Feature and Narrative Storytelling for Multimedia Journalists This page intentionally left blank Feature and Narrative Storytelling for Multimedia Journalists Duy Linh Tu First published 2015 by Focal Press 70 Blanchard Road, Suite 402, Burlington, MA 01803 and by Focal Press 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN Focal Press is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2015 Taylor & Francis The right of Duy Linh Tu to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Notices Knowledge and best practice in this field are constantly changing. As new research and experience broaden our understanding, changes in research methods, professional practices, or medical treatment may become necessary. Practitioners and researchers must always rely on their own experience and knowledge in evaluating and using any information, methods, compounds, or experiments described herein. In using such information or methods they should be mindful of their own safety and the safety of others, including parties for whom they have a professional responsibility. Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Tu, Duy Linh. Feature and narrative storytelling for multimedia journalists / Duy Linh Tu. pages cm 1. Video journalism. 2. Digital video. 3. Online journalism. 4. Broadcast journalism. 5. Journalism—Authorship. 6. Journalism—Technological innovations. I. Title. PN4784.V54T83 2015 070.4′9—dc23 2014031705 ISBN: 978-0-415-72908-6 (pbk) ISBN: 978-0-415-72907-9 (hbk) ISBN: 978-1-315-85129-7 (ebk) Typeset in Giovanni By Apex CoVantage, LLC For Nicole, Lela, and Zoe. For more information please visit my companion website: www.duylinhtu.com/edu Contents ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ����������������������������������������������������������������������������� ix PART I Modern Multimedia Journalism ������������������������������������������ 1 CHAPTER 1 The State of Video ������������������������������������������������������������� 3 CHAPTER 2 The Elements of Video ���������������������������������������������������� 13 PART II Production and Post-Production Techniques ������������������ 25 CHAPTER 3 Understanding Exposure, Composition, and Sequences ����������������������������������������������������������������� 27 CHAPTER 4 Audio �������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 77 CHAPTER 5 Field Production��������������������������������������������������������������� 91 CHAPTER 6 Post-Production ������������������������������������������������������������� 167 PART III Feature and Narrative Storytelling ��������������������������������� 195 CHAPTER 7 Producing a Feature Video Story ��������������������������������� 197 CHAPTER 8 Producing a Narrative Documentary ��������������������������� 215 CHAPTER 9 Mobile and Smartphone Photography ������������������������� 231 CHAPTER 10 Company Profiles ����������������������������������������������������������� 237 INDEX ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 249 vii This page intentionally left blank Acknowledgments This book would not have been possible without the generous support and guidance of many fine people. First, I would like to give special thanks to my wonderful and incredibly understanding wife, Nicole. Without her, I never would have been able to travel, report, shoot, edit, teach, or learn any of the things that I cover in this book. She is my everything. Thank you to my two girls, Lela and Zoe. You angels always inspire dad to work harder and to tell better stories. Thanks to Thi Thi because she is simply the best mom ever. Thank you to my sisters, Ai Linh and Thuy Linh, for always looking out for me, then and now. Gracias a Abbey Adkison y Los Gorditos. Thanks to my tal- ented colleagues at the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism, especially David Klatell, who taught me to shoot my first frame of video. Thanks to all the video journalists I’ve had the luck of meeting. Everything I know about this craft, I learned by watching you. And, finally, thanks to my editor, Katy. Your patience and wisdom made this coffee-shop idea into a reality. ix This page intentionally left blank PART Modern Multimedia JournalismI This page intentionally left blank CHAPTER 1 The State of Video Much of the Midwest was still frozen from the Polar Vortex of 2013 when my col- league Abbey Adkison and I pulled into a parking garage a few blocks from the Chicago Sun-Times building. We were 4 months into researching and reporting our Video Now project, a study about the current state of video journalism in the United States (videonow.towcenter.org). The Sun-Times was one of our final stops on a long tour of newsrooms across the country. We had already visited places such as the Detroit Free Press, The Seattle Times, Frontline, and Mashable—a diverse selection of newspapers, digital properties, and documentary producers—to see how these organizations were staffing their teams, what kinds of videos they were producing, and how they were attempting to make money from news video. We were particularly interested in visiting the Chicago Sun-Times. The paper had notoriously fired its entire photography staff in May 2013. At the time, management of the paper issued a statement hinting at future investments in video journalism. “The Sun-Times business is changing rapidly and our audiences are consis- tently seeking more video content with their news,” the paper said in the press release. “We have made great progress in meeting this demand and are focused on bolstering our reporting capabilities with video and other multi- media elements. The Chicago Sun-Times continues to evolve with our digitally savvy customers, and as a result, we have had to restructure the way we man- age multimedia, including photography, across the network.” The layoffs had set off a wave of anger and disbelief from journalists and the public, especially on social media. But, for most in the journalism business, this move seemed inevitable. Newspapers, having had suffered a decade of mas- sive job losses and shrinking advertising revenue, now needed a new stream of income. Video was one hope. In 2013, a typical banner ad on a news Web site could earn the publication one or two dollars per one thousand views. But a 15- or 30-second video pre-roll ad could make twenty or thirty times that much. By the time we arrived at their offices on N. Orleans Street, the Sun-Times had already hired Dustin Park as Executive Producer in charge of video and 3 4 PART I: Modern Multimedia Journalism Figure 1.1 How is video produced today? The Tow Center’s Video Now report can be viewed at videonow. towcenter.org. a three-person team of video producers. Dustin is young, as are the other members of his production team. They are all in their twenties or thirties, an important fact to consider when discussing how and what kinds of news vid- eos are made. While Dustin and his team grew up watching news on local or network TV, they now consume most of their videos online. And video online is nothing like the evening news on TV. “It is always rolling around in my head. Where is the next frontier for documen- tary film? And where’s the next frontier for documentary TV?” Dustin told us. “I really strongly believe that’s online. The thing that’s even more liberating about online and encouraging and interesting is that you’re not tied to a half-hour/ Figure 1.2 Executive Producer Dustin Park leads a new team of video journalists after the Sun-Times management laid off its entire photo staff. The State of Video 5 hour model that is built into broadcast TV. You can produce a 5-minute, rich piece that’s not going to take you months and months to do. But you can put a lot into that and make it look good and do great storytelling.” We spent two days in Chicago with Dustin, producers Peter Holderness and Jessica Koscielnia, and an intern. We observed their production processes and interviewed them and their bosses about video strategy. Like other newspa- pers we had visited in throughout the country, the Sun-Times’ newsroom had been divided into two camps of video producers: 1. Mobile Reporters. Traditionally print-focused reporters had been outfitted with iPhones capable of shooting and uploading HD video from the field. These reporters contributed raw footage or lightly edited video pieces to go along with their text stories. Most importantly, the reporters uploaded these stories almost immediately from the field. They did not wait until the end of the day to publish. 2. Video Producers. Dustin’s core team was focused on producing videos, and shot some photography. They produced packages, live shows, and several weekly sports, news, and political shows. These producers were experienced shooters and editors, and the content that they created, in most cases, had very high production value. Their stories tended to be more feature-length, and less breaking news in nature. These stories could take days