Comments on: Video journalism in the palm of your hand: Making the most out of Flip and cell phone video

By: sam allgood

sam allgood — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 17:41:03 +0000

We’ve been through this before in our work to expose the deceitful tactics employed by the health insurance industry (see: http://www.costofhealthcare.org). When we send our reporters into the field we typically use audio recorders but the growing availability of small sized video cameras may change that. Thanks for the tips; I’ve saved a copy of this to pass around to our media group for their use

By: Aaron Chimbel

Aaron Chimbel — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 10:43:05 +0000

Mindy,

I agree completely. Always hold shots for 10 seconds when shooting.

The four seconds is for editing and only a basic guide.

Thanks!

Aaron

By: Mindy McAdams

Mindy McAdams — Sun, 28 Nov 2010 11:02:32 +0000

I agree with most of your tips, but not this one:

“Shots shouldn’t be too short or too long. About 4 seconds is good.”

The first sentence, yes — but the second, no. Here’s why:

If you are recording for only 4 seconds you are likely to have shake or jerk at the beginning and end of the clip that leaves you with 2 seconds or less of usable video. So always count (silently) to 10 before you stop recording.

Some shots need to be longer than 10 seconds because of the movement of your subject, but in many cases, 10 seconds will cover it.

http://www.jou.ufl.edu/faculty/mmcadams/video/five_shot.html

That’s a tip sheet for new video shooters.