Archives for the month of: January, 2009

10 Golden Rules for Video Journalists

January 10, 2009 //

At yesterday’s “Creating Video Narratives” workshop at Beyond Bootcamp, Washington Post video journalist Travis Fox shared his 10 guidelines for making video reports.

Golden Rule 10: Get “X-roll.” X-roll is when you get your interviewee’s money quotes in their natural environment.
Golden Rule 9: Shoot within 180 degrees around a subject. In other words, don’t walk around your subject when interviewing them.
Golden Rule 8: Sequence your video with a variety of detail, tight, medium, wide shots as well as cut away shots. 50 percent of shots will be tight, 25 percent medium and 25 percent wide
Golden Rule 7: Remember 80:20 ratio (80 percent should be b-roll and 20 percent should be interviews)
Golden Rule 6 Get close to the subject when interviewing them for audio purposes
Golden Rule 5: Stay quiet when shooting
Golden Rule 4: If you do not get the shot, you do not have it.
Golden Rule 3: Do not move the camera when shooting (unless you are an advanced videographer)
Golden Rule 2: Hold every shot for 10 seconds
Golden Rule 1: Wear headphones

Thanks to University of Miami multimedia graduate student Walyce Almeida for letting me share these with you.

Tags The Washington Post Company, Travis Fox, videojournalism

Categories General Journalism

Alberto Cairo Has a Monster Reading List

January 9, 2009 //

Day One of the Beyond Bootcamp information graphics workshop taught by Alberto Cairo and Xaquin G.V. has been much less scary than I’d first thought.

Cairo’s lecture has been a model of organized thought and progressive structure, which should come as no surprise to anyone, given the nature of his work.

Update: Since the bootcamp, he has published “Infografía 2.0,” an updated Spanish edition of his book on information graphics, which you can buy on his website.

What’s also obvious is that the man reads a heck of a lot. For every concept and example, he’s tossed off a different book title.

Here’s what he’s recommended to us so far, in no particular order:

“How the Mind Works,” Steven Pinker (Amazon | BN | Powell’s)
“The Ghost Map,” Steven Johnson (Amazon | BN | Powell’s)
“Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge,” Edward O. Wilson (Amazon | BN | Powell’s)
“Wordless Diagrams,” Nigel Holmes (Amazon | BN | Powell’s | website | “Why Humor Helps Communication“)
“Leonardo’s Notebooks” (Amazon | BN | Powell’s)
“Mr. Beck’s Underground Map” (Amazon | BN | Powell’s)
“Information Visualization: Perception for Design,” Colin Ware (Amazon | BN | Powell’s)
“Visual Thinking: for Design,” Colin Ware (Amazon | BN | Powell’s)
“Image and Mind,” Stephen Kosslyn (Amazon | BN | Powell’s)
“Otto Neurath: The Language of Global Polis,” Nader Vossoughian (Amazon | BN | Powell’s | book review)

Photo: themacdiva/Flickr

Tags Alberto Cairo, Beyond Bootcamp, books, graphics, information graphics, visualization

Categories General Journalism

Can’t Be At Beyond Bootcamp? Fall In Online

January 8, 2009 //

Do you remember what it was like to be in school? About 40 journalists are reliving the college experience at the University of Miami Beyond Bootcamp multimedia workshop, directed by visual journalism guru Rich Beckman.

Over the last few months, I’ve met a number of his former students who tell stories of being cajoled and terrified of their former professor, and for good reason: The workshops are no joke: Twelve-hour days. Hands-on exercises. And in some cases, field work.

It may not be a picnic, but it is fun. For the time we’re here, we’re getting uninterrupted in-person access to an international group of highly accomplished photographers, reporters, editor-producers and thinkers. And that’s just the students.

Even if you can’t be in Miami, you can still get a taste of what it’s like to be at Bootcamp. For the next few days, you can check the ongoing tweet stream (hashtag #bootcamp).

And from noon to 2 p.m. ET Jan. 8-10, you’ll be able to watch a live stream of the lunchtime presentations below (livestream management courtesy of University of Miami journalism student Greg Linch).

Thursday: Paige West, Director of Interactive Projects, MSNBC.com
Update Friday: Panel discussion on multimedia practices and ethics.
Saturday: Rob Covey, SVP Content/Design, National Geographic Digital Media

Tags Beyond Bootcamp, Greg Linch, multimedia, Paige West, Rich Beckman, Rob Covey, University of Miami, workshop

Categories Data + Graphics, General Journalism, Photojournalism, Video

Practice What You Preach (in Miami)

January 3, 2009 //

Have you heard? Though most Americans still turn to TV to get national and international news, for the first time, the Web has overtaken newspapers as a news source.

In fact, according to a late December blog post by Nielsen Online, about two-thirds of all adults who were on the Web looked for news online in the 30 days prior to the post.

The news business is changing, but people still want information. Let’s not let them down.

To that end, I’m going back to school.

For the next week, a small group of journalists will attend Beyond Bootcamp at the University of Miami School of Communication to polish their newsgathering skills.

Organizer Rich Beckman says he’s taken the multimedia workshops he held at the University of North Carolina and kicked ‘em up a notch. In email, he’s promised we’ll be learning a lot of practical skills during intensive three-day sessions.

I’m especially excited to be learning about infographics from Alberto Cairo of UNC and Xaquin G.V. of The New York Times.

With luck, I’ll be able to apply some of what I’ve learned here. For sure, I’ll be able to share notes when I return.

How about you? If you’re a mid-career journalist or blogger, where are you planning to go and who are you planning to learn from to gather new ideas and keep your skills fresh?

Photo: kino-eye/Flickr

Tags Beyond Bootcamp, journalism school, Rich Beckman, The New York Times, University of Miami

Categories Data + Graphics, General Journalism, Tips & Tools

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