Very true. That worked out to shooting your entire days footage on what would become a single U-Matic 3/4 tape. Amazing but we did it....and even as late as the late 70's / early 80's a 400' reel was selling for around $95/can, so if you burned more than 2 cans a day shooting your basic coverage, you'd certainly hear about it. Add that to every shooter and processing expenses and you can see how that tab would run into the 5 digits every month....a major expense to the budget.
Your efficiency methods for review and editing
- Thread starter GPS
- Start date
MidwestPhotog
Member
GPS, I hope that info helped. Personally, I log interviews in Google Drive. It makes it easy to share with my producer or the client (after a couple 'do they ever talk about ____' moments, it's nice to be able to point them to a transcript). I also really don't care about spelling when I'm getting through a logging session, and Goodle seems to do a great job of recognizing and fixing the dozens of spelling errors I make in any given interview. You can also use ctrl+f to search for instances of words in the document, which can really help you find every time your subject mentioned 'horses,' for instance.
I'll also echo bolding/marking things as you log. It really helps later.
So, my workflow is:
-make a sequence out of each interview, syncing multiple cameras and audio sources
-using that timecode (starts at 00:00), log each interview into a Drive document, starting each paragraph with timecode
-while logging, hit ctrl+b to start bolding good bytes, and switch to ALL CAPS for things like LAUGH or BLOOPER or STARTING TO CRY (the all caps really stick out later, and ctrl+f will help you find your tearful/laughing moments later)
-Personally, I like to print this out on paper and write in a nice bright color (green or red), and outline the flow of the piece, intro, strong close, individual topics, etc.
-Before I ever cut a frame of video, I know what goes in what order, and for the most part, what is going to get cut out of the first draft
I'll also echo bolding/marking things as you log. It really helps later.
So, my workflow is:
-make a sequence out of each interview, syncing multiple cameras and audio sources
-using that timecode (starts at 00:00), log each interview into a Drive document, starting each paragraph with timecode
-while logging, hit ctrl+b to start bolding good bytes, and switch to ALL CAPS for things like LAUGH or BLOOPER or STARTING TO CRY (the all caps really stick out later, and ctrl+f will help you find your tearful/laughing moments later)
-Personally, I like to print this out on paper and write in a nice bright color (green or red), and outline the flow of the piece, intro, strong close, individual topics, etc.
-Before I ever cut a frame of video, I know what goes in what order, and for the most part, what is going to get cut out of the first draft
canuckcam
Well-known member
You can do a search on this board and find there have been very heated arguments... but it really boils down to what, how or lack-thereof of support and development for the tv side of things. Others scoffed at the price of membership and essentially what you got in return were 12 magazines sent to your home. At other times I'd think it was the hate-du-jour... it was simply popular to dislike them. You know - like Justin Bieber, Rebecca Black, Blackberry, etc.
All the while, there are only a handful of shops especially on the tv side that cater to "NPPA-style" stories. My market is not one of them, and IMO neither are the largest markets. You'll get a nice feature here and there but there simply isn't any time given or cooperation by the team (management, reporter, editor) to do so. And by NPPA-style you'll get what I mean when you watch their contest pieces. (and here is where I'll put on my flame suit... because "NPPA-style" is one of those fightin' words.)
I don't know how your finances are, but membership is $110. IMO you can easily blow that on a 'night out with your buddies,' so it's a question of priorities - whereas for others on a very meagre photog salary, they may need to choose between a roof, food, gas or NPPA membership.
All I can say is that the workshop in Norman got me my start in tv news, and as with any organization, you'll only get out what you put into it. And $110 is one of the lowest annual memberships I know of. I would highly recommend it if simply to inspire.
Thank you Midwest, that is actually very helpful. The interview script for this portion of the project is complete, but when the next script comes up I will try that workflow and let you know how it goes.
Have you ever used the Premiere transcription program? Might save some time in transcribing. I also have Dragon but have not really used it.
As the NPPA question, Canuck (are you cold?) thanks for that info, I will do a little research to see what "nppa style' looks like.
As for C St's comment, wow, we sure have come a long way.
Well I'm off for the evening. Have a good night.
Have you ever used the Premiere transcription program? Might save some time in transcribing. I also have Dragon but have not really used it.
As the NPPA question, Canuck (are you cold?) thanks for that info, I will do a little research to see what "nppa style' looks like.
As for C St's comment, wow, we sure have come a long way.
Well I'm off for the evening. Have a good night.
FeedingFrenzy
Active member
GPS, If you have the Adobe CC Suite, then you can do logging and even minor cutting in Prelude. It will carry over markers and comments into Premiere Pro. I use the subclip and comment markers frequently in my non news life.
MidwestPhotog
Member
GPS,
I tried the Premiere transcribe function, and even on the slowest (most thorough) setting, it gave me mostly gibberish. For me, it's worth it to log things manually, since I can add my own annotations and notes along the way. There are also a number of transcription services, where you can upload your raw audio and pay to have someone do the same thing, but cost increases dramatically with the number of speakers you have.
I spend about twice the length of the interview logging it (by being pretty sloppy with spelling and punctuation), which is tough to justify, but I think it's invaluable when I'm looking for the good stuff later.
*As I type this, I'm in the middle of logging about 3 hours of interviews for a project with a quick turnaround. It's rough, but I consider it absolutely necessary.
I tried the Premiere transcribe function, and even on the slowest (most thorough) setting, it gave me mostly gibberish. For me, it's worth it to log things manually, since I can add my own annotations and notes along the way. There are also a number of transcription services, where you can upload your raw audio and pay to have someone do the same thing, but cost increases dramatically with the number of speakers you have.
I spend about twice the length of the interview logging it (by being pretty sloppy with spelling and punctuation), which is tough to justify, but I think it's invaluable when I'm looking for the good stuff later.
*As I type this, I'm in the middle of logging about 3 hours of interviews for a project with a quick turnaround. It's rough, but I consider it absolutely necessary.
I've been a dedicated NPPA member for over 30 years and attended the Oklahoma seminar over 25 years ago. Many on this forum have turned their backs on the organization because the collective feeling that it is catered more toward still shooters. It's funny because I not only read this forum on a regular basis, but also subscribe to a sports stills website that is primarily a stills forum, and they, too, constantly dump on the NPPA. For any TV cameraman who considers himself/herself to be not just a button pusher but a journalist, the NPPA has been the rock of strength for our collective goals. I often read the negative comments about the NPPA but rarely comment because of the vitriol that would accompany such comments. Personally I feel that what you can get out of a membership is up to you, there are quarterly clip contests that are an invaluable learning tool, but you have to search them out and regularly submit. Behind the scenes, the organization constantly lobbies Congress on behalf of photojournalists and they regularly submit court briefs in important First Amendment cases. I firmly believe that we are all stronger because of the NPPA, despite what critics here have fostered for years.
Midwest, I tried your workflow and it was very helpful. It was just a small interview but I can see how that would really be useful in a long drawn out interview. Writing helps to ingest the dialog, and find repeat statements. I made a 3 column table in a Word doc with the timecode in the left column, dialog in the middle, and notes such as [WIND] on the right.
I like having it logged this way in the sequence as well and it makes it easy to go right to it.
FeedingFrenzy, I'm just switching over to Adobe editing tools, so I really hadn't looked into Prelude at all. Watched an introductory video and it seems pretty cool. I wish that marker functionality was in Premiere. Hopefully they've improved it in later versions, but the markers in Premiere 5.5 and CS6 seem pretty limited.
Anyway, I'm curious, what is your logging workflow (in exact steps) logging dialog in Prelude? How do you make it work for you?
Dazapper, thanks for the notes on NPPA. I think I would like to get involved at some point. And since a degree in journalism or even classes at this point are not a realistic option, I'll avail myself of any resources that might be helpful. And if I hate them later on, at least it will be knowing what all the fuss is about. =)
I like having it logged this way in the sequence as well and it makes it easy to go right to it.
FeedingFrenzy, I'm just switching over to Adobe editing tools, so I really hadn't looked into Prelude at all. Watched an introductory video and it seems pretty cool. I wish that marker functionality was in Premiere. Hopefully they've improved it in later versions, but the markers in Premiere 5.5 and CS6 seem pretty limited.
Anyway, I'm curious, what is your logging workflow (in exact steps) logging dialog in Prelude? How do you make it work for you?
Dazapper, thanks for the notes on NPPA. I think I would like to get involved at some point. And since a degree in journalism or even classes at this point are not a realistic option, I'll avail myself of any resources that might be helpful. And if I hate them later on, at least it will be knowing what all the fuss is about. =)