The Neiman Journalism Lab’s Ted Delaney interviewed NBC News digital journalist Mara Schiavocampo recently about her leap into working in multiple media.

Part 1
(Please open the article to see the flash file or player.)
Click On Image To Watch Video - Part 1

Part 2
(Please open the article to see the flash file or player.)
Click On Image To Watch Video - Part 2

Again, the detractors stating that news video journalism needs to be done with a multi-person production crew is debunked.

You can read the complete two part series on the Neiman Journalism Lab’s website

As I progress to become more solid in my shooting process, one area that has eluded my understanding is how to use Zebra stripes - and when to use them.

My HC7’s give me the option to set either 70 or 100 , but it’s confused me as to which one to use for a given situation - and why.

I posted my question on the ever helpful SONY Vegas Forums and requested in layman’s terms which setting to use and why.

Douglas Spotted Eagle, who is well known in the SONY Vegas community and is part of Sundance Media Group offered this very straight forward answer to my question:

Image Courtesy of The Dvshow

Image Courtesy of The Dvshow

If you’re looking at skin, then overexposure is a major concern. IRE set to 70 is a good indicator point, and commonly used. Skin falls nicely between 75/85 IRE. Seeing a tad of zebra on a balanced face isn’t an issue at all. Seeing a lot of 70IRE zebra on a balanced face is a big flag.

100 IRE displays the upper limits of exposure. If you hit 110 IRE with a camera, you’re blown out/irrecoverable, and will have white “splotches” in the video.”

I also followed up with the question around using a white card for determining max value for white and then adjusting accordingly until the Zebras just disappear off the card.  It appears my thoughts around this were correct - you have a base exposure value and all other tonal values fall accordingly below the pure white of the reference white card.  This would be an excellent technique in a controlled lighting situation such as when interviewing someone with a lighting kit.

It’s important to fully understand this fundamental skill for shooting video right the first time by obtaining correct exposure - and why getting a video camera with the necessary features is critically important - more so than being sold a bill of goods on a camera that is more than a solo vj needs for specific kinds of work.

Cameras like the SONY HC7/9, Canon Vixia HV20/30/40, and other cameras that provide this feature can be utilized as an entry point for shooters looking to a career working as a solo video journalist ie; self contained videographer.

My thanks to Douglas Spotted Eagle for providing a straight forward response to my question.

Those who read this blog know that I am a Vegas Pro user and I have my reasons for it that apply specifically to self contained video shooters.  One of the weaknesses of Vegas is editing the native m2t files, which eat up CPU cycles.  My understanding is, editing AVCHD is even worse.  CineForm has released a cost effective solution to address this weak link in the post production process and it’s called NEO Scene

Here’s the official press release regarding NEO Scene:

CineForm®, Inc., creators of high-fidelity compression-based workflow solutions for the post production marketplace today announced it is now shipping Neo Scene™, a new software product for users of AVCHD and HDV camcorders that offers accelerated editing performance and higher visual quality than editing native camera sources. Neo Scene improves a user’s editing experience by converting highly-compressed AVCHD and HDV sources into easy-to-edit and higher quality CineForm AVI files.  CineForm AVI files are compatible with most Windows AVI applications including Adobe® Premiere® Pro and Elements®, plus Sony Vegas and Movie Studio.  During file conversion, Neo Scene can also convert source material into 24p (NTSC) or 25p (PAL) CineForm AVI files for projects that desire a cinematic look.

“HDV and in particular AVCHD camera formats are highly compressed and extremely compute intensive for editing”, explains David Taylor, co-founder and CEO of CineForm.  “By converting into a format that was designed specifically for high-performance editing – such as CineForm AVI files – the workflow experience and quality of the final project can be enhanced significantly.  With Neo Scene we’re now offering consumer-oriented AVCHD and HDV camcorder owners the same extreme visual fidelity and accelerated workflow we’ve offered to professional users for many years”.

More About Neo Scene

Using Neo Scene, the user batch converts all source material into CineForm AVI files.  At the time of conversion the user can choose to (optionally) extract 24p or 25p progressive files when a cinematic look for a project is desired.  After conversion the CineForm AVI files become the new master files used for editing in the remainder of the project.  The source AVCHD or HDV files can be archived or discarded, depending on user preference.

Converted CineForm AVI files are always 10 bits in depth (instead of the usual 8 bits) to offer higher visual fidelity through post production.  Further, Neo Scene will double the lower-resolution chroma (color) format from the AVCHD or HDV source by interpolating chroma from its 4:2:0 format recorded by the camera into a professional 4:2:2 format.  Chroma upsampling improves color fidelity for projects requiring color correction or keying.

Pricing and Availability

Neo Scene is available for purchase from CineForm’s website for $129, or through its network of resellers and distributors.  Neo Scene is also available as a fully-functional Trial download from CineForm’s website: www.cineform.com.  CineForm anticipates releasing a Mac version of Neo Scene in the future.

For $129 - you get a frame based file to edit with, as opposed to editing long GOP files which takes much of the overhead off the CPU at the expense of larger file sizes.

I held off purchasing Cineform’s products due to their relative high cost - from my perspective.  You can visit their site to read in detail the workflow for NEO Scene.

A major advantage of going this route is that Cineform is NLE neutral - you’re not confined to one specific NLE - the product works with SONY Vegas Pro, Adobe Premiere Pro, and can even work with Final Cut Pro and Express on the MAC platform by utilizing the NEO Player which is a free download.

Now I and other SONY Vegas Pro users have a compelling reason to utilize Cineform Intermediates for editing content.

Over at dvcreators, a blog posting has confirmed what I have been saying for the past two years - that the Internet will be the primary venue by which content will be viewed.

As author Josh Mellicker points out in the article:

internet traffic is skyrocketing, propelled by video.

I’ve been chastised by those who say broadcast TV will always rule the viewership window - these statistics are showing a trend that contradicts this assertion by various detractors.  IN addition, specialized content that will create niche audiences will be an additional reason for this trend to continue.  Now the race is on for developing technologies to allow for full streaming of HD content via broadband internet.

Read the rest of the posting over at dvcreators.net to get the full story on viewing trends and more.

On November 20th, 2008, Michael Rosenblum was the guest on C-SPANS Q&A.  I was able to acquire the audio podcast and am redistributing it here - insightful as usual with Michael’s perspective on the profession of shooting video.

Listen to the audio podcast above

With all the hoopla about Final Cut Pro and Avid being the industry standard, I chose to go a radically different route for my post production tools and there’s compelling reasons why - watch this video and you’ll see why I advocate Sony Vegas Pro as the BEST, easiest to learn and most efficient NLE for Solo Video Journalism post production.

(Please open the article to see the flash file or player.)

Click on the image above to watch the video

Dan Chung of The Guardian UK shows what the Canon 5DMkII is capable of producing for video when used by a skilled web video journalist

This is amazing content shot exclusively on the 5DMkII with adapted manual focus lenses - shooting completed in only 2 hours - with the loss of some content due to failure of a CF card (another reason I still don’t ascribe to the tapeless work flow just yet)

(Please open the article to see the flash file or player.)

Click on image to view video in an overlay

Watch what happens when you integrate the web, solo video journalism, and elements of shooting in a cinematography fashion to bring a fresh look to telling compelling stories with video.

(Please open the article to see the flash file or player.)

David Dunkley-Gyimah provides a quick overview and the end results of how to create a two camera - Reverse Angle-Over The Shoulder interview of someone with only one camera.

The Technique Itself:

(Please open the article to see the flash file or player.)

The End Results:

(Please open the article to see the flash file or player.)

It’s apparent to the few who come here that content has been pretty stale for the past couple of months.

With having to pay the bills as a web designer on top of marketing my video work, I’ve not had much time to blog on solo vj’ism.  Having said that, I’ve been left with a nagging question:

Have I bitten off more than I can chew by moving to video when I was a successful and accomplished still photojournalist and commercial editorial shooter?

Lately it has seemed as such.

Having to not only shoot content, but come up with story ideas, move past the creative blocks, try to deal with the technology of editing video content into a cohesive piece, and do it all as a solo vj has had me at a point of wondering whether to just give up.

I did a google search for the phrase “Is Photography dead?” which lead to a website about “Is Photojournalism dead?”and came across a profound quote from Margaret Bourke-White, a photojournalist of great reknown who made the statement that :

“While it is not necessary to return to the photography of 25 years ago, I think students of photography should work for a while with the view camera and do their own lab work”

The case she makes here is critically important in my opinion. A photographer is more likely to be familiar with the whole process, from the split second when the shutter goes ‘click’ to the hours a print hangs to dry after its baths of developer and fix (remember - this was written in 1958).

Now translate this into the 21st century of working as a solo video journalist and one can begin to see the difficulties, and in the process, the skills that develop, when making a concerted effort to do it all in this profession.

Despite the fact that these words were written 50 years ago, they are still applicable to the field of being a one man band video shooter and editor.

The downside of this is that newspapers have looked at implementing video - rather poorly in the majority of instances - as a cost cutting move, trying to squeeze more from less - and there eventually comes a point where quality suffers.  With the threat of pink slips ever present in the minds of staff shooters, the pressure to perform typically results in creative block and vision, resulting in a mediocre final product.  This in turn gives the detractors ammunition to support their case that still shooters should just stick to what they know best.

While the technology has gotten better, the average quality of having to do both stills and video is deteriorating. Giving still photojournalists video cameras is no substitution for specialized video shooters, but the question remains: What can be done?

I think the bottom line here is that as hard as many try, few will succeed in both mediums when covering an assignment.  One will be forced to choose one or the other.  There is an over abundance of talented still shooters in the market - but the demand and compensation for their skills has diminished.  The profession of solo video journalism is still very much in its infancy - but those who choose to put down their still cameras and pick up a video camera may very well have the edge over trained TV shooters - for the seeing vision of a still shooter brings a wealth of perspective that can translate to video in a way TV shooters are not skilled in.

Only time will tell if this is truly the case or not.