tips and Trick pdf book.
Remember to sign up for our free Essential Tips and Tools pdf booklet over on the right, and give us a like on Facebook.
Bill Gentile talks about the changes and developments in video journalism.
In video 1 Bill Gentile and Bruce Jones talk about the changes that have gone on in video journalism from the early days to today. Changes in equipment, speed and delivery. Bill also talks about the methodology he uses to teach the craft of creating compelling video stories in his online course The Video Journalism Workshop.
This program was produced using Google Hangout On Air, broadcast through YouTube to a global audience.
See the videos mentioned in the show
1. The Gangs
http://youtu.be/Eu2gRjMyacc
2. The Researcher
3. The Pastor
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To learn more about the workshop and making compelling video stories please visit:
http://www.videojournalismworkshops.com
Remember to sign up for our free Essential Tips and Tools pdf booklet over on the right, and give us a like on Facebook.
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