CNN producer and video journalist Jonathan O’Beirne shared his expertise, tips and enthusiasm with MEDPL 283 News Video Reporting students. O’Beirne produces videos for CNN’s Great Big Story and shared one of his stories about a teen born without a jaw that has more than 10 million views. O’Beirne critiqued b-roll students shot around campus and offered some useful tips including:
1. Avoid pans and tilts and instead let the action come through the frame.
2. Overcome your discomfort with being in people’s space and get intimate!
3. Shoot during the “magic hour” which is actually twice a day during dawn and dusk when natural light is golden and soft.
4. When shooting b-roll, set one audio channel to auto and the other to manual. This little insurance policy has saved him many times.
5. And finally, a rule of thumb when shooting anything: get one wide, one medium and at least two tight shots that you hold for at least 10 seconds each.
With a world class faculty and up-to-date production facilities, Hunter College’s Department of Film & Media Studies offers two undergraduate programs of study and an MFA degree in Integrated Media Arts. [more...]