Wednesday, June 20, 2007

It's Not About Gear

Seems like every time I open my mouth about spending money for good gear, people get upset.

But I'm not advocating spending a bunch of money to equip reporters with good gear. Not at all. That's a waste.

I'm advocating spending a bunch of money to train some staffers to be full-time video professionals. And if you're going to do that, then equip them with decent video gear. Doesn't matter if they're photogs or reporters. Pick the visually literate people who can tell stories and who get along with technology.

It'll take at least three months to get them up to speed if you already have video pros aboard who can train them. It'll take a year if they're learning in a vacuum.

Creating compelling stories in video is hard.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Definitely agree with that. I learned "in a vacuum," starting about a year ago. I feel I've mastered the technical aspects of shooting and editing. But I feel that I still need to develop deeper, more complex storytelling skills.

That's why I'm considering buying videography books. Just trying to find the best bang for my buck before I purchase.

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