Page 129 - Convergent Journalism an Introduction Writing and Producing Across Media

Audio: A Sound Foundation

then immediately look beyond your finger to something far away from
you. Your eye changes focus from your finger to the far subject in an
instant. It is a cut, not a rack focus, and thus it is best for you to rely
on cuts as much as possible.
You also want to avoid using camera moves when shooting for the
Web. Video is compressed for the Web to transfer at a lower band-
width. The more a scene or shot changes, the more computer memory
is used to process the scene using a compression formula and, hence,
the slower the images will play for the audience.
Shooting by sequences also gives you more control over the pacing
and timing of your story. You may shoot a subject performing a task
that takes 30 seconds to complete in real time. With a good sequence,
you might be able to compress the time into 10 seconds or even expand
the time to make it last 45 seconds. Editing depends on the tone you
are trying to create. You probably would not want a fast-paced quickly
edited sequence for a funeral scene. Using sequences to tell a story
gives you the flexibility to match the pacing to your story. Television
news is constrained by time, so you often only have 75 to 90 seconds
to tell your story. Sequences allow you to compress time and get to 119
the detail of the story without changing the event. Sequences help
maintain journalist credibility.
Editing in the camera also will help when you are producing your
package. Think about the shot you are taking, the previous shot, and
the next shot you need. Shoot for the edit. This will save time and be
greatly appreciated if another person is editing your story.

Audio: A Sound Foundation

Photographers need to record sound as well as images. Most profes-
sional cameras allow you to capture at least two channels of audio.
Digital video cameras often give the user several choices of audio qual-
ity. The higher the bit rate, the better the quality. Some camcorders
offer four channels of audio, but the price you pay is that you get lower
quality sound and a reduced bit rate. Audio is often more important
than the video, so you should aim for the highest possible quality in
your audio.
All of the video you shoot and use should include natural sound.
The natural or wild sound is what you hear at a scene. It may only be
the wind blowing or the leaves rustling, but it adds another dimension