Why photogs shouldn't shoot video.

Well this is a rant I have made before but it hits close to home today and perfectly shows my point.

videographers/cinematographers understand exposure and composition much like photogs. Great. The video guys have taken DSLR's for video and started shooting stills because it uses the principles we already know. Many photogs have no understanding of motion/audio and think because their cameras can shoot video, they'll just go ahead and do it.

This video, which is god awful was posted by the Boston Globe and reposted by NPR. This is either a freelancer that sold it or a staff photographer. Seriously, does anyone think that this person was thinking about the moment when they took this video? This was a photog POV shooting video and it is awful.

This hits home because I have had to fix video shot by photojournalists that think they just magically understand video.

/end rant.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/...red-sox-parade

Quote:

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Originally Posted by systemoverblow'd

Well this is a rant I have made before but it hits close to home today and perfectly shows my point.

videographers/cinematographers understand exposure and composition much like photogs. Great. The video guys have taken DSLR's for video and started shooting stills because it uses the principles we already know. Many photogs have no understanding of motion/audio and think because their cameras can shoot video, they'll just go ahead and do it.

This video, which is god awful was posted by the Boston Globe and reposted by NPR. This is either a freelancer that sold it or a staff photographer. Seriously, does anyone think that this person was thinking about the moment when they took this video? This was a photog POV shooting video and it is awful.

This hits home because I have had to fix video shot by photojournalists that think they just magically understand video.

/end rant.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/...red-sox-parade

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Reminds me of this aborted fetus from earlier this week.

I can't think of another situation that would be easier to sequence.

http://www.marketplace.org/topics/bu...operator-video

Dear lord that was painful to watch. Perfect example. Not only was it shot like shit, but the actual final cut was abysmal! Just by cutting aroud have his awful shaking, getting rid of the crossfades, making sure everything was 16:9 and really toning down the Ken Burns effect would have made it much more palatable and probably half as long.

That reminds me, they can't edit for shit either.

My buddy here in Boston is a photojournlist and has had me come up with some MG work for him and his cuts are just like this. He is better with shakes than this guy but he still doesn't get video. Filming a presentation using the onboard mic from the back of a noisy room was one of my favorites.

All I could stand was the first minute and I didn't see where there could have been any single frame that would have worked as a photograph, so I question your assumption that this was done by photographer. Other that that, yes, this was shot by someone with no idea of what they should have been doing.

Because I watched it and didn't see anyone other than photographers there. Maybe I am wrong, but dealing with these people all the time I find it far more likely a photog was trying to shoot video instead of a video guy messing up that bad. Who the hell would put the camera on the ground and zoom into the plate during that? Who would turn away during the singing of god bless america? A photog that thinks in still frames and not one that knows anything about capturing time.

Say the globe had 3 staffers there. 2 to get stills and the other to "try" to get video. I find that pretty likely. No local stations were allowed to film it on the ground, everyone got the same feed so people weren't supposed to be filming it for distribution. Anyone down there had to have still press credentials. They could broadcast from a far like most stations did, but they didn't have camera crews down inside the parade barriers.

http://media.oregonlive.com/oregonia...9504-essay.jpg