Why good video matters
I work at a mid-size daily in the Midwest that has been operating under the “good enough” strategy when it comes to video.
I think the strategy of arming willing reporters with small cameras and having traditional still photographer shoot some video is a good approach at the beginning of the transformation into more of a digital or new media strategy.
Colin Mulvany, the new multimedia editor at The Spokesman-Review, has a couple of interesting posts at his Mastering Multimedia blog. The one in particular titled, Good video should connect emotionally to your viewer is right on in my opinion.
The hardest part about my job as multimedia editor is that I have to be the “no” man. I get lots of requests from reporters to shoot video to go with their stories. Many of these requests are turned away because they don’t meet a threshold for good visual storytelling.
I agree that breaking news videos have their place and operating under the “good enough” strategy we tend to be really good at that. But what I really want is what Mulvany calls that “emotional gem”.
Thanks to Mulvany, I stumbled upon one of those emotional gems. It is a video done by Western Kentucky University’s Mountain Workshops where dozens of skilled people profiled the small town of Danville, Kentucky.
Check it out. I couldn’t stop watching. One friend said he almost cried just watching the beginning.
January 29th, 2008 at 7:51 pm
Nice blog, good post.
I was just talking with one of our photogs (small Lee-owned daily in western Oregon) about video. They’ve been instructed to push for a video a day and our video player is high on the page in an attempt to attract folks there.
We’ve done some short things and passed on some others, mostly focusing on quick hits (under 30 seconds) with the intention of telling a story the writing couldn’t do as deeply.
He’s got a background in documentary filmmaking and said good video takes TIME.
The MW videos are great work, things to aim for even in glimpses. I’m not the guy who’s complaining about new media, quite the contrary, but I’m a realist.
Any thoughts on how this becomes part of the process without eating up reporters and photogs already pressed for time?
January 29th, 2008 at 9:06 pm
I think it boils down to investing time and effort in those who are talented and willing to pursue the multimedia side – those within the staff that are pitching ideas, that have the fire in the belly.
Harnessing the positive energy within your newsroom is the only way to get positive change to occur.
It’s there, you just have to find the people that have it and give them a chance to shine.
January 30th, 2008 at 8:26 pm
Yes. Think about why all of us are motivated to do what we do.
I think there’s also something to be said for standing up for first efforts. Sure, our first videos are lame, but if everyone says, “See, I knew that would be lame,” it’s not going to foster more–and better–work.