Tips for Shooting Video for Broadcast

If you are interested in pursuing a career in broadcasting and have a keen eye for video, perhaps becoming a videographer is in your career path. When you go to school, you are going to learn many tips and techniques about how to improve not only your framing and shot selection, but how to make sure your content is the very best for broadcast television.

It is never too early to learn about video for broadcasting. Here are several tips you need to practice as you work towards entering the production field.

Audio is Important

Audio is often just as important, if not more important, than video. Have you ever heard a live new production where the audio is off, either due to wind, or placement near loud machinery that makes it impossible to hear anything else? It’s hard to tell a story without audio, so make sure you shoot not only for picture, but also for sound.

Rule of Thirds

There are all sorts of different variations and rules that go into composition. One of the most important that is almost always going to be incorporated is the rule of thirds. If you draw two imaginary lines equal distance both vertically and horizontally across the screen, the points where these lines intersect are the interest points. Content that appears in these areas should be more dynamic and bring more interest to the screen. Practice the rule of thirds in all of your video work.

Eye Level

When shooting for broadcasting, it is most likely for the news. These production shots need to be almost always at eye level. Everything about the news is “on the level,” so if someone is giving an interview, it needs to be at his or her eye level. This way, it gives the appearance they are talking directly towards the viewer. This is not your eye level, but the eye level of the person being interviewed, so adjust the camera height accordingly whenever possible.

Always, Always White Balance

If you are getting into broadcasting and have been using the family camera as your way of shooting movies, you probably haven’t used the white balance feature of a camera yet. Well, have you noticed some of your interior shots look a bit orange, or some of your outdoor shots are too green or blue? That is because you have not white balanced the shot. Different kinds of light sources create different colors of light. This changes the quality of the video and alters the color. In order to correct this, you need to white balance.

By directing the camera towards something that is pure white and having it fill up the camera screen, you can adjust the camera’s white balance to make sure it is used to the color temperature of the room or location you are in. This way, everything looks as it should and there is nothing odd or unnatural about it. If your director wants to change the color of the shot they can do it in post, but providing clean video is your job.