Shooting tips from a News Cameraman

[Andrew Smith]

This is from the long defunct Image Junkies website, originally published back in 2012 (see here and here). Too good to lose!

Andrew

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Intro: I recently exchanged emails with a top News Cameraman from Ireland called Colm Hand who very kindly sent me a list of hints and tips for News Cameramen that he has picked up over the years. This is the second of two posts and covers a fascinating variety of subjects relevant to our profession.


People

Always fuss over people. Even if someone’s tie is straight let them know you’ve checked it or if someone’s necklace is crooked let them know so they can fix it. People will always appreciate it if you go the extra mile to make them look good.

If you’re doing a sensitive story, for example something about a bereaved family, try and get the set up’s shots done before you do the interview. Occasionally after someone does a very emotional interview they might break down and decide they don’t want to do anymore filming which is understandable but if you don’t have the set up shots in the can it may be very hard to construct your package.

If you need to shoot an anonymous interview don’t just shoot the Reporter listening, you could go to a park and shoot a low angle shot looking up with the sun in the middle so the reporter and the interviewee are in silhouette for example. The park would give you loads of potential options for set up shots and cutaways, shooting through the flowers with the flowers in focus and interviewee and the reporter totally out of focus for example (One of my favourite techniques – ED).

If you are shooting a silhouette interview with a victim and they are concerned about been identified shoot 10 seconds of the shot and play it back for them in the viewfinder or on a monitor. It helps put them at ease.

Try and be nice to people, I have always found you get much more out of people when your in good form and have the craic with them. It costs nothing to be nice.


Lives

Make sure you have enough battery power to get you through the live, especially in winter if it’s cold and you’re using your top light.

If you are doing a static live with a reporter always make sure to use a mic stand or lapel mic. It can be very difficult if you have to hold a mic in one hand while flicking through your notes with your other hand.

Avoid radio mic’s during lives if you can.

Don’t shoot with the iris wide open, the shot might look lovely with the nice depth of field but if the sun goes in during you live you’re going to be in trouble.

If it looks like is going to rain make sure you have an umbrella for the reporter and one for yourself. Make sure to use the umbrella right over the lens if its raining, if the live goes on for a few minutes and you have a wet lens its going to look very poor.

Compromise on backgrounds, if you’re waiting outside a particular building to do a live and there’s a gang of youths waiting for you to go on air so they can jump up and down in the background then it’s time to adjust your location slightly if you can. Warn the gallery if there looks like there is going to be trouble so they can make a call on it and during the live always be ready to tighten the shot to a close up if necessary to avoid distractions in the background.

If you’re doing a live where the reporter interviews a guest it’s probably best to shoot it handheld, it’s much easier to correct the shot if the reporter misses their mark when they turn to the guest.


Sound

Always wear your headphones, if you come back with no sound you may as well come back with no pictures.

It’s worth having a decent mic on your camera, I have a Sennhiser 416 and a Rycote wind jammer with a short XRL attached and its got me out of jail many times, it you’re in a scrum and your radio mic goes down or you’re chasing someone down the street they might say something the reporter could potentially use as a full sound.

If you use a foam windshield for your stick mic with your organisations name on it then keep it wrapped in a plastic bag in your backpack, it keeps it clean and it will last much longer.

If you are using a lapel mic for an interview or PTC and the person is on the right hand side of the frame the clip mic should be on the left of their jacket if you’re looking at them so if they gesture to the building or whatever is behind them the don’t go off mic.

Always take the little windshield off the lapel radio mic if you’re not using it, they very easily fall off and are expensive to replace (and let’s face it Reporters always lose them – ED)

Keep a small bit if Blu-tack on the back of your camera so if you ever need to stick your lapel mic to a speaker or to another mic in a hurry.

Put Blu-tack in the Channel 2 audio selection switch so it can’t move off Front to WRR or Line for example. Having natural sound is vitally important and the camera mic can easily get flicked off by mistake.


Tripod

Always put the bottom legs up first, it’s much easier to make the camera higher when it’s already on the tripod if you do the bottom legs first.

Balance the camera properly by setting the tilt friction set to zero, once it’s balanced properly chose which ever fiction tension you like, it makes filming a lot easier.

If you have one of the legs of the tripod under your lens and the camera accidentally tilts forward the leg will stop the camera and tripod from toppling over.

If you’re shooting on rough ground use the spreaders.

Don’t let a reporter carry the tripod buy the pan arm, obviously it wrecks the teeth.

[Andrew Smith]

The Lens

While Shooting news it’s a good idea to have a clear UV filter on your lens, accidents happen and cameras get knocked, its a lot cheaper to replace a €100 filter than a €15k lens.

Any time you use the Macro make sure to knock if off when you’re finished, if you forget you could be left with soft pictures.

If you’re taking a low angle shot on the ground you could use your wallet to prop up the camera, it helps to adjust the angle slightly. Obviously remember to pick it up where you’re finished.

Shooting your interviews and PTC’s with lots of depth of field can look very good, shoot them on the long lens with the iris nearly wide open. It will make a big difference.

If you go to the pound shop and pick up a cheap photo frame you can use the glass from it for loads of cools shots, for example you could put the glass over the lens and get someone to spray-paint it black.


Random thoughts on Cameras and Filming

Make up little “If found please contact” stickers with your name and number on them and put them on all your equipment. At least if someone finds something belonging to you you’ll have half a chance of getting it back.

If you’re shooting a football match on one camera or long press conference set the time code to time of day that’s synchronised with your reporters watch so they can identify the bits they want as they happen and save you digitising hours of footage during the edit.

If you’re filming Rugby training or Football training find out who the injury worry is, if it’s Roy Keane and he has a dodgy knee get a shot tilting up from his knee to his head, very simple.

Two is one and one is none, always carry spares if you can.

Always eat when you can, you probably won’t get regular meal breaks in this job so you’re better off eating as often as you can.

Avoid distractions, anything that distracts the viewer in the wrong way is bad, for example if you shoot an interview and someone’s jumping up and down in the background you should pause the interview if you can and do something to rectify it, for example move location slightly.

If something goes wrong, like interference on the mic for example the worst thing you could do is keep going, stop and fix it.

In my camera bag I carry a Top Light, Stick mic and Plastic Bag, Lapel mic, Boom mic, XLR Cable, Desk mic Stand, Spare Disks (recording media), 4 X Spare AA Batteries, 5 pin XLR Splitter Cable, XLR Radio mic Cable, a small bit of Spun (for diffusing light), a Lens Cloth, Insulating Tape and a selection of Windshields for my Lapel Radio mic.

When shooting news some people say too much footage is a bad as too little, if a reporter or editor is under time pressure to cut and they have loads of footage it can have a negative effect on the package, so don’t overshoot. (Agreed, It’s really hard to find the best shots if you have overshot – Ed.)

Never take a disk out of the camera without putting another one in. (I believe it should be a sackable offence to leave a camera with no tape/media inside – Ed)

If your out on a job and there’s another more experienced cameraman there filming ask your self why is he standing where he’s standing? Why is he shooting off the shoulder while you’re on a tripod? A good way to learn is by watching professionals who have been doing it for a long time.

Next time you’re in a hotel take the free shower cap’s, they make a great cover for your matte box or lens, useful if its raining or you’re in a dusty location like the beach.

If your shooting on tape make sure you have a head cleaning tame in your camera bag.

Watch the news and not just your own stations, it will give you ideas on how other people do things and you might get ideas for shots and locations you can adapt and use yourself.

A nice effect when shooting certain stories can be setting your camera to auto iris and flicking the X2 range extender half way in and out. Good if you you’re looking for unusual crowd shots or shooting a dress in a fashion piece.

Never just shoot out of focus pictures, its lazy, if you want shots where nobody is identifiable have something in focus, like a bit of wall or a bit of tree etc.

The assignable buttons are very handy, you could set one to -3db’s or -6db of gain, to the cash, to the digital extender, a common use for the assignable button on the handle of the camera is an extra record button, this can be useful if your running with the camera down low trying to get a shot of something.

In cold weather I wear really thin gloves, they cover your whole hands and allow you to operate the camera without any restrictions.

Avoid interviewing people sitting in swivel chairs, if they start swaying during the interview it will be distracting.


The Camera Car

Some useful stuff to keep in the car – GPS, Map’s, Cigarette Phone Charger, Spare Phone charger for the reporter, Notepads, Pens, Inverter for charging laptop’s and battery’s and loads and loads of change for parking.

Another very handy thing I have is a laminated sign with my organisations logo on it saying “NEWS FILM CREW” on it along with my telephone number on it. It can be useful if you have to double park somewhere.

In the glove box its handy to have hair bobbins, hair clip and hair spray, it’s defiantly not stuff you would use every day but very useful to have for your female colleagues and interviewees.

If you drive an estate car it might be worth considering getting a cage fitted so if you are involved in a crash all the gear will be contained in the boot and you won’t get hit in the back of the head with a battery.

In the boot of the car I have a bike lock and if I’m going to have to leave my car somewhere dodgy I just lock the handle of the camera to the cage. It wont stop thieves if they are determined to get your camera but if will make it that bit more difficult for them.

If you want to stock up on change for parking the next time you go into a multi story car park and your bill comes to €3.00 for example if you pay with a €20 note a lot of machines will give you all your change in coins which is very handy.

Umbrellas are a must, if your reporter is doing a live and its lashing down with rain make sure you have a branded umbrella for them and a separate umbrella for yourself.

It’s useful to have a change of clothes and a toiletries bag in the boot of the car in case you have to overnight somewhere unexpectedly.

Petrol – as a rule of thumb I always fill up when the gauge hits ¼ for the simple reason that if I get called to a braking story I know if I hop in the car I’ll have enough fuel to go at least 200k minimum without worrying about trying to find a petrol station.

If you are using you car for work, investigate if you need additional insurance. If you crash while working you may not be covered otherwise.

When you’re putting you camera in the boot of the car always leave it set up in a certain way so if you come across a scene of an accident or a fire etc. you’re ready to start filming immediately. I know if I take it out my camera, it will have a disk in it, a fresh battery, I’ll be on filter 2, WB 6.3k preset, the camera mic will be in track 2 and my radio mic will be on track 1.


Smart Phone

There are loads of benefits of having a smart phone, if you arrive at a breaking story and you know you won’t have time to set up the laptop and FTP in shots you could shoot 20 seconds of footage and e-mail it in off your phone, while its sending in your pocket you can start taking shots on your proper camera, the quality might not be amazing but its better they have something than nothing.

If your outside a court or a tribunal waiting for someone to arrive you could try and Google them to see if you can find a photo of them, it’s a lot easier to get a shot of someone when you know what they look like.

Other useful features for a news cameraman are all the news ap’s, GPS and just the handiness of been able to look up address and postcodes etc.


Lighting

I use 2 camera lights, an Anton Bauer Ultralight 2 and an Anton Bauer Ultra Day light. On the Ultralight 2 I have two filters, a Dichroic which balance to around 4.3K and a clear glass filter that reduces the output of the light by around 50%, they are both on hinges so you can flick between them in seconds.

On the Anton Bauer Ultra Day Light I installed 2 heavy duty paper clips using the existing screws, all I needed was two small washers to attach them. You can use the clips to hold gel’s and spun in place, been able to reduce the intensity of the light is a must.

I also use an Anton Bauer dimmer which can be very useful, it pushes the top light a about 4 inches forward which eliminates shadows from the camera mic when shooting with a wide angle lens. The dimmers cool too, you just twiddle the knob to increase or decrease the output of the light (FYI the dimmer wont work with the Ultra Day Light)

I use the Anton Baure Satellite unit to put my top lights on a stand, this comes in handy if you want to do a PTC or interview on the long lens.

If you put a really small silver sticker in the centre of your top light it helps reduce hot spots.

Next time you’re in a stationary shop pick up some very light blue card, this can be used as very cheep warm card. Instead of white balancing off a white card the light blue card will give you a slightly higher white balance making your pictures that bit warmer which can be a nice effect.

It’s better to be orange than blue, if you can’t decide between two different white balances in a hurry chose the higher one

You’re in a hurry to do an interview indoors and your top light wont work, it could be the bulb but the first thing id do is hit record to see if it the top light comes on. There is an auto switch on the camera or battery plate on a lot of professional cameras, this means the light won’t turn on until you’re in record mode, it can get knocked on or off by mistake very easily so it’s worth knowing where it is.

If you’re doing standard news pieces I wouldn’t be too concerned about lighting stuff flat. Personally I don’t like watching the news and seeing someone’s face half sun half shade or someone squinting so bad they can barely keep there eyes open. If you’re a one man band and you don’t have someone to hold a reflector for you two quick suggestions may be – If it’s really sunny and your interviewee is blinded try and bring them into the shade, make sure the background is also in the shade. If you’re in the shade and the background is in the sun obviously the background is going to be very burnt out which in not a good look or put the sun behind the interviewee and shoot on the long lens, be careful of flare on the lens, you might need to cover the top of the lens with your hand. This can look good if it’s done right.


The Edit

If you have to edit in the car on a hot sunny day do yourself a favour and park in the shade. It’s much easier to see the laptop screen and you won’t get as hot.

A lip ribbon mic and a USB to XLR pre amp is a god send if you are trying to edit in a press centre or anywhere else noisy for that matter.

Buy a lock for you laptop so if you’re editing in a media centre you can chain it to the desk, handy if you need to go to the loo.

Remember to turn off your camera once your rushes have been digitised, you don’t what to have a dead battery if you need to get the package back onto tape after the edit. (Note: on some new cameras the on/off switch is overridden while the firewire cable is plugged in)

Always have the Audio output cable for your camera with you, if you’re feeding your package from a foreign tv station or from someone else’s satellite truck don’t expect them to have a deck for your camera format. You can use your camera to play out using a bog standard BNC cable but if your camera isn’t a 3 pin XLR audio out make sure you have the relevant splitter with you.

If you’re using a mobile dongle to send your package and you’re in the country with poor signal driving around looking for somewhere suitable to send from you can keep an eye on your mobile phone signal, it’s much quicker and safer than driving around with the laptop on your lap.

It’s worth having a few extra cables in your laptop case, a 4 pin firewire cable, a 6 pin firewire cable, a cheap analogue box so you can connect phono and BNC leads up to your laptop and a multi media card reader, this will mean you have most of the bases covered if your stuck for a shot from another cameraman or if you want to take armature footage from a member of the public etc.

It’s better for an edit to be a bit rough and make air than to be a work or art and never see the light of day. (Amen Brother – Ed.)

If you’re starting out as a cameraman its worth asking whoever edited the package if there was anything you could have done differently to make it easier to cut.

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[Allan Black]

Brilliant Andrew, a lot of this is common sense but to a new aspiring cameraman it’s gold.

I’ve passed it on to contacts in the ABC here.
Cheers.