I Say It Here, It Comes Out There -- The value of production values.

Byline: John Jackman & Bruce A. Johnson

Bruce's boss at Wisconsin Public Television is in the habit of emailing links to articles he finds interesting. The other day, he whipped out an article from The New York Times titled "Camcorders and PC's Shape Aesthetics of 'Reality' TV." In it, reporter Lisa Napoli recounts the tale of Academy Award-winning documentary filmmaker Alan Raymond watching one of the latest crop of so-called reality shows, the WB's Surreal Life:

"Incredibly shoddy production values . . . I swore that half of it was shot with camera sound, not a separate sound mike," Mr. Raymond said. "I said to myself, 'How cheap this is; how amazing that it's become acceptable that people will watch it.' It's almost like the content supersedes everything to do with the artistry of the making of the show."

Flash back with me to an excellent film, James L. Brooks's Broadcast News. In it, Albert Brooks plays Aaron Altman, a smart reporter being pushed to the sidelines by the network in favor of pretty-boy anchor William Hurt. As a big story unfolds, Altman sits in his living room, fielding phone calls for his knowledge that is then spoon-fed to Hurt. Altman mutters one of the most prescient lines ever said in cinema: "I say it here, it comes out there!"

We have been banging on this drum for as long as we've known each other, and probably even longer. Yet, with every passing season, the production train keeps chugging farther and faster in the opposite direction. Does this make us dinosaurs or prophets without honor? That is for you, dear reader, to decide.

Herewith is a little philosophical rant on production values.

Use a tripod

Okay, you don't always have to use a tripod, but if you are staging anything short of a chase scene, it is a courtesy to the viewer to avoid inducing seasickness. In the The New York Times article, Surreal Life Producer Jay Renfro says, "There are times when you want it raw, and that rawness translates to intimacy." Think about this. You see a handheld camera shot where the operator was bouncing around like a monkey on crystal meth. Is that how you actually see? No, the brain controls the images in your head with a spectacular psycho-Steadicam, smoothing out extraneous motion.

Using a tripod does require you to have in your possession and to set up said tripod; and yes, that's not always possible. But if you care about your images, you will consider stability essential to coherent communication.

Don't abuse the zoom button

Smash-zooming in and out like the guys shooting Wayne's World does little for the message; it's like a three-year-old screaming, "Look at me!"

If you must zoom, keep your zooms subtle. A creep zoom can do wonders in an intimate interview situation, coaxing emotion out of an otherwise static presentation.

The camera is the window. How often do you look at the actual window in your living room, other than when you haven't washed it? The beauty-or the ugliness-of the scene outside the window is what you want to show. Don't distract from the view. Keep the window clean.

Lock your exposure

Nothing screams "amateur" louder than watching a shot's light levels bob up and down. Auto-iris (and its bastard cousin, auto-white balance) can be useful in fast-breaking situations, but relying on them all of the time is just plain lazy, and not the mark of a professional.

Control light

If we hear someone say, "You don't need lighting with DV cameras" one more time, we'll scream. Even the latest CineAlta produces horrible images without proper lighting and exposure. Good television pictures involve good lighting, always. Whether it's natural lighting carefully manipulated with bounce cards, or banks of HMIs, using light requires balance and craft.

Audio is more important

It's a hard lesson for us camera-slingers to learn, but it's true: To get your message across, you must have high-quality audio. Camera-mounted mics do not cut it, and mics with 1/8-inch minijacks usually don't either. Get and use high-quality professional mics; you'll be miles ahead in the communications game.

Remember what is in charge

The best photographers with the best gear, the best lighting, and the best audio are useless if they don't keep one thought foremost in their minds: All efforts must support the story.

Unmotivated pans, tilts, zooms, Dutch angles, and other visual noise tear the viewer away from the message. The best photography-and, not coincidentally, the best editing-has a quality that you don't actively perceive immediately. Great photography seeps into your mind's eye, where it can live forever. Only when an audience remembers a striking image hours, days, weeks, even months after viewing, can a shot be deemed great.

Flash over substance is a sad but common characteristic of our world today. Let's all try to pull back from the brink, shall we? Learn your craft. Learn your craft. Learn your craft. Knowledge is infinitely more valuable than a new camera.

The Rev. John Jackman and Bruce A. Johnson are broadcast veterans with over 40 years of combined experience. You can reach them in the DV.com Forums.

http://www.dv.com

Copyright [c] 2003 CMP Media LLC

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