BCST 1180 – CLASS 3 HANDOUTS

Shot Types

The editor is faced with many choices, whether to use a wide shot or a close-up, or perhaps a more
subjective point-of-view shot. The bottom-line is that some shots carry more meaning than others and the
editor must decide whether the shot is critical to the scene. An extraordinary piece of dialogue might
scream for a close-up, which alerts the audience that what is being said is perhaps a major plot point in
the story. The subtext of a scene must also be understood because not everything is spoken in dialogue;
a reaction shot of the listener may be more important than seeing the speaker.

EWS (Extreme Wide Shot) VWS (Very Wide Shot)

The view is so far from the subject that The subject is visible (barely),
he isn't even visible. but the emphasis is still on
Often used as an establishing shot. placing him in his environment.

WS (Wide Shot) MS (Mid Shot)

The subject takes up the full frame, Shows some part of the subject in more detail,
or at least as much as comfortably possible. while still giving an impression of the whole subject.
AKA: long shot

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Shot Types Cont.

MCU (Medium Close Up) CU (Close Up)

Half way between a MS and a CU. A certain feature or part of the subject
takes up the whole frame.

ECU (Extreme Close Up) Cut-In

The ECU gets right in and shows Shows some (other) part of the subject in detail.
extreme detail.

CA (Cutaway) Two-Shot
A shot of something other than the subject. A shot of two people, framed similarly to a mid shot.

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Shot Types Cont.

(OSS) Over-the-Shoulder Shot Reaction or Noddy Shot

Looking from behind a person at the subject. Usually refers to a shot of the interviewer
listening and reacting to the subject.

Point-of-View Shot (POV) Weather Shot

Shows a view from the subject's perspective. The subject is the weather. Can be used for other
purposes, e.g. background for graphics.

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 News Editing Theory

B-Roll – video that is shot for a TV news story and used to visualize the script the reporter/anchor has written.
B-roll refers to video footage that sets the scene, reveals details, or generally enhances the story. For example, at a
school play, besides shooting the play, you could get b-roll of the outside of the school, the program, faces of
audience members, cast members hiding in the wings, or costume details.

Bumpers – small teases (with or without audio/video) that come at the end of one newscast segment often
previewing what is coming up in the rest of the newscast.

Natural Sound - aka Nat Sound, Nat S-O-T, or Ambient Sound - Background voices, music, machinery,
waterfalls, and other environmental sounds that are recorded on-scene and used to create a sound bed for a recorded
or live report. Primarily used for setting a mood or providing atmosphere for a report. This technique is frequently
overused, but when used properly it adds immeasurably to a story. IE – sirens, traffic, etc.

Live shot/Live Report – A TV news story during which a news anchor or reporter is live at a remote location.
Within this report can be included a SOT, VO/SOT or PKG.

On-Set Appearance – Reporter appears on set and is introduced by a news anchor. The reporter can than introduce
his/her news package or report his/her story from there.

Package (PKG) - A report from a correspondent that contains a sound bite inserted between the introduction and
the epilogue (usually inserted after the reporter's second or third sentence). These need an in-studio lead for the
anchor.

Slug: A brief heading—usually one word—that designates an article or assignment.

Sound bite - A very short piece of audio or footage that is taken from a longer speech or an interview, usually when
the speaker has said something that is considered by those editing the speech or interview to be the most important
point. Often several SOT can be spliced together with the edits cover with video. These can be included in PKGs
and VO/SOTs or can stand alone.

SOT – Sound on tape, means that the tape is self contained and has stand alone sound from the beginning to the end
of the story.

Stand-up – part of package with reporter on screen reading/presenting information.

Voiceover (VO) – A TV news story during which a news anchor or reporter reads a script live as video is played, or
recorded prior in an edit suite.

Voiceover-to-sound(VO/SOT) – A TV news story during which a news anchor or reporter reads a script live as
video is played up to a place when a news maker video/audio sound bite is played. At the end of the SOT, the
reporter or anchor resumes reading with or without additional video.

Roll Up: Two seconds of visual that follows the hash mark of the countdown. This also precedes the first primary
audio by two seconds

Roll off: 5 – 10 seconds of visuals that follows the last primary audio to air at end of the story

Black Time: This is the time or story length from the first visual to the last visual of the story.

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 News Editing Theory Cont.

Run Time/ Story Length/ Read Time: This is the time or story length from the first visual to last primary audio
that goes to air.

Sound Up: Means that sound starts at a background level and is brought to a stand alone level. Can also be part of
an interview.

BG: Background, can refer to visual or sound

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Easy Way to Edit News on Timeline

Usually You will be given a Scripted Voice Over from the reporter describing the story, and clips will be
edited to create a sequence based on the voice over and information pertaining to the story.

Having a system of what audio goes on what track is always a good house-cleaning rule.

Example:

Voice Overs - Audio Track 1

Voice Clips/Interviews - Audio Track 2,

Background Audio - Channel 3 and 4

Video Clips on - Video Track 1

Graphics on - Video Track 2

Cutting Patterns

Some common patterns are used when cutting together a scene:

• Conventional – begins with the master and then cuts to the medium shot, and finally the close-
up, working closer towards the character;

• Reveal - begins with a tight shot, then cuts to a wider, revealing more information about the
scene;

• Matching Action – cutting on movement makes for slick, dynamic cuts

• Use of Overlaps – letting audio lead video, or using dissolves or wipes, which often frees the
editor from thinking in straight cuts only.

Types of Edits

• Continuity Edits or Matching Action – one shot follows the other in a logical, or sequential
pattern, creating the illusion of one continuous action.

• Off-screen/On-screen Action – starting with an empty frame, the subject enters. Or the subject
exits, leaving an empty frame, which allows you to cut to anything.

• Cutaways and Cross-Cutting – cut away from the principle action to show an event happening
simultaneously.

• Cut Ins or Inserts – cutting away from the principle action to show detail within the scene.

• Montage - Montage is the juxtaposition of images and sounds that express a certain mood,
atmosphere, or emotional state. One could say that the montage is impressionistic, creating an
emotional impact rather than following any sequential or logical pattern.

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Adjusting Audio Volume

There are several ways to adjust the volume of clips with Adobe Premiere Pro, and they are all
nondestructive—that is, nothing will ever be changed in your original media file.

Adjusting Audio in Effects Panel

• Volume: Adjusts the combined volume of all the audio channels in the selected clip.

• Channel Volume: Allows you to adjust the audio level for individual channels in the selected clip.

• Panner: Gives you overall stereo left/right balance control for the selected clip.

Every change you make is automatically going to add a keyframe. However, if you add only one keyframe to
the audio level, it automatically adjusts the overall level for the clip.

Adjusting Audio Gain

Most music is created with the loudest possible signal to maximize the difference between the signal and the
background noise. This is much too loud to use in most video sequences. To address this issue, you need to
adjust the clip’s audio gain.

• Set Gain to: Use this option to specify a particular volume adjustment for your clip.

• Adjust Gain by: Use this option to specify an incremental volume adjustment for your clip. For example, if you
apply −3 dB, this will adjust the “Set Gain to” amount to −3 dB. If you go into this menu a second time and
apply another −3 dB adjustment, the “Set Gain to” amount will change to −6 dB, and so on.
Right away, you’ll see the waveform change in the Source Monitor.

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Gain and volume: what’s the difference?

Different applications sometimes use these words in different ways. Here’s how to think of them when working
with Adobe Premiere Pro.

Gain: Gain is an early-stage adjustment to your audio level. This is made before fine-tuning or keyframing
audio adjustments that change over time. Gain is a logarithmic scale, adjusting audio in a way that is similar to
the way a “Levels” visual effect adjusts brightness. Louder parts of the audio are adjusted differently than
quieter parts.

Volume: Volume adjustments apply equally to louder and quieter parts. It’s more like the brightness adjustment
for visuals.

Keyframing Volume Changes

The Pen tool adds keyframes to rubber bands. You can also use it to adjust existing keyframes

The result of adding and adjusting the position of keyframes up or down on audio clip segments is that the
rubber band is reshaped.

Just as before, the higher the rubber band, the louder the sound. Add a few keyframes to the music and listen
to the results.

You can also add keyframes in the Effects Panel

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Adding Audio Transitions

The use of audio transitions can improve a sequence’s soundtrack by removing

unwanted audio pops or abrupt edits. The use of a crossfade transition at the end
of (or between) audio clips is a fast way to add a fade-in, fade-out, or fade between
your audio clips.

Crossfade Types

Because all audio is different, you’ll find three styles of crossfades to choose from.
The subtle differences between the types are important to understand if you want
to achieve a professional mix.

• Constant Gain: The Constant Gain crossfade (as its name implies) transitions
audio by using a constant audio gain (volume) between the clips. Some find
this transition type useful. It can, however, create a very sudden transition in
the audio as the sound of the outgoing clip fades out and the incoming clip
then fades in at an equal gain. The Constant Gain crossfade is most useful in
situations where you do not want much blending between two clips but rather
more of a dip out and in between the clips.

• Constant Power: The default audio transition in Adobe Premiere Pro creates
a smooth, gradual transition between two audio clips. The Constant Power
crossfade is very similar to how a video dissolve works. When applied, the
outgoing clip at first slowly fades out and then fades out at a faster rate toward
the end of the clip. On the incoming clip, the opposite occurs. The audio level
increases quickly at the start of the incoming clip and slower toward the end
of the transition. This crossfade is useful in most situations where you want a
blending between clips.

• Exponential Fade: This effect is similar to the Constant Power crossfade.

The Exponential Fade transition is a fairly smooth fade between clips. It uses
a logarithmic curve to fade out and fade up audio. This results in very good
natural blending between audio clips. Some prefer the Exponential Fade
transition when performing a single-sided transition (such as fading in a clip
from silence at the start or end of a program).

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Applying Audio Transitions

There are several ways to apply an audio crossfade to a sequence.

In the Audio Transitions bin in the Effects panel, open the Crossfade bin.

Hold and Drag Transition Effect to Your Audio Clip(s)

Drag the length of the audio transition to be longer or shorter, and listen to the
effect when you play the Timeline.

Most of the time fading audio at start or end of a project is a good house cleaning rule.

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