SMA * s Photo and Video Action Planner
A guide to help you get beautiful visuals at your next important event.
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Table of Contents
PHOTOGRAPHY VIDEOGRAPHY Before The Action [p.3] - Do’s and Don’ts - Work with the photographer early - Clear goals, audience, message Before The Action (pre-production) [p.19] - Scouting - Get in contact with the organizers - Shot list. - Give yourself enough time - Permission and security. - Discuss division of labor, timelines - Script Writing and uploading procedures - Shot List - Division of labor - Tools of the Trade - Prep your equipment During the Action [p.8] - Equipment Checklist - Reminders. - How to Dress - Avoid overall pictures of the scene. - Release Form - Show motion and emotion. - Simplify! During the Action (production) [p.25] - Check the background. - Show up early, test your gear - Pick backgrounds and foregrounds - Set Up your microphones as props. - Offset your subject. - Situations that are ideal and not - Take vertical-format photos as well. - Getting the Coverage You Need - Experiment with fresh angles. - Footage for different Outlets - Avoid stereotypical imagery. - Get their feet! - b-roll - Don’t be afraid to talk with people. - Framing - Photo Ops & Groups. - Lighting - Think Negative Space. - Iphone / Instagram / DSLR tips - Interviews - Coordination. - Collecting Footage - Technical settings. - Settings After the Action [p.14] - Choosing your images - Troubleshooting - Editing After the Event (post-production) [p.37] - Watermarks - Workflow - Posting on Social Media - Storage - Quick Turnarounds - Credits / Accuracy Check - Editing - Tracking - Example Videos - Debriefing - Flickr Tips - Music - Special Things to Keep in Mind
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Photography Using photos to tell the story of your action or event is a powerful tool to engage your base. People who can’t be there will feel connected to your work. People who a re there can share the images with their community. And, people who aren’t yet supporters but could be are likely to be inspired and get involved. Below are some tried and true tips to get you on your way to growing your movement. BEFORE THE ACTION Believe it or not a lot of work goes into planning for those beautiful photos before anyone presses the shutter button and takes the shot. Make sure you’ve considered many of the steps below before the big day.
1. Work with the photographer. Bring them in early. If telling the visual story of your event is crucial, you need to plan for that by making sure a photographer is involved in planning conversations early on. P hotographers look at things differently and may offer insights in how the event can be designed more visually. Everything from site location, to the props, to the signs that are created, to the time of day of the action can all impact its visual success. Often these details, if mildly adjusted can drastically change the outcome of your photos.
2. Be clear about goals, audience, message In assessing photography needs, start with the goals of the action. What is the goal of the action? What are you trying to accomplish? H ow will visuals support that goal? W ho is the audience? What is the message that will reach them? Who are the VIPs? What demographic of folks needs to really stand out? Is there someone making sure that they are lined up behind the banner/speaker? Have people wear things that help tell the story of who they are (e.g. clergy wearing stoles, workers in hard hats, members in t-shirts, etc.). Make sure folks who are holding banners are briefed on the tone of the action and aren’t on their phone often. One way to think about this: If you got a front page story on your action, what is the photo and headline? F urther reading: C enter for Story-Based Strategy’s “ Battle of the Story” worksheet.
3. Scouting Go look at the site of the action, ideally at the same time of day as the action. What visuals are already present (i.e. sign of government office or corporate target)? W here do you place speakers / banners to get them in same shot as visual cues? If the action is a march or has movement in it, be sure to do a walk through of the march route. Check to see if there are spots along the way where you can get up high or get different angles (i.e. is there a building that will give you an aerial view of the march? Can you secure access to the building? ) What available light exists? Bright sunlight vs. shade? Will you need a flash?
4. Make a shot list.
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Talking about a shot list before the action helps both the action planners and the photographer be clear on what “must-get” shots are and what it will take to get them. Examples of things that might go in a shot list: ○ Overall feel: serious? powerful? Sunday best? ○ Set-up, people signing in, putting on stickers/buttons ○ Behind the scenes organizing
○ Pamphlets or materials laid out. ○ Banners and signs (diversity of people holding them) ○ Each speaker (look emotion on face, hand gestures) ○ People clapping, cheering, smiling, chanting, fists raised
○ Posed group shot ○ Close ups of people’s faces, feet or hands ○ Crowd at its largest (telephoto helps compress, look larger) ○ Any “targets” or decision makers
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○ Any notable participants (who are adding clout to your action) ○ Signage that shows name of target (e.g. sign on a building) ○ Poignant signs that give context ○ Cute children with signage or tee-shirt messages
○ Interactions with passersby ○ Police or security
Decide: Who from action planning team will be the point person for the photographer day-of? Decide what photos you need when: Do you need to send photos to media as soon as action is deployed? W hat are those 1-2 photos and by when do you expect to have them?
5. Permission and security. In some places, having a camera can make you a target for the police. Create a plan addressing these questions: A r e you in a country where people sue and either need to write a simple contract or get explicit permission? W hat security issues do you need to consider? A re you putting others at risk by taking photos? D o you need permission of each person whose photo is taken? If it’s a private event, do you want to announce that photos/video are being taken and give people the option to opt out? Are there parts of the event that should absolutely NOT be photographed (e.g. prayer, parts of indigenous ceremony, illegal activity, etc.).
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6. Discuss division of labor, timelines and uploading procedures ○ Timelines: By when do you need the first photos? Of what? To whom? In what format? Know when your images need to be online — and if you will need time for editing. It is often the case that we need images either as the action happens or shortly after the action is complete. Here is our system: ● Upload 5 images on-site (often through a smartphone wifi port). A fter the first hour of the action, take a break (this is where having multiple photographers comes in handy) and look through your camera to find the best 5 images. Write down the file names. Then using your computer, card-reader, and card find only the images you want to upload and transfer them to your computer. Edit each image, taking no more than 5-10 min and then upload them to flickr, making sure to credit the image. ( It is good to test this ahead of time so that there are no major hiccups during the critical moment).
● Get volunteers to help. E nlist the help of a card runner and an editor. The card runner meets you and any other photographers you are working with at a pre-planned meeting spot and picks up your camera’s memory card and writes down the file number of the 10 best images you’ve identified. They then ‘run’ these to a “photo editor” to process the images and get them up online. This process requires you to have multiple cards.
○ Division of labor: Decide if you need more than one photographer to do the job well. If you have a large action of a few thousand people, this is advised. If you have more than one photographer decide where you want to place them (i.e one on the scene, another getting aerial or one at the front of the march one near the back). There are other roles that will make the workload simpler: Coordinator, Card Runner, Photo Editor. i. The coordinator can work liaison with the organizers and the rest of the photo team, help think through all of the above, make decisions about where certain photographers go, do the action walk through etc.
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ii. Card Runner will pick up the memory cards and file names and bike/cab/run/walk them to the photo editor.
iii. Photo Editor w ill go through the files you’ve selected, transfer them to their computer, and edit and upload the photos with proper captions. This person must have some knowledge (even basic) of photo editing software. iv. Social Media Person. It’s important to decide if the photographers are posting directly to social media or if there is a social media person (and communications person) they should be sending their photos to. Decide ahead of time on whose social media accounts you’ll be posting the albums. It makes a big difference in both (a) who can see the photos, and (b) whose social media pages will get traffic and will get built up. For instance, is it the photographers? An individual? The organizations? All three?
7. Prep your equipment (advanced, for folks with cameras) Do you have: __ Camera and charged batteries (and extra set) __ Erased last set of photos __ Cleared out all previous settings (white balance, ISO, etc.) __ Cleaned lenses __ Flash and charged batteries (and extra set) __ Card (and extra if needed) __ Fully charged phone (helpful to have external battery, esp if using wifi to transfer photos) __ Press pass, business card, or other ID if desired __ Emails or texts saved where you’re sending photos __ Pre-written social media message ready to cut and paste if uploading on-site
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DURING THE ACTION You’re ready to begin! Get to the action early, have your coffee, circle up with your team, and go over the plan once more. Then you’re off!
Reminder: 1: It’s not about taking photos. It’s about learning to see. Don’t start by pulling out your phone/camera and getting frustrated that’s it’s too light/dark, etc.. Start by looking around and starting to compose an image in your mind. What’s the story you’re trying to tell, and how do I combine the elements in front of me to tell that story?
Reminder 2: H ow YOU as a photographer interact at an action makes a big difference. C onnect with people. Smile. When there is time/opportunity, it can help to talk to people first, introduce yourself, ask their story, be seen interacting with the organizers so folks know you’re on their side. T his is especially true if you are an outsider of some sort (e.g. different race, nationality, language, community, etc.). Be respectful of people’s boundaries, especially around photographing children, prayer, ceremony, etc. And/but, if you’re there to get the shot, get in there and get the shot. Don’t be shy.
Reminder 3: K now your rights, and how far you’re willing/able to push it. Do you have a press pass? Are you on public or private property? Is the person telling you to move, or that you can’t be there, someone who has the authority to do that or is bluffing? Private security vs. police. Are you in coordination with the police liaison?
Reminder 4: L ook at your shot list. Make sure you get everything. If not, what do you need to do?
Take interesting photos! Here are a few tips on taking interesting photos: ● Avoid panorama or overall pictures of the scene. They are usually not very interesting. Your eye collects many items in your brain and puts them into one mental image. The most common mistake of beginning photographers is to get too much in the picture. (The exception to this is if it’s the size of your action that’s unique). ● Show motion and emotion. Whenever possible look for motion – people d oing things (locking themselves to a building, chanting, holding a fist in the air). And emotion -- people smiling, crying, showing anger, etc. Still images are less interesting. Move in close. That way, you get rid of confusing background and focus on what matters. R elated reading: A dding emotion and feeling to photographs.
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● Simplify! Make one thing dominant in every photo. Think about what you want to show and focus on that. Choose one face rather than a crowd. R elated reading: T echniques to enhance the focal point of an image.
● Check the background. The camera is not selective about what is captures. You see what you're interested in and blank out the rest. The photo gives equal weight to everything. So check around the screen or viewfinder before you take the photo, and either move to a
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different place, ask your subjects to move, or clear up clutter if necessary! R elated reading: Getting backgrounds right.
● Pick backgrounds and foregrounds as props to help the goal of the photo, by suggest a tone or showing the context.
● Don't put the center of interest right in the middle of the photo. That's where we expect to find it, so it loses impact. Try putting it to one side or the other. This makes more difference than you think. R elated reading: Learn the R ule of thirds.
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● Take vertical-format photos as well as horizontal by turning your camera. They fit well in publications, and can add interest. ● Experiment with fresh angles. Photos of an interview or of demonstrators need special treatment if they are to make interesting photos. What makes these people special? Your challenge is to try and show that through your choice of angle, what you show people doing, and your choice of background.
● Avoid stereotypical imagery. T he old tropes are boring and don’t serve your movement. The super angry protester does not welcome people into a new space nor do images of polar bears,
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or painted people. Props can be totally beautiful but just be mindful what could turn your event images into fodder for mockery.
● Get their feet! A common mistake is to forget to include the feet of the marcher or speaker. It is not always necessary, but be intentional about it. Do not accidentally cut off their feet at the ankles. It looks weird.
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● Don’t be afraid to talk with people. S ometimes an image would be so much better if the subject felt comfortable to look at you, or if they moved slightly to the right, or held the banner straighter. It is ok to gently ask the photo subjects to slightly modify their behavior. ● For group posed photos. Make sure that the official designated photographer gets the shot they need (with everyone looking directly at the camera) before everyone else gets their cell-phone shots. Otherwise, if too many cameras/phones are snapping at once, the group will appear not to be looking at the camera or other cell phone photographers might get in the way of the official photographer. ● A note on “Photo Ops.” A ctions should never be “just a photo op.” What makes for good photos is what makes for a good action. Even if it’s “just a banner drop,” you’ll get best photos if folks actually engage passersby, circle up afterwards and do a quick chant. This way the energy of the participants is higher and that definitely gets conveyed in your images. Plus there will be a variety of more dynamic images to choose from at the end. ● Think Negative Space: Take some photos with lots of blank or open space to put words on later for a meme or flier. Gather imagery that can later be used on a website or as part of a graphic design.
iPhone photography tips: P hotography is more about being clear about the story you’re trying to tell, learning to see creatively, and knowing how to use the equipment you have than it is about having the latest camera or most expensive lens. In fact, you can take remarkable photos on an iPhone. Here are a few tips and tricks to maximize the quality of your iphone photos:
● Use the built-in camera grid to to take advantage of the rule of thirds ● Select the subject to adjust the exposure/brightness ● Zoom in (but not too much or it will be grainy) ● 9 iPhone camera features every photographer should know
Instagram tips: Instagram is both a powerful social media platform, as well as an easy way to make basic edits to iPhone photos. ● [Insert non-fashion related editing how-to here, something better than this hopefully: https://help.instagram.com/365080703569355/?ref=hc_fnav]
Coordination. P hotographer and someone from action team need to coordinate to make changes / interventions, for instance: ● Everyone is looking at cell phones, need to be told to put those down ● Everyone holding banner is white or a guy, need to switch people in/out ● No visuals or ineffective visuals behind speakers
Let’s get Technical. H ere are some general settings to keep your camera at to take photos ➢ Shutter Speed: 1/80th or quicker… 1/100, 1/500 great! If it’s dark, you can go slower, maybe down to 1/40th if your steady, but there are other ways to make your image brighter. ➢ Aperture: f2.8 or as close to that as you can get f3.5, f5. this will let in a lot of light, if you’re having trouble getting your subject in focus, you can try f8
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➢ ISO: 400 or as low as you can go! This is something you’ll want to turn up to 800 if all your settings above aren’t making your image bright enough. ➢ Image Stabilizer / Vibration Reduction: Yes please ➢ Image Quality: Raw & JPEG if you have the space and your camera allows it. Always try to use “RAW”, it gives a lot more flexibility to edit the image. If you’re looking for a lower quality image that you can quickly and easily put online, make sure you are taking JPEGs. ➢ Auto Focus: Yes, unless your auto focus isn’t doing it for you.
DSRL tips: If you are a new DSLR owner, it is worth getting to know your camera inside and out: shooting modes, aperture, shutter speed, ISO, white balance, focus and metering modes, etc. Here is a quick guide to get you started, but nothing can replace shooting and experimentation.
AFTER THE ACTION Shooting an event can take a lot of energy. Make sure you get some water or a juice and a sandwich or something before you sit down to spend about the same amount of time editing and uploading as you did shooting.
Choosing your images. H aving a software to help you go through your catalogue of imagery from the event is highly recommended. We often use Lightroom but there are others out there. I n any case, you’ll want to go through and flag your favorite photos; don’t even spend time on ones you don’t like-- this will only detract your attention from the good stuff. T his may take a while and this is ok just keep flagging anything that is worthy of your attention. If you have two that are similar, you’ll have to make a hard choice between the two. After editing all the shots, do another pass through to make sure you have a variety of photos that will keep your audience engaged.
Editing. The press will not use an image that is heavily edited-- so if having the media engaged is a goal then don’t edit your images too much. We only do simple editing-- adjusting the shadows, contrast, and highlights. This will help make your images pop just a bit more.
Watermarks. D ecide whether or not to use watermarks. We often use them to make crediting and sharing on social media easier for folks. The watermark we use is a simple one. It is in the bottom left corner of the image, size 9 text, and font: calibri. See below image for an example. The text looks like: Emma Cassidy | Survival Media Agency
Posting. Y ou’ve decided who is posting the photos-- either the Social Media Person or the photographer or both. Either way you’ll want to know where you are putting your photos online and why. We often post to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Flickr.
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● Facebook. It’s probably best to upload to organization’s page so that it gets more traffic. You’ll want to post initially just one great image -- and maybe make it into a meme with a great quote from the day. Encourage others to share this image so that more and more people will be exposed to the action and the issues. L ater, post no more than 20 images in an album and make sure to tag as many people who are in the images as possible. T his will also drive traffic. Make sure the album is set to “public” permissions.
● Twitter. It is ideal to post only a handful of images on twitter throughout the day paired with a small quote or caption. ● Instagram. Y ou should only p ost the best 3-4 and these m ust be scattered throughout the day. It’s bad etiquette on instagram to post multiple images in a row and if you scatter them you’ll get far more likes. On Instagram it is also preferable to post photos with good captions. Longer captions are totally fine and do really well. People like the context with a beautiful image. ● Flickr is more of an archival spot-- you can upload high-resolution images and tag them (more details below) and you can send an album link with your best shots to the media.
Storage. O nce you start taking lots of photos you’ll need to find a way to organize them so that it’s much easier to find them later (i.e. file-naming conventions, tags) and that tracks which photographers to credit. Look into software like Lightroom to help with this. And always always backup your images. We recommend multiple external hard-drives.
Credits/accuracy check: R eview press where photos are used. Are the photo credits and captions correct?
Tracking. M easuring the success of the photos and the action are not always the same but it useful to report back to your base if you had photos do particularly well on social media or were featured in different outlets. We recommend keeping a spreadsheet to track where your photos end up.
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Debriefing: I ncorporate photography as a category of action debrief. To inform that debrief, go back and look at both the photography in official media coverage, as well as search for the hashtags you used and see what people posted on social media. Was the action photography consistent with our goals/message? Were the protagonists featured properly (ie. diversity/representation check).
Quick Flickr How-To When you’re ready to upload go to t his link: select your images -- drag & drop them in. This is the best place to add tags, add photos to albums, titles, and captions. Once your images are in you can select a group of images or a single image to add tags and to add photos to a set. For captions and titles, it is best done for each image separately since these will be more or less based on the image uploaded.
Tagging. C reate and use official tags: COP21, Paris, Climate Change, Climate Justice, Women
Titles. I nclude a basic description of what is happening in the image. For examples: “Jihan Gearon speaks to a crowd of 10,000” or “Young woman is thrown out of UN Negotiations for protest”
Captions. A complete caption tells the story of the photo tying together elements in the image for the viewer and giving a bit of context. Also make sure to include a photo credit.
Instructions for captions: 1. Your caption should include who is in the picture and why they are significant. All names must be spelled correctly with the correct name on the correct person. (Identify people from left to right.) List ages for any children in the image. 2. What is in the picture? Write so that you’re completing a story, not just describing literally what’s in the picture.
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3. When? The DATE, including the day of the week, date and year must appear in the body of all captions. Your images will be history some day. 4. Where? Be specific. Include city and country. 5. Why? Explain the circumstances and why the photo is relevant or powerful.
Example Caption:
PARIS, FRANCE-- On, November 29, 2015 Hundreds of pairs of shoes filled the square at Place de la République in Paris. The shoes symbolized all the people that would have marched in the streets had the protest not been canceled by the French government.
Thousands of people gathered at a peaceful protest for the climate on Boulevard Voltaire in Paris, France. The people held hands and linked arms on the sidewalk of the boulevard and displayed banners in support of the climate movement. At the start of the human chain, a collection of shoes were placed in the square of Place de la République.
Photo By: Emma Cassidy | Survival Media Agency
Albums. T o create and organize albums, go to the “You” tab, and click “Organize” at the very bottom of that list. Inside that section, click “Albums & Collections” Organizing all the photos into albums will be the key to finding the images you need easily especially later on. Album names that are specific will be very useful at the action and beyond.. However here is what we suggest: 1. Best of the best album called: Editor’s Choice NAME OF EVENT. a. A very tightly curated 20 image set of the absolute best action pics showing a diversity of types of people and actions. The most eye-popping images should be in the front of this album with immaculate captions. This album will evolve as the days go on and better images arrive and some tough choices will have to be made to prevent the album from getting too large.
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2. Specific events or actions (for multiple days of actions or for distributed actions) a. Going to a press conference or an action. Label the album the name of the event you were covering. 3. Daily highlights (optional) a. This could be a great way to organize the photos that will be posted on FB as a daily highlights reel. Again captions for FB will be helpful as they will give people context 4. Themes to be added as they arise – like “Speakers” or “Young people” or “Palestinian Elders” a. Sometimes organizing in this way is helpful so that if someone from different organizations or constituencies can access images they need easily.
Special things to keep in mind. 1. Best images always at the front. A lways make sure that the best images and most varied images are at the front of the album. This way people within the first few shots see eye-popping and interesting images that keep their attention 2. Keep the ‘Editor’s Choice’ album at the front. W hen you create a new album the older albums move behind it. So, after you create a new album, make sure to move the best of the best or rather the ‘Editor’s Choice’ album to always be in position one. 3. Feel free to create ‘Collections’ F or similar types of albums feel free to create a ‘Collection.’ This is a group of albums and these can be helpful for grouping like things. Like say there are regular press conferences that you are putting on. All the press conference albums can go in one collection.
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Videography Capturing the energy and excitement of an event can bring thousands more to an idea or cause. Sharing the visuals and communicating people’s thoughts and feelings help your audience have a deep experience that can shift emotions and change minds. Video is an extremely powerful tool to communicate your message, but with many complicated technical elements it can easily become difficult to capture the moment, let alone capture it to the quality necessary to captivate your audience. This guide will help uncover the necessary steps in the background and get you thinking like a filmmaker.
Do’s ● Establish a strong goal for the video - it will help guide interviews, b roll, editing, etc. ● Communicate with organizers ● Show up early for event to set up and prepare for conditions. ● Capture good audio, especially in interviews ● Start with wider shots and gradually get tighter shots ● create a quick shot list of potential things to be on the lookout for to film ● Have interviewee’s sign a release ● Check equipment the day before ● Have backup batteries and memory cards ● Focus on the positives of the event
Do not’s ● Take short b-roll clips, each shot should be 15 seconds minimum, 30 seconds is preferable. ● Use excess motion. Still shots are best, especially with lower quality recording equipment ● Focus solely on b roll or interviews ● use music without proper rights ● Film interviews in overly contrasting light or rooms that echo
Before the Action (“preproduction”) Taking the time before filming to prepare, setup and communicate your needs, and to ready your gear can greatly lessen the chances of a mistake or failure occurring during filming. Which will then save your hours in the editing process. You want to show up to the event, with people expecting you, plenty of time to get setup and test your equipment, as well as know the days activities so you can give more attention to the unexpected.
Get in contact with the organizers of the event & potential interviews. Through the event organizer you’ll be able to get an understanding around schedule, when setup starts, when the main activity happens, as well as when will be the best time to do interviews. You want to be as prepared as possible for what’s ‘supposed’ to happen. Giving a heads up to key people to be interviewed is always a good idea, especially if you can lock in a time to do an interview.
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Coordinate roles before the event. Who will be in the videographer, editor, and distribution roles.
Give yourself enough time before and after the event. Setting up and testing your equipment can take an hour, you also may want to catch the action and a few interviews before the event officially starts. Make sure to add in time after the event is supposed to end as well to get wrap up shots, remaining interviews and gathering any additional information or footage from others you need.
Script Writing Mapping out your story is extremely helpful to focus your efforts during documentation and can save hours in the editing room trying to develop one. Knowing the videos purpose, audience and realistic potential is important for determining how you film and what questions you ask. Here are some questions to ask yourself when preparing to create a video.
1. What is the Goal of this video? What is the focus? 2. How would you summarize this video to someone new? 3. Who is your audience? What do they like to watch? 4. How long will the video be? 5. What are the strongest visuals that come to mind? 6. What is the desired tone? What do you want your audience to feel from watching this? 7. What do you want your audience to do after watching this film?
These answers are important to communicate to members of your crew involved in creating interview questions, capturing the event and editing the footage. Depending on the complexity or spontaneity of an event, it may be difficult to go further than this, but preparing as much information beforehand will set a strong foundation to begin. Evolve the script based on the footage you capture. You’ll rarely get what you asked for but that’s half the fun.
Knowing the desired content of the video will help you compose questions for your interviews.
Shot List ● Establishing shots of the area; signs, skyline, daily activities, surrounding landscapes, nearby nature ● Wide shot of the action. see everything that’s going on and give your viewer perspective ● A diverse range of participants. m edium shots and close ups to connect personally with people involved ● The best signage that expresses the messaging of the event the best ● Cute children holding signs ● Speakers - at least a visual of each of the speakers, important to capture as much audio of speakers as possible. getting footage looking at the speakers and from the opposite angle, over the speakers shoulder looking at the crowd are both important. ● close ups on feet marching / people’s hands
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● crowd shots t o see the number of people that showed up, try to make the crowd look as big as possible, fill your framing so there isn’t empty space ● crowds chanting and cheering, make sure not to break record through a chant, as it may be used in it’s entirety in the background of a part of the video. getting a high angle shot as well gives an interesting perspective. ● important people, government officials, celebrities, head of organizations. this helps show your event is official ● police presence, if it bleeds it reads, arrests and confrontations not only are important for legal recording but attract people to your video ● artisti shots - have fun, experiment, go in and out of focus, move around.
Tools of the Trade
● Cell Phones (for camera and video) - Make sure the phone is recording in the highest possible quality setting, especially if cellphone footage will be submitted for media broadcast. Take video horizontally, not vertically and hold the phone as still as possible.
● DSLR P hoto Camera w ith video mode - They require a basic understanding of camera settings as well as ability to pull focus manually while filming. But these cameras capture high quality video and have an amazing ability to blur out the background and make your image look really high quality. A major downside to Photo Cameras with video mode is the audio options are very minimal, it’s a lot harder to record high quality auto, see audio recorder below. Prices start at $500 for beginner cameras and a basic stock lens.
● prosumer video cameras - These are a great go-between for DSLR’s and cellphones. They give more of a video “feel” and can be more intuitive and stable for a beginner videographer. Typically the automatic settings are better suited for video over a DSLR and they have a rolling auto-focus.
○ Canon VIXIA HF R600 - $199 - good image stabilization and audio. Great all around beginner video camera -http://bhpho.to/1g1UNEz
○ Panasonic HC-VX870K - $797 - Shoots in 4k, best for sending video to broadcast media, great zoom range, and easy to use - http://bhpho.to/1hYw4kq
○ Zoom Q4 Handy Video Recorder - $198 - easy to use, great option if good audio is priority over video. http://bhpho.to/1mVaBVx
● microphones (one on your camera pointed towards what you’re filming and one closest to the sound you're capturing, while not being in the shot; a handheld microphone or clip on lavaliere)
○ Lavaliere Mic - clips to clothing or can be set up on podium. Best used for capturing audio from individual speakers. Lavaliere microphones can easily produce bad audio from rubbing on fabric, wind, or other interference. Make sure to monitor the audio to make sure you’re capturing good audio.
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○ Shotgun Mic - Best used for capturing audio directly in front of camera and more general audio from an event.
○ Handheld microphone - great for interviews with individuals without having to secure a lavaliere mic
● Audio Recorders - A great back up to microphones. Most audio recorders allow external mics to be plugged into them as well as having a microphone on top. Audio recorders typically have long record times and are great for leaving on a stage podium to capture all of the speeches, chants, etc.
Equipment Checklist: The Essentials: __ Camera & Lenses / Cell Phone - (try it out the day before, make sure all your settings are loaded and the camera is functioning properly)
__ Charged batteries - (b ring extra & charger if possible. N ot only camera or smartphone batteries, but AA rechargeable batteries and specialty batteries for other equipment. have a portable USB battery charger for your smartphone)
__ Lens Cloth - c lean your lenses before you start filming, and check on your lens during the day.
__ Memory Card - ( bring extra and make sure you have plenty of free space. It’s prefered that your cards are blank and formatted before an event (backup whatever data you had on the cards beforehand. Formatting a card in a camera wipes all the data and sets up the card for best use with that specific camera, formatting also reduces the chance of an error occurring during filming which can cause footage lose. )
__ Microphones - (run two microphones if possible in case one channel gets disrupted)
__ Tripod - (or a monopod. and don’t forget the plate that connects to your camera and slides on the tripod! )
__ business card and a notebook ( it’s important to quickly and easily have a way to give out your information to others and take down their information. a handy notebook is also important for writing down notes for an editor or key information that’s needed to put together the video)
Optional, depending on your situation:
__ Audio Recorder ( optional, sometimes you may want a recording of all speeches or because your video cameras audio capabilities are so poor you want to hold a recorder up to the sound source)
__ Lighting - ( an on camera light can save an interview or a shot in a shaded area, poorly lit room or at night. You may also consider bringing a reflector during the day to bounce
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light from the sun up into the shadows of someone’s face for an interview. The next step is to bring lights for a sit down interview.)
__ Rain Cover - (or a plastic bag you modified to cover your camera. if you are preparing for moisture, bringing a small towel will come in handy)
__ Accessories - (don’t forget all the little gizmos and gadgets your technology needs to function; adapters, screws, cables, filters, attachments, add-ons, etc)
__ Additional cameras ( the more cameras the better! rarely does a camera fail, but when it does, you’ll be glad you have options. Also consider setting up a wide shot for the event on a tripod or handing out extra cameras to colleagues to help cover the event. Having multiple angles & other cameras recording during intense situations like arrests or actions that happen very quickly or spontaneously is beneficial.
__ Card Reader or USB cable (having a way to transfer your footage to someone else immediately after the event)
__ Laptop & Hard Drive (if you plan on copying other people’s footage immediately after an event. additionally, having a universal card reader is important to be able to copy from different types of cameras. Commons types of media for DSLRs or video cameras are: C F (compact flash) , SD (secure digital), and micro SD (found in cell phones and smaller cameras). Also bringing cell phone USB cables is wise for copying people’s cellphone media. __ Press pass, or other ID ( the more official looking you are, the better)
How to Dress Depending on the seriousness the event is, you will want to consider how the police and those that you are looking to interview perceive you. Dressing too casual can give people the idea that you’re a hobbyist and your footage won’t go anywhere, leading to less passionate interviews. At an event where you could risk arrest, do not dress to fit into the crowd of protesters. Wearing all black is or dressing semi-formal while having the necessary clothing to be agile is a great idea. Bringing a brimmed hat on a sunny day will help keep the sun out of your eyes while you try to watch your camera monitor.
Release Forms. You may think the people you are filming are friends or colleagues and a release form isn’t necessary, but often a release form is required by a news company or television distributor in order to screen your interviews or soundbites. If you’re unable to obtain releases from people before or immediately after the interview, you can always pursue the signature via e-mail. Not having a release could mean having to cut an interview if you’re not willing to take on the liability yourself. Though it can be argued that by someone being interviewed they are giving consent, it’s better to be safe. Note that anyone under 18 years old that’s being filmed needs a co-sign release from their parent.
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EXAMPLE RELEASE (make sure to fill in “Company” and “Work” section before printing)
Grant I consent to the recording of my statements and grant to _ __N AME / ORG HERE_ ___ ("Company") licensees and successors the right to copy, reproduce, and use all or a portion of the statements (the "Interview") for incorporation in the following work: _ __V IDEO TITLE HERE_ __ (the "Work"). I permit the use of all or a portion of the Interview in the Work in all forms and media including advertising and related promotion throughout the world and in perpetuity. I grant the right to use my image and name in connection with all uses of the Interview and waive the right to inspect or approve use of my Interview as incorporated in the Work.
Release I release Company licensees and successors from any claims that may arise regarding the use of the Interview including any claims of defamation, invasion of privacy, or infringement of moral rights, rights of publicity or copyright. I acknowledge that I have no ownership rights in the Work Company is not obligated to utilize the rights granted in this Agreement.
I have read and understood this agreement and I am over the age of 18. This Agreement expresses the complete understanding of the parties.
Name: ______Date: ______
Signature: ______
Address: ______
Telephone:______Email:______
Witness Signature: ______
Parent/Guardian Consent [include if the person is under 18] I am the parent or guardian of the minor named above. I have the legal right to consent to and do consent to the terms and conditions of this model release.
Parent/Guardian Name: ______Date: ______
Parent/Guardian Signature: ______
Parent/Guardian Address: ______
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During the Action (“production”) Show up early, test your gear, and be ready for the action before it starts. Arrive to an event before the crowds show up so you can setup your camera to get the best shot. Having a friend run through the main actions of standing on the podium, or standing where the speakers will stand while you look through your camera will help you see what the lighting is like and what the issues are that you have to solve.
Set Up your microphones, test your sound, be close to the action so your camera can hear it. You’ll also want to test all your microphones and figure out the best way to get your microphones closest to the speaker. Having amplified sound at an event can help your camera capture the audio from the crowd, but it’s always best to have a microphone setup on the podium or in front of the speaker that’s going directly to your camera. The closer the microphone to the sound source the better! Test your microphones, check your batteries, make sure everything looks great on camera before you even start recording (unless you’re alone and then you can lock off your camera and do these tests yourself and then playback the clip to see how you sound and look).
You want to be setup and recording minutes before anything important happens.
What’s an ideal situation? ● show up early, at least an hour to setup, everything goes on time, the weather is nice, lots of people show up and everyone is engaging and visual. ● having a sound system setup at an event that you can plug your audio recorder into. if a sound mixer person is at an event they already have all the microphones coming to one place, you could take a signal from their output and record the entire event. this is a great option to record audio but it’s not reliable and you should have other microphones going into your camera as backup
What are situation to avoid? ● white rooms with florescent lighting from above ● dark rooms with minimal lighting ● high noon interviews in the sun ● setting up your equipment with crowds of people around you
Getting the Coverage You Need You’ll want a good variety of shots for editing. When in doubt about taking certain shots, take them! It’s better to have footage you don’t need than lack a vital piece from the day. But don’t over shoot, stay on topic and film what’s relevant. For every hour you film it will take you about 10 hours to edit the material.
You’re looking to ‘show’ a story, match the audio message of the video with the visuals. Make sure to capture the energy and excitement of the day. It’s okay to spark a flame, talk with people, ask people
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to participate in a creative way and have people engage with the camera. Take advantage of an organizer, chant leader or microphone controller (MC) if they’re available to help excite the crowd or do an activity that you think is important to capture.
If you miss an important moment and try to have the person repeat their action or try to recreate the moment best for video. Also take note of any important soundbites or topics that come up at an event that you miss, you can always bring it up in an interview later or have someone speak to it.
Capturing Footage for different Outlets Recording an event for a news station or broadcast on TV can be very different than recording a video for Social Media or a Vine. These two examples are extreme opposites when it comes to your movement and framing. Then there is everything in between. Capturing video so it can be used in a potential future project. Capturing video so you can distribute it amongst filmmakers to edit themselves, capturing video with your own idea of a final product in mind. Below we’ll cover the differences and similarities.
News or Broadcast When capturing footage for TV or a news segment. You’ll want to make sure you’re on a tripod for everything. No movement or hollywood effects, lock down your angle and your focus. You’ll want to deliver to them your best and cleanest shots that tell your story. Prioritize safe wider shots and the sprinkle in closer shots. A few medium shots of speakers or main participants is important as well. You’ll want each of these shots to run long so the editor there can cut in and out as they please. You can either send them 1 video file with all the shots put back to back. making sure that each shot lasts for at least 15 seconds. News company footage generally is less exciting. They don’t want the camera effects telling the story, they want simple raw footage. You’ll also want to send them the highest quality footage you can.
Usually only 10-30 seconds total of all the footage you send will be used. You want to give them options, but you don’t want to send them so much that they get buried in your footage. General summary soundbites from people explaining what’s happening, why they are there and what they want to happen are great for the news company to have. Soundbites from people should be short a sentence or two or clips from the best part of a speech. If recording handheld with your cellphone keep it horizontal and very steady.
Documentaries If you’re producing an overview of an event you’ll need a whole storyline (intro, body, interviews, conclusion, call to action). These are all key elements to any general video and are good to cover when creating a video for a documentary. ● hold steady on a good shot for at least 15 seconds, ideally each b-roll shot is at least 30 seconds long, this gives an editor choices and buffer time at the beginning and end ● Use a tripod when possible to get stable footage ● Have a good mix of stationary shots to mix in with moving shots
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Social Media If videos are being shot for social media keep them short and focused on highlights to retain attention of the viewer. If this is part of a long term video make sure to archive footage and make note of impactful moments from the day so you don’t forget about them when you get around to editing. ● vines - great for showing short clips during an event or quick highlight reel after event. ● facebook - great for an array of videos from impactful clips to short videos ● simple youtube videos members can put together ● Periscope - A great living streaming app for running a whole event. Make sure to keep it interesting by narrating the scene and capturing personal stories of those involved during the action. b-roll This is all the action, the footage that will be overlayed over people speaking during the video. Be sure to capture all aspects of the day (organizers setting up, chanting, speakers, banners, etc.) Make a quick list before the event to help keep all the aspects of the event in order.
Things to consider; scene setting shots: location, set up, materials, setting up, close up of various actions: speaker’s hands, marching feet, good signs, faces. Get creative with your angles. Look for opportunities to capture shots from new places. Look for buildings roofs or high windows, behind speakers looking out at the crowd, down low.
Being able to capture events as they happen naturally usually looks best on camera, though it’s challenging. When an event is missed or things are moving too fast, you should speak up and ask for things to be repeated or held so you can get the footage you need. Interacting with the people you are filming and asking them to stand a certain way or look in a certain direction is perfectly normal and should be done as you need. Having a person you’re filming holding a sign engage in the camera greatly improves the image and adds an emotional element to the visuals. Warning someone that you’re filming them and having them smile at camera usually turns out better than surprising them.
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When filming a group it’s good to get everyone’s attention on you. Sometimes for group shots multiple cameras can have people looking all over the place. Also telling people if they can’t see your lens, you can’t see them helps people move to be visible in your shot. Though static group shots are more of a photo thing, so for video you’ll want the crowd to do an action together or say something together in order to translate better to video.
Depending on what you’re looking to capture, the setup before an event can be a simple way to start your video. It’s also a time when key members of the event are available for interviews. When telling a story with a camera, there are three main types of shots.
Wide Shot These are great shots to begin with because they’re the least intrusive and often when introducing an audience to something visual, you start with a wider framing, that’s further away from the action, with your lens zoomed out, seeing everything that’s going around. It’s important to show the area. If the action is happening on city streets, show the buildings with people marching. Try to show how many people are at the event by widening your framing enough to capture the bulk of them. But be careful of being too wide if the event is small and having the limited amount of people show in the shot.
Wide shots can also be establishing shots. Shots of the area, nature, busy streets, cars driving by, signage of the town, etc. Things you can film when the event isn’t going on or hasn’t started yet. These types of shots can set the tone for where the event is taking place and be a great introduction to your video.
Also wide shots tend to be the safest, if your subject is moving around, you can loose them in a closer shot, if your camera gets bumped it’s less noticeable when your framing is wider. And if you’re doing lots of handheld footage, it helps to be wider so your movement isn’t picked up as much through the camera.
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Medium Shot This is the most common type of framing. When filming a person, at the top of the frame give space above the person's head. The bottom of the frame will be around the person's waist. This allows you to see the person's face and hands clearly.
Close Up Finally the more risky and harder to get shots, but the ones that tend to be more artistic and beautiful. Tighter shots of action or objects of interest make great cutaways for your editor. It’s also a way to bring the viewer’s attention in on something, like a sign or something symbolic.
Rule of 3rds The rule of thirds is one of the most basic rules of photographic composition. This framing technique applies equally well to video. Divide the frame into thirds, both horizontally and vertically. The points where those lines intersect are optimal locations for the placement of your main subject.
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Rough Guide to Filming: http://www.icontactvideo.org/rough-guide-to-video
Lighting A key element to drawing the attention of your viewer is how you light your subject. Ideally you want your subject to be brighter than the background. But most importantly is adjusting the brightness of your shot so your subject isn’t too dark or too bright. Generally it’s better to keep an image a little darker than too bright. Once the image turns white, there is little you can do to correct this. The sky is often the first to go, which for most cheaper cameras is hard to avoid.
When filming outside on a sunny day, shadows from the sun overhead can cast harsh shadows across your subjects face. Intense areas of contrast between light and shadow can be very difficult for your camera to capture. It’s important to try to position yourself around the subject, that either the light is fully on their face or behind them as a ‘backlight’ and then you expose for the shadow that their face is
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in. Another strategy is moving your subject into the shadow and having your background shadow. This will give an even fill to your subject so you don’t have areas of high contrast where their forehead is ‘blown out’ white.
Focus Always check to make sure your subject is in focus before filming them. This can be done by tapping the screen of your phone on your subject or zooming in with your camera all the way, focusing and zooming back out to where you were.
Interviews
Try to capture all the basic interviews you need before the event starts. Sometimes the intensity of an event can make capturing interviews during the event challenging, and often after an event ends people disappear or are out of energy. Through, conducting interviews during the event and after is critical for capturing people in the moment and having a great background. Also after the event participants are are informed and potentially energized. Some of your best footage will be during and after an event, but to be safe you should capture your general audio needs early on.
Having your interviewee energized and passionate about your answers is ideal. It’s important to engage them in your questions and have your base content covered, but it’s also important to have the interviewee talk about what they are most knowledgeable about and what they bring to the event. This not only is easier for them to talk about but varies the responses from your interviews.
● Make sure to have your interviewee look just off of the camera to a person asking them questions. This removes the pressure of looking into the camera and creates a human connection that is more natural and conversational. Looking into the camera is useful if you’re looking to speak directly to the audience with your message.
● have person spell their first and last name, and share their title / organization, as well as any contact info they’d like to share. (this captures some crucial info an editor needs and is stronger grounds for legal consent to the interview)
● Have the interviewee repeat the question in the answer
● Make sure to capture soundbites from participants during the event. It’s good to be prepared for on the fly interviews with random people at the event. you never know when what you’re going to find and it helps mix up the speakers. usually these will be short, one or two questions. A fun technique to try is asking multiple people the same question and then putting their answers together back to back.
● If time allows, start with short, easy questions. This will allow for the interviewee to warm up to being on camera.
● Be concise and to the point, and stay on topic. Don’t be afraid to ask for a summary of the previous statement to pull out concise statements.
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● soundbites are anywhere between a few sentences long to a fragment short, for short online videos and news, this length of a powerful message is important to capture
● Be aware of background noise. If the interview is happening in a quiet location without background noise (crowds, chants, marching, etc.) be aware of noise that can ruin the audio from an interview (doors closing, planes, traffic.) If you’re outside, don’t worry about audio as much. Remember, movements are noisy, spontaneous, and sometimes chaotic. Keep the microphone as close to your subject when filming in noisy places.
● Don’t forget to have your interviewee sign their release and make sure to take off any microphones you put on them. Swapping contact info can also be helpful.
Quick Tips for Better Interviews: http://ohda.matrix.msu.edu/2012/08/quick-tips-for-better-interview-video/
Collecting Footage Have someone from your organization collecting contact info of everyone documenting the event, also hand out your contact info. After the event, contact people that were there with cameras and ask them to send you their footage. Be mindful that some videographers may be unwilling or hesitant to share footage. At a minimum, be sure to credit all videographers in the final product.
More Settings There are many drawbacks to keeping your camera on AUTO for exposing and focusing. Not only is it inaccurate but having automatic settings makes it hard for the editor to control the image and make blanket corrections to the footage. If need be use auto exposure to have your camera get close enough to ideal settings.
Shutter Speed This is one of the settings that controls how much light comes into your camera. Ideally for video you want to keep your shutter around 1/60 or 1/50. If you’re filming in a dark place and you’ve done all you can to brighten your image so you can see it, you can try going down to 1/30, but when you move the camera the image is more likely to have motion blur. Bringing your shutter over 1/120 will begin to have a strobe effect for fast moving objects.
Aperture Another setting that controls how much light comes into your camera. This also affects how much of your image is in focus. Opening your lens to let in as much light as possible is usually the best idea. An open aperture would be f2 or f2.8 or f3.5 while a closed and dark aperture would be f18 or f22. The higher the number the more that will be in focus. If you have the light and you’re worried about things being in focus, you may want to bring your aperture to f8 or f10. This will bring the foreground and background in focus. But if you’re looking for just your subject to be in focus and your background to go blurry, you’ll want to open up to an f2 if possible.
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ISO / ASA / Gain This is the digital brightness your camera will add to the image. It’s best to turn this down as much as possible so your image doesn’t add ‘noise’ or specs on your video. ISO / ASA usually goes as low as 100 or 200, which is great for sunny days, for gain you can bring it down to zero. For darker situations you can bring your gain up to +9 or ISO 1000 in order to see your image, but going above that will decrease the quality of your image. If you’re in a really dark circumstance, this can be turned up really high in order to see things and get focus.
Contrast if your camera has a way to adjust the contrast settings, turn it down so your image becomes gray. Creating a gray image is best for an editor. Too high of contrast will lose detail in the brightest and darkest parts of your image and you want to try to preserve that. The exception is if you’re looking to release your video immediately and doing no or minimal editing, then you want to increase the contrast and saturation to the point so what you see in your camera looks the best and most final it can.
Zoom Zooming into a subject is a great way to blur out the background and focus on your subject. When trying to draw your viewer's attention to a speaker or object, it helps to blur out the background or have the background be darker. Though zooming in will help you focus on your subject, it’s riskier because any movement you make will show up on camera. A little bump when you’re fully zoomed in can share your entire screen.
Image Stabilizer / Vibration Control It’s always a good idea to turn on your camera or lens’s image stabilizer. This is a great feature that isn’t on most cell phones or simple video cameras. But when getting into higher end photo or video cameras and lenses, this feature will becomes available. This will make any handheld motion much smoother and can save many shots from being too bumpy to watch.
TROUBLESHOOTING & WORST CASE SCENARIOS - ● a good first step when things start getting weird on your electronics is to power cycle the device, turn the camera or phone off, wait, and then back on. ● woops I formatted my card or deleted all my videos. or an “Error” pops up while you’re filming that indicates a file was corrupted and you can’t record anymore ○ do not use that card anymore. use a different card and continue filming. you can open the card up on a laptop and run ‘recovery’ software to retrieve your lost data. formatting technically doesn’t erase your data, it hides your previously recorded footage in the background to be overwritten by new footage. Though recovering footage is very risky and no guarantee. It is best to re-record as much as you can on a different card. I’ve used “C ardRescue”
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○ follow the cables and make sure nothing was disconnected. Jiggle and re-connect cables to camera and microphone while listening through your headphones to see if anything changes as you troubleshoot a weak connection. ○ know what type of power your microphone needs, some cameras have the option to send power from the camera to the microphone, called “Phantom” power.
AFTER THE ACTION (“post production”) Moving from the capturing of an event to the editing phase is a half way marker, if not less. Most of the time spend on projects happens after the filming, editing, finalizing your video and getting it out there takes a lot of effort. It’s important to collect all the footage you’re looking to work with to one place and make backup copies of it. Being organized will help prevent hours of stress and allow you to focus on the storytelling aspect.
Though you may have your script already laid out, it’s important to allow another phase of the creative process to come into play and for the current ideas around the video to evolve.
Workflow ● collect footage from all your sources, and bring it to one place. Be prepared for how much space you will need for storage. If you’re using online storage be sure you have enough capacity to store all the footage. ○ was the press there? can you get a copy or download their report? ○ copy footage from all the media makers at the event ■ download youtube videos with ‘clipconverter.cc’ ○ copy footage from your camera ● Have Multiple backups, at least two (on your computer, on an external hard drive, cloud storage, on the camera. In multiple locations in case of theft or damage) ● It is best to organize footage as close to the date you filmed as possible. You will have many mental notes on what shots happened when and thoughts on how to best achieve your footage. Footage archives should be easy to navigate and understand. This allows other editors to easily find relevant footage. ● Rename footage files with a short description of the day. If you always keep the generic file name structure, searching for lost shots amongst a hard drive where all video files have the same name structure can end up being a needle in a haystack search. Ex.: PCM_Camera 1_0001.mov, DukeRally_Feb_001.mov ● Organize footage into different folders. This can be personal preference for the editor but some example categories ■ Camera number (if multiple cameras) ■ Location ■ b roll ■ interviews
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○ Most computers have a film renaming program available to rename files and add numbers in order created. Automator on Mac is easy to use and come standard on all Mac computers.
Quick Turnaround Try to get your video out quickly while the media and other attention is focused on your event. Have roles for editors and communication teams sorted out in advance with a clear plan for what want to accomplish with video and how.
Social Media For social media - Aim for short and sweet. Attention spans on social media are incredibly short, start with eye catching visuals and powerful statements to capture attention. You’ll need to summarize all that happened in a few sentences.
One approach is to condense your best footage and audio into a short 30 second - 1.5 minute video that gets the point across, has quick edits, fast paced music, is fun and has simple soundbites scattered throughout. This can be the most fun to produce as a wrap up video of your event and can focus a lot of attention on one video to tell the message through social media. Because of facebook and other social media pages having an autoplay feature without sound, it is helpful to insert subtitles over your audio.
Another strategy is to have multiple little clips submitted, 5-15 second clips, that show different highlights of the event. This will flood your social media page with content and take advantage of different people’s networks to bring everyone to your event or organization page. This also is one of the easier approaches because there is minimal editing, you could even edit directly from your cell phone and upload from your cellphone during the action.
Press When sending media to the press it’s best to have your contact people already set out and expecting your footage before the event starts. Because time is of the essence and getting them the footage same day can be critical to making it onto the night's news or missing the hype. ● have a press release to go with your video ● The more of their work you do for them, the more likely they are to use your content. This is in terms of written material that is sent along with your video to Blogs, News Agencies, or Distributors. Writing an informative article, having a great headline, having a thorough press release, websites for more information, ways the viewer can take action, social media pages or #ashtags, etc. Along with the contact info of the PR person of your organization for press inquiries, clarifications, and to get more information. ● editing together a ‘reel’ of your best footage or putting your best clips in a folder ● Send in your highest quality shots with the best soundbites to makes sure your message isn’t skewed. Make sure to have submission requirements ahead of time to send in correctly formatted footage.
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Editing Making your way through all the footage can be an intimidating process, especially if there are multiple cameras from the day. Below is a general process for making it from raw footage to a final product. ○ Raw footage - this is all the footage shot and collected from the event ○ Selects - Good shots from the raw footage ○ Assembly cut - This is the rough structure of the video, where the story line starts to take shape and your layout is formed. ○ Rough Cut - This is your completed narrative that contains all the aspects of the story you are telling. ○ Final Cut - Your video that is ready for publication. This includes all your best shots and unimportant aspects are edited out. All your titles, graphics, and call to action are included. Keep in mind there can be multiple final cuts: extended versions, short versions, etc.
The most common editing software is Adobe Premiere Pro. It works on Mac & PC and is a professional program. But there are cheaper and free options out there. Most computers come with a basic video editor, imovie or windows media player. There are also a few Open Source programs to do basic video editing that are free to download.
Example videos:
Porter Ranch Gas Leak from Food & Water Watch: h ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njYemf_XHsQ
Ende Gelände: Here And No Further from 350: h ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vC5Faqbw0Hg
Our Power from the Sunflower Alliance: h ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5PPM0He0i0
March for Real Climate Leadership from 350: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=13&v=_A_ObFGvTec
Charleston WV chemical spill, PSM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=8&v=X6HpqJ_hESg
Music Music is very important to the video. It creates a rhythm to edit to, it excites the viewer and brings your visuals to life. It’s important to make sure music matches the tone of the video and that the music isn’t too loud, especially during someone speaking. Don’t use fast, upbeat music for somber actions, etc. Be sure to have usage rights sorted out on music. You can always ask local musicians that may be allied with your cause if it is ok to use their music or find royalty free songs online.
Based on the parameters of your video, there are different copyright laws to follow. The safest option is buying a cheap $20 track from one of the links below. There is some free music you can use, but the quality is usually pretty low. When getting into creative commons music, you have to make sure you’re able and willing to release your video creative commons. When releasing your content creative
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commons, know that you can restrict the license for remixing and resale as you see fit (find out more: https://creativecommons.org/ ).
For more serious projects you may want to hire a composer to create music specifically for your video.
● Recommended music sites: ○ Ben Sound - h ttp://www.bensound.com/ ○ Premium Beats: h ttp://www.premiumbeat.com/ ○ Audio Jungle - http://market.envato.com ○ jamendo.com ○ https://creativecommons.org/legalmusicforvideos/ ○ http://www.freesound.org/ ○ http://freemusicarchive.org/curator/Creative_Commons/ ○ the music bed - h ttps://www.musicbed.com And there’s more out there: h ttp://socialtimes.com/royalty-free-music_b37470
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