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by Craig
Seeman (New York Green Party).
What is a VNR and why do them?
A VNR is a Video
News Release. Many studies show that most the public get
their news from TV. Numbers seem to be around 80% getting
news from TV and in many, if not most cases, it is either
their main or sole source of information. TV is a visual
medium. Sending a printed press release might give them your
facts but TV stations really want video.
Many Greens hope
for the camera crews after sending a printed press release.
Many stations simply don’t have the time, the staff, the
resources to cover a given story. If you do the work for
them they appreciate it. If you do a good job with good
visuals and the story is of general interest, you greatly
increase your chance of getting TV coverage.
Many Greens focus
on reaching the “alternative” media or public access.
The reality is that this isn’t where the vast numbers of
viewers are. You want to reach the general public. The great
thing about a VNR is, if shown, you’re reaching the public
interested enough to watching a news show.
VNR Contents
Sound Bites
on the subject of the story. These are very short interviews
ranging from a short response of just a few seconds to a
half minute or so. Length is not a hard and fast rule but
short it must be. Each bite is a complete single thought. It
is NOT a long speech.
B-Roll
Video with “nat” (natural sound) of images related to
the story. It can be video that identifies the locale such
as front of building, Wide shot of the location. Shots of
the “action” or “subject” of the story. This depends
on the story. Example might be wide shot of protesters, the
polluting power plant, site where the parking lot will be
built, video of bodies in the street, the candidate kissing
babies and addressing the crowd, the crowd reaction.
VNR Formatting
Contact Page
This should include the organization making the VNR and
person(s) to contact for questions about the VNR.
Table of
Contents (TOC)
A VNR should have a video table of contents listing each
bite (one sentence gist of the statement) and b-roll shot
(one sentence description) and the length of each. It should
list the total running time. If the table of contents runs
several pages they should be number 1 of 7, 2 of 7 etc. Each
page should be up long enough to read comfortably but of
course the person viewing the tape will pause it as needed.
I prefer to keep each TOC page up for no more than five
seconds.
Story
Description
A one or two page written description of the story on video.
This helps the TV station understand what they are about to
see and why it is important. It gives them context and maybe
some facts.
Biography
One or two paragraphs describing the person who
contributed the sound bites. It should also include any
titles for the individual(s) so the TV station can create a
lower third (ID) for the person. Each person should get a
separate Bio page.
The Bites
Each person’s bites should be grouped together. Each
bite should have a slate making the bite’s contents clear.
The name of the person contributing the bite should be on
each slate. You might want to make a mini TOC. If several
bites are closely related you can just have the mini TOC
then each bite has one second of black between them. At no
point should you include the interviewer’s audio or video.
You can include the question as part of the slate. You
should NEVER talk over the person giving the bite. Ideally
the answer should make the question obvious.
B-Roll
After the bites, include the B-Roll shots. There should
be a slate listing the B-Roll shots and their durations.
Depending on contents closely related B-Rolls can have one
main slate miniTOC and then each shot followed by a second
of black.
End Page
The organization making the VNR and person(s) to contact
for questions about the VNR.
The total running
time of a VNR should be about five to ten minutes. Keep it
as short as possible. It can certainly be less than five
minutes if that’s all that’s needed. The structure can
vary but the objective is, it must be easy for a news
producer to understand the story and find all the bites and
b-roll easily in a high pressure deadline work environment.
As implied above, description must be text on video slates.
Papers and labels my be separated from the video tape in a
hectic deadline environment of the news room.
Story
Many VNRs include a pre-edited “news” story of about one
and half to two minutes in length. I tend to think this is
unethical but I’ll mention their forms. The story is
supposed to give the TV station something to use if they don’t
have time to edit it. One form includes an “on camera”
reporter you include. A 2nd form uses a voice over (reporter’s
voice only). A 3rd form includes a reporterless story in
which the sound bites and b-roll tell the story. This is the
most ethical. In all cases the reporter’s voice is on a
separate audio track from the sound bites and b-roll nat
sound. This makes it easy to dub in their own reporter’s
voice. These stories include a “script” so they can have
their reporter basically repeat the words you’ve used. You
can see why this raises ethical questions. I prefer NOT to
include the story. The opening story description and the
video clips should be enough for them to create their own
story.
Why are VNRs aired?
The news show has
time to fill because another story was killed or won’t
make deadline. They didn’t have the resources to cover the
story but still find it relevant. It’s related to another
story they did cover and presents and interesting angle or
depth. They didn’t send a reporter because they thought
the story wasn’t important but after seeing the content,
they now feel otherwise. They had no idea the story existed
but decide it’s relevant. They decide they can use the
bites and b-roll as part of another story they’re running
and it presents things they wish they had. They interview
the developer of the parking lot for a story they’re
doing. Your story shows up on their door step and there’s
a bite with the opposing point of view followed by your shot
of the park that’s about to be dug up.
TV News stations
like the professional courtesy of receiving a VNR. You’ve
done work that they, for one reason or another, didn’t do.
You’ve saved them money and resources. If it’s good, you’re
helping them increase their ratings. If they have a hole to
fill because another story didn’t work out, you’ve
filled the hole for them.
When are VNRs aired?
It could be the
day you give them the tape. They might hold it for day or
even months until it relates to another story or they have a
hole to fill. It depends on how timely the story is. If it’s
a time sensitive story you really need to get it to the TV
station that day if possible or the next day the latest. If
it’s an ongoing story you have a little more time. There
are “evergreen” stories which they may hold until they’re
needed. These are stories that are not time specific.
Imagine handing in a VNR which includes an interview with
the Green Candidate followed by baby kissing shots. It might
air weeks later during an election story.
Green facts of life about the
news media
Commercial TV
stations make money by getting higher ratings so they can
charge advertisers more. Their main criteria is whether your
story or point of views interests people. Is it
controversial enough to increase ratings? Will it anger
advertisers? Of course advertisers like higher ratings
because it means more people see their commercials. This
means aggravating one advertiser might be acceptable if it
means the station gets more viewers.
Let’s be CLEAR.
They have NO “FAIRNESS” obligation or even courtesy to
present YOUR SIDE. Your story has to be of general interest
and/or controversial enough to increase ratings. That’s
how they make money. You, of course, want to reach as many
people as possible with your story. Give them a GOOD story
to cover and they will. VNRs use is COMMON. The best ones
fit in so well that most of the viewers, including you,
might not even realize the story was actually a VNR handed
to them rather than covered by their own news crew!
What Equipment do I need?
Your must use at
least minimally acceptable professional equipment. You can
not use VHS or Hi8 video for broadcast. The VNR must look
like it could have been shot with the TV station’s
equipment. You can shoot on miniDV and hand in either DVCAM
or BetaSP tapes. You need to ask some of the local stations
whether they’ll accept DVCAM. Some want BetaSP. Most news
departments use either of these two formats (or DVCPRO which
is related to DVCAM).
You should have a
“3 chip” miniDV camera, a tripod, wireless hand held mic
for shooting. For editing you should have a computer based
NLE (Non Linear Editor) and an NTSC monitor (NOT a TV set)
to check video output. You can master back out to the camera
used as record deck or use a DVCAM deck. If you can’t
create a master on the format the local TV stations need,
you’ll need to find a reliable and fast local dubbing
place to bump to DVCAM or BetaSP.
What should the Camera setup
be?
The camera should
be 3 chip digital (miniDV or DVCAM) and should have
professional XLR connectors for mic input. The camera should
record good video in low light. If not, you can use on
camera light if shooting in a dark environment. Problem is
in some circumstances a light draws unwanted attention and
person giving bite can have the “deer in the headlights”
look or may actually get nervous. 3 chip miniDV cameras
start at about $2000 but those cameras often don’t have
XLR mic inputs. You MUST use a handheld mic for sound bites.
Built in camera mics are HORRIBLE for interviews in almost
all news situations. If your audio is bad the shoot is NO
GOOD.
Camera Sony
PD-170 is my camera of choice. It’s about $3200. It is
the system that CNN uses in Iraq and Frontline uses them as
well. It’s common among “run & gun” situations.
They’re light weight hand held and take great professional
video. They’re GREAT low light cameras (you don’t want
to use a camera light in Iraq, they tend to draw gunfire).
It has XLR mic inputs. I can often use a hand held mic on
one channel and the camera mic on the other to pick up nat
sound. It can shoot in miniDV and small DVCAM mode.
Wireless Mics
A handheld wireless mic is a must. You can get by with a
wired handheld mic but the cable tethers you to the mic and
it can get tangled in things and people can trip over it. I
like Sennheiser’s EW-100 wireless system for about $500
with a Shure SM57 or SM58 handheld mic for another $100 or
so. Sony also makes a good wireless mic system for a little
less.
Tripod
Bogen makes a good basic tripod system with a fluid head.
The Bogen 3001BN legs with the Bogen 501 head is about $230.
There are many good tripod systems but make sure it has good
fluid had for panning and tilting and legs strong enough to
be stable in a crowd of people.
Headphones
Sony makes good field usable headphones between $50-$100.
AKG is another good brand. I like the Sony foldable version
you can fit into a camera bag. You MUST use headphones to
monitor the audio! It’s the only way to trust you’re
getting a good recording.
Camera Bag
I prefer one that looks like a back pack since they’re the
most inconspicuous. I like Lowepro. Expect to pay about $150
for a basic professional video camera bag.
Total cost of
basic professional camera setup is about $4300.
What should
the Edit setup be?
Non Linear Edit system
Computer
You’ll need a fairly powerful computer with a 2nd hard
drive for video only. You’ll probably want to get
extra RAM too. You’ll also need an NTSC Video Monitor to
check video quality. It’s not good to use a TV set for
many reasons. The picture is rarely accurate for
professional video. You’ll need NLE (Non Linear Editor)
software. You’ll also need good speakers to monitor the
audio. They should not be “computer game” speakers since
they exaggerate the base and the treble. You can master to
the video camera but that causes ware and tear on the video
heads and transport. Cameras are not meant to be used as
tape decks regularly. So you should get a DV/DVCAM tape
deck. NLE. I like Final Cut Pro $1000 on the Mac. You can
also get by with Final Cut Express $300. A Mac G5 computer
with computer monitor and extra hard drive and RAM is around
$3500 - $4000. You can certainly get a $1000 Emac with
external hard drive and extra Ram for around $1400 and it
would be perfectly serviceable. I find Final Cut and easy
and professional edit system to use. On the PC side Adobe
Premiere Pro, Video Vegas, Pinnacle Liquid are all good edit
system. Avid DV Express works on both Mac and PC. I like
Macs because they’re easy to use and easy to trouble shoot
when you have a problem.
Video Monitor
JVC TV13ASU is a good cheap 13 inch video monitor for about
$200. Both JVC and Sony make higher end monitors with color
calibration features starting around $700. I find the cheap
JVC monitor is color calibrated out of the box though.
Audio
Monitors/speakers
There are many good audio monitors in the $200-$300
price range. VCR (Video Cassette Recorder) Sony DSR-11 DVCAM
VCR is the bargain workhorse of the industry at $1650. It
can play and record miniDV and DVCAM and can even play and
record PAL tapes (Europe). There’s lots of variety for the
edit setup but expect to spend between $3000- $10,000
including software. My Mac based NLE setup is about $8,000.
Total Shooting
and editing system is $8000-$15,000.
Remember I didn’t
say this was going to be “cheap” just a cheap basic
PROFESSIONAL system which can produce BROADCAST quality VNRs.
A higher end VNR setup can cost about $40,000-$50,000 used
by a typical corporate VNR company.
How do I distribute a VNR?
What Format
Tape
BetaSP still seems to be the tape format most preferred by
TV stations receiving VNRs. The problem is BetaSP decks tend
to be very expensive. Record decks start at over $7000.
Since most TV news crews shoot on DVCAM one might expect
more stations to accept this format. I think they can be
persuaded. Ask the TV stations you contact if they accept
DVCAM (even if they prefer BetaSP). There’s no good
technical reason for them to accept BetaSP over DVCAM unless
they lack the equipment. Basic DVCAM decks are much cheaper
and start at about $1650. If they insist on BetaSP you’ll
have no choice to pay for dubs. In NYC, BetaSP dubs can
range from $30-$50 for a ten minute tape. The DVCAM tape
used for your own dub could be about $15. BetaSP is an
unfortunate financial hit no matter how you do it. The media
tends to strongly dislike miniDV, even though it is
basically DVCAM running at a slower speed. DVCAM decks play
miniDV tapes. MiniDV tapes are prone to “tracking”
problems and jamming in their tape machines, develop tape
damage and tape “dropouts.” If you have the ultimate
shoot of the car blowing up they’ll take it. Otherwise
giving them a miniDV tape creates an inconvenience for them.
Something you really don’t’ want to do.
Send the Tape
Delivering the tapes can range from sending a messenger if
the station is near by, to sending it by mail or shipping
service such as FedEx. If the story is time sensitive
clearly messengering it is best. You may have to pay for
overnight delivery if you use a service such as FedEx. If it’s
not as time critical you can certainly save money by
shipping two day or more.
Following Up
After allowing time for the TV station to receive the tape,
you should make a follow up phone call and ask if the
producer/reporter has seen the tape. If they haven’t, the
call might prod them. The phone call will also give you a
chance to “pitch” the story. You’ll be able to explain
why the story is important and relevant to their viewers. Be
aware they often DO NOT CARE how important YOU think it is
or how fair it is to show your side. They care about its
value to their viewers (and how that helps bring in
advertising revenue through ratings).
Advantage to
sending the tape is the media doesn’t have to be proactive
to get it.
Disadvantage is the high cost of dubbing and shipping.
Satellite
transmit the Tape
We can’t afford but I’d thought I’d mention this
anyway. You have to rent satellite time, send out a
notification that pitches the story and lets them know when
they can download it. Large corporations do this because it’s
cheaper than dubbing and sending out hundreds, if not
thousands of BetaSP tapes. They then have to hope they’re
interested enough to download and view the story during a
very narrow transmission time frame.
VNR on the Web
This is great if you have limited resources. You can send
out a fax and an email release with the web link. They can
view the story online and then order a Broadcast quality
copy of the VNR if they like it. The Disadvantages: The
media has to be proactive to go to the website. Depending on
how quickly they need the tape, this could drive up your dub
and shipping costs per tape. You have to respond almost
immediately to the request by letting them know the tape is
being sent. The “pitch” is in print rather than a
personal phone call. The advantage is you only make the
tapes you need. Request is a high level of interest so you
increase the likelihood that such response will lead to air
time. If the media doesn’t respond you have a way to get
the public to view your story. You may find you want to do
some combination of sending tapes to key TV stations and
faxing/emailing the rest to notify them of the Web VNR.
Who do I send
the VNR to?
A Video Media list.
You can call every TV and Cable station in your viewing area
or the state and find out who you can send VNRs to. It’s
not very time efficient. You can buy media lists. Media
lists range from just the names, address, main fax number of
the station to lists which include every producer and
reporter in every subdivision of the news department and
their “specialties” as well as phone, fax and email
addresses. This is the kind of list you want ideally. Since
personnel change often this kind of list needs to be updated
regularly. The lists range from tens of dollars to several
hundred. They’re worth it if your time has value. The most
extensive national TV/Cable media lists have over 10,000
contacts for something like 3000 TV/Cable outlets. Target
your list whenever possible. Send to all main producers of
news shows and then send to specialists such as politics,
environmental, financial, etc. depending on the issue.
This VNR
Guide is also available in PDF format.
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