This document provides guidance and best practices for multimedia photojournalism that combines images, audio, and text. It discusses the history of multimedia and how adding audio can enhance images and text. It offers tips for shooting photos and video, including using available light, following composition rules like the rule of thirds, keeping the camera stable, and framing shots. It also provides advice for gathering audio through techniques like interviews and natural sound recording. The document emphasizes filling the frame with relevant subjects and action, and it discusses strategies for determining whether to shoot or interview first.

1. Multimedia 1: Photojournalism + Audio
A brief history of Mulltimedia / Mixing audio and images
A/Prof Martin Hirst,
Deakin University, August 2013 #alj301 @ethicalmartini
The addition of audio should then take the picture and the text caption to yet another
level, the fourth effect of multimedia, where the image, text and audio work together to
create an experience that none could produce on their own.
Brian Storm, multimedia pioneer http://digitaljournalist.org/issue0506/storm.html

2. Two strands weave together
Briefing 1:
History of multimedia
 Analogue to digital
 Bigger, better and smaller
 Keeping up with technique
and technology
 Go Mojo
 DIY and the second UGC
revolution
Briefing 2:
Introducing photojournalism
 A picture is worth 1000
words
 The photo-essay: tradition
and controversy
 Film to pixels
 Art and the impact of
technology

3. From analog to digital
 A key development in the evolution of
multimedia journalism was the shift from analog
to digital technology
 The binary code of computing was applied
to the communication arts with stunning
effect
 Translating sound and images to bits and
bytes liberated amateurs and professionals
from the dark room and the tape recorder
 Portability can increase productivity and/or
creativity
 but the connection is not automatic

4. Go Mojo
Ivo Burum, has over 30 years experience as a producer, director
writer and executive producer in television content across
news, current affairs, documentary and docu-drama.
Ivo was a pioneer in ‘self-shot television’ and is leading the world on
mobile journalism (mojo). Ivo is often invited to conferences, he
consults to global media, and is completing his PhD at Deakin
University.

5. From “kludge” to Mojo: 1 – stepping up

6. Step 2: UGC-UGNC-UGS
User-generated content [UGC]:
This very broad category covers everything from the lucky or coincidental photo or video
imageds; causal YouTube upload to the serious amateur blogger, Flikr afficionado or
Redditor to comment threads on MSM sites, fanzines and other weird portals of doom
User-generated news-like content [UGNC] – News 2.0 (Hirst 2011):
‘News-like’ content can be eye-witness, willing or unwilling participant; UGNC is a little
more serious or focused than simple UGC, it is a refinement of the concept of user-
generated because it has more characteristics of news, it is of a more ‘public interest’
focus.
UGNC can incorporate various types of activist and citizen journalism
User-generated Story (UGS) – NT Mojo; High School Mojo Ivo Burum’s PhD Stage 1:
UGS is another level of conscious structuring that takes the active features of citizen
journalism, but applies them to both’ news’, ‘news-like’ and non-news genres, including
professional, educational and everyday story-telling.

7. Is crowd-sourced UGC profitable?
• Stringwire and Newsmodo are
‘crowd sourced’, entrepreneurial
news and story generating models
• News organisations pay a
freelance fee to source material
from people ‘on-the-scene’ or on
‘topic’ stories
• These sites are emerging in many
parts of the world as a way of
harnessing freelance talent, or
interested media students in an
increasingly outsourced news
marketplace
• It is yet to be shown that they are
sustainable as a variant of the
new economy for news

8. Photojournalism
documents real life
Like in traditional print journalism, the
photojournalist’s job is to document a
real story in the most authentic manner
possible and with the utmost journalistic
integrity.
A Brief History of Photojournalism
Dorothea Lange, Mère migrante
(Migrant Mother), 1936

9. Migration from print
to web
When Life magazine made the
announcement in 1972 that it was
ceasing its weekly publication, many
people claimed that photojournalism
was dead.
However, photojournalism is just as
impactful viewed on a webpage as it is
when viewed on the page of a
magazine. People consume news
voraciously, and have come to expect
solid photographic documentation of
what is happening in the world around
them.
A Brief History of Photojournalism
Gordon Parks America Gothic

10. What do
photojournalists do?
 Hunting verbs means
finding, following and
capturing the action
 Verbs are doing words, we
want to see images of people
doing things
 Answer the question for
viewers:
 “What are they doing?”
Photojournalists capture "verbs." This
sounds simple, but a room of
professional photographers was
dumbfounded by this realization.
Although photojournalists can take
properly exposed and well composed
photographs all day long, they hunt
verbs. They hunt them, shoot them and
show them to their readers. Then, they
hunt more.
Mark Hancock
http://markhancock.blogspot.com.au/1996/01/what-is-
photojournalist.html#photojournalist

11. ―Just shoot me‖
 There‘s nothing mysterious about broadcast
technology and in the web context high-end
production values are not important
 However, always aim to shoot the best quality that
you can—this means good light, good audio and
good camera angles
 There are some basic rules you should be
following - ‗the rule of thirds‘, for example and how
to follow action with the camera, without getting all
that jerky movement that spoils the shot

12. Point and shoot #1:
Fill the frame
 Fill the frame
 Get close
 Get wide
 Back away when necessary
 Crop in camera
Within the rectangular frame there is life.
Each time we bring the camera to our
eyes, we fill from the fountain. We have a
chance to look at the world around us
and refill our wonder. Given this
opportunity, we should fill our frame with
life. We should fill it often and make sure
it's full.
Mark Hancock
The rule is, keep anything that adds to the
image and remove (by in-camera cropping)
anything that detracts from the image.

17. Keep the camera still
 Great images and videos are
often ruined by something
preventable: camera shake.
 Stability is the key to
eliminating camera shake. The
best way to create a stable
platform for the camera or
video recorder is by using a
tripod.
 Bracing a camera against a
wall or tree eliminates several
directions of movement but
also restricts the PJ's options
and occasionally her/his
ability to frame the image at
all.

18. Framing the shot
 A good shot will always fill the frame
 Get as physically close as you can to the
subject/action ―Zoom with your feet‖
 Familiarise yourself with the grammar of the shot:
 Long/wide/establishing shots (panoramic, scene-
setting)
 Mid-shots (from the mid thigh or higher)/Head and
shoulders (close-up)/ECU (extreme close-up)
 Portraits versus Landscapes
 Choose your background carefully – ―decorate‖
 Fill the frame

19. Shoot for your editor (usually you)
 Most times you only get one shot at getting a shot
 Action speaks louder than words – shoot wide first
and shoot wide often
 Shoot objects that are relevant or interesting; details
faces, hands, windows, artworks, flowers, friends, doors, damage, colour,
emotion, metaphor, beauty, intrigue, curiosity, personality
 But don‘t waste time on that till you get the action
 Take time to frame an interview shot – even in the
heat of the moment

20. Rule of thirds
 Imagine the scene you want to
frame overlaid with a grid
breaking it into nine rectangles
of equal size
 Find the major point of interest
in the shot as your focal point
 Frame major foreground
objects into the left or right
horizontal third and into the
middle third
 Fill at least two thirds vertically
Source: sweet.vanjava
The theory is that if you place
points of interest in the
intersections or along the lines
that your photo becomes more
balanced and will enable a viewer
of the image to interact with it
more naturally.
Digital Photography School

21. Source: TV Handbook
Source: Ethical Martini
Source: sweet.vanjava
Source: Picture America

22. Use ALL available light
 Dark, greyed-out and grainy footage cannot be repaired in post-
production (GIGO again)
 Using professional lighting rigs is expensive, time-consuming and not
for the D-I-Y beginner
 Simple-to-use ‗hotshoe‘ lights for modern digital cameras work well
for lighting faces—if you‘re close enough
 When in doubt take it out(side)—there‘s nothing wrong with asking
your interviewee to go outside, but be very careful about noisy
locations
 Open the curtains/blinds and turn on the lights
 A simple table or desk lamp makes a reasonable spotlight for
faces

23. Lighting tips
 Don‘t shoot into direct sunlight
 If you‘re outside on a really sunny day, find some
light/dappled shade
 Don‘t shoot with the sun in your interviewee‘s eyes, they
squint and look stupid
 Find and use the ―backlight‖ button on your camera
 If you only have a little amount of light, get it on your
subject any way you can—use the desk lamp etc and
bring it close, then frame the shot to leave it out (see
rule of thirds)

24. Action in the frame
 For interview subjects – frame wide or deep enough to
get hands in frame if they move, using slow tilt
 If you‘re on your own, keep it simple
 a good seated MCU set wide (camera close) over one
shoulder,
 or standing head and shoulders to mid chest [don‘t cross
the line]
 If in doubt, keep it wide – for crowd scenes, team sport and
racing
 Don‘t shoot flat – angle the camera so that the action is
moving towards (not head-on) or away into a horizon or
vertical vanishing point (thirds)

25. Where can the camera go?
 180 degree rule
 for any given sequence of
shots stay on one side of
the subject
 a half-circle along an
imaginary line through the
subject forms your
shooting area
 Crossing the line reverses
the direction of action

26. Photojournalism and multimedia
 Smartphones combine
multimedia and mobile
Apps
 Twitter, Instagram & Flickr
 “Kludge”:
 Citizen Journalism
 Bystander footage
 Go mojo: Ivo Burum
Today's photojournalists also must
master sound equipment and
collection of audio in addition to
cameras, lenses, and the ability to
shoot compelling images
Kobre, K, 2008, 'Multimedia', in Photojournalism: the
professionals' approach, Focal Press, Amsterdam, pp.
269-305.
Professor Ken Kobré heads the
photojournalism program at San Francisco
State University.

27. Add sound for extra ‘oomph’
 Gathering audio is a challenge for
traditional photojournalists, but
for multimedia it is a natural step
 Nat Sot – natural sound /
atmosphere ‘Atmos’
 V/O – voice over / narration
 Grab – audio slice from an
interview with subject
 SFx – sound effects / added
during the edit / mix
Words in a subject's own voice more
powerfully convey a quote than any
printed version of the same words.
Sound adds the cultural richness of
accent and the reality of emotion to
accompanying images.

28. A few sound rules
 Read up and practice microphone technique
 Test your microphones before using them, particularly
the first time
 If using a small ‗prosumer‘ camera, fit an external mic if
you can
 Where possible use lapel mics for interviews – if you only
have one, put it on the talent, not on you
 If your camera lets you ALWAYS check your audio levels
in a pre-record test
 Stay away from noisy locations and high wind situations

29. To interview or shoot?What comes first
 The chicken descended from
dinosaurs, but dinosaurs also laid
eggs…so
 Interview before the shoot to gather
information that will inform your choice
of shot
 Alternatively, candid shots may help
reveal issues that can be broached in a
question that adds value
The question of whether
to shoot first or ask
questions is a bit like the
proverbial chicken-or-
egg problem.

30. Ask, shoot, ask and shoot again
 To find the best fit –
Kobre’s “tight lock”
between image, text and
audio
 Ask some questions to get
ideas for shots
 Shoot some images
 Ask again, possibly after
showing images to talent
The real answer to "Which comes first, the
interview or the photography?" lies in the
need to do each more than once.
Ken Kobre
This approach works for static situations,
where you are doing a pre-arranged
interview and you have had time to
prepare for the assignment
A different approach may be necessary
when covering an “event” such as a
sporting match or protests march
If you are covering a news story or current
affairs, you may well want to shoot in more
than one location and over several time
periods or days