SMA * s Photo and Video Action Planner A guide to help you get beautiful visuals at your next important event. page 1 of 37 Survival Media Agency.com 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 page 2 of 37 Survival Media Agency.com 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. Photographers 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)? Where 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. page 3 of 37 Survival Media Agency.com 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 page 4 of 37 Survival Media Agency.com ○ 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? What 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: Ar 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.). page 5 of 37 Survival Media Agency.com 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). After 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. page 6 of 37 Survival Media Agency.com 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.