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Things That Can Go Wrong With Social Reporting

By Lasa Information Systems Team

Sarah Lord Soares at Lasa attends a digital storytelling training course at On The Road Media, returns with the wrong camcorder and a bunch of learning points...

Be prepared

I came back to the office from my storytelling course with somebody else's Flip camcorder... whose fault is that then? They all look the same! After considerable to-ing and fro-ing ours (looking exactly the same) was returned safely.

Learning point 1: make a mental note of what your equipment looks like (and security mark it).

During our very “hands on” training, we were really lucky to find a tea dance in London’s Spitalfields market. My intended subject was a chap of 85 who could talk for England. All I wanted to know was what type of dancing they were doing but he never gave me an answer; I had 12 minutes of filming though...

Learning point 2: prepare your questions carefully; tell your subject what the time constraints are, meaning ‘I will be filming for 1 minute’… and choose your subject with ‘quick’ in mind. (There will always be lost footage so it's not the end of the world, and it does get easier as your confidence builds!) What does telling a story mean?

Up close and personal

When you are recording members of the public, crouching down on one knee on a hard floor, make sure you are aiming your camera at the person who is providing the perfect content for your film…not his petrified wife sitting next to him with biscuit mid-way to mouth, for a whole 2 minutes.

Learning point 3: check and double check that you have ‘framed’ the subject in the Flip cam screen; don’t be afraid to say you are checking and don’t put the camera directly in between you and the subject - this is really off-putting - have it slightly to the side.

Switching the camera on also helps. I thought I had captured some great content only to find that I hadn’t switched it on. I was too embarrassed to admit it to my interviewee and it didn’t bode well for my confidence in repeating or asking someone else.

Learning point 4: familiarise yourself with your equipment, switch it on and off a few times, test it on a colleague, film something and play it back.

Noise annoys

Following the training, I thought I'd have another practice at a party at the Brazilian School I volunteer for. Their policy is to speak only Portuguese… mine is to speak only English, mostly… so I asked the questions in English with what I thought was a clear instruction to answer only in Portuguese and to top that the música sertaneja (Brazilian country music) in the background drowned out most of the conversation!

Learning point 5: double check the subject understands the scope of the interview….whatever language you are speaking. Try to nod a lot, rather than speak as speaking only means more editing later on. Significantly, try to find a quiet spot and if possible use an external microphone. The passion of the subject was there visually, but the noise was distracting.

At Lasa’s Technology Surgeries I interviewed both the ICT specialists and their “patients” for reactions to the day. Obviously it’s most comfortable for people being filmed to be seated which meant finding something to rest the camera on – all I could find at the right height was a waste paper bin which I upturned and placed on the desk.

Learning point 6: bring the right equipment; an upturned bin is a great tool but the tripod does do a much better job! Don’t use a swivel chair, the effect made us sea sick.

Here’s the results of the Tech Surgery filming  (after a bit of judicious editing):

Lasa Technology Surgeries - 1st November 2011 from Lasa on Vimeo.

Practice makes perfect

So, overall – if you follow my learning points you'll have a good chance of success. In short:

• If you have an Flip cam or general video equipment, a tripod and an external microphone you are good to go.
• Plan your questions; and if possible film in sequence – this will save a lot of time at the editing stage and looks much more professional.
• Aim for a film that is 2 minutes long – it is the given length of time for optimum viewing on the web.

And practice does help…

Sarah did her training with On The Road Media.