Interested in Online Journalism?

If you are interested in online journalism as I am, it is important to keep in mind that there are many new skills we must have to succeed in this brave new world.

Every online reporter should have some knowledge about XHTML and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets). This will give us a good foundation for our daily online work, which should come along with basic knowledge of audio recording and photo-shooting and editing.

But most important is still good storytelling.  If we want the audience to pay attention, we have to be able to originally and strongly present a story visually.

Here are a few important techniques given by Ricardo Lopez, a Miami Herald visual journalist:

1.     Make sure you are aware of what you are shooting.  Frame the shot and hold it for 10 to 15 seconds.

2.     Get A Roll (also known as talking head) it normally serves as the narration for your online video. And, of course get the B Roll, it is your action and it must match your A Roll.

3.     Some of the most common transitions are:

a)    Straight Cut – also known as cut.  This shows continuity and is similar to blinking.

b)   Cross-dissolve – also known as dissolve. Indicates a passage of a short period of time.

c)    Fade in/out – also known as fade. Indicates longer passage of time.

4.     Don’t forget to get familiar with the camera before going out to the field. Play with it and understand it before an interview.

5.     Finally, a video work flow consist in the following steps:

·      Think and Plan

·      Shoot

·      Log and Capture

·      Edit 

·      Export and Publish

How video works for story telling

Last night, in our online Journalism class we had the wonderful opportunity to listen to Ricardo Lopez, a Miami Herald visual journalist.  His presentation was extremely helpful and fascinating, especially to those – like me -- interested in media convergence.

Lopez had great tips:

1. Video is an emotional medium, which allows us to show our audience conflict, emotion and motion.

2. In an online visual short report it is very important to let the audience get a full sense of the main character and its story, without interruptions.  As he said, “let the subject drive the bus.”

3. Be always open for changes, but make sure you have a direction! Be constantly aware of what your story is about.

4. Seventy percent of the video is audio.  It is what moves a story forward.

5. Make sure to avoid noises when doing an interview. Questions for video are few, focused and to the point. Get full sentences and make sure to don’t interrupt… let the subject talk. 

That means: shut up and listen, listen, and listen!

What a great concept!