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Video Viewfinder
Keith Kyker and Christopher Curchy
Three More Simple Techniques to Improve Your School’s News Show
In the last installment of Video Viewfinder we told you about three simple things you can do to improve your school news show: white balance your camera, use a microphone, and find the proper level for your shot. This issue, we offer three more tips to ponder as you relax, sleep until noon, and generally enjoy your well-deserved summer vacation.
Tip Number 1 – Use Simple Set Decorations
Watch some videotape of your recent
school news programs. (If you don’t normally tape your programs, then have a
student sit at the anchor desk while you turn-on the camera and establish the
normal shot.) What does the shot look like behind the announcers? Are your
students seated in front of an off-white cinder-block wall? If so, let’s plan
some simple set decorations.
- Professional background curtains are available, but expensive. Put an ad in your parent newsletter. One school received a nice donated backdrop from a grandparent who was a retired professional photographer.
- Consider making your own background curtain. Start with a cotton canvas dropcloth, which can be purchased from most home improvement stores for about thirty dollars. Paint the dropcloth with muted versions of your school colors. Create a textured look by using sponges, feather dusters, and burlap strips as paint brushes. Then cover the entire drop cloth with a fine coat of spray paint in a darker shade of a school color. (Of course, all painting should be done with adult supervision in a well-ventilated area.) Your canvas dropcloth can be hung from the ceiling or mounted on the wall. It’s not necessary to stretch the canvas – the creases, wrinkles, and folds add depth and texture to your background.
- If your TV studio is used only for that purpose, consider painting the background wall. Remember to choose muted colors, avoiding overly bright or dark colors. (Your camcorder has trouble with high-contrast shots.) Long walls can be divided into sections, each painted a different color. Hang your backdrop on the wall, too. You can create several backgrounds in a small area, and use a different background each day of the week!
- Bring in bookcases. Fill them with books, knick-knacks, and plants. Placing the bookcases at a slight inward angle adds depth to the shot. This "living room" background gives your show a "warm, fuzzy" feeling.
Of course, there are many more strategies for decorating your set. Perhaps these ideas started your creative juices flowing. Remember, the most-often made mistake is to overshoot the talent and decorate too much of the background. Your announcers should be the dominant part of the shot, not little ants at the bottom of the screen. Return to that original camera shot, and plan to refurbish the dull, plain areas.
Tip Number 2 – Use a Teleprompting System
Are you tired of seeing only the top
of your announcer’s head? Wouldn’t it be great if your announcer could read all
of her announcements while looking at the camera? That’s what a teleprompter
system is all about! Professional teleprompters project the script on a pane of
glass in front of the camera lens. Unfortunately, these systems are cumbersome
and expensive. The school version is a word processing program. Announcements
are typed and saved, and then the script writer presses a special function key
(for example, F9) and five or six VERY LARGE lines of text are displayed on the
computer monitor, which is placed very close (either below or beside) to the
camera lens. The teleprompter operator then scrolls up or down to guide the
talent through the script. We searched high and low for an affordable,
tech-supported program that would run on even the oldest computers. Finding
none, we persuaded a Florida software company to write the program. It is
economical, easy to use, and will probably run on that old computer in the
storage room. Click here to learn more about this
software. A teleprompting system can certainly add to the professional
appearance of your show.
Tip Number 3 – Use a Character Generator
Just a few years ago, only schools
with deep pockets and professional production goals could purchase a character
generator (a.k.a. video titler, graphics generator, video typewriter, etc.). Now
a few companies – most notably Videonics – manufacture powerful, professional
character generators well within the budgets of most schools. Videonics’ TM-3000
has just hit the market. It has many professional features (font selection,
colors, sizing, etc.) and a suggested price of $799.00 (street price about
$675.00). If that’s a bit out of your price range, you can probably pick up a
TM-2000 (the previous model) at a closeout price (about $425). If you don’t have
a character generator, call your electronics vendor and arrange a demonstration.
Using graphics in your news show can greatly improve the show’s content, appearance, and communication value. Students enjoy creating graphics for announcements, birthdays, and sports results. Graphics also make routine announcements like the lunch menu, and the "thought for the day" less tedious. Worried about adding the character generator to your simple equipment configuration? No problem. Most character generators "pass" signal. In other words, you can connect a camcorder or VCR to the input of the character generator. Select the "video" or "transparent" background choice, and the character generator passes the signal through to your recording VCR, which is connected to the character generator’s output. Then, you can type graphics over the camcorder shot, or use a solid background color. A connection diagram is provided.
You and your students work hard to produce a news show. By decorating the set, using a teleprompting program, and purchasing a character generator, you can help your crew produce a program that looks great and reflects their efforts. So get out that pencil, and begin your list of several great ideas for improving your news show next year.
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