Television news is great at conveying emotion but only if the storyteller captures it. So keep rolling.
That’s Mike Castellucci’s advice for young journalists. Castellucci is an award-winning reporter and photographer who now teaches at Michigan State. “Students get a bite and shut the camera off,” he says. “I tell them to keep rolling. Silence can be the best soundbite.”
That said, don’t feel obliged to shoot a close-up every time there’s an emotional moment. In this story by Boyd Huppert for KARE-TV in Minneapolis, he interviews three people at the same time. And there’s not a single tight shot. “In a group experience, keep the group together,” he advises. “Each one of their faces is telling a story.”
“The greatest tool we have for telling stories is our hearts,” Huppert says.
Castellucci agrees. “If you can get some emotion out of a minute and a half, you’ve accomplished something that day.”
