“When capturing motion and stills for use in multimedia it is essential to record all subjects in wide, medium and close-up shots,” Mary Lynn Price told me recently. As a video journalist focusing on “one-man-band” reporting, Price uses all three perspectives to carefully construct rich reporting experiences. One great example is her “Conserving Shackleton’s Historic Hut in Antarctica,” which she produced in 2008 for “Women Working in Antarctica.”
“The wide shot is the establishing shot, the medium shot clearly shows the subject, and the close-ups give us the ‘wow’ factor,” Price explains. She uses all of these to her storytelling advantage throughout “Shackleton’s Historic Hut.”
Even though it’s only five minutes, “Shackleton’s Historic Hut” asks a lot from Web viewers with short, fickle attention spans. Price holds our interest by presenting as much information as many, slower-paced TV documentaries would in a half hour.
Not only do get to know three different women working in Antarctica — seeing them at work and clearly feeling their passions for their jobs — but Price also weaves into her reporting a unique vision of early Antarctic exploration.
One of Price’s subjects, Jana Stefan, a conservator for the Antarctic Heritage Trust, says, “What we’re doing is keeping [the hut] around so that future people can get the feeling that we get when we walk inside the hut, and feel the ambiance and feel what it would have been like to be the explorers down here.”
Thanks to her excellent use of wide, medium and close-up shots, what Price is doing is helping us feel what it would be like to visit Shackleton’s historic hut. And we don’t even have to leave the warmth of our computer stations. Very cool.
More “Cool” Videos from Price
To see more of Price’s Antarctica reporting, visit her “AntarcticPortraits” YouTube channel.
July 16th, 2010 9:17 am
Not only should one shoot wide, medium, tight and closeups but also from a variety of angles. High, low, from the front, from behind etc. Also shoot action – reaction. You’ll be happy you did when you get in the editing room. And editing will make you a better shooter – you’ll know exactly what you should have gotten in the field when you go to edit your material.