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STAGING
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| The following is a transcript of a discussion on the B Roll Online Message Board. Go to the B Roll Online Message Board to put in your 2 Cents Worth.
Staging NPPA Bullsh*t I heard an interesting but true story the other day. I will leave out the names to protect the guilty. A buddy of mine works at a station that had some NPPA award winning photogs in to give a seminar. One of the photogs has won many, MANY awards and has finished as Regional Photog of the Year several times. I've seen that photogs stories and they are indeed very good. The photog showed several of his stories at the seminar. One piece in particular stood out. It was about a marathon runner. A very nice piece according to my friend. The story had a shot where the runner was putting on his shoe and the view was from INSIDE the shoe. A very unique and original shot to say the least. Well, when the station photogs how he got that shot he said, "...I cut out the front of an old shoe and put the camera (must have been a lipstick cam or similar) in the front of the shoe and had the runner put the shoe on..." When asked if that was "staging" the winning photog said, (paraphrasiing again) "...well, not if it is something he would normally do..." THAT'S FREAKING BULLSHIT!!!!! It pisses me off to no end that NPPA (myself included) preach about the wrongs of staging and here is a guy giving a story subject a shoe-cam to put on. I have a hard time believing that that is something the runner would "normally do". I think that is crossing the line. I'm sure the story looked great and was a pleasure to watch but where do we draw the line? I don't know if he had entered that piece but I would be just as ashamed of the judges if they let that qualify as an award winner. Maybe I'm blowing it out of proportion but I ask again: WHERE DO WE DRAW THE LINE???? Staging Where do we draw the line? I don't like to stage anything, mostly because when you do, it looks staged on the air. It is a difficult issue. I think one of my recent stories demonstrates the difficulty of this issue very well. Troops from Little Rock Air Force Base are going to assist with a mission in the Kosovo area. They are leaving very soon, so all their paperwork, etc is done. We go out to do this story, and they simulate doing the paperwork, dog tags, etc. for our purposes. They even use files that do not belong to the soldiers that are going. Is this staging? Technically yes because they were not doing the paperwork, etc that day--they set it up just for us to get video. But I never asked them to repeat something for me--I just told them to do what they would do if I wasn't there. My goal was to show the viewers what had to be done for the soldiers to prepare for their mission. Personally, I hate staging. I want to tell a story as it unfolds while I am there. If I miss something, I'll usually say "Now how does that work?" Is that staging? I don't think it is because I'm not telling them what to do.It is a tough issue and a very fine line. I think the deciding factor should be your conscience. If you don't feel right about it, don't do it. Re: Staging NPPA Bullsh*t I agree w/disgruntled. Anyone, I mean ANYONE, can shoot sexy video if they could just say, "Do that again for me." If that is what the NPPA teaches, the whole organization is crap. I know alot of people that have gone to the NPPA brainwashing school, and unfortunately, a few have been fired because it took them too long to shoot a story. They need to teach time management. Staging is unethical and cheap. There is a difference in re-enacting and staging. Explain that. Re: Staging NPPA Bullsh*t Staging is bad enough. But when obvious staging like I mentioned above continues to win NPPA awards that's where I have a problem. What are we(NPPA) teaching? I've been to the Oklahoma boot camp and learned a lot from the experience. YES, they do instruct you to stage there to teach you about sequencing (or they did when I was there in the late 80s). I DON'T have a problem with that in that forum. But when it is carried over to the real world that's a different story. There are ways around staging. I hate to say it but if you absolutely can't get your interview subject doing what he "normally does" then you just have to suck it up and shoot the reporter and subject walking down the sidewalk or whatever and realize that not every story can be entered as a possible award winner. Re: Staging NPPA Bullsh*t I'm an Australian shooter....and I feel this debate about 'staging' is silly. I'm an A grade cameraman and have been in the game for about 7 years now. If a staged shot helps you in your story telling well what is the problem? Afterall I believe the NPPA preaches that we are story tellers, and if it means 'bending' the rules every so often well why not? Some of the best sequences Ive ever shot have been set up. And if you think about it, many stories happen because we are there, if we we aren't the people involved may not even be at the particular venue etc. and these people dont know what we are after in terms of shots, they need some direction. If the NPPA teaches you absolutely NOT to, then..I'm sorry..they are wrong. The rules are made to be broken. Move to Hollywood That's good to know...why don't you get a job in Hollywood directing major motion pictures if you enjoy staging news so much? You can "bend the rules" all you want there. To the best of my knowledge, we are here to REPORT the news not make it up. I've been shooting for 15 years now but I haven't reached "A-Grade Cameraman" status like you...do you have a certificate? I have a feeling you will be in the minority with your comments (I hope). Re: Staging NPPA Bullsh*t While my continuing membership in the NPPA dates back to 1976, I tend to agree with you that the predominance of the de-facto NPPA "stylebook" of so called "sequencing" often borders on staging and sometimes clearly crosses the line between actuality and re-creation of news stories and news features. A number of years ago, while I was a regional NPPA TV clip chairman, I was astonished by the number of entries and contest winners that, in my opinion, clearly manipulated subjects to create sequenced editing opportunities. News Photographers were clearly being Directors, manipulating their subjects. At the same time I was on staff at a network O&O. My employer had a clearly written policy regarding staging, so I was prohibited for the most part from shooting in this "sequenced" style. Sure it was more challenging capturing stories in real time but it didn’t alter the story to give it that clean "Hollywood" production look. I have since exercised my prerogative to refrain from entering NPPA clip contests. Now looking back on being a "network level" freelancer since 1980, I can say that most of my employers that I am shooting news assignments for continue to prohibit staging of any kind. Although, it is secretly & quietly seeping in at this level too. This does not mean that I do not strive to try and shoot clean, steady, well composed pictures on all of my news assignments. I am still able to shoot wide, medium and close-up shots (a couple of well intended zooms too), I just don’t ask my subjects "could you do that again". When I shoot for entertainment shows & corporate clients, well that’s a different "stylebook" altogether. Re: Staging NPPA Bullsh*t I have been in this business (and NPPA) for only two years. The observation I have made is at some point everybody does some sort of staging. Just by showing up at a scene with a camera you are disrupting the normal actions of your subject(s). What do you do if you are doing a story on some kid who spit in a bucket ten feet away? You ask him to do it a couple times for video. Or asking someone to walk with the reporter for an introduction shot, they wouldn't normally do that. On a different note I hate staging news and I agree the shoe shot is a bit much. But on the other hand I believe that this local "news" business has turned into a local entertainment business. Doing whatever we can make the stories more entertaining for the viewer will work for management (or NPPA). Hence the attraction. Re: Staging NPPA Bullsh*t Most of my argument centers around this: NPPA preaches how bad it is to stage the news yet some of it's award winning top dogs do it. Something is wrong there. Staging I'm surrounded by staging here in Hollywood. There's no avoiding it. The line is drawn in news however. I can't remember how many ethical and journalisitic integrity discussions I've had with reporters and photog's over time that all end the same way: get it, or miss it. Don't repeat it! Don't ask to have it repeated. Yes, as beginners we've all staged out of ignorance. In Las Vegas, I used my hand as b-roll with nats nonetheless for a VO ATM video. It was completely unethical and unprofessional. I didn't know any better back then when I started in news. After that, I knew. Yes, cameras affect a person's environment and possibly their behavior. However, I will never ask anyone to "do that again" or to say "o.k. now go!" for the benefit of a sequence I should have captured on tape in the first place. As photojournalists, we're all responsible for upholding the inherit integrity of newsgathering. We should never "create" moments in the slightest. Our role is to capture all elements of a story as they occur naturally. Be visually creative in illustrating points that may not be there for you. Shoot icons and places that illustrate the points of a story instead of asking someone to do something for you. Today, I was sent late to a press conference. When I arrived, it had just ended. The man in charge asked me if his group should sit back down at the table and have me ask questions to them. Re: Staging NPPA Bullsh*t So what if you are in the biz 1 month or 30 years? If you stage a shot, you fall into the rhelm of crap. Why do it if someone else did? If you say, "All local news does that type of shooting." Then change it. If you do it once, you'll do it a hundred times. If you can't get the shot the first time, try something else or learn how. Thats a professional. Re: Staging NPPA Bullsh*t We could argue all day and split hairs on what staging is or isn't. I know flagrant staging when I see it. And there is plenty of it on many award winning NPPA tapes. Our shop would mark down entries on clips judging for obvious staging. I have respect for "journalists" not "directors". Re: Staging NPPA Bullsh*t At some time or another.. Doesn't everyone "stage?" Whether it's moving a picture on a desk for balanced composition during an interview.. Or getting someone to open a door again to get a tighter shot. Well yes..essentially that's staging. That's up to the individual. But you don't have the opportunity to always "stage"..especially during spot news. Either you get the shots or you don't. That's where the challenge comes in.. That's when you prove what kind of photographer you are. I don't think having someone do something twice is necessarily unethical. As long as the person is doing something they would normally do. The challange is obvioulsy to get the shot the first time... And make it good. I have sinned.... Would a person "normally" put on a shoe, with the toe cut out by a photographer, with a camera in it? Yes, I have sinned...I have staged before. I've had people walk out to their mailbox before. I've told them to "wait" until I've put my camera on my tripod by their mailbox. I've told them to "go" instructing them to walk out to the mailbox. I've told them to "wait" while I moved so I could get a tight shot of them opening up the door of the mailbox. After they've opened the box I had them wait again while I repositioned myself to get a wide shot of them doing the same thing...all in an effort to get some b-roll for some package I was doing at the time. That was then, this is now. I'm a tv photographer in a top market...not a George Lucas wanna-be. I don't shoot movies, I'm not a rap music video director. I'm in the business to document news and sports history...not make it up. BTW, feel free to use the "person walking to the mailbox to check their mail" sequence. It works great when you need some b-roll in that situation. Re: Staging NPPA Bullsh*t I’ve just finished reading all of the comments about "staging" and am suprised how strongly some feel. Now this might be because I do not come from a formal education in journalism and have never attended any NPPA events. I am a member of the NPPA and believe I am a better Photojournalist because of it. I have been a Photojournalist for 7 years 4 of them in the military. So out of "STAGING" ignorence I look up the work "staged" and surprisingly this is what I found. STAGED- deliberately planned and arranged for effect or deception How many of us show up to work and say alright today I'm going to deceive everyone who sees the 6 o’clock news tonight!!! WOO HOO. Hopefully none of us. But would you bend the rules to create an effect?? HHHMMMMM I admit in the past I've asked someone "Hey what would you be doing right now if we weren't here." and then shot it. Did I stage something? Did I try to decive anyone? I don't think so. On the other hand one time I was on a story that involved some residents who decided it would be fun to set a fire and then throw bottles and rocks at the firemen who arrived to put it out. I recreated for EFFECT(NAT SOUND) a rock flying through the air and hitting a window. In this case I believe I was staging something and asked for the video to be supered "REINACTMENT". Now did I fall though a loophole here because I was honest or was I just wrong to put this in a story? I think total control over a subject during a news story is wrong, but not asking someone to do something for the camera that they would do right after you leave and settling for the old standard boring ass two shot because you are on some crazy "STAGING" crusade is nuts. Face it today we not only inform people we have to entertain them. If we don't......well I'll see you in the unemployment line!!!!!!! Hey if I'm going to burn in "STAGING" hell somebody tell me!!!!!!!!! Re: Staging NPPA Bullsh*t BP: I agree with a lot of what you said...I think we've all fallen into the "what would you be doing if I weren't here" position. I don't have a problem with that. I'm sure I'll burn in hell along with you on that one. I've missed a shot (can't think of an exact situation) and a reporter has asked the subject to repeat it...I've said "NO" in that situation. If I missed it I missed it. Again, my major problem comes with the NPPA AWARD WINNING pieces that show blatant staging. Who's to blame? I blame the judges just as much as the photog for letting this story get an award. |
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