Vary your video styles

Video is a different form of storytelling that can help to “jazz” up content. Two key elements to keep in mind while creating a video are motion and emotion. No one wants to sit and watch a boring video. Through the use of different camera angles, characters and settings, a video can be very informative, fun and entertaining. In society today, everyone is primarily based on social media. Different platforms act as different outlets to share, post or connect on. Video is a visually compelling method and comes in many different styles.

Traditional broadcast style videos are not modified for the digital audience and are mainly used throughout television newscast and reposted to social for more content in relation to the story. For videos like this, reporters hold interviews, get b-roll and add a creative twist to covering an event.

An example of this is KTLA reporter, Doug Kolk, covering a new amusement ride out on the West Coast. This is a pre-filmed and edited video that adds to the newscast and usually runs about 1:30-2:00 minutes long depending on the complexity of the story.

Raw video is another style of video. Raw video clips are often shot and uploaded by print reporters using smartphones, or consist of surveillance footage or user-generated content. In many instances, viewers will call or email the assignment desk with story ideas or videos of “newsworthy happenings” that they encounter. A news outlet will then ask for permission to use the raw footage and give them credit if need be.

An example of raw video is from the news outlet of Fox 11 Los Angeles. This was a big story I remember helping research this summer at my internship with KTLA. An event occurred on a train where a man who was having a seizure was dragged off of the train by a man commuting to work. The raw video that another train rider posted all over online platforms and went viral. The person who took this video messaged the clips directly to the KTLA Facebook page that KTLA then used on air. This form of raw video is used throughout a package but was taken by a bystander on the train.

Shorter feature stories provide a “softer” news aspect and takes individuals away from hard, sad news stories. An individual who has a deeper story that may need a “deeper look” into something or a profile of someone. One of my favorite examples of this is this one – a must watch! This video went viral when a little boy on his first day of school was caught crying when a reporter interviewed him. After the reporter took a beating for “making the kid cry,” she decided to do a feature on the little boy 2 years later.

Other video styles include the explainer video and interactive media. Explainer video covers more complicated video such as health or medical subjects . Interactive media can be covered on a multimedia platform to enhance larger projects.