3.2: Don't Forget these Tips

CAPTURE THE PERSON'S SELF- INTRODUCTION

Find a protected spot (away from road noise, wind, dogs, and other noise) with good natural/unnatural light. If possible, find a location that brings some of the character of the location, but don’t include character at the expense of sound quality.

Capture both video and audio of the person introducing him/herself, so the audience can see his/her face while they are introducing themselves. Position the camera on a tripod and focus relatively close in on their face, but so their head is not directly in the center of the shot. The person should face the camera and introduce him or herself either without a written script, or from scripted bullet points written on a large paper pad. Turn on the camera and then count to 5 before the person starts speaking, and count to 5 before turning off the camera after the person stops speaking.

Do a sound check with the person before starting their introduction to make sure the camera is in the right locations, the camera is functioning, and that when the person is speaking normally the audio is captured at the right volume and quality.

CAPTURE AUDIO IN A PROTECTED LOCATION

Once the person introduces him or herself, you don’t need to capture their face on video anymore. Now, you are filming to just capture audio. You will capture the video and still photo segments later when out in the field or laboratory.

Place the camera on a tripod at a range that captures their voice at an appropriate level without distortion. Conduct a sound check before starting.

Capture the person speaking from their script in short segments so the clips can be easily edited and easily recaptured if the person mis-speaks.

Turn on the camera and then count to 5 before the person starts speaking, and count to 5 before turning off the camera after the person stops speaking.

CAPTURE VIDEO

Typically, do not try to capture audio in the field. Capture audio in a protected location and capture video separately. The video and audio will be put together during the editing process. This means that if you are shooting a person doing something, he or she is NOT speaking while demonstrating, but instead ONLY demonstrating, how to do something. If you think that you can capture someone talking while demonstrating, go ahead and do so, but ALSO capture the same demonstration WITHOUT talking and capture the audio relate to that video clip in a protected location so the video and audio can be edited together if the field audio is not of sufficient quality.

Use a tripod whenever possible. If you are capturing something moving, use some sort of prop or stabilize your camera arm with your other hand when shooting.

Set up so the sun is not shining directly on the camera.

Do a run through of the demonstration before the final video capture. This will help you determine how to position the camera and tripod in the best location. If will also help you determine if you should shoot in two clips, for example, so you can capture one segment with the tripod in one location, and then a second clip when the tripod is in a different location.

Capture video in short segments so the clips can be easily edited and easily recaptured if there is a problem while capturing the clip.

Turn on the camera and then count to 5 before the demonstration starts, and count to 5 before turning off the camera after the demonstration stops, to facilitate editing.

CAPTURE OR OBTAIN STILL PHOTOS

Identify in your storyboard and script where you need still photos. As examples, take close up photos of very small things (recently germinated weed seeds, insects, flowers or other plant parts, equipment parts, etc). You can also depict things that occurred in the past or in the future with still photos. For example, if the person says that he is now seeding the field to a vegetable crop and then will harvest it in two months, the farmer can supply you with a future (or past) shot of that vegetable crop at harvest. You can use photos taken by the farmers/others in the past (or the future, after the video shoot) – you do not have to take all the stills. As another example, you can also use photos taken at other locations to show the same thing as it occurs in other places.

CAPTURE BACKGROUND VIDEO

Capture several video clips of the farm landscape and anything mentioned in the script (especially if it was not captured in the main video clips). These clips can be inserted into the video if the main clips are not long enough for the captured audio.