How to film for news (using the camera and interviewing)

We start off with the equipment. Nothing to complicated, you need a camera(obviously), currently the camera is either a PD1550 or PD170. With this you will also need a gun mic to pick up decent sound from the person you're interviewing. You may also need a tri-pod, particularly if it is an arranged interview. It is also also important to note that the camera should be at i level(ie- not looking down on someone, or up at them).

When it comes to deciding where to place an interviewee, you should avoid placing them in front of a window or an inappropriate poster. You should choose a background that best fits the situation. And be sure to take control and not be afraid to instruct the interviewee when positioning them.

You should then make the right alterations to the camera to ensure you footage is filmed at its best quality. Try to avoid having the camera set to auto, and instead try and adapt to a manual set up so that you have more control over what you see. Auto is fine for generals views(such as shots of trees or buildings), but manual would be more suited to the actual interview.

You need to alter the white balance, do this by zooming in on a piece of white paper(or anything white) and press the white balance button.
The 'Iris' should be altered. To do this, you need to zoom in on the face of the interviewee, and press the iris button which will then automatically set the exposure. You can also tweak it using the dial next to the iris button, if you feel that the exposure is not quite right. And it is better to go darker than lighter.
Focus can also be important, to alter this, you zoom into the eyes of the interviewee and you can then alter the focus to your liking and with zoom adjustment.

Rule of thirds is a technique that is often used in news reporting, it involves placing the interviewee so thier eyes are in a top third of the screen, and facing into space at the interviewer. A useful tip is to change sides when cutting between interviewees.

And to end this post, i'll leave you with Charlie Brookers very own guide to reporting the news.

Posted in: camera, charlie brooker, filming, how to film for news, interview, rule of thirds