Posts Tagged ‘camera’

CNN’s new angle dizzying

The New York Daily News has a review on how CNN is making use of its new Atlanta studio — and it isn’t overly flattering.

“After watching for a few days, I’m certain that someone there must own stock in Dramamine,” writes the paper’s Richard Huff, referring to the network’s use of wide, sweeping shots.

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NewscastTip: Choices for framing talent have pros, cons

How you frame in-studio talent plays a big role in the overall feeling and tone of your newscast.

Tight framing can create a more intimate viewing experience because facial expressions and body language are more prominent. It also makes your talents’ eyes being more visible, which can increase the connection views feel with talent since many people use eyes as a judge of character, emotion and friendliness.

One downside to tighter viewing to consider is that as viewers’ screens continue to grow larger, seeing a screen dominated by a larger-than-life head can be a bit overwhelming.
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NewscastTip: Newscast wide, bump shot ideas

Wide closing and bump shots are a great way to show off your set and give viewers a unique point of view. These types of shots can also be used for credits, sponsorships or news tip hotline promotions. Here are some ideas for wide and bump shots.

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Something crooked on the set of Hardball?

Take a look at this image. It’s a direct screen grab of “Hardball” with two horizontal lines added to show that the textural lines, constitutional text and “Hardball” logos found in the dura don’t seem to be straight.

This could be being caused by the fact the camera shooting Chris Matthews is off-angle. However, this type of framing typically causes a perspective effect rather than making the background look off-axis.

Could the camera be crooked? The floor? The set? Who knows. Most likely it’s just an optical illusion, but it’s the kind of thing that once you noticed it, it bugs the heck out of you.

Now Maddow’s show isn’t using cool camera moves

Hopefully it’s just a case of short staffing due to a camera operators getting sick from too much Halloween candy, but it seems The Rachel Maddow Show may be dropping its use of camera moves.

Friday’s edition of the show featured almost all stationery one-shots on Maddow; no slick push-ins or use of the rear projection screens.

Yesterday’s show, which was broadcast from Sarasota, Fla., featured a never-before-seen OTS graphic template since Maddow reported from a baseball field and didn’t have access to the MSNBC studio’s large RPs. Well, those OTSs were used almost exclusively Friday night.

It’s also interesting to note that Kent Jones, who usually joins Maddow during the show’s last block was shown in split screen rather than at the desk. It wasn’t clear where he was reporting from (he may have been out of town) so we’re not sure if him not joining Maddow at the anchor desk was by design or necessity.

Are fancy camera moves necessary? Of course not. But they do give a show a polished, professional look that’s also interesting to watch — especially for news junkies like me.