US Army Journalist - Electronic Journalism II 1990

8/12/2019 US Army Journalist - Electronic Journalism II 1990

1/98

SUBCOURSE EDITION

DI0351 A

ELECTRONIC JOURNALISM II


2/98

ELECTRONIC JOURNALISM II

Subcourse Number DI 0351

EDITION A

Army Public Affairs CenterFort George G. Meade, Maryland

10 Credit hours

Edition Date !e"tember 1##0

!$%C&$'!E &(E'()E*

*e designed this subcourse to "ro+ide you ith an entry-le+elunderstanding of the o"eration of Electronic es Gathering /EG andElectronic Field Production /EFP eui"ment2 the selection and set u" ofmicro"hones2 the "re"aration and "erformance of 3( nes inserts2 +ideota"eediting2 and the res"onsibilities and functions of an EG 3eam Chief.

3his subcourse is "resented in fi+e lessons. 4ou must ha+e a basic5noledge of military broadcasting "rior to ta5ing this subcourse. 3hereare no "rereuisites to this subcourse. 6oe+er, it is suggested youcom"lete !ubcourse D)0780, Electronic 9ournalism ), before ta5ing thissubcourse.

3his subcourse reflects the doctrine current at the time the subcourse as"re"ared. )n your on or5 situation, alays refer to the latest official"ublications.

$nless otherise stated, the masculine gender of singular "ronouns is usedto refer to both men and omen.

3E'M)A: :EA')G &%9EC3)(E

AC3)& 4ou ill learn about the o"eration of EG;EFP eui"ment2 theselection and set u" of micro"hones2 the "re"aration and"erformance of 3( nes inserts2 ho to edit +ideota"e2 and hoto "erform as an EG 3eam Chief.

C&D)3)& 4ou are gi+en the material "resented in this lesson.

!3ADA'D 3o demonstrate com"etency of this tas5, you must achie+e aminimum of


3/98

3A%:E &F C&3E3!

Page

!ubcourse &+er+ie ......................................................i

:esson 1 &"erate EG Eui"ment .........................................1

Practice E=ercise .......................................... 1ey and Feedbac5 .................................... 1?

:esson @ !elect and !et $" Micro"hones ...............................1#

Practice E=ercise .......................................... 77

Anser >ey and Feedbac5 .................................... 7

:esson 7 Pre"are;Perform 3( es )nserts .............................78

Practice E=ercise .......................................... ey and Feedbac5 ....................................


4/98

LESSON ONE

OPERATE ENG EQUIPMENT

B' !oldiers Manual 3as5 @1-1


5/98

OPERATE ENG EQUIPMENT

INTRODUCTION

3he age of the high-uality, "ortable mini-camera is here and here to stay/!ee :esson &ne, !ubcourse D)0780. 3he ad+ent of small-format +ideosystems truly re+olutionied the tele+ision industry, "articularly Armybroadcasting. *here once e could only use a film camera, the Electronic

es Gathering;Electronic Field Production camera has effecti+ely re"lacedthis older system ith cost-effecti+e, "ortable nes gathering eui"ment.ot only is it "ortable, it can e+en allo the broadcaster to "lay bac5the recording on the s"ot. *ith the older film format, the "rocess asnot only time-consuming to de+elo" and see the film, but also e="ensi+e bycom"arison.

*here :esson &ne of !ubcourse D)0780 discussed eui"ment common in todaysEG;EFP systems, this lesson ill deal ith the o"eration of thateui"ment. *ith ad+ancements in technology so ra"id they often ma5e neeui"ment obsolete e+en before it hits the mar5et, it is difficult to 5ee"reference and learning materials u" to date. 3herefore, this lesson ill

concentrate on the ty"e of eui"ment issued to $nited !tates Army 'eser+eCom"onent, since that eui"ment is standard for more than B0 "ublicaffairs units.

!ince the basic o"eration of eui"ment differs little beteen EG and EFP,this lesson ill address EG ith notations here+er there ould be asignificant difference for EFP. 3he "rimary difference beteen EG andEFP is e+ident in the terminology. EG is the co+erage of uncontrollede+ents such as training accidents and fires. 3he "ictures and story aregathered on the scene, as the e+ents ha""en. EFP uses the same eui"ment,but under controlled circumstances. A story or scri"t is usually rittenin ad+ance. 3he e+ent is carefully "lanned and e=ecuted until the final

"roduct is finished ith "redetermined results. 3he "roduction oftele+ision s"ots, s"orting e+ents and "lanned e+ents that ta5e "laceoutside the tele+ision studio are e=am"les of Electronic Field Productions.

THE CAMERA

For anything to be seen by anyone on a tele+ision screen, it had to be"re+ieed by a tele+ision camera before the introduction of digitalelectronics, 3he images that a""eared ere determined by hat a cameracould see and ho it could see them. 3herefore, the most ob+ious"roduction element in tele+ision as alays the camera. All otherelements and techniues ere geared to the "hysical and electronic

D)0781 @


6/98

characteristics of the camera. :ighting, scenery, audio, riting, anddirecting all de"ended on the "otential of the camera.

*here once they ere large and bul5y, cameras ha+e e+ol+ed to smaller,lighter, more easily handled "ieces of eui"ment. Portability, along iththe ad+ent of +ideota"e, e+en alloed the tele+ision camera to re"lace thefilm camera in the gathering of nes. )n EG;EFP here actual e+ents arethe to"ic, e are concerned mostly ith "ortable cameras.

)t is the intent and design of these "ortable cameras to be uic5ly andeasily adustable to e=treme "roduction situations. /!ee Fig. 1-1 %asiccamera.

F)G$'E 1-1. %A!)C CAME'A

3here are three maor "arts to the tele+ision camera. 3hey are the lens,body and +iefinder. !ince they ere discussed in lesson one of subcourseD)0780, this lesson ill be more concerned ith the effect of each oncamera o"eration.

CAMERA OD!

3he camera body consists of the housing and those "arts inside it. 3hat

includes either camera "ic5u" tube/s or a solid state image de+ice andthe internal o"tical system.

3he internal o"tical system is a series of "risms or mirrors. 3here arealso circuitry boards, resistors, ca"acitors and ires. 3his assortmentof electronics ta5es the +isual information it recei+es from the internalo"tical system, "rocesses it, and con+erts it into electronic im"ulses forfeed to another source.

7 D)0781


7/98

3he other source can be a monitor, a +ideota"e recorder or a system to "utit directly on the air. Cameras ha+e +ideo out connectors through hichthe electronic information "asses. /!ee Fig. 1-@ Camera &ut"utConnector.

F)G$'E 1-@. CAME'A &$3P$3 C&EC3&'

At the front of the camera body is the Color 3em"erature Com"ensationFilter Disc, more sim"ly referred to as the filter heel /!ee Fig. 1-7Filter disc. 3his enables ra"id adustment to +arying light conditionsith ust the turn of a heel. 3here are three or four "ositions. 3heyare 7@00 degrees >el+in2 8B00 degrees >el+in2 8B00 1;? D /eutralDensity or 1; D /see :esson 3o, :ighting for EG, subcourse D)0780.!ome cameras -not all -ha+e a fourth "osition, hich is a ca". 3he filterheel must be set in the "ro"er "osition before you hite balance thecamera /7@00 degrees >el+in for artificial lighting, 8B00 for daylight,and 1;? or 1; D for bright sunlight. 3he filters ill aid in thehite balance "rocess. As you learned in :esson 3o, :ighting for EG,

!ubcourse D)0780, hite balancing is the "rocedure that insures the cameracan re"roduce colors accurately.

F)G$'E 1-7. F):3E' D)!C

D)0781


8/98

THE LENS

As you learned in !ubcourse D)0780, the lens and certain attachments to itare sometimes called the e=ternal o"tical system. 3he lens selects acertain field of +ie and "roduces a small, clear o"tical image of this+ie.

*ith the lens e ha+e four "rimary concerns. 3hese are focal length,focus, f-sto" and de"th of field. *hat you need to do no is understandthe functions of each, and a""ly them to your use as an EG +ideogra"her.

)f some things are re"eated in this lesson, it is merely to sa+e you theeffort of ha+ing to go bac5 and refer to subcourse D)0780.

"oc#$ Le%&'(

Portable tele+ision cameras, the cameras ere concerned ith, ha+e aoom, or +ariable focal-length lens, hich enables them to select fieldsof +ie at different distances from the camera ithout mo+ing the camera.)t allos you to change the focal length of the lens from long to short

and from short to long in one continuous o"eration.

3here is an im"ortant difference beteen ooming in or out, and "hysicallyre"ositioning the camera closer or farther aay. /A camera mo+ementcalled Hdolly inH or Hdolly out.H !ee Fig. 1-8. 3he ide use of a oomlens and its ease of o"eration has caused many +ideogra"hers and directorsto rely on the oom hen they should mo+e the camera. A oom lens sim"lymagnifies or reduces an image, but its necessary to dolly the camera toget the full three-dimensional effect. 3his is "articularly im"ortanthen mo+ing "ast doorays, arches or stationary obects.

3he degree to hich you can change the focal length of a oom lens is

called the oom range. 3o you, the o"erator, its more im"ortant to 5nothe magnification, rather than the numbers. 3hat is something that illcome only ith e="erience. !ome cameras ha+e a Htimes to function,Hhich allos you to double the focal length at any "oint in the oom.3hat is another area here youll need e="erience in order to become"roficient. %y recording the change from Htimes oneH to Htimes to,H orthe other ay around, you can create an interesting effect, if you do it"ro"erly.

3he s"eed at hich the focal length of a oom lens can be changed isdetermined by the o"erator, hether it is done manually or ith a oomser+o.

8 D)0781


9/98

A oom ser+o is nothing more than a small motor controlled by a le+er.6o far the le+er is de"ressed determines the s"eed of the oom. 3hereare situations here a slo oom ould be better than a fast one, andother times hen the fast oom ould be "referred. 4oull ha+e to de+elo"a touch to be able to control the s"eed as ell as a feel for the s"eedreuired in each case.

3he +arious focal lengths of lenses ha+e +arying effects on your +ideo.3hings to consider are field of +ie, "ers"ecti+e, distortion, de"th offield, effect of camera mo+ement and subect mo+ement, and limitationsyoull ha+e to deal ith. !ubcourse D)0780 discusses these at length.&nce you learn them, it ill be much easier to understand ho they illaffect your +ideo "roduct. %e sure to use them to your ad+antage.

"ocus

Focus ith a lens is the same thing as focus ith the eye. !har" andclear is in focus, hile fuy and unclear is out of focus.

*hene+er "ossible, you should oom focus. 3hat means to oom all the ay

in, focus and oom bac5 out to the desired shot. ot only does it 5ee"more of the +ideos"ace in focus hen you oom bac5 out, but hen oomed-ine+erything is magnified and youll be able to see much finer details tofocus on. 3hat means your focus ill be much clearer and shar"er. 'ac5focus means to focus the shot here it is and, unless a certain effect isdesired, is done hene+er situation or time dont "ermit a oom focus.

f)S'o*

!ince too little light falling on the "ic5-u" tube or chi" ill ma5e the"icture uality suffer, it is e=tremely im"ortant to be sure you ha+eenough light. !ince the camera ill be used both indoors and outdoors,

you ill ha+e to adust for e=treme +ariations in light le+els. 4ou"robably ont be carrying a light meter, so youll need some ay to 5nohene+er the light le+el is sufficient.

4our camera has both automatic and manual iris controls /!ee !ubcourseD)0780. Most of the time, youll ant to use the automatic control.Changing focal lengths reuires a change of lens dia"hragm o"ening andthis can be accom"lished more efficiently by the automatic control. )tcan e+en inform you if there is insufficient light. )f the automatic irisis all the ay o"en, the camera is see5ing more light. )f you mo+e the d%gain sitch to #d% and the automatic iris doesnt close don at all, youstill dont ha+e enough light to o"erate the camera. )t has to be +ery

D)0781 B


10/98

dar5 to reuire using the 1?d% gain, and "icture uality suffers greatly,so use the 1?d% gain only in cases of absolute emergency. EIAMP:E A+ideo cre at the o+ember 1#?# destruction of the %erlin all ithdaylight fading and no lights on hand ould ha+e used the 1?d% gainbecause a substandard "icture is better than no "icture at all.

>ee" in mind, the automatic iris control ill do e+erything for you, butit deals ith the a+erage light le+el for the +ideo s"ace. 3hat means, ifyoure shooting +ideo of someone standing in the middle of a field co+eredin sno, he ill a""ear as a dar5 silhouette because the automatic irisill gi+e you the o"ening reuired by most of the "icture, hich is thesno. As long as you are aare of this fact, you can go to manual controlhene+er necessary. %ecause of the contrast range limitations of thecamera, you ill come across conditions here the camera ont be able toencom"ass e+erything the eye can see. )ts u" to you, the o"erator, to5no the limitations so that you can ma5e sure that hat is lost is notessential to the shot.

f-sto"s affect more than ust the amount of light entering the camera andthis is im"ortant for the EG o"erator to 5no. 3hey also affect the

de"th of field.

De*'( o+ ",e$-

As you 5no, the de"th of field is that area of the field of +ie herethe obects are in focus. 4ou 5no too, that you can control the de"th offield ith lens dia"hragm o"ening, camera to subect distance and focallength of the lens. 4ou ill ant to e=ercise that control for different"ur"oses. 4ou may ant a shallo de"th of field in order to se"arate yoursubect from the bac5ground or foreground. 4ou may ant a greater de"thof field so you can mo+e around ithout getting your subect out of focustoo easily. 3he im"ortant thing is for you, the o"erator, to understand

the basic "rinci"les and a""ly them "ro"erly.

THE .IE/"INDER

3he +iefinder shos you hat the camera sees. /!ee Fig. 1-. !ince itis a miniature tele+ision, it has brightness and contrast controls. 3hiscan fool you hen it comes to satisfactory light le+els. *hat a""ears tobe enough light in the +iefinder may not be, because the brightnesscontrol is turned u". e+er rely on the brightness of the "icture in the+iefinder to indicate light le+els.

$se the +iefinder to frame, com"ose and focus the camera shots. )n

addition, there are a number of functions commonly dis"layed in the

< D)0781


11/98

+iefinder eye"iece. 3hese can include any or all of the folloing

o A recording light to indicate the recorder is on or off.

o %attery arning lights to indicate lo le+els in both the camera andrecorder batteries.

o A ta"e arning light to indicate the recording ta"e is nearing theend.

o A camera db gain indicator.

o A lo light-le+el indicator.

F)G$'E 1-. ()E*F)DE'

CAMERA OPERATION

)n EG there are a number of things you need to master, not the least ofhich is camera o"eration. %efore you can o"erate the camera, or anyother eui"ment, you must accom"lish setu". $sually the camera and therecorder are set u" at the same time. !et them u" by inserting a batteryor connecting an AC ada"tor. *hen you ha+e connected the camera andrecorder ith a +ideo cable, turn the "oer on and chec5 the batterycharge ith the camera battery le+el indicator. Chec5 the +ideocassette

for the needed red "in and insert the cassette into the recorder.

Connect the hand-held micro"hone /see :esson 3o, !elect and !et $"Micro"hones to the recorder. Connect the head"hones to the recorder.!et u" the needed lights /see :esson 3o, :ighting for EG, !ubcourse

D)0781 ?


12/98

D)0780, or reflectors if natural light is used. !et u" the tri"od.

&f course, you must learn the technical as"ects. 4ou ill need to be ableto hite balance the camera according to the o"erators manual. :i5eise,youll ha+e to be able to record ith it, but ust as im"ortant, youllneed to "erfect the aesthetics. 4ou ont alays ha+e a scri"t a+ailableto you beforehand, es"ecially in the co+erage of fast-brea5ing s"ot nes.*hen you do ha+e a scri"t a+ailable "rior to shooting, its a good habitto rechec5 it for any additional +ideo reuirements.

C#mer# Comm#%-s

3ele+ision "roduction has a language of its on, and its im"ortant thatyou learn it. As e go o+er the different camera mo+ements, ell callthem by name. Each name, or mo+ement, should be referred to by that term.E+eryone in the industry 5nos the language and can communicateeffecti+ely on a common le+el. EIAMP:E )t may seem nit"ic5y, but hental5ing about shooting ith a "ortable tele+ision camera you should usethe term +ideota"e rather than Hfilming.H After all, film is an entirelydifferent medium and although most "eo"le ho misuse the term 5no hat

they mean, it ta5es aay all chance of misunderstanding to say hat youmean.

C#mer# moeme%'

3here are to ays to mo+e a camera Changing the aim of the camera, andchanging the "osition of the camera. EIAMP:E As a subect mo+es fromleft to right across your field of +ie, you can HfolloH it by changingthe aim from left to right in order to 5ee" it in your "icture. 4ou canalso HfolloH it by mo+ing the camera from left to right at the same rateithout changing the aim at all. 3hats hy e use s"ecific mo+ementlanguage instead of ust saying, Hfollo it.H

P#% 6oriontally "i+oting the camera left or right, to change the aim ofthe lens hile the camera remains in the same "osition is called "anning/!ee Fig. 1-8. 3he command is HPan rightH or HPan leftH. 3here couldbe more s"ecific commands gi+en such as HPan right and follo,H hichould gi+e guidance as to the s"eed of the mo+ement. Mo+e at the sames"eed as the subect. 3here is also the sish "an, or hi" "an, hich isso ra"id that it creates a blur of mo+ement.

A "an, ust as any other camera mo+ement, should ne+er be done aimlesslyor ithout good reason. )t should ha+e a definite starting and sto""ing

# D)0781


13/98

"oint, or it should be folloing something. *hene+er "ossible, thereshould be some ob+ious moti+ation for the mo+ement such as someone in the"icture loo5ing off to the side and then the camera ma5ing the "an to shohat he sees. 3hat ont alays be "ossible, es"ecially in EG, theco+erage of uncontrolled e+ents. )n all cases though, ha+e the start andsto" "oints fi=ed in your on mind. 3hat ay, the mo+ement ill bedecisi+e and direct.

T,$'. 3he +ertical mo+ement of the aim of the camera lens is called tilt./!ee Figure 1-8. )n the language of tele+ision, the command ould beHtilt u"H or Htilt don.H 9ust as ith the "an, tilts should be moti+ated.*ithout good reason, any mo+ement ta5es aay from the +alue of a"roduction. 3he amount of tilt is more critical than that of the "an, dueto the dimensions of the +ideos"ace /7 units high by units ide. !incethe horiontal dimension of the screen is one third larger than the+ertical dimension, there is more room for error in the "anning mo+ement,ma5ing it e+en more im"ortant to ha+e the start and sto" "oints firmlyestablished in your mind.

Pe-es'#$. !imilar to the tilt, the "edestal mo+ement is an u" and don

mo+ement. 6oe+er, it is not in the aim of the camera, but rather themo+ement of the camera itself ithout changing the aim /!ee Figure 1-8.3he command ill be H"edestal u"H or H"edestal don.H 3he "edestals thatstudio cameras sit on, as ell as the tri"ods that "ortable field camerassit on, ha+e +arious ays to raise and loer the camera. 3he tri"od youill be using ith a "ortable camera ill most li5ely ha+e some sort ofcran5 handle to raise and loer the camera hile the aim remains the same.Juite often, the "edestal mo+ement ill be used in conunction ith thetilt mo+ement. *hen this is the case, there ill need to be some sort ofe="lanation "re+ious to the actual e=ecution command. EIAMP:E H*hen )gi+e you the command to "edestal u", tilt don at the same time and rate,so e can 5ee" the subect in the "icture, but change our shot angle.H

2oom. *e ha+e discussed the oom under focal length earlier. 3he oom,although a mo+ement, does not constitute mo+ement of the camera or the aimof the camera. 3he only thing to add at this "oint is to re-em"hasiethat any camera mo+ement, "articularly ooms, must be moti+ated. 3hetendency for beginning +ideogra"hers is to do a lot of camera mo+ing.3hey fail to realie that their ob isnt to create the action, but toca"ture on +ideota"e the action already ta5ing "lace. 3he command for theoom is Hoom inH or Hoom out.H 3here is also a s"ecial effect called thesna" oom. 3his is an e=tremely ra"id oom, either in or out, that isused to em"hasie a dramatic "oint. )t is more common in EFP than EG and

D)0781 10


14/98

calls attention to itself. 3he +ieer cant hel" but notice it, and itshould be used only for ma=imum effect.

"ocus. 3he commands Hoom focusH and Hrac5 focusH mean s"ecific actionsthat the o"erator is to accom"lish. A oom focus is done hene+er thesituation and time "ermit. 'ac5 focus is done hen there isnt enoughtime to oom focus, or for an effect. Another effect ith focus that illcall the +ieers attention is de-focus. 3his ould be to begin the shotout of focus and bring the subect into focus at a designated time. )tcould also be done in the re+erse by ta5ing the subect out of focus tobring something else in the +ideos"ace into focus, or merely to indicatethe end of the need to see the subect.

Do$$. Dolly is the mo+ement of the camera toard or aay from thesubect /!ee Figure 1-8. 3he commands to dolly are, Hdolly inH or Hdollyout.H

Cr#%e A crane is the mo+ement of the camera ato" a long arm of a crane.Also called a boom, this is another function that is more common in EFP.3he command is Hcrane u",H or Hcrane don.H *hen referred to as a boom, it

ould be Hboom u",H or Hboom don.H

Truc4. 3ruc5 is the mo+ement of the camera to the right or left hile5ee"ing the aim of the camera generally the same /!ee Figure 1-8. 9ustas there is a difference beteen a tilt and a "edestal, there is a bigdifference beteen a "an and a truc5. )f a subect as tra+elinghoriontally across the +ideos"ace and the o"erator ust "anned to folloit, the shot angle ould change. %y truc5ing e 5ee" the angle of camerato subect the same. 3he command is Htruc5 right,H or Htruc5 left.H 3otruc5 to one side or the other for more than ust a short distance iscalled a Htrac5ingH shot. )t is used most commonly in motion "ictures andsometimes in EFP hen the camera is going along /usually on trac5s for

stability ne=t to a mo+ing subect. EIAMP:E 3he inter"lay of dri+erand shotgun rider on a stagecoach hen the scenery is flying by and thesubects remain in the same s"ot in the +ideos"ace.

Arc. An arc can be either a combination of truc5 and dolly in a straightline to arri+e at a "rescribed "oint, or a semi-circular mo+ement to oneside or the other /!ee Figure 1-8

11 D)0781


15/98

F)G$'E 1-8. CAME'A M&(EME3

D)0781 1@


16/98

3he command is Harc rightH or Harc left.H Most often an arc is used to"ro+ide another angle of a subect hile alloing the +ieer to see thechange of angle ta5ing "lace. )n some motion "ictures, you may e+en ha+eseen an arc go com"letely around a subect.

All of the camera mo+ements and their commands a""ly to both studio and"ortable camera o"eration. 3here are some things hoe+er, that you should5ee" in mind hen o"erating the "ortable EG camera.

o )f you are not o"erating a one-"iece cam-corder you must be certainthat your connections to the recorder are secure and that both"ieces of eui"ment are mo+ed in unison.

o Chec5 your mounting "late and be sure not only that the camera ismounted securely to the "late, but also that the "late is mountedsecurely to the tri"od.

o that you 5no the different camera mo+ements and hat they are called,you must realie that the need for these mo+ements comes about becauseyour +ieers rely on you to "ro+ide a +isually understandable "roduct.

*hat you "ut into the +ideos"ace is im"ortant, but ho you "ut it there isust as im"ortant. 4ou learned the basics of framing and com"osition in!ubcourse D)0780, Electronic 9ournalism. 3here are to different "ointsof +ie that you should ta5e regarding "ro"er framing and com"ositionthat of the +ideogra"her, and that of the editor. 4ou need to 5no ho todo both. 3here ill be times hen you ill shoot for someone else toedit, and times hen you ill edit someone elses +ideo. *hen youreshooting +ideo, you must 5ee" the editing "rocess in mind hether or notyou ill be the one ho edits the final "roduct.

EIAMP:E)f you are ooming in or out on a subect, you may ant to do it se+eral

times, ta5ing different lengths of time for each. &ne fi+e-second oom-in, a ten-second oom-in and e+en a sna" oom. 3hat ay, the editor illha+e a choice of ooms to use.

*hen you log the +ideo, you must s"ea5 the language of tele+ision on thechance that someone else may ha+e to edit it. 3he folloing to e=am"lesare different ays of logging the same %-roll ta"e. Com"are them side byside. )f you ere the editor, hich of them ould you ant to ha+e"ro+ided to youK

17 D)0781


17/98

EIAMP:E &E

0000 - 001@ :&G !6&3 /:! E!3A%:)!6)G !CEE &F%$):D)G & F)'E

001@ - 00? :&G !6&3 /:! &F F)'E 3'$C> E3E')GF'&M ')G63, MED)$M !PEED PA :EF3 3&*6E'E 3'$C> !3&P! 3& %EG) F)G63)G F)'E

00? - 017@ J$)C> L&&M ) 3& MED)$M !6&3 /M! &F ME9$MP)G &$3 &F 3'$C> AD '$)G 3&$:&AD EJ$)PME3

017@ - 0@10 MED)$M C:&!E $P /MC$ &F *)D&* *)36F:AME! :EAP)G &$3 AD '$)G $P *A::

0@10 - 0770 MED)$M !6&3 /M! 'EA' &F F)'E 3'$C>*)36 ME 3A>)G 6&!E &$3. ME :EA(EF'AME AD 6&!E C&ME! &$3 &F 3'$C>

0770 - 08 C:&!E $P /C$ &F 6AD! 3A>)G CAP &FF &FF)'E 64D'A3 AD C&EC3)G 6&!E

08 - 0808 EI3'EME C:&!E $P /EC$ &F *'EC6 3$')G& *A3E' A3 F)'E 64D'A3

0808 - 08@0 C:&!E $P /C$ &F &LL:E &F 6&!E *)36 &*A3E' C&M)G &$3 - 36E *A3E' C&ME! &$3

08@0 - 0

0#18 - 0#70 EI3'EME C:&!E $P /EC$ &F F)'EMA! FACE-E4E! :&&>)G $P A3 8 DEG'EE AG:E -F:AME! 'EF:EC3)G & !>) AD F)'E 6A3

0#70 - 0#7? :&G !6&3 /:! &F '&&F CA()G )

0#7? - 1010 MED)$M :&G !6&3 /M:! F)'EMA %E)G

P$::ED F'&M %$):D)G - CAME'A D&::4 )3& /MC$ &F F)'EMA 'ECE)()G 3'EA3ME3

1010 - 1@0@ MED)$M !6&3 /M! F)'EMA %E)G :&ADED)3& AM%$:ACE - D&&'! %E)G C:&!ED -AM%$:ACE :EA()G !CEE, :EA(E! F'AME

D)0781 1


18/98

EIAMP:E 3*&

0000 - 001@ !CEE &F %$):D)G & F)'E

001@ - 00? F)'E 3'$C> E3E')G F'AME, !3&P! 3&%EG) F)G63)G F)'E

00? - 017@ ME 9$MP)G &$3 &F 3'$C> AD '$)G 3&

$:&AD EJ$)PME3

017@ - 0@10 *)D&* *)36 F:AME! :EAP)G &$3 AD'$)G $P *A::

0@10 - 0770 'EA' &F F)'E 3'$C> *)36 ME 3A>)G 6&!E&$3. !6&3 'EMA)! !3EAD4 A! 6&!E C&ME!&$3 &F 3'$C>

0770 - 08 6AD! 3A>)G CAP &FF &F F)'E 64D'A3 ADC&EC3)G 6&!E

08 - 0808 *'EC6 3$')G & *A3E' A3 F)'E 64D'A3

0808 - 08@0 &LL:E &F 6&!E *)36 & *A3E' C&M)G &$3-36E *A3E' C&ME! &$3

08@0 - 0G'&$D AD E(E3$A::4 36E F)'E 3'$C>

0#18 - 0#70 F)'EMA! FACE - E4E! :&&>)G $P A3 8DEG'EE AG:E 3& %$):D)G - F:AME!'EF:EC3)G & !>) AD F)'E 6A3

0#70 - 0#7? '&&F &F %$):D)G CA()G )

0#7? - 1010 F)'EMA %E)G P$::ED F'&M %$):D)G -F)'EMA %E)G G)(E EME'GEC4 MED)CA:3'EA3ME3 - !&ME C6AGE &F F&C$! D$')G!EJ$ECE

1010 - 1@0@ F)'EMA %E)G :&ADED )3& AM%$:ACE -

D&&'! C:&!E - AM%$:ACE :EA(E! !CEE

Pro"er eui"ment o"eration is essential to EG. )t includes thin5ing farbeyond ust building the +ideos"ace. !ince the electronic nes gathereris often camera o"erator, director, lighting director, gaffer, riter,editor and audio engineer he must be able to correctly o"erate all of theeui"ment.

18 D)0781


19/98


20/98

P'AC3)CE EIE'C)!E

:E!!& 1

!$%C&$'!E &. D) 0781

&PE'A3E EG EJ$)PME3

)!3'$C3)&!

'e+ie the material in this lesson. Anser the uestions belo bycircling the H3H or HFH ne=t to each uestion.

Com"are your ansers ith the anser 5ey on the ne=t "age.

3 F 1. *hene+er camera mo+ement is called for, the camera o"erator shouldalready ha+e the start and sto" "oints fi=ed in his mind.

3 F @. &nce a good, smooth oom has been accom"lished, hile +ideota"ingin the field, its not a good idea to aste ta"e by trying it

again.

3 F 7. 'ac5 focus is another term for oom focus.

3 F . 3here are three maor "arts to a "ortable tele+ision camera thelens, the body, and the +iefinder.

3 F 8. 3he degree to hich you can change the focal length of a oom lensis called the oom range.

3 F B. !ince s"orts is usually a segment of the nes, co+erage of as"orting e+ent is considered electronic nes gathering.

3 F


21/98

A!*E' >E4

P'AC3)CE EIE'C)!E

:E!!& 1

!$%C&$'!E &. D) 0781

&PE'A3E EG EJ$)PME3

1. 3'$E /Page 10

@. FA:!E /Page 17

7. FA:!E /Page 11

. 3'$E /Page 7

8. 3'$E /Page 8

B. FA:!E /Page @


22/98

LESSON T/O

SELECT AND SET UP MICROPHONES



23/98

SELECT AND SET UP MICROPHONES

INTRODUCTION

According to *ebsters inth e Collegiate Dictionary, the definition oftele+ision is an electronic system of transmitting transient images offi=ed or mo+ing obects together ith sound o+er a ire or through s"aceby a""aratus that con+erts light and sound into electrical a+es and

recon+erts them into +isible light rays and audible sound. 3oo oftenthose in+ol+ed in the "roduction of tele+ision ha+e thought of it as a+isual medium and forgotten that half of it is sound.

'egardless of ho good the +ideo is, if the audio is ea5, so is the"roduction. 4ou should "lan and "roduce the audio ith the same care andattention to detail as the +ideo.

/HAT IS SOUND

%efore discussing the selection and setu" of micro"hones, its necessaryto say something about the characteristics of sound. )n this lesson,

ell stay +ery basic and gi+e you only hat you need to 5no to "erformon a satisfactory le+el. &f course, if you ant to learn more aboutsound, it ill enhance your "roficiency.

!ound occurs hen a body +ibrating bac5 and forth creates "ressure+ariations hich are "ushed outard in a+es through the air. 3hese a+estra+el aay from the source eually in all directions, much li5e theri""les in a "ond caused by something stri5ing the surface.

Many things can affect sound a+es, ust as many things can affect theri""les in a "ond. *hen e tal5 about sound from a "roduction stand"oint,e are referring to ho the sound is "ercei+ed by the human ear after it

has been affected by all the e=ternal influences. Also, there areim"ortant differences beteen the "hysical "ro"erties of sound and ho eactually hear it. All the +arious factors in+ol+ed ould be too detailedto discuss no, but there are to im"ortant factors you should be familiarith to or5 ith tele+ision audio. 3hey are sound freuency and soundintensity.

Sou%- "re6ue%c

3he sound a+es of a +ibrating body go in cycles and can be illustrated bya Hsine a+eH /!ee Fig. @-1 !ound *a+es.

Each cycle is measured from the beginning of one a+e to the beginning ofthe ne=t. 3he number of com"lete a+es, or cycles, "er second determines

D)0781 @0


24/98

the freuency of the sound. 3his is called hert /6. 3hat is hy athousand cycle tone is the same as a thousand hert tone. 3he height ofthe a+es is the am"litude, or loudness. *e measure this in decibels /d%.

3he faster the +ibration of the body, the more cycles "roduced and thehigher the "itch of the sound. For e=am"le, the number of cycles "ersecond "roduced by a trains histle is far greater than the number ofcycles "er second "roduced by a shi"s fog horn. 3hey may both ha+e thesame intensity, but they ha+e +ery different "itch. 3he human ear can"ercei+e from 1B 6 to 1B,000 6. &f course, some "eo"le hear better thanothers, but this is the general range. ormal hearing is most sensiti+eto sounds beteen 800 6 and ,000 6. 3his is the range of soundfreuency most im"ortant for understanding s"eech. Professional audioeui"ment is ca"able of re"roducing sound freuencies from about 1B 6 to@0,000 6, hich is the full audio s"ectrum necessary to "ic5 u" andre"roduce sound and music accurately.

F)G$'E @-1. !&$D *A(E!

Sou%- I%'e%s,'

!ound intensity is directly related to the amount of energy e="ended increating the +ibrations. For e=am"le, the harder you hit a drum, thelouder it sounds. 3he increase of "ressure through a histle increases

@1 D)0781


25/98

the loudness of the sound. )n both cases, the "itch remains the same, butthe +olume goes u".

As "re+iously mentioned, loudness or sound intensity is measured indecibels /d%. )ts also im"ortant for you to understand ho the decibelscale or5s. *e sense the difference in to sounds by com"arison ratherthan by a "articular measurement. 4ou cant tell ho many decibels asound is ust by listening, but you can tell hich of to sounds is louder.

3he decibel scale is a logarithmic scale. A doubling of the intensity isre"resented by an increase of 7 d%. )n other ords, hene+er e double orhal+e the intensity of a sound, e change it by 7 d%. A change from 7 toB d% is doubling the sound intensity. A doubling of # d% ould not be 1?though. )t ould be 1@. /An increase of 7. And of course, the same goesfor lessening the loudness.

4ou should be familiar ith the decibel scale because it is often used inaudio "roduction to refer to audio le+els. 3he common ($ meter on audioboards is calibrated in decibels and "ercentage of modulation /!ee Fig.@-@ (olume $nit Meter.

F)G$'E @-@. (&:$ME $)3 ME3E'

D)0781 @@


26/98

T!PES O" MICROPHONES

3here are to basic "arts common to all micro"hones 3he dia"hragm and thegenerating element. 3he dia"hragm is a fle=ible de+ice, sensiti+e to theair "ressure +ariations created by sound a+es. 3he generating element isattached to the dia"hragm, and con+erts the +ibrations into electricalenergy. 3his is not unli5e the camera lens and the camera, here the lensca"tures the +isual images and the camera con+erts them into electronicsignals /!ee Figs. @-7, @- @-8 Micro"hones.

Se$ec',%& T(e Correc' M,cro*(o%e

%egin by conducting an acoustical analysis. 4ou do that by assessing hoaudio ill carry or be distorted in the recording en+ironment /e.g.,studio, em"ty room, room filled ith furniture, small room, room ith highceiling, outdoors, etc.. *hile doing this, 5ee" in mind the micro"honety"es and "ic5u" "atterns of the micro"hones a+ailable. 3hen ta5e intoconsideration any "ossible audio "roblems. 3his a""lies to both your EGand your EFP or5. 3hin5 not only about the "rimary audio and theeui"ment reuired to best achie+e the reuired result, but about the

bac5ground audio, or ild sound as ell. !elect the ty"e of micro"honethat ill "ro+ide the best "ic5u" for the situation. 3here are three"rimary ty"es of micro"hones you ill deal ith Dynamic, 'ibbon andCondenser.

3he DYNAMICmicro"hone is durable and e=cellent for outdoor use as a"roduction micro"hone. 3his ty"e of micro"hone is the least +ulnerable todistortion and the most common in use in EG. /!ee Fig. @-7, DynamicMicro"hone

F)G$'E @-7. D4AM)C M)C'&P6&E

@7 D)0781


27/98

3he RIBBONmicro"hone is fragile and sensiti+e to strong, loud or suddensounds that can damage the ribbon. 3his micro"hone should be usedindoors. )t is desirable for use on announcers, singers and musicalinstruments. )ts not as good for EG since youll need more control o+erse"aration. 4oull need to se"arate "rimary audio and ild sound morethan this micro"hone ill "ermit. 'emember too, you ha+e little or nocontrol o+er strong, loud or sudden sounds outside the studio that ouldharm the ribbon micro"hone. /!ee Fig. @-, 'ibbon Micro"hone

F)G$'E @-. ')%%& M)C'&P6&E

3he C&DE!E' micro"hone generates a lo signal and needs a"re-am"lifier to boost its strength. )t reuires a se"arate"oer su""ly, hich is large and bul5y. 3his ma5es the useof this micro"hone difficult for EG since one of the mainconcerns of the EG team is to lessen the amount ofeui"ment rather than add to it. 3he condenser micro"hone"ro+ides the highest uality of sound of the three ty"es of

micro"hones. Although it is too sensiti+e for outdoor use,it is e=cellent for music "ic5u". )ts use in EG;EFP ouldbe limited to something such as a +ideo s"ot for the $.!.Army %and. /!ee Fig. @-8, Condenser Micro"hone

F)G$'E @-8. C&DE!E' M)C'&P6&E

D)0781 @


28/98

PIC7UP PATTERNS

*hen selecting the micro"hone, consider the +arious "ic5u" "attern of eachmicro"hone.

3he OMNIDIRECTIONALmicro"hone "ic5s u" sounds coming from any directioneually ell. 3his micro"hone is recommended hen one micro"hone mustco+er a ide area or hen unanted noise is not a "roblem /!ee Fig. @-B

Pic5u" Patterns.

3he UNIDIRECTIONALmicro"hone "ic5s u" sounds coming from one directionand su""resses sounds coming from the rear and sides. )t is recommendedif unanted noise is a "roblem. $nidirectional "ic5u" "atterns ha+e threegeneral categories bidirectional, Cardioid, and su"ercardioid /!ee Fig.@-B, Pic5u" Patterns.

3he BIDIRECTIONALmicro"hone "ic5s u" sound coming from directly in frontand in bac5. 3his micro"hone is not good for tele+ision because it "ic5su" studio noises. )t is good for to "eo"le ho face each other, as inthe old radio drama, but in tele+ision the side o""osite the "erformer is

usually the camera and behind the scenes /!ee Fig. @-B, Pic5u" Patterns.

3he sha"e of the CARDIOID"ic5u" "attern is similar to that of a heart, asyou ould sus"ect from its name. Most cardioid micro"hones are sensiti+eto about 1@0 degrees on either side of straight forard, although this can+ary somehat. 3he ad+antage of some directional isolation in addition toa ide audio "ic5u" range ma5es this a good micro"hone for tele+ision.E+en hen the "erformer is some distance aay from this micro"hone, itill "roduce better uality sound than an omnidirectional micro"hone.

3he SUPERCARDIOIDis the most highly directional "attern, and is designedto "ic5 u" sound ithin a +ery limited range. &ften called a shotgun

micro"hone, the biggest drabac5 to this ty"e of micro"hone "ic5u" "atternis its highly unidirectional sha"e. $nless the micro"hone is "ointeddirectly at the sound source "oor audio uality ill result. )tsad+antage is in its ability to "ic5 u" sound at far greater distances /!eeFig. @-B, Pic5u" Patterns. E+en though it is designed to "ic5 u" soundat greater distance, the closer the source, the better the sound that illbe re"roduced.

3he "oints to remember hen considering the "ic5u" "atterns of eachmicro"hone are the desired mi=ing or se"aration of sounds for the"roduction, the li5elihood of unanted sounds occurring during shootingand the amount of gear to be trans"orted to the shoot site. 3here is

really no best micro"hone "ic5u" "attern. Each is designed for a

@8 D)0781


29/98

"articular situation. 3he tric5 is to let the micro"hones "ic5u" "atternor5 for you by focusing on the sound you ant and eliminating the soundyou dont ant. An inter+ie ta5ing "lace ne=t to a busy highay, fore=am"le, ould be better conducted ith a unidirectional rather than anomnidirectional micro"hone /!ee Fig. @-B, Pic5-u" "atterns.

F)G$'E @-B. P)C>-$P PA33E'!

IMPEDANCE

Another im"ortant factor for you to understand about micro"hones isim"edance. )m"edance is the amount of resistance in a circuit. :oim"edance means little resistance and a greater current flo, hile highim"edance means greater resistance and lesser current flo. 3he numbersare not im"ortant for you, as an o"erator, to 5no. 3hey are moreim"ortant to engineers, but you need to understand to im"ortant facts:o im"edance micro"hones "ermit the use of long cables ithout

D)0781 @B


30/98

significant loss of signals, and a micro"hones im"edance must alaysmatch the in"ut connector im"edance on a ta"e recorder or audio mi=er.3hat means if your recorder uses a high im"edance in"ut connector, youill ha+e to use a high im"edance micro"hone, and therefore, a relati+elyshort cable of a""ro=imately ten feet or less, or a transformer designedto match the lo im"edance of the micro"hone and the high im"edance of therecorder. &f course, this ill be of more concern to the EG team chiefthan it ill to the +ideogra"her, but remember, you could +ery ell beboth.

PLACEMENT O" MICROPHONES

Another consideration hen selecting a micro"hone is its "lacement. 3hisis dictated by the subect or situation. !ince ere tal5ing about +ideo,the a""earance of the micro"hone is also im"ortant to consider. (eryoften hen an inter+ie ta5es "lace, the micro"hone has a flag /littlesymbol that identifies the station or unit "roducing the "iece in +ie ofthe camera. &f course, it shouldnt be a distraction.

3he LAVALIERmicro"hone is most commonly used for studio tele+ision, but

can sometimes be used in the field hen it is necessary for the talent toha+e his hands free. )t is alays omnidirectional, and the s"ea5er tal5sacross, rather than directly into it. )t should be "laced on the la"el inthe direction the "erformer ill face and &3 under any clothing.Production "ersonnel should "lace the micro"hones on non-"rofessionaltalent. A guest ho "uts on his on micro"hone ill orry about ho itloo5s instead of sound uality.

3he DESKmicro"hone is "ositioned in the direction the talent ill face ona des5 or tableto". )t is sensiti+e to des5 noise. $se a foam rubber "adunder the micro"hone stand to eliminate some of this "roblem.

3he HANDmicro"hone is commonly used for tele+ision re"orting in thefield. 3he inter+ieer has com"lete control o+er "ositioning because heis holding the micro"hone. A bac5u" to this micro"hone could be a %&&Mmicro"hone sus"ended abo+e the sound source. )t can be sus"endedmechanically or handheld.

3he STANDmicro"hone is basically a hand micro"hone "ositioned on a standand therefore uite common in EG;EFP. &n a stand it is used by singersor near musical instruments.

@< D)0781


31/98

3he HEADSETmicro"hone is used hen an off-camera announcer needs to ha+ehis hands free. )ts used freuently for s"orting e+ents, hich are EFPs.

3he WIRELESSmicro"hone is any small micro"hone ith a battery-"oeredtransmitter. )t does not ha+e a cord, and allos for free mo+ement.

3he SHOTGUNmicro"hone is a long, tubular micro"hone and is highlyunidirectional, /'emember the su"ercardioid "ic5u" "attern. )t can bese+eral feet from the s"ea5er. 3his micro"hone loc5s in on the mainsource of sound hile eliminating e=traneous noise. )t is +ery usefulhen you cant get near the source.

CALES AND CONNECTORS

)n most cases, the out"ut of micro"hones must tra+el through a cable inorder to reach the recorder. 3his reuires the use of s"ecial audiocables, connectors and rece"tacles. *ell tal5 about them se"arately.

C#b$es

An audio cable is to ires inside "rotecti+e insulation. At each end is aconnector. 3he e=ce"tion is the la+alier micro"hone. 3he la+alier isconnected "ermanently to its cable and there is only one connector on theother end of the cable. &n most others -- hand, des5, stand, and boommicro"hones -- there is no "ermanently attached cable, but a femalerece"tacle in hich to "lug a cable.

Cables ha+e a natural coil or cur+e to them. 4ou should follo it henyou ind them u" for storage. Failure to do so can result in damage tothe ires inside the cable and cause audio "roblems. )t is ne+er a goodidea to ind the cable around your elbo. )t is also not a good idea totie the cable off by its ends. 3ist ties or "i"e cleaners or5 ell for

holding the cable together.

*hen running audio cable, alays ha+e sufficient length for any mo+ementthat may be necessary. )ts also a good idea to ha+e a minimum of cable+isible in your "icture. A+oid ste""ing on your audio cable and ta5e thenecessary measures to "re+ent others from doing so as ell.

Co%%ec'ors

Professional micro"hones and cables use a standard connector called acannon "lug. )t is actually a cannon I:' ith three-"ronged male and

D)0781 @?


32/98

female "lugs, /!ee Fig. @-


33/98

Early models of the ireless micro"hone ere subect to interference frommany sources, such as ta=i and "olice radios. eer 'F micro"hones use adi+ersity recei+ing system hich is designed to "re+ent those "roblems.*ireless micro"hones ith the di+ersity recei+ing system are reliable andde"endable.

3he transmission range of ireless micro"hones is anyhere from 80 to 1000feet de"ending on conditions. &f course, youll ant to "osition yourrecei+er as close to the micro"hone as you can.

3he one disad+antage of the ireless micro"hone is cost because a se"aratetransmitter and recei+er is reuired for each micro"hone. 3he ad+antagesof freedom of mo+ement and increased range, may or may not be orth thee="ense.

"ILTERS

Micro"hones are susce"tible to loud, sudden sounds and ind noise. Po"filters and screens are used on micro"hones to diminish these sounds. Po"filters are built-in, usually in dynamic micro"hones. 3hey are e=cellent

against distortion. *indscreens are e=ternally mounted but cannoteliminate loud distortion. Filters are most used hen re"orting in thefield.

THE RIGHT TOOL "OR THE JO

Determine the number and ty"e of micro"hones, cables and filters needed.%ase this u"on the information "ro+ided to you in the scri"t, youracoustical analysis, and your decision on the ty"e, "ic5u" "attern, and"osition/s of your micro"hone/s. 3he ty"es of micro"hones you use andtheir "ositioning ill be based on your subect and the situation.

THERE8S MORE TO IT

For EG e must also consider s"are micro"hones and cables. Carry this aste" further and be sure you ha+e s"ares for any of your eui"ment. &nceyoure out in the field, you ont ha+e the chance to run into theeui"ment cabinet to re"lace a burned out bulb, or an audio cable thatdoesnt or5. Chec5 all of your audio eui"ment. !"ea5 into or acrosseach micro"hone in a normal +oice. )f any are not or5ing, chec5 theconnector cables and ma5e sure the micro"hones are sitched H&.H )f amicro"hone doesnt or5, re"lace it. )f audio feedbac5 or interferenceoccurs, re"osition the micro"hones until the "roblem is eliminated.

D)0781 70


34/98

Do this in the station;studio;office. 3hen ta5e s"ares along anyay.9ust as ith all the eui"ment necessary for the "roduction, yourchec5list should include s"ares for any eui"ment that could malfunctionand 5ee" you from com"leting your mission.

Finally, there is no substitute for "lanning in EG and EFP. Audio is asmuch a "art of any EG;EFP "iece as +ideo e+en if its only natural orbac5ground sound. After all the "lanning it is still im"ortant to notta5e shortcuts hile shooting. $se the headsets to actually hear theaudio that is being recorded. Dont ta5e-for granted that itll be thereand s"end all your efforts on +ideo only. &nce the e+ent has ta5en "laceand you return to your editing suite, there is no going bac5 for somethingyou missed, and if you dont ha+e e+erything, including audio, all yourtime and effort is asted.

71 D)0781


35/98

P'AC3)CE EIE'C)!E

:E!!& @

!$%C&$'!E &. D) 0781

!E:EC3 AD !E3 $P M)C'&P6&E!

)!3'$C3)&!

'e+ie the material in this lesson. Anser the uestions belo bycircling H3H or HFH ne=t to each uestion. Com"are your ansers ith theanser 5ey on the ne=t "age.

3 F 1. Audio is the one area of EG here you can afford to ta5eshortcuts.

3 F @. A shotgun micro"hone is also called %idirectional.

3 F 7. All EG micro"hones ha+e a dia"hragm.

3 F . Modern ireless micro"hones are still subect to interferencefrom ta=i and "olice radios.

3 F 8. !ound freuency is measured in decibels.

3 F B. !ound is "ressure +ariations in the air hich tra+el ina+es.

3 F


36/98

A!*E' >E4

P'AC3)CE EIE'C)!E

:E!!& @

!$%C&$'!E &. D) 0781

!E:EC3 AD !E3 $P M)C'&P6&E!

1. FA:!E /Page 71

@. FA:!E /Page @8

7. 3'$E /Page @7

. FA:!E /Page 70

8. FA:!E /Page @1

B. 3'$E /Page @0


37/98

LESSON THREE

PREPARE9PER"ORM T. NE/S INSERTS



38/98

PREPARE9PER"ORM T. NE/S INSERTS

INTRODUCTION

3he "re"aration and "erformance of tele+ision nes inserts are the meatand "otatoes of the electronic ournalism business today. 3his is true inboth the ci+ilian and military orlds. )n the ci+ilian orld, there are

entire netor5s concerned ith nes only, /and ad+ertising, of course.3he "ublic affairs mission of the Army is di+ided into "ublic information/P) and command information /C), both of hich can often best be ser+edin a nes format.

4our role as +ideogra"her, /already co+ered in the o"eration of EGeui"ment under camera o"eration, riter, announcer, editor, director orassignments manager ill reuire you to 5no a lot about the "re"arationand "erformance of tele+ision nes inserts. )n this lesson, ell addressthe things youll need to 5no for announcing, riting, scri"ting,inter+ieing and editing. *hat youll need to 5no about assignmentsmanager res"onsibilities ill be co+ered latter in this subcourse.

/RITING

*riting and scri"ting, although to slightly different elements, are soclosely related that ell co+er them together. &f course, all the"rinci"les co+ered "re+iously under announcing, e+en though they eremostly aesthetic elements, ill still a""ly and ell be mentioning themagain. o ell "ay more attention to the mechanics. !ome things mayseem redundant to you, and they "robably are. 'emember, e ha+e alreadytal5ed about a lead, for e=am"le. *e tal5ed about hat it is su""osed toaccom"lish, the to basic ty"es of leads and so forth. *hen e again tal5about leads, e+en though e ill be stressing the mechanics, ell again

touch on some of the aesthetics of them.

Proce-ures #%- L,m,'#',o%s

3he ability to rite comes from much learning and "ractice. )tsdifficult, if not im"ossible, to teach someone to rite, much less riteell, in one short lesson. 3he efforts of this lesson ill be directedtoard gi+ing you the rules that must a""ly to broadcast riting and hoit differs from riting for "rint media. 3he best ay to learn to riteis to -- rite, rite, rite. )t also hel"s to read a lot. &bser+e theritings of others.

D)0781 7B


39/98

*hen riting for broadcast, you should a""ly si= HCsH. 3hey are2 CLEAR,CONCISE, CON.ERSATIONAL, COMPLETE, CURRENT, and most im"ortantly, CORRECT.:ets address each of these "oints, one at a time.

C$e#r. %roadcast co"y must be clear. )f something isnt clear, thereader, listener;+ieer ont understand it, and he cant go bac5 o+er itsince its being read to him by someone else, ho isnt going to re"eatit. &nce gone, its gone fore+er.

Co%c,se. *riting concisely adds to clarity and sa+es air time, alloingto or three more stories to be included in a 70-minute nescast.

Co%ers#',o%#$. 3he co"y is going to be read to its intended audience andit should be done in a con+ersational manner, something that ould be"ossible only if the co"y ere con+ersational in the first "lace. 'ead italoud before you turn it in to your editor or air it yourself.

Com*$e'e. 4our riting must anser all the "ertinent uestions --the ho,hat, hen, here, hy and ho. es stories should anser uestions, notraise them.

Curre%'. 6ere again, there are some e=ce"tions, although usually e+enhen something is "resented as being of or about another time, it is"resented as in the "resent. For e=am"le, e+en if e recei+e somethingthat is of a historical nature, e "ercei+e it in the here and no. *ene+er lose sight of the fact that thats here e are, so the co"yshouldnt either.

Correc'. 3he im"ortance of being correct cannot be stressed enough. 3hebroadcast media hold a certain credibility ith the maority of "eo"le.H) sa it on tele+isionH is enough "roof for many "eo"le. 3his is bothgood and bad. )t adds a certain +alue to those things e say in our +ideo

scri"triting, but it reuires us to or5 e=tra hard to ensure somethingsaccuracy. 3he structure of a nes story for broadcast usually differsfrom that of the "rint media. 3he first thing in the broadcast story isthe H*6A3H. 3his ill attract the listeners attention and alert them tohat is about to follo the details. !ince +ieers cannot absorb all thefacts in the first line, they must be gi+en them in a form that illenhance understanding. )nstead of *hat ha""ened to hom, hen and hereith a hy thron in and then e="laining it in the rest of the story,broadcast style is more li5e H*hat ha""ened,H H)t ha""ened here andhen,H H3his is hy it ha""ened,H and ell "ut in the ho if e ha+e it.

7< D)0781


40/98

T(e Le#-

3he lead sentence should ha+e enough information about *hat ha""ened toarouse the listeners interest, ithout "assing on too much informationfor the listener to com"rehend. A lead sentence should be @0 ords orfeer and contain as much information as "ossible ithout o+erloading thelistener. A good idea is to begin the sentence ith one or to ords thatare &3 the essential information in the story. Dont begin ithessential numbers for the same reason. Much of the time, the +ieersminds arent geared for the story and it ta5es a ord or to for them tobe fully alerted to recei+e the essential information. $sually, a leadcan be made much better by changing it around a little. EIAMP:E H170-36&$!AD !&:D)E'! C&$:D %E C$3 F'&M 36E A'M4 ) 36E EA' F$3$'E, )3 *A!A&$CED 3&DA4.H 3his ould be more assured of the listenersunderstanding if it ere orded H36E A'M4 A&$CED 3&DA4 A3)C)PA3EDMAP&*E' C$3! &F 170-36&$!AD ) 36E EA' F$3$'E.H

T(e o-

After the lead, the story must ha+e a logical de+elo"ment. 3his is the

body. )ts, uite sim"ly, telling the rest of the story in an orderlyfashion, floing smoothly to an end. &f course, the most im"ortant factill come ne=t and the ne=t most im"ortant fact ne=t, and so on. 3his isim"ortant in broadcast riting because air time is limited and +aluable.3y"ically, the same story ill be di+ulged in both the "rint and broadcastmedia. )t isnt at all uncommon for the broadcast +ersion to be only onetenth as long as the "rint +ersion.

Te%se. 3he natural tense for broadcast co"y is the P'E!E3 3E!E, sincemost nes re"orting is of current, or at least, +ery recent nes.6oe+er, e+ery story doesnt ha+e to sound as though it ha""ened in thelast minute. As a matter of fact, many e+ents that the audience 5nos are

in the "ast must be re"orted in the "ast tense. A good e=am"le of thisould be in re"orting s"orts scores. )ts acce"table to headlinesomething in the "resent tense to entice the audience to come bac5 after abrea5, such as H&hio !tate u"sets otre Dame...that, and the rest of thes"orts scores right after this.H %ut the fact that they are final scoresma5es them "ast tense and they should be re"orted as such.

.o,ce. %roadcast co"y should be in the acti+e +oice. 3he acti+e +oicehas the subect of the sentence doing the action rather than the subectrecei+ing the action. )ts not only uic5er, its more con+ersational andcarries more im"act.

D)0781 7?


41/98

EIAMP:E:

Passi+e 36E E()DECE *A! GA36E'ED %4 36E P&:)CE DEPA'3ME3.

Acti+e 36E P&:)CE DEPA'3ME3 GA36E'ED 36E E()DECE.

/r,'e +or '(e e#r. )n 5ee"ing your co"y con+ersational youll be ritingfor the ear. 4our +ideo ill enhance the audio, but the audio must be

able to stand alone. )t is for this reason that e refer to broadcastriting rather than ust tele+ision riting. 'emember, blind "eo"lelisten to tele+ision and much of the time, sighted "eo"le listen totele+ision hile theyre doing other things. $se e+eryday language.*rite as "eo"le s"ea5. $se contractions.

EIAMP:E:

%ad *6E J$E')ED, )3 *A! )D)CA3ED %4 36E P&:)CE

C6)EF 36A3 A A''E!3 *A! )MM)E3.

Good *6E A!>ED, 36E P&:)CE C6)EF !A)D A A''E!3 *A!

)MM)E3.

Se%'e%ce $e%&'(. >ee" sentences short. 3heyre easier for the nescasterto read and easier for the audience to understand. 'emember, the leadshould be @0 ords or less and the rest of the sentences should be @8ords or less. E+en though they can be @8 ords long, sentences otherthan the lead should only a+erage 1< ords. 3hey should +ary in length toa+oid a "attern effect. For s"ot announcements, the ma=imum sentencelength should be 1< ords. !horter sentences gi+e a feeling of action andurgency, but its also easy to sound cho""y if youre not careful to +ary

the sentence length ithin the ord limit.

EIAMP:E:

!ince they ere not forarded for a final +ote, they can beresurrected only by a to-thirds +ote of the house or by being addedto bills under consideration later in house-senate conferencecommittees, in hich conferees try to reach agreements on bills thatha+e "assed the house and senate but in different forms.

3his e=am"le is a sentence that as ta5en directly from a daily nes"a"erin a maor American city. )t illustrates the need to shorten sentences

for broadcast co"y. )f you can go o+er it again, you can understand it,but try to read it aloud and ma5e yourself understood. %y di+iding this

7# D)0781


42/98

8B ord sentence into four sentences of 1, #, 18 and 1# ords, e ma5e itmuch clearer.

36E %)::! *E'E3 F&'*A'DED F&' A F)A: (&3E, %$3 36E4

CA !3):: %E 'E!$''EC3ED. &E ME36&D )! 3*&-36)'D!

(&3E %4 36E 6&$!E. A&36E' )! %4 ADD)G 36EM 3& %)::!

$DE' C&!)DE'A3)& :A3E' ) 6&$!E-!EA3E C&FE'ECE

C&MM)33EE!. 36E!E C&MM)33EE! 3'4 3& 'EAC6 AG'EEME3 &

%)::! 36A3 6A(E PA!!ED 36E 6&$!E AD !EA3E, %$3 )

D)FFE'E3 F&'M!.

Quo'#',o%s #%- #''r,bu',o%. )t ta5es a little subtlety on the "art of thebroadcast riter hen it comes to uotations and attribution. )n the"rinted format, it ta5es nothing more than "utting something in uotationmar5s. 6oe+er, the listening audience cant see uotation mar5s. 3hiscan be o+ercome ith the use of "hrases li5e, Hhe saidH ith a slight

"ause before the uoted ords or a faint change of tone. 3his ill lea+eno doubt in the mind of the listener that he is hearing the e=act ords ofthe original s"ea5er.

EIAMP:E

36E C6)EF PE334 &FF)CE' *A! A!>ED F&' 6)! &P))&, AD

6E !A)D,....H) 36)> !6E! 36E F)E!3 !6)P AF:&A3.H

*hen it is absolutely necessary to remo+e all chance of doubt from thelisteners mind, you can use HJ$&3EH and HED J$&3E.H 6oe+er, this is

disconcerting and certainly uncon+ersational and you should a+oid it henyou can. )f youre uoting someone and its necessary to use a longuote, dont orry about rules for sentence length. A+oid long uoteshene+er "ossible for ob+ious reasons. *hen you ha+e to lin5 the s"ea5erith the uote, use con+ersational "hrases.

EIAMP:E

36E C6)EF ADDED....or

6E C&3)$ED %4 !A4)G...

)ts usually a good idea to identify your source as uic5ly as "ossible.*e dont ant the listener;+ieer to miss any of the im"ortant informationbecause hes trying to figure out ho is being uoted.

D)0781 0


43/98

Cre-,'s. *hen uoting source material, since e cant use footnotes, eneed to gi+e oral attribution to both the source and its author, and itshould be done in the first reference. 3hen in subseuent references ecan attribute either the source or the author.

EIAMP:E:

) 36E H)36 E* C&::EG)A3E D)C3)&A'4H, ME'')AM

*E%!3E' P$3 36E ACCE3 & 36E F)'!3 !4::A%:E ) 36E

&$, HA33')%$3E.H *6E )3! A 3'A!)3)(E (E'%,

6&*E(E', 36E ACCE3 )! P$3 & 36E !EC&D !4::A%:E.

*hene+er a "roduction is going to reuire a lot of attribution, it can bedone all at once in the form of credits at the end. )t can be done ith acral by the character generator as ell as by an announcer. )t ouldnthurt to include the credit in the co"y since the +ideo can be missed byanyone in the audience ho is ust listening. &f course, 5non facts need

not alays be credited. EIAMP:E

)3! 3)ME F&' A:: &F $! 3& 'EM)D &$'!E:(E! 3&,

HA!> &3 *6A3 4&$' C&$3'4 CA D& F&' 4&$2 A!> *6A3

4&$ CA D& F&' 4&$' C&$3'4.H

As a broadcast riter, you must e=ercise careful udgment in determininghether such material is sufficiently original or identifiable ith itsauthor or source as to not reuire credit.

Numbers

"rom o%e 'o %,%e *rite out &E, 3*&, 36'EE, etc., unless they are beingused for s"orts scores, times, dates or tele"hone numbers.

"rom 10 'o ;;;. $se numerals 10, @0, 70, 1@?, #@8, etc.

More '(#% ;;;. %oth of the "receding styles a""ly ith one slightaddition. !ubstitute for the eroes, ords that mean hat those eroesre"resent, such as &E-6$D'ED, 18-6$D'ED, 36'EE-36&$!AD or


44/98

D#'es. 9A$A'4 1!3, 9$E @#36, 9$:4 36, etc.

!e#rs. Four digit numerals such as 1#?0 or 1##8.

Mo%e. 10-36&$!AD D&::A'!, 3*&-M)::)& 4E, @#-D-MA'>.

"r#c',o%s. 3*&-36)'D!, &E-F&$'36, 1


45/98

EIAMP:E:

*E M&(ED F'&M F&'3 %'AGG, &'36 CA'&:)A, & 9$E @#36,

1#?8.

T(e -#s(. $se the dash to set off a""ositi+es and other "arentheticale="ressions.

EIAMP:E

A3& -- 36E &'36 A3:A3)C 3'EA34 &'GA)LA3)& -- )!

P')MA'):4 'E!P&!)%:E F&'....

T(e (*(e%. $se the hy"hen to hel" announcers in "hrasing difficult ordsand to instruct them to "ronounce indi+idual elements distinctly.

EIAMP:E

'E-AD9$!3, 'E-E(A:$A3E, *-A-%-C, F-%-), $-!, A-M

D& &3 hy"henate or di+ide a ord at the end of a line. !"ell out theentire ord &' mo+e it to the ne=t line.

T(e -o's. &ccasionally, you can use a series of three dots to indicate a"ause longer than that of a comma. 3he series of three dots can be usedfor dramatic effect

EIAMP:E

36E 9$'4 F&'EMA A&$CED ) A C:EA' F)'M (&)CE...

H)&CE3H

T(e 6uo'#',o% m#r4s. )n addition to their normal use for indicatinguotes, the uotation mar5s can also be used to set off nic5names, titlesof boo5s and "lays, etc.

EIAMP:E

36E &E-6$D'ED F)'!3 A)'%&'E D)()!)& -- %E33E' >&*

A! 36E H!C'EAM)G EAG:E!H -- MA>E! )3! 6&ME A3 F&'3...

P#re%'(eses. )n broadcast co"y, material in "arentheses is information

for the announcer, and normally not meant to be read aloud. )t includesnotes to the announcer such as "ronunciation guides, a date, readingrates, etc.

EIAMP:E

C&:&E: PA4>E /PA4->E A'')(E! & !$DA4 /MA4 @1!3.

7 D)0781


46/98

S*e#4,%& O+ /or-s

'emember, anyone can turn on a radio or tele+ision set. Choose ords thate+eryone ill understand, the announcer as ell as the listener. Donte="ect things of your audience. Ma5e your co"y clear and understandable.

Co%'r#c',o%s. )n day-to-day con+ersations, contractions are usedliberally. H)tsH instead of Hit is,H HtheyreH instead of Hthey areH

ill ma5e your co"y more con+ersational. A cou"le of e=ce"tions to thisare the Hit illH contraction, Hitll,H and Hthey ill,H Htheyll,H hichare a5ard to the ear.

Pro%ou%s. 3here is a danger in using "ersonal "ronouns in broadcast co"y.4ou must be sure your audience 5nos ho youre tal5ing about hene+er youuse Hhe,H HsheH or Hthey.H 3he ear cant go bac5 and "ic5-u" theidentification.

A$$,'er#',o%s. *hen you com"ose a sentence consisting of se+eral ordsbeginning ith the same +oels or consonants, you ha+e alliterations andthe announcer has a "roblem.

E !6)E>! !)I36 !6EEP! !)C>

And of course, you should alays be aare of ho difficult your co"y illbe to read aloud. 3ry it yourself if you ha+e any doubt. 3his can be asecond reason for reading your co"y aloud in addition to double chec5ingit for time. *ell discuss ho to time your co"y later.

Homo%ms. *atch out for homonyms, ords hich sound ali5e but ha+edifferent meanings. 3he listener cant hear the difference beteen HonHand Hone,H bearH and Hbare.H

Here #%- '(ere. !ince your listeners could be anyhere, HhereH andHthereH can mean something different to each of them and change themeaning of your co"y. 3hese ords can be a+oided sim"ly by calling

D)0781


47/98

HhereH or HthereH by its name. )f HhereH is Fort >no=, say HF&'3 >&I.H

L,be$ous =or-s. A libelous ord ould be any ord that, if usedim"ro"erly in your story, could lead to libel. %e +ery careful ith ordsli5e atheist, fascist, seducer, bigamist, ra"ist, murderer, illegitimate,deadbeat, addict, etc. %e es"ecially careful ith the ord Hfor.H !ayingsomeone has been arrested Hfor murderH im"lies guilt. )nstead saysomething li5e Harrested on a charge of murderH or Harrested in connectionith the murder of...H >ee" in mind also that until someone is con+ictedof a crime, they are only a Hsus"ectH or the HaccusedH and their act isHalleged.H

No'> ?%o'?A+oid the use of the ord HnotH in your co"y. HotH caneasily be dro""ed inad+ertently and lea+e the listener ondering if heheard HnotH or not.

EIAMP:E

$se A+oid

D)!6&E!3 &3 6&E!3

)&CE3 &3 G$):34

F&'G&3 D)D &3 'EMEM%E'

$A%:E &3 A%:E

O'(er me#%,%&$ess =or-s. A+oid meaningless ords li5e HlatterH, HformerHand Hres"ecti+elyH hen referring to "ersons, "laces or things alreadymentioned. Again, listeners cant refer bac5. :i5eise, a+oid

transitional "hrases ithin your stories such as Hmeanhile,H Hmeantime,HHincidentally.H 3heyre crutches. *hile each thought, "hrase or "aragra"hshould flo to the ne=t, it should be done ith s5illful organiation, notthroaay transitional ords.

!teer clear of floery "hrases and trite e="ressions that ta5e u" time ands"ace and add nothing. A+oid slang, +ulgarisms and dialect in nesriting.

Alays translate military argon, technical, legal and foreign terms intosim"le language.

8 D)0781


48/98

EIAMP:E

$se A+oid

A!!)GED DE3A):ED

%EF&'E P')&' 3&

E:)!3ME3 6)3C6

)F ) 36E E(E3 &F

!A)D C:A)MED

Goo- '#s'e. *hat can e say about good tasteK )ts relati+e. )ts +eryeasy to be misunderstood, and e+en hen your meaning is uite clear,theres a chance that someone ill feel its in bad taste. 4ou M$!3,therefore, ta5e all "recautions to be sure your ords, "hrases and mannerof "resenting information ill not embarrass your command, your ser+ice,or the $nited !tates Go+ernment.

H#%-$,%& T,'$es #%- N#mes

Dont lead off a broadcast story ith a "ersons name if you can a+oid it.)n the case of names and titles being used together, "recede the name iththe title. )t should be, H!PEC)A: AGE3 E::)&33 E!!,H not HE::)&33E!!, !PEC)A: AGE3.H 3his alerts your listener that a name is coming u"and gi+es them a better chance to com"rehend your story.

&fficial titles'efer to federal office holders by title or as HmisterH or Hms.H 3hat is!EA3&' 9&E! or M)!3E' 9&E!...C&G'E!!MA !M)36 or M)!3E'

!M)36...C&G'E!!*&MA %'&* or M! %'&*...

D,++,cu$' %#mes. *hene+er a difficult name isnt essential, use the"ersons title, such as H36E F&'E)G M))!3E' &F !*EDE...H

I%,',#$s. )ts best to omit initials in a "ersons name unless it is aell-5non "art of the "ersons name such as 6&*A'D >. !M)36 or M)C6AE: 9.F&I or F. :EE %A):E4. 3he other e=ce"tion is hen the nature of the storyreuires further clarification, such as births or deaths.

P(o%e',c s*e$$,%&. )f theres any ay for an announcer to mis"ronounce adifficult or unusual name, assume hell do it. !o gi+e him all the hel"

you can. *rite the "honetic s"elling in "arentheses, and "lace itimmediately behind the troublesome ord. %e sure to underline the"honetic syllable that is to be accented or stressed.

D)0781 B


49/98

EIAMP:E

!E'GEA3 >&::MA /C&A:-MA E3E'ED...

M$)C6 /ME*-)C>, GE'MA4 )! 36E CAP)3&: &F....

Ma5e sure the "honetic s"elling a""ears on the same line as the ord itre"resents.

*hen abbre+iations are used, they are intended to be read asabbre+iations. 3he use of ell-5non abbre+iations is "ermissible, suchas...4-M-C-A, F-%-), $-!, A-M, or P-M. 4ou may also use M'., M!., and D'.H!3.H may be used instead of H!A)3H as in !3. :&$)!.

Do not abbre+iate military ran5s or installation names. $se CAP3A)CA':)!:E /not CP3., !3AFF !E'GEA3 %A):E4 /not !!G or !!G3.. $se F&'3/not F3. >&I. $se A(A: A)' !3A3)& /not A!. $)3ED !3A3E! or $-!A)' F&'CE /not $!AF.

O'(er Co%s,-er#',o%s

Abbre,#',o%s. A good rule to remember on the use of abbre+iations inbroadcast co"y is...*6E ) D&$%3, *')3E )3 &$3. 6ours and hours of e=tratime s"ent in riting things out isnt orth trading for one momentsembarrassment on the air. Consider as ell, the additional chance ofmisunderstanding on the "art of the listener.

e+er abbre+iate names of states, cities, countries, "olitical "arties/e=ce"t G-&-P, days of the ee5, months, titles of officials and addressidentification such as street, a+enue, dri+e or boule+ard.e+er start a sentence ith an abbre+iation, ord, ornumber. *6E ) D&$%3, *')3E )3 &$3.

Acro%ms. *hen using an unfamiliar abbre+iation or acronym that ill be"ronounced as a ord, be sure to s"ell it out in the first usage.

EIAMP:E

H36E DEFE!E )F&'MA3)& !C6&&:, C&MM&:4 CA::ED D)F&!..H

HC6AMP$! - 36E C)():)A 6EA:36 AD MED)CA: P'&G'AM F&' 36E

$)F&'MED !E'()CE! - 6E:P! !E'()CEME AD 36E)' FAM):)E!.H

< D)0781


50/98

A$$)CAPS or U**er9$o=er c#se Do you ty"e broadcast co"y in all-ca"s oru""er and loercase lettersK !ome nesrooms fa+or an all-ca"s format forconsistency ith co"y coming o+er telety"es. !tudies, hoe+er, sho thatco"y ty"ed in u""er and loercase letters is easier to read. &ne thing toconsider hen using u""er and loercase is the chance of failure toca"italie, hich could confuse an announcer and cause him to stumble.

T,m,%& our co* 3he total line count of a broadcast nes release is the

most common measure of the length or time. )n tele+ision scri"ts, thestoryline, or audio, shares the "age ith the +ideo. 3herefore, ith onlyhalf the "age for the story content, the ty"eriter margins are set for ana+erage of 78 characters or s"aces "er line. As a result, 1 to 1B linesof tele+ision co"y ill a+erage 70 seconds, or to seconds "er line.

To'#$ =or- cou%'. 3hough not the "referred method, the length or time ofa broadcast nes release can also be measured by total ord count.Announcers read at +arying s"eeds, but the a+erage is to-and-a-half ords"er second. 3his ould mean a""ro=imately 180 ords for a B0-second story.

Number,%& *#&es. *hene+er your broadcast co"y is more than one "age,

"ages are numbered consecuti+ely 1 of NN, @ of NN, 7 of NN. )f yourscri"t is 10 "ages long, the first "age ould be numbered 1 of 10, and thelast "age ould be numbered 10 of 10. Page numbers are ty"ed in the u""erright hand corner of the "age. Page numbers are e=tremely im"ortant inbroadcast co"y. )magine an announcer on his ay to an air shift, e=actlyon time ho dro"s his co"y and gets the "ages mi=ed u". 3here ont beenough time to sort them out if they dont ha+e "age numbers.

T(e +our)u%,' (e#-,%&. 3his consists of a slugline, date, length of co"yand ty"e of release. 3he slugline ser+es as a little headline of thestory. 3he date is the date the release as "re"ared. 3he co"y lengthtells in seconds a""ro=imately ho long it ill ta5e to read the story.

3here are to ty"es of releases the immediate release for hard nes itemsand the li5e, and the general release for soft nes, features, s"ots orany other material that doesnt ha+e the immediacy of hard nes.

EIAMP:E

&$3D&&' 'EC'EA3)& AP'): 1, 1#II

/70 !EC&D! F&' GEE'A: 'E:EA!E

)n "lace of the ty"e of release, you can ha+e a D& &3 $!E AF3E' line ithtime and date. 3his is for timely material, usually about an e+ent

D)0781 ?


51/98

that ill run for a limited time. )t gi+es the broadcaster a cut-off dateor time to discontinue airing the release. 4ou can also ha+e a 6&:D F&''E:EA!E $3): line for ad+ance releases. 3his is a good tool for"ro+iding material in ad+ance, e+en though it shouldnt be aired until acertain time. )t allos others to "lan and schedule ithout "utting thematerial out too soon.

.,-eo)c(#%&e s*#c,%&. )n tele+ision co"y, the rule is double s"acing.*hen a +ideo change is to occur in a tele+ision scri"t, e then tri"les"ace. 3his alerts the announcer that there is a +ideo change ta5ing"lace. )t may be returning from something else to the announcer on camerahere more eye contact is reuired. 3he announcer shouldnt be seenloo5ing off camera, and if for some reason he needs to loo5 elsehere,such as to a monitor for an on-cue "oint, the scri"t ill alert him as tohen he ont be on camera.

O%)cue. *hen reading to a +ideota"e in a tele+ision scri"t, announcersneed a ay to "re+ent coming out ay ahead of the ta"e, or being too sloand thus behind the ta"e. 3he method used to do this is H&-C$E.H Atselected "oints in the scri"t, the riter builds in "laces for the

announcer to "ause, loo5 at the studio monitor and ait for a "articular"oint at hich to restart. 3he number of times this is done in a scri"tde"ends on the length of the scri"t. 3he longer the scri"t, the moretimes the announcer should "ause. 3his is one ay to "ro+ide for the+arying s"eeds at hich different announcers read.

T(e e%- or @ @ @. 3he number symbols, O O O, indicate the end of yourbroadcast release. !ometimes called HDun"hys,H they should be centeredunder your manuscri"t column. 4ou should ha+e the ord HmoreH in thatsame "osition at the end of each "age to indicate that there is more co"yon another "age.

E-,',%& ro#-c#s' Co*

Absolutely clean co"y -free of mista5es -is the rule for co"y designed foroutside release to tele+ision stations. !lo""y co"y is a distraction tothe broadcaster and it says something about you, your leadershi" and yourunit that no one ants said. For in-house "roductions, edit mar5s may beused s"aringly, but only those edit mar5s that are easily understood. D&&3 $!E P')3 MED)A C&P4 ED)3 MA'>!.

*hen inserting a "eriod, comma, uestion mar5, e=clamation "oint,a"ostro"he, etc., ust insert the mar5 here it should go. For othercorrections, use one of the folloing broadcast editing methods

# D)0781


52/98

To correc' m,ss*e$$,%&s. Com"letely blac5en out the miss"elled ord and"rint or ty"e the correct +ersion abo+e

EIAMP:E

C&::)DED;36E !6)P! ) 6EA(4 F&G.

Do not attem"t to correct a letter ithin a ord. Correct and rerite theentire ord. %roadcast has no editing mar5 to correct a single letterithin a ord.

I%ser',%& =or-s or *(r#ses. 4ou insert ords or "hrases by "rinting orty"ing the desired ords abo+e the line and indicate the "oint ofinsertion.

EIAMP:E

G&(E'ME3...:A'GE J$A3)3)E! &F !$PP:)E!.

Se*#r#',%& =or-s. !e"arate run-together ords by a single line

EIAMP:E

36E F)'E !3A'3ED )36E EG)E...

De$e',%& # =or-. Delete a ord by blac5ening out the ord and bridgingthe ga"

EIAMP:E

36E 3EAM APPEA'ED 3)'ED.

Delete ords or more than one line

EIAMP:E

36E %&!3& !&:D)E'

'ECE)(ED A F$:: PA'D&.

"e#'ure /r,',%&

A feature "ro+ides a change of "ace to a nescast. Features usually focuson soft nes items and "ro+ide a lighter note.

$se colorful treatment hen riting a feature story. Colorful treatmentuses acti+e, +i+id, descri"ti+e ords ith "recise meanings. (erbs

D)0781 80


53/98


54/98

/E=am"le of E9 !cri"t for a !tudio :ead-)n

D)0781 8@


55/98

/E=am"le of 3( es !cri"t for E9

87 D)0781


56/98

/E=am"le of 3( es !cri"t - Contd

D)0781 8


57/98

/E=am"le of 3( es !cri"t ith Actuality

88 D)0781


58/98

/Contd E=am"le of 3( es !cri"t ith Actuality

D)0781 8B


59/98

/E=am"le of 3( !"ot !cri"t for E9

8< D)0781


60/98


61/98

ANNOUNCING

3he announcing in 3( nes inserts is done by a re"orter. 'e"orters arethe heart of the nes gathering system. *ithout them, there ould be nones. )n most cases, they go out, gather the facts, do the initialriting and editing and "rocess it all into a nes story.

*hile there are fe differences beteen military and ci+ilian broadcastshen it comes to tele+ision, one of the most ob+ious is in the a""earanceof the re"orter in the nes insert. )n ci+ilian tele+ision re"orters areseen doing their or5 in the field or in the studio. 3he audience comesto 5no them and res"ect them. Most re"orters gain a celebrity status.3hey usually ha+e some title such as in+estigati+e re"orter, or economicsre"orter, field re"orter, general assignments re"orter, and so on.

3he military re"orter, on the other hand, usually does all the re"orting,and seldom a""ears in his or5. *e are not in the "osition for the"ur"ose of mar5eting oursel+es or becoming celebrities. A certain amountof recognition is una+oidable in the course of getting the ob done, andit ill e+en lend credibility to our "roduct. 4ou ill find a le+el of

coo"eration "resent almost e+eryhere that fe other military "eo"lee="erience. )ts all right to smell the "erfume as long as you dontdrin5 any of it. 'emember hat you are there for, and that your most+aluable asset is the ability to communicate information and ideas clearlyfor the "ur"ose of command or "ublic information. $se the recognition andcoo"eration to get the ob done and create a better "roduct.

)n this lesson, ell tal5 about hat re"orters do ith EG technology,and ho they do it. Although technology doesnt do the or5 for there"orter, it does ha+e a lot to do ith it. Good solid re"orting stillbegins ith *ho, *hat, *hen, *here, *hy and 6o. 3hose elements,"rocessed ith accuracy, bre+ity and clarity, are still the necessary

ingredients of good nes re"orting. %eyond that, the ability to find theright ord or turn a "hrase at ust the right time to ma5e the re"ortinteresting, informati+e and illuminating, ill ma5e the nes re"ort, asell as the re"orter, stand out.

3here are to basic ty"es of nes re"orts you ill generally be dealingith. 3hey are the s"ot nes e+ent and the nes feature. 3he techniuesyou em"loy to co+er these to ty"es of stories ill be similar, but ithone im"ortant difference. 3hat difference is in ho much time you ha+e to"re"are for the story. 3he nes feature can be "lanned ell in ad+ance,alloing the re"orter time to thin5 about and "lan the co+erage. Ane=am"le of the nes feature ould be the flu shot "rogram or the

remodeling of a facility here it is nes, but "lanned. 3he s"ot nese+ent is

8# D)0781


62/98

a brea5ing e+ent, usually fast-mo+ing and s"ontaneous. )t seldom allosfor any "lanning e=ce"t in the most general sense. E=am"les of s"ot nesould be fires, accidents, e="losions, natural disasters, hiac5ings,shootings and other bad nes e+ents.

3he only "lanning for s"ot nes e+ents ould be in the form of some 5indof disaster "lan. 3he best ay to begin to formulate a disaster "lan isto say, H*hat if..H and then follo it ith e+ery contingency you canthin5 of. Although youll ne+er be able to antici"ate e+ery "ossibility,you ill be better "re"ared for many s"ot nes e+ents.

T(e S*o' Ne=s Ee%'

Co+erage of a s"ot nes e+ent, a brea5ing story, "resents a number ofchallenges. 3here ill be to basic situations youll be in hen thestory brea5s. &ne ill be hen youre around your unit or station doingother things. 3he other ill be hen youre out co+ering something else.)f its the first, grab the eui"ment, find out as much about thesituation as "ossible in a minute or to and get out to the site of thee+ent. )f its the second situation, the timing usually means youll ha+e

to either discontinue or ra"idly conclude the story youre or5ing on andmo+e to the ne location. 6ere is here "lanning of a general nature illcome into effect. *ill it be your habit to ta5e double the batteries andta"es out on each shoot, or ill you not ha+e enough ith you to doanother storyK

E="erienced re"orters ill attest to the fact that this is here youllha+e the most difficulty in EG. 3he ability to change gears right in themiddle of the story and go to something com"letely unrelated and start allo+er is "erha"s one of the most difficult things to achie+e. )t can e+enbe a bit dangerous in certain situations such as e+ents here there isconfusion and chaos. Peo"le get hurt in training accidents e+en hen

training is all they ha+e to concern themsel+es ith. Coming from anunrelated situation and different mind-set ill add to any danger that is"resent.

Tr#,% +or s#+e'. !ince tele+ision nes field re"orting can ta5e youanyhere it is necessary to stress safety. Air cres are constantlyreminded that safety is "aramount. 3hey are alert to dangerous situationsand try to stay out of them. 3hey follo "reflight chec5s and flightrules scru"ulously. 4ou should "ay as much attention to safety as the aircre.

EG eui"ment is bul5y, and youll often ha+e to ta5e it into dangerous

areas. $se common sense, shar"en your instincts, and "rotect yourself andthe other members of your cre from danger. )t ould be silly to dri+e

D)0781 B0


63/98

so fast to a nes e+ent that you ha+e an accident on the ay. :i5eise,around a construction site, you should stay clear of hea+y eui"ment ino"eration. !tay ell bac5 from e="osed electrical "oer lines. Dontlean far out of a tenth floor indo to get that high-angle shot. Dontset u" in the middle of a su"erhighay for that great into-frame-out-of-frame seuence. Dont set u" your tri"od on loose ground. *hen carryingthe camera, be careful of here you ste" and alays be aare of hat isbeside and behind you. Abo+e all, dont become fi=ed in the +iefinder somuch that you are unaare of danger around you. !ince the +iefinder is aminiature tele+ision screen, dont get the feeling that since youreseeing the action on tele+ision, its the same as sitting in your li+ingroom atching a ar mo+ie. !ou8re s',$$ ,% '(e '(,c4 o+ '(e #c',o%.

Te#m=or4. 3he relationshi" of the re"orter to the cre is critical. )tmust be a "ositi+e relationshi" if the team is to succeed. )n a businesshere "ersonalities and egos sometimes get selled out of "ro"ortion, itis im"erati+e that e+eryone be illing to acce"t the "rofessionalism ofothers, "articularly in military organiations here duty assignmentsreuire "eo"le to or5 in the same "lace ithout consideration of"ersonalities. Personnel administration has enough in the ay of

limitations ithout adding "roblems li5e the inability of to large egosto or5 together "rofessionally.

)t may not be necessary for cre members to li5e each other "ersonally,but they must get along ell "rofessionally, and not allo "ersonaldifferences to get in the ay of the mission. Perha"s the most im"ortantelement to being able to or5 together is to communicate. )f e+eryone isilling to tal5

Documents

US Army Journalist - Electronic Journalism II 1990