Todd Maisel of the New York Daily News made an impassioned presentation regarding the rights of the photojournalist on location, especially with regards to the relationship with police, post 9/11. He related many harrowing stories about his time on the streets of New York City. He had his press pass revoked for failing to stay in "the press pen" at the scene of the recent fatal small plane crash on the upper east side of Manhattan. He explained how he found what he thought was a legitimate way into the scene that was nowhere near the side blocked by the police. His talk covered both how to work with the local officials and reflected a great deal of respect for the police officers who work under difficult circumstances, yet understand the important role photojournalists play in a democratic society.
The theme repeated in several presentations was the increasingly important role that news organizations place on "added value" coverage. That means that most publications have leaped into multi-media either as slide show, feature stories with audio support or full out video coverage. Presentations related to multi-media were well attended and generated lively Q&A sessions. Denise Henhoeffer of the Camden Courier-Post and Tom Costello of the Asbury Park Press, both N.J. Gannett newspapers, related their transformation to high tech video shooters. They showed examples of their feature on-line video productions ranging from two to four minutes in length. Tom showed one spot news piece he did of a local murder in a quiet neighborhood. He was on scene well before the TV crews that came, shot and left. Both photojournalists have extensive histories as still shooters and attended a 4 day Gannett workshop on equipment, technique, audio and editing on an Avid system. Tom has assembled his own hi-end video kit through purchases on eBay. Although both Denise and Tom shoot stills they do not act as the “one-man-band" that many publishers want - shooting stills and video at the same time. They insist on a separate shooter if stills are needed. The importance of high quality audio was stressed. Tom uses a short shot-gun mic and one or two wireless lapel mics as needed. Emphasis was put on the need for recording location ambient sound, and the critical role of headphones in isolating what the camera is actually recording. The discussion ended with a warning about the huge amount of editing time needed to put together a tight 2 minute video package and prepare the files for the web.
An engaging and fast paced talk was given by Jon Sweeny of MSNBC. He presented many slide/audio presentations and spoke of the benefits of Soundslide.com software. He had many tips for interview techniques and also emphasized the importance of high quality microphones and headphones to assure the best soundtrack. He said that MSNBC buys story ideas, slide and audio raw material and occasionally a completed package although it has to be reprogrammed in their proprietary web presentation software. On the subject of salary he made it clear that the multi-media shooters are compensated at a higher rate than standard photographers.
In the audience was recent UCLA graduate Rachel Been, currently a Washington D.C. based photo editor for the Latino section of AOL. In a separate interview she related that all of the media companies are hungry for new staff members with in-depth knowledge of photography, computer software and video skills. She said that in her recent interview experience anyone without audio and video skills is not going to get a second look by the media outlets.
A major presentation by Colin Mulvany of the Spokesman Review had to be rescheduled when his Mac laptop crashed. An hour later he was in front of a packed house describing how to get started in multi-media packaging for your publication's web site. He attended an intense Platypus Workshop and basically found a new career with a new level of personal excitement. As with the other presenters he appeared energized by his new immersion in multi-media. Set the bar for quality really high for each production to keep the audience coming back to the web site. After all, their benchmark is big budget Hollywood television shows. Colin explained the difference in approach between TV news and a web based multi-media production for a print based newspaper. In TV he asserted, the information is contained in what the stand-up presenter says, in multi-media the pictures have to tell the story with the audio providing both sound reinforcement and interviews with the people on the scene. The difficult thing for shooters to learn is to find and shoot "transitional" shots that can be used to aid the flow of images so that there is a rhythm to the production. He ended with a bang, showing his story called "Boomershoot" about a competitive event shooting high powered rifles long distances at explosive targets.
Jon Spielberg
Look for new workshop postings soon for fall 2007 and spring 2008