Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc. Chapter Sixteen Visual and Multimedia Storytelling 507 Get the Details Get the Details Remember how to begin your interviews? Always ask this question: “What is your name, and how do you spell it?” It may seem simple or obvious, but getting the correct spelling and pronunciation on tape will reduce the potential for errors and ensure that you know how to pronounce your sources’ names. Leave Handles Leave Handles As you edit you will need to cut and merge video and audio clips, transition between them and sometimes fade into or out of clips. To do that without cutting into your recorded audio, record a few seconds before and after the action. Hit record and slowly (and silently) count to three before asking your fi rst question or capturing the action. This will give you or your editor room to edit without compromising the recording’s quality. Wait and Hold Wait and Hold Each clip you collect should be at least 10 seconds. That is 10 real seconds, a long time if you are more familiar with still photography. Count silently “one Mississippi, two Mississippi, three Mississippi …” Frame the action in the most ideal composition, and hold the shot without moving the camera for 10 seconds. If you want three shots—for example, a wide, medium and tight shot of the same action—set each of the three shots and hold each for at least for 10 seconds or through the complete action. And remember, while you are waiting, stay silent so that you can cleanly capture the natural sound of the shot. Anticipate Action Anticipate Action Skillful video journalists anticipate action and they prepare for it. Multimedia journalist Colin Mulvany writes on his blog, “When I’m shooting, I’m always running scenarios through my mind. I’m asking myself: Where’s the action headed? Where do I need to position myself to be in the right spot? What shots do I need to get me from point A to point B?” If you are recording a student cooking competition, you anticipate that students will be bringing plates of food to the judges, so you move behind the judges, using their backs or shoulders to frame a shot of the student chefs approaching their table with colorful plates of food. Action, then Reaction Action, then Reaction In Aim for the Heart, Al Tompkins reminds journalists to “shoot what will go away fi rst.” If there is a fl ash mob in the middle of the cafeteria, make sure you capture it fi rst because it will end fi rst. If you miss it, the opportunity is lost. Once you have several great shots, turn around and look for the reaction shot that shows what the others in the cafeteria say and do while the fl ash mob appears. You will probably record students laughing and pointing, dancing or standing open-mouthed in surprise. Without their reaction, you have an incomplete picture of the event. Reaction shots are not limited to crowd shots. In sports, player reactions after a big play, a devastating loss or an upset victory may tell the story