How do you know when you've "got enough"?
From
the files of PhotogsLounge.net
"Is
is when your end-of-tape warning light starts to blink?
Or when the shot framed in the viewfinder looks like a duplicate of
the shot you made 20 minutes ago?
Just exactly
when do you know that you've got "enough"?
Enough
video that is, to cover all the needs of the news package you have shot.
That
answer varies for all of us depending on so many factors.
Whether you've finally arrived at the point where you want to go upside
the reporters' head being only one reason.
Another might be the actual time remaining before the boys on the corner
have had enough of the "TV faggots" setting up shop on their turf, and
turn their attention to the many ways they have of coaxing us back into
our van.
For your perusal, here are answers to that question from photogs around
the globe.
Glenn Garcia
"I look at stories as having a beginning, middle and end. The beginning
is usually the easiest to find, something with nat sound that immediately
pulls you into the piece. The middle comes from simply following the
story along its natural course, i.e. from say a press conference at
police headquarters to the scene of a murder.
The end is the toughest, you're looking for a visual cue that signals
the end of the story. In this case, it could be sound with the victim's
best friend, telling the viewer what a great guy the deceased was, over
video of the scene, or a photo of the victim. Once you have the beginning,
middle and end, you're ready to cut."
Dean
Cummings
"It all comes down to communication. If you have discussed the story
with the reporter you are working with prior to the shoot, and most
of all during the shoot, you can get a handle on what is enough. Always
looking for the open and close....if you don't have those, you don't
have enough. Get them before you leave....without a doubt. But communication,
is key.
As an Assignment Manager, I get very frustrated when a crew needs to
shoot a "stand-up", days after shooting a package. Why not shoot it
while your shooting the rest of the story.
In the long run, more time is lost going back or "just need to shoot
a stand-up" than if you spent the extra time, talking and thinking out
in the field. Get what you need when you shoot. A sign of poor teamwork,
is when you must return to a scene to get additional footage or that
awful stand-up, that could have been shot anywhere at anytime. (you
know the stand-ups I'm talking about.)
It may seem like its the reporters responsiblity but its both partners
of your team that are. Talk, create and work together."
Larry Warner
"Of course it relates entirely to whom you are shooting for and how
they handle the content of your pictures. A few of the big questions
I always ask is what and how will this be used, and when edited down,
how long will it be... Then with that knowledge in hand, shoot three
times as much as you think they will need to cut it down to the time
allotted, without sacrificing the visual storytelling.
I'm not spraying the story, I'm still doing my best to shoot whatever
is relevant to telling the story. But there are times when there is
not much there to begin with, and the best thing to do is stop wasting
cheap tape but expensive heads and move on."
Mark Simon
"The simple answer is you can not get too much. This does not function
well however in breaking and negative time stories. You can't very well
dilly dally if the story has to be on the air five minutes ago. I have
found in both situations the key is shot sequencing and keeping the
angles moving. You do your standard wide, medium, tight and then pick
a new spot. It does not help you edit if you have 30 minutes of tape
from the same corner. Stories are big things you have to surround them
to capture them.
If you are a true newsjunkie like myself you channel surf at 6 & 11
with dizzying precision. Nothing is more horrific to me than seeing
a story shot from the same standard angles and cut out in an almost
identical manner. Take all those standard gotta haves and then find
what the other guy does not see.
Use your eyes, your reporters eyes, and most of all that big heavy lense
on your shoulder. Jump, climb, bend down, just don't be another guy
who plants himself like a weed. On longer feature pieces there is almost
no such thing as enough.
The key is still variety. Make sure you tell your story. If you communicate
with the reporter/producer and stay on the same page you can almost
never go wrong. You often have to lead them along because often they
get distracted by the pretty lights and shiny objects but stay focused.
One of the most important thing is the post game analysis. Make sure
after you are back you look through everything and find what you have
and realize what you may not. Second chances are as rare as spontaneous
pay raises."
Chris Wilkinson
"Every story is different, so every answer is different. Sometimes I
never think I have enough, other times I'm in...out...done. What I try
to do is talk over the story with the reporter and put it together in
my head, then shoot what I think I need, a few safety shots and away
we go. Often, I'll get the surprise shot that was unplanned but makes
the story, you can't count on these, so I consider them a bonus. The
way I see it, your done when your done. (Or when the desk pages you
to your next assignment)"
David Renner
"I sorta learned in an ass-backwards kind of way. When I was just starting
out I tried to sequence everything, and shot everything that moved,
I wasn't going to miss ANYTHING. Funny though, it always seemed that
I always had all this great stuff that never seemed to make air, and
editing was a bit of a chore because I was shuttling and winding A LOT
of tape. So, over the course of time I tried to eliminate the "extra
stuff."
This didn't mean I wouldn't shift gears and not pursue something if
I thought it was RELEVANT TO THE STORY, but economy can be a virtue.
If you only need about 5 shots, you don't need to shoot 50. As for the
rest of the equation, get the basics, and pretty soon yo'll "know."
Kolin Lawler
"I used to be really obnoxious
about "having enough". "Just one more shot" was my motto. Even after
having filled three thirty minute field tapes for a minute twenty piece.
After realizing I was killing myself in the editing suite I began to
look for ways to economize. I try now to think of my story in more of
a linear sense. I look for an opening sequence to grab the audience
and pull them in then I always look for a closing shot ( usually some
type of negetive action). Every thing I shoot in between is to get me
from point A to point B. As long as I know where I'm going, it makes
shooting the story easier."
Peter Cowles
"I have learned over
the few years i have been in news to determine "enough" by the reporter
you are working with...for example...we have one reporter who is always
in 'feature' mode...so i shoot a ton of b-roll....it is the mind set
i go into working with her... ....on the other hand...we have a sports
reporter who likes to tell the stories with sound bites...so i shoot
much less b-roll...but i use assorted angles instead... when i am by
myself the rule of thumb is always have enough for at least 45 seconds
of VO and different shots for headlines and bumps. I think i hit it
all."
Walter Colby
"You never know so don't
trouble your self thinking bout it :) Luckily, I edit my own video,
so I see it going together. You can always shoot more than you will
ever use, & hope for that "Touchdown" picture. But you can't use more
than you shoot. You now the rule, If you shoot a package they will bust
it to a vo, if you shoot a vo they will ask if you got enough for a
package."
Rick Portier
"Interesting
question. I'm not sure I ever thought about it. I remember when I first
started 10 years ago, I worried about it constantly. eventually, The
photogs in my first station began having contests to see who could shoot
the tightest -- who had the fewest wasted shots. Today, when I get stories
with limited video or stories with more video than I can use in a 10-part
series, I go by the general rule; when I get tired looking at it, I've
got enough."
Bruce Johnson
"This is a totally
two-headed beast, and it depends 100% on who will be doing the editing.
If I will be cutting the piece (and I have that luxury usually,) I have
a mental cut done way before we get back in the truck (and please don't
think that I think I'm special; I know we all do this.) Depending on
the story, there might be a very limited amount of B-roll you could
get anyway. If I know someone else will be editing, I shoot twice as
many cutaways."
Terry LeCroix
"How do I know when I've got enough? When I get bored."
Merry Murray
"When you think
you've got enough...always get more. It's better to have too much video
than not enough!"
Peter Kavanagh
"At the previous
station, due to tape shortages, you had to shoot tight. the journalists
knew that and on a good day one could shoot two stories including interviews,
vision and standups on one 30 min tape. Of course these were not action
news stories, more like country issue stories. The only way you could
shoot tightly was to communicate with the journalist so you knew what
they needed. In the city i am constantly over shooting. we are told
to shoot enough vision for a voice over so that it can be turned into
a short package. i now know enough is enough after three tapes worth
of award winning material and the producer calls you to say it has been
dropped!!!"
Jay Murdock
"Actually, I still
have problems with this. If the reporter and I discuss the story before
hand, I know what shots I'll need, and keep a list in my head. When
I've checked off all the shots, I'll get a few closeup/cutaways, some
generic shots, and I'm done. However, some reporters seem to leave the
station with a "Let's see what we find" mentality. This isn't bad in
of itself, but it means that I can shoot ten minutes on one person or
angle, only to find the reporter's not going to use it. That ususally
ends up being a three-tape kinda story."
Collin Mckenzie
"For myself personally its simple, for a vosot maybe 6 solid shots.
Pkg 10 minutes tape time including interviews. Sounds simple but its
been ten years since i started and after awhile you just know. The above
are the rules I generally follow and it works for me, of course there
are exceptions for example: spot news, shoot everything and sort out
the details when you get back to the shop, that is our shooters policy
at our station.
If you miss the shot at a spot news event you will never ever get a
shot at it again, try explain that to the news director. I have seen
green shooters use up two or three tapes for a short pkg and thats fine,
because thats how you learn by shooting your butt off and c everytime
and can then start deciding when enough is enough."
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