I’ve worked as a video journalist for a number of Australian and international media outlets — from Tuvalu to outback Australia.  Working alone certainly has it’s disadvantages but often when you rock up as a reporter with a film crew, you can stick out like a cat’s bum.  That’s why I like little cheap cameras.  People often don’t notice them so they drpop their guard and you can get a more accurate look at what’s going on.  The bigger the camera, the prettier the picture — but often it’s more contrived.

For #electionWIRE, our reporters are using cameras that are just as small and cheap.  I’ve been impressed by the diversity of stories they’ve pumped out already: rap videos, electoral analysis and even satire.

And I’m also in awe of some of the content been sent to us from the general public.  One of my favourite vids has been made by a nerdish looking alterego called Pittaway: his username on Youtube is prufrok1.  He looks like the lovechild of Christopher Pyne and John Faulkner and his analysis of safe seats is hilarious.  Who knew a photocopy and a glass of wine put together could be so funny!

Little cameras have also shown us how uncreative press secretaries have been during this campaign.  The ALP’s videos on their YouTube page are about as interesting as a chess competition on New Years’ Eve.   They are so formulaic — I reckon they should take a page or two from our citizen journalists.

Here’s some advice for making good videos using camera phones and whatnot…

• When recording keep the camera still as possible. It’s better to shoot a very still shot with a lot of action.  Don’t wave it around like a deranged lunatic.
• Try not to overuse the zoom. Often the pictures you are filming tell a story and all the zooms are distracting.  People think using cameras as binoculars is innovative but the end result is primitive pictures
• Get people’s reaction to what they are seeing. People’s reactions can be just as important as the action itself.
• Film yourself and your first impressions of what you are seeing.
• If people tell you tell you to stop filming and you don’t feel as though your safety is in danger don’t stop filming- often those people are telling you that because they don’t want to be caught doing something wrong.  But don’t put your life at risk: if you can though, record people telling you to stop filming because if they are doing something wrong, those words make them look suspicious.
• If you are filming different shots, try and keep each shot going for 10 to 12 seconds… people need time to digest what they are seeing.
• Conserve battery power: if you think something big will come film for just 10 minutes and then film more later.
• Sound is important. The sound tells as much about the scene as the picture does so you don’t always need to narrate what’s going on.