Week 2

Lectures and Readings:

This week we worked on the aspect of filming and framing. In the readings we focused on the way a bulletin is written. The main focus of writing te bulletin is the structure (Alysen 2012, p. 43). Unlike print broadcast writing has to start and end conclusively, rather than using the pyramid style.

Stephen Stockwell notes that the most prominent people are captured by the media using front and centred medium close-up shots to suggest they are a figure of authority. However, in some news pieces the journalist can be portrayed as the authoritative source. 

There are also a number of shots used to frame the talent and the background. Medium to very long shots are not as frequently used in news stories, but they are used on channel nine's A Current Affair. 

A variety of moving shots can add emphasis with zooms, or run alongside the talent using a dolly. Firstly, pans consist of camera movements from side to side and show the length or distance in the story. Tilts consist of movement in the opposite direction with a tilt upwards and then downwards. Finally, zooms include moving the camera inwards and outwards adding an emphasis to the feature. 

The piece to camera is a common technique used by the media to start or end a package.  They usually consist of only two sentences (Alysen 2012, p. 61). Most of the main stream media will use the stance of showing a story topic then following across to the reader to start the piece to camera. 



Another element of video journalism is the rule of two-thirds, used to frame an interviewee or the talent of a story. During a Vox pop or an interview the camera man will position the talent so that they only take up two thirds of the screen. The journalist will usually be positioned so the talent is looking toward the empty third of the shot. Therefore, this is the basics of framing in television journalism.