Your phone as multimedia toolkit: five keys to remember
Judd Slivka, Reynolds Journalism Institute,Mobile journalism isn’t just on the consumption side. It’s also a key part of a journalist’s toolkit. Many multimedia journalists rely on their smartphones to shoot photos and video and to record audio. These five tips will help them avoid the most common problems.
- For video shooters, unless the video is specifically for a mobile audience, hold the phone horizontally. This will make the video more suitable for a wide variety of devices.
- Put the phone in airplane mode. This will keep interruptions (calls, texts, alerts) from wreaking havoc with your work. Plus, vibrations from alerts can jiggle otherwise still video.
- The microphone is relatively low quality, so get close to your subjects so they can be heard.
- Make sure your subject is well lit.
- And lastly, be sure to stabilize your phone. Light as it may be, holding it for extended periods will introduce all kinds of movement that can nauseate your viewers.