Yesterday I attended day two of the Visual Editors’ videojournalism training in London. The four-day course covers the fundamentals of videojournalism with proceeds going to not-for-profit news project Beamups.

You can read my report on day one of the course – an introduction to the basics of videojournalism in this post.

Below are some introductory tips to filming interviews learned from the course.

There are still places available on Thursday’s (October 29) programme, which will focus on selling your videos.

As day two was to focus on filming interviews, I spent most of it getting to grips with my tripod. I wanted to be confident with my kit so I could gain confidence of my interview subject; not look like a complete novice while struggling to get my camera to sit straight.

We learned about basic framing for a shot; where to stand to allow you to maintain eye contact and yet monitor your camera; and tips on getting your subject to relax and open up.

But my main lesson of the day went back to confidence: try to anticipate problems that might arise when you’re filming, before you’re doing it, advised our tutor Robb.

Good advice:

• Prepare your tripod and camera as far as possible (e.g. check your battery’s charge).
• Avoid one word or yes/no answers by giving your subject commands rather than asking questions e.g. “Tell me….”, “Describe to me….” – you need longer answers so you can get the worthwhile soundbites to edit.
• Take headphones with you so (if your camera allows it) you can monitor how the footage sounds on location.
• Take plenty of natural sound – you may need this if editing shots together.

Sent out on our lunch hour to find willing interview subjects, I convinced a local businessman to let me film in his shop. A hairdresser for 45 years, he was animated and engaging.

Some things I learned:

• Don’t be afraid to move your camera if you want to change the framing during an interview. I needed to step a little closer to improve the frame and give louder audio. Just make sure you let your subject know what you are doing.
• If your subject is sitting and you’re standing, this doesn’t matter, so long as the camera is at eye-level with the interviewee rather than the camera looking down on them.
• Asking some initial throwaway questions helps your interviewee relax and gives you time to adjust your camera if needs be.

Editing my footage (around 10 minutes including cutaway shots) was much quicker today – less than an hour for three minutes, including work on audio and splicing together different answers with cutaways.

Yesterday I was lucky enough to attend day one of the Visual Editors’ videojournalism training in London. The four-day course covers the fundamentals of videojournalism with proceeds going to not-for-profit news project Beamups.

Below are some introductory tips to visual storytelling learned from the course.

There are still places available on Wednesday (October 28) and Thursday’s (29) programmes, which will focus on video editing and selling your videos respectively.

Day one was spent learning how to use our cameras, the basic shot types and – after a stint in the field (well, London’s Finchley Road) – some simple editing skills.

Here are my main lessons from the day:

Using your camera:

• Hold your camera from beneath e.g. using your hand beneath to make it more stable;
• If you don’t have a tripod and need to steady your camera, find a natural tripod (a ledge, a table) or use your own body to stabilise the shot.

What film can do:

• Film can handle multiple story forms e.g. images (both still and moving); graphics an animation; and audio;
• Use visual elements to solve problems in your story e.g. to help move between locations or compress time, such as the transition from day to night.

Some tips for audio whilst filming:

• “Microphones don’t have brains,” Robb told us, so you need to monitor how your film might sound while your in the field;
• Take a pair of headphones out with you – while you’re concentrating on the visuals there will be many sounds your camera and its mic pick up that don’t even register;
• Sometimes you need to think of your camera as an audio recorder to capture extra sounds in addition to all the shots you need.

In the afternoon we were sent out to practice the morning’s lessons, in particular the idea of 3:6:9 – three angles; six seconds; nine locations for the camera.

And here’s what I ended up with after an introduction to my editing software (Final Cut Express) and 45 minutes working on it. It’s not finished, but it’s a start!

In particular, I need to look for links (colours/characters/objects) between the scenes which will strengthen the transition from one to the next.