Butterfly, Rembrandt and Other Creative Lighting Techniques

Here at SC State we are stepping up our lighting game after our previous two lessons with a reflector disc and three-point lighting. Using this video as guidance along with some handout material, we captured images using the following lighting techniques: flat frontal, side, butterfly and Rembrandt. And then we had a little fun with the students giving their best scary face!  Here the results: 

FLAT FRONTAL LIGHTING

Communications students Sharlene Luke and Lawson Danley pose for our "flat frontal" example. Here only one light is used, the key light that is placed at eye level next to the camera. It's not a bad look on these two good-looking young people. I think this one is first on our tutorial list because, as explained in this photography link, "basically, flat lighting is lighting that produces very little contrast in your scene. "Flat means there's very little difference (contrast) between the highlights and shadows in flat light." 

Delighting with Three-Point Lighting!

In my television production class at SC State University, we are spending a few weeks on lighting. We covered the use of reflector discs, now we are looking at a mainstay of photography, videography, film, and television: three-point lighting. See this YouTube video for details and tips. 

Essence Adams (right) is at the center of this popular, widely-used lighting concept. You see the video camera's position in front of Essence and the three lights surrounding her. 

Here is another perspective of the lights from behind Delano Whitfield (left). The light in the center, under the clock on the wall, is called the key light.

On the left side of this photograph is the fill light. And the light behind Delano, along the right side of the photo, is the backlight. 

I will explain and show how the lights work in tandem to create a high-quality image of the subject, whether for a yearbook or LinkedIn picture, a TV interview, model shoots, and other scenarios. 

Lighting it Up with a Reflector Disc

 

This handy production device can, in a flash, rescue a low or poor-lighting situation. 

Reflector discs, like the one held by Sylvester Brown, folds down to the size of frisbee and fits in a carry bag. It's a vital tool to among a video producer's cameras, microphones and lights. 

This short video from YouTube shows a disc reflector in action.

Last week, after explaining the how and why of reflector discs, my television production students and I went outside for a demonstration. 

Sometimes you cannot avoid taking photographs or shooting video into the sunlight. This can shut down the camera's iris and make a person's face look darker than is desirable. 

Here is Sharlene Luke's "before" photo. 

Now we see her after the reflector disc is deployed. Note the improvement. 

(For Sharlene's blog post for this assignment, click here.)

Here we see the choreography of where the video camera and disc are positioned. 

New "Action Sequence" Starring Amauri Allen

I fun project that I like to have students do in my television production classes is one I call "Action Sequence." In it, a student videotapes a classmate leaving or entering the classroom. There needs to be at least 10 shots of the subject entering and leaving the camera frame. I feel the project is instructive in terms of videography, directing and editing. I ask that music be included in the finished product along with an opening and closing slate or title and credits. 

As a demonstration, I shot this piece with communications major Amauri Allen.

The music is catchy right? I found "Surf Shimmy" under the "bouncy' genre in the royalty-free music site Incompetech. Check it out! I've been using this site for years. 

In editing this piece I sought assistance with a couple things: changing the background color of my title and closing slates and creating a fade-to-black effect. Click for the awesome "Adobe in a Minute" tutorials on YouTube. 

Here is a link to a few other "action sequences" from several years ago. 

Adobe Premiere Pro: Scale to Frame Size and Cropping Clips

 In Adobe Premiere Pro if your video clip doesn't look right when you put it in the storyboard, then right click on the clip and scroll down to "Scale to Frame Size." 

If a clip will look better if it is cropped, do the steps shown in this brief tutorial to crop the top, bottom and sides as you see fit.

Here is my brief demo video showing how these tools are used. Thank you to Delano Whitfield for use of his back-to-school clip! 

Here is a screenshot showing show the process to do this. 

Interview Shots- Good and Not So Good

 

On Sunday, Sept. 11, Patrick McEnroe on ESPN interviews the runners-up after the 2022 U.S. Open women's doubles final. Americans Caty McNally (center) and Taylor Townsend lost to the Czech Republic team of Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova.

When McEnroe first speaks with Tayor Townsend he, in my opinion, awkwardly steps in front of Caty McNally and he is holding the microphone with his outside hand when it would look better if he held it with his inside or left hand. 

The camera person soon zooms in on her from the awkward wide shot. So the tip is that if the wide shot looks off then quickly zoom in on the person speaking. This close-up of Taylor looks good and we see the top of the microphone, which is fine. 

Here is the shot when McEnroe interviewed McNally. The composition looks OK, though it looks a bit off or odd to see part of McEnroe's arm in the shot. He should be holding the mic with his inside hand. It is good that we also see her smiling partner in the two-shot. 

Patrick McEnroe, in my opinion, did better when he next interviewed the winning doubles team from Czech Republic. This time, after interviewing (right) Katarina Siniakova, he asked her if he could step by her so he could speak with her partner Barbora Krejcikova. This looked much better than his previous interview with the Americans. 

This is a live interview conducted by Fox News meteorologist Janice Dean on Monday, Sept. 12. Notice that she is holding the microphone, appropriately for the setting, with her inside or right hand. The three-shot composition is comfortable. We see everyone from the waist up and we also see the background environment, which is good. 

When Janice Dean goes to speak with the woman, the shot stays wide and remains very comfortable to the viewer in terms of not being distracting in some way. 

Types of Feature Stories: Profiles, Trends, Seasonal and More

To be able to write feature stories it is important to know what feature stories are and how there are many different kinds of these "soft" (as opposed to "hard") news stories. This post will "feature" examples of nine types that I talk about in my Feature/Magazine Writing class at SC State. 

1. PROFILE OR PERSONALITY FEATURE

This is a good example of a profile feature. Is about Austin Johnson, who is the caddy to his famous (and rich) golfer brother Dustin Johnson. 

The article appeared in the Summer 2022 issue of College of Charleton Magazine, the flagship magazine of CofC. Austin is a CofC graduate as his wife Samantha who is also featured in the piece.

The headline is a catchy one: "Every Step of the Way." 

2. HUMAN INTEREST FEATURE

In that same College of Charleston publication is this really nice story about another graduate, Alex Jackson. As a young child he was badly injured and paralyzed in a car accident with his mother. 

The feature covers Alex' life with the many challenges he has faced and overcome to become a public affairs specialist with the Naval Information Warfare Center Atlantic in Charleston. "Man on the Move" is a great headline for this feature. 

Alex earned two degrees at CofC and I am proud to say he was a student years ago in a television journalism course I taught back then. 

Adobe Premiere Pro 2022 Version Tutorial

 For my Basic Television Production class, I produced a step-by-step using Adobe Premiere Pro 2022 tutorial. 

See the YouTube link below. To the right is the Premiere interface from a completed project. That is a short introductory video I am having the students do as their first project. 

Here is the tutorial: 

And here is the short video I produced as an example for the students. They are doing a 30 video introducing themselves and talking about things such as what they like about going to SC State. 

New School Year Video Project

The new school year is underway at South Carolina State University!

In my Basic Television Production class, we got off to a fast start. The students have had some training on the nice Panasonic cameras we have along with microphones, tripods and lights. A couple classes later the students broke into small teams to shoot a project called "Me in 30 Seconds." They all introduce themselves and talk about their outlooks for the new school year, what they like about going to SC State, whatever they want to talk about really. 

As a demonstration, and to test the equipment, I shot this video in our classroom in Turner Hall. 

 

There is a second phase to this first video project. Once all of the students have access to the university's Adobe Creative Cloud programs, which include the Premiere Pro video editing software, this video will be trimmed, a title will be added with the student's names, and some music added to accentuate the production. 

Here is a better version of this clip. The audio is trimmed so it's tight, a "super" showing my name has been added, the clip has been brightened a little bit, I have also added some music to the background, and I have cropped the video so the window in the background is eliminated.  The music came from a free music site called Incompetech.

The Brains Behind the Bronze Busts

 

He is the brains and brawn behind the busts! (hear my report here!)

On February 8 at the ceremony to unveil the bronze busts of the young men killed on this date 54 years ago- what became known as the Orangeburg Massacre- an S-C State art professor from Nigeria took a well-deserved bow. 

Dr. Tolulope (two-loo-loo-pay) Filani sculpted in clay the heads of the three young men who perished on that tragic night in 1968. 

By now most people who work and study on the S-C State campus 

have seen Filani's creations. They are displayed at the new and improved Smith Hammond Middleton Legacy Plaza. But it's safe to say not many know whose skillful hands crafted the three likenesses. 

Know you will know!  Filani came to S-C State in 2006. He is now chair of the university's fine arts department. Filani says the idea of sculpting the Orangeburg Massacre victims came to him when he first visited the school. 

SOT: :21 Filani  (counter- :26-:49)
In: When I came in
Out: had to work 

Soundbite Selection Exercise: Orangeburg Native Reflects on February 1968 SC State Shootings

Note: This post was updated in February 2024

February 8, 1968 was a day of infamy for people in and around Orangeburg, S.C. On that evening the tragic event occurred that became immortalized as the Orangeburg Massacre. 

In 1968, Sandra Paul Miller (pictured left) was a junior at Wilkinson High School (now Orangeburg-Wilkinson H.S.). She knows all too well what happened that bloody night. She says, in fact, she likely would have been on the SC State campus among the 200 or so people gathered, except for her mother.

Listen to Ms. Miller's own voice here. 
SOT: :06
Incue: It just so happens...
Outcue: I just missed it

My SC State students and I had the pleasure of meeting Miller when we went to the old All-Star Bowling Lanes to speak with Ellen Zisholtz who is leading an ambitious project to restore the bowling alley and also make the site on Russell Street a Civil Rights Museum. 

Miller is very excited about the plans to reopen the old bowling alley that was the impetus for the fatal shootings more than half a century ago when students from SC State and Claflin tried to integrate it. They just wanted to bowl but the White owner refused to let them in.  

Hear Miller here
SOT: :48
In: Well I tell you what...
Out: better for them

Three young men died as a result of law enforcement opening fire on the crowd of gatherers. What exactly sparked the barrage of gunfire is still disputed. Miller was a classmate of Delano Middleton, one of the three fatally shot victims. She shared this remembrance of the 17-year-old. She knew him from school.
                                        SOT: :14
                                        In: And it was a very sad day...
                                        Out: happened to him 

                                                    Delano Herman Middleton (1950-1968) 

Sandra Paul Miller's last words to us were that people today need to know what happened all those years ago. She says it's important...it's imperative...it's inspirational. 

February 1, 2024- students in my BC 203 Radio Production class visit the plaza where the busts of the three slain young men are immortalized on the SC State campus. 

(Note: Regarding the purpose of this class project, by selecting three soundbites from the Sandra Paul Miller interview, it will be easier next to write and produce a radio-style report with the student's voice and her SOTs combined to make a compelling report.)

SC State News Release on Feb. 8, 2022 New Orangeburg Massacre Monument

 

Feature Story Lead Sentences- Same Story, Different Types

 

This is an exercise for my Feature Writing class to help the students understand the different ways that news and feature stories can begin, ie their first or lead sentences. 

There are a lot of tools the writer can use to begin a story so how about trying to write the different types of feature leads for the same story? 

The story used here is from Jan. 30, 2022 about how in some U.S. cities old churches that have lost all or much of their congregations are being repurposed. Here is a link to the Associated Press story.

The Leads: 

Hard News Lead: Some old churches in America that for various reasons have lost their congregations are being repurposed. 

Quotation Lead: "The Spirit has been guiding us in places where we never imagined going on our own." So says a Minneapolis minister about his Lutheran church's new life as a community center. 

Question Lead and Direct Address Lead:  What if your nearby church was no longer religious? Sounds strange but this is a trend across America,

Ironic Lead: A new trend is underway in America: churches that aren't really churches anymore. 

Anecdote: In Minneapolis, there are places you can go for art workshops, nutrition clinics, child preschools, even lessons in the Finnish and Swahili languages. The one-stop shop is a church. 

Suspenseful Lead: It is not what churches were built to do, but in these crazy and difficult times it's a trend that fits the 2020s. 

Shocker Lead: There are more and more churches in America where it's fine to leave your wallets at home. No collection plates are passed to the congregation. 

Words Used in Unusual Ways Lead: At some U.S. churches where the flocks of congregants are gone, new flocks have been found.  

What Does Your Covid Mask Say About You?

Yes, inquiring minds want to know! What does your Covid prevention facemask say about you?

The facemasks we have to wear (again argh!) this semester to our SC State classes, do you put much thought into it? Are you styling some, or are you content with the plain Jane ones? Here's what some Bulldogs have to say on this matter. 

Benjamin Gadson is a junior communications major from Fairfax, S.C. (near Allendale). He's a musical guy and is a member of the prestigious Phi Mu Alpha fraternity, "the world's oldest and largest secret national fraternal society in music," according to its website.  The SC State chapter is called Nu Iota SC State. 

On this day Ben is wearing a Phi Mu Alpha shirt and he says the harp on his facemask is a symbol of his fraternity. Ben is in SC State's band, The Marching 101.  His instrument is the euphonium. I have never heard of that, so asked Ben what it is. "It's a member of the low brass family," he says. "It's sort of like a fat trumpet." 

Click here for Ben's comments about his special musical mask.